NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Before 57,903, Phillies Chop Braves, 8-3

Philadelphia’s Ben Rivera dueled Atlanta’s John Smoltz for six innings, then the Braves’ bullpen gave up six runs in the seventh inning of the Phillies’ 8-3 victory Wednesday at Philadelphia.

The Phillies sent 12 batters to the plate in the seventh, getting five walks and three hits against three relievers en route to their fifth victory in six games.

Rivera (7-3), traded from the Braves to the Phillies last season, gave up seven hits, an unearned run, struck out seven and walked one in eight innings to win for the sixth time in eight starts.

“I know that it’s something special for him to beat Atlanta,” Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi said “He was sky high for them.

“It was Ben’s best outing of the year. He’s back to where he was last year.”

Smoltz (6-7) worked six innings, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out 10 and walking five. Trailing, 2-1, he left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

Reliever Greg McMichael started the bottom of the seventh, during which Jim Eisenreich singled home two runs to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games, and Darren Daulton and Mickey Morandini drove in one run each. Two more runs scored on bases-loaded walks by Mark Wohlers and Steve Bedrosian.

During the inning, a crowd of 57,903 mocked the Braves with Atlanta’s tomahawk chop.

Colorado 15, Cincinnati 5--Vinny Castilla and Danny Sheaffer each drove in a club-record five runs to help the Rockies complete their most successful home stand.

Castilla had two homers and Sheaffer one, and Charlie Hayes added three runs batted in as the Rockies scored the most runs against the Reds this season.

The Rockies, who were 8-4 during the home stand, got five innings from Jeff Parrett, who was making his first start in three years.

St. Louis 4, Florida 3--Rene Arocha, a hero in Miami’s Cuban-American community, pitched 5 1/3 innings and drove in two runs with his first major league hit to lead the Cardinals at Miami.

The game was Arocha’s first in Miami, where he defected from the Cuban national team nearly two years ago. A crowd of 37,936 cheered each time Arocha’s name was announced, and he received a standing ovation when he left the game.

Arocha (6-2) earned the victory in his shortest stint as a starter. The right-hander gave up six hits, two walks and two earned runs while striking out two.

Another Cuban, Orestes Destrade, figured in each of the runs scored against Arocha, but missed a chance to spoil Arocha’s outing when he grounded out with runners on first and third to end the game.

Pittsburgh 9, Chicago 4--Jeff King homered and had a run-scoring triple and the Pirates continued to break out of an offensive slump at Chicago.

The Pirates have scored 39 runs--an average of 5.57 runs per game--while winning six of their last seven games. Prior to sweeping four from the Mets and taking two of three from Chicago, the Pirates hadn’t scored more than four runs in a 13-game stretch.

Paul Wagner (3-3) got his second major league victory as a starter, giving up three runs in six innings as Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in its last eight home games. He struck out four and walked none.

San Francisco 6, San Diego 2--Robby Thompson had the first two-homer game of his career, and Bud Black won his fourth consecutive start at San Francisco, giving the Giants their seventh victory in eight games.

Thompson hit his fifth homer in the first and his second of the game to lead off the seventh, chasing Greg Harris (7-8), who has given up a league-high 14 homers, and sending San Diego to its fourth loss in five games.

Black (7-1) gave up five hits in seven innings and struck out a season-high eight while walking one.

Montreal 4, New York 3--Dennis Martinez pitched 8 1/3 innings, gaining his sixth consecutive victory, and Larry Walker had a decisive two-run homer to lift the Expos at New York.

Walker’s homer in the sixth inning broke open a 2-2 tie and sent the Mets to their 16th loss in 18 games.

Martinez (8-5) gave up five hits, struck out six and walked three.