NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Old Legs Make Astros Feel Young

Young and speedy Brian Hunter should have been running the bases and 36-year-old Milt Thompson should have been hitting.

It was the opposite way Sunday, and the Houston Astros made it work anyway as Thompson scored on Hunter’s infield hit and pitcher Rich DeLucia’s throwing error for a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10th inning at Houston.

“You’re supposed to be the one driving me around,” Hunter told Thompson. “I didn’t know if you would make it or not.”

Thompson, the Astros’ oldest player at 36, walked as a pinch-hitter. He took off for second when Hunter dribbled a roller back to DeLucia, who looked at second and threw wildly to first base for an error.

Thompson ran around the bases and slid safely behind catcher Danny Sheaffer for the game’s only run.

Atlanta 5, Montreal 4--Mike Devereaux hit a two-out, two-run single in the 10th inning for the victory at Atlanta.

Devereaux, who doubled and scored the tying run in the ninth, gave the Braves their 25th victory in their final at-bat, 16 of them since July 4.

Jeff Blauser drew a walk in the Atlanta 10th from Dave Leiper (0-2) and pinch-hitter Marquis Grissom grounded into a force play. After Rafael Belliard pinch-ran for Grissom, Luis Polonia hit a double. Devereaux followed by grounding a single up the middle for the victory.

Chicago 3, Pittsburgh 2--Brian McRae hit a home run off Dan Miceli with one out in the 10th inning at Chicago.

It was the first homer since Sept. 2 for McRae, who had been 0 for 4 in the game and 5 for 29 in six games before lining Miceli’s 1-0 pitch over the right-field fence. McRae tied a career high with his 12th home run.

Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 4--David Wells pitched eight effective innings and Mariano Duncan homered and drove in four runs against his former team at Philadelphia. Wells (6-4), who was 10-3 for Detroit before being traded on July 31, matched his career high with 16 victories.

Florida 4, New York 3--Rookie right fielder Alex Ochoa lost two routine fly balls on a sunny day, leading to all of the Marlins’ runs at Miami. Ryan Bowen (1-0) gave up three runs in five innings for his first victory since Aug. 7, 1994, when he also beat the Mets. Bowen sat out the first 4 1/2 months of this season because of a knee injury.