Atlanta’s Clincher Historic

It looked liked any other Atlanta Brave victory--and there have been plenty in the 1990s--not one that gave the World Series champions a historic trip to the playoffs.

The Braves earned their fifth postseason berth in six years, a streak interrupted only by the 1994 strike, with an 8-2 victory Sunday over the Montreal Expos at Atlanta to clinch the East.

“We can enjoy this for a few days,” said John Smoltz, who gave up only five hits in eight innings, for his 23rd victory, and also hit a three-run homer. “But we’ve got three more steps before the job is done.”

Only two other franchises, the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics, have been to the postseason five years in a row.

“To maintain the lofty expectations that everybody’s had for this club for the last five or six years, it’s a lot of pressure,” third baseman Chipper Jones said. “But I think when you surround yourself with the quality of players that I have around me here, you’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”

Smoltz stepped to the plate in the sixth with two runners on, two outs and the score tied, 2-2. He hit a fastball from Jeff Fassero (15-10) that barely cleared the right-field wall for an opposite-field homer.

Cincinnati 6-6, St. Louis 3-0--Barry Larkin became the first shortstop in the 30-30 club and John Smiley pitched a one-hitter as the Reds kept the division race alive by sweeping a doubleheader from the Cardinals at Cincinnati.

The Reds would have been eliminated by losing either game, but Larkin and Smiley kept the defending champions mathematically alive for at least another day.

Larkin hit his 30th homer--to go with his 36 steals--off Donovan Osborne in the first game as the Reds overcame a 3-0 deficit. He is the 17th player and the first shortstop to reach 30-30.

Philadelphia 4, New York 3--Gregg Jefferies’ run-scoring double with one out in the bottom of the ninth gave the Phillies the victory at New York.

Desi Relaford opened the inning with a walk off Derek Wallace (2-2), and stole second with one out. Jefferies followed with a looping double down the left-field line.

Ricky Bottalico (4-5) pitched one scoreless inning for the victory. The Mets tied the score, 3-3, in the eighth on Bernard Gilkey’s run-scoring single.

Florida 6, Houston 0--Andre Dawson hit a three-run, pinch-hit homer as the Marlins pushed the Astros to the brink of elimination from the playoff race with their eighth consecutive loss.

Rick Helling (2-1) held Houston hitless until the seventh, and gave up only one hit in eight innings. Dawson hit his 438th home run, second only to Eddie Murray among active players.

The Astros, who have six games remaining, went 0-8 on their three-city trip.

Pittsburgh 11, Chicago 3--The Pirates won their 11th in a row, defeating the Cubs in the rain at Pittsburgh as Jay Bell homered for the third consecutive game.

The game was called after the eighth because of the bad weather.

Bell hit a three-run homer during a five-run first inning, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.

San Francisco 7, Colorado 3--Steve Soderstrom earned his first major league victory, pitching the Giants past the Rockies for a four-game sweep.

Glenallen Hill hit his 18th homer and drove in four runs, and Barry Bonds drew his 145th walk, most in franchise history. He also got his 125th run batted in, tying Kevin Mitchell for most by a San Francisco left fielder.

Soderstrom (1-0) won in his second major league start, pitching seven innings and retiring 19 of his last 22 batters. He gave up only two hits after giving up four in the first inning.