NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Glavine Muffles Houston, 4-1, to Maintain Braves’ Hot Streak

Tom Glavine outpitched Doug Drabek in a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners as the Atlanta Braves continued to play well, beating the Astros, 4-1, Friday night at Houston.

Fred McGriff, Terry Pendleton, Damon Berryhill and David Justice had runs batted in for the Braves, who won for the seventh time in eight games and 12th in 16 since the All-Star break. The loss ended Houston’s three-game winning streak.

Glavine (13-4) gave up five hits, struck out five and walked five before Greg McMichael worked the ninth for his second save.

“This was a good outing,� Glavine said. “I guess it depends on how you look at it. Obviously, I’d rather not walk five guys.�

Drabek (7-12) lost his fourth decision in a row, giving up four runs on six hits, striking out four and walking three in five innings.

“I put the team in a hole early, and you can’t do that,� Drabek said. “When (Glavine) had to make pitches, he did. And he got some key double plays to help him stay out of trouble.�

San Francisco 10, Colorado 4--Barry Bonds had two homers and Kirt Manwaring four hits, and each drove in three runs to lift the Giants at Denver.

Greg Brummett (2-3) ended a three-game losing streak at the expense of Greg Harris (10-10), making his Colorado debut after being acquired in a trade Monday from San Diego.

The Giants scored in each of the first five innings in building a 6-2 lead.

Bonds hit homers on the first two strikes he saw. After an intentional walk in the first inning, Bonds--breaking out of a mild but for him unusual 0-for-10 slump--hit a 449-foot homer on the first pitch from Harris in the third inning.

Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2--Bob Walk won his first game since the All-Star break with the help of two RBIs by Orlando Merced to lead the Pirates at Philadelphia.

Walk (11-8) worked eight innings and limited the Phillies to six hits and two runs, striking out five and walking three while ending a three-game Philadelphia winning streak. The victory was only sixth in Pittsburgh’s last 26 games and Walk’s first since July 9.

Stan Belinda pitched the ninth for his 19th save.

Ben Rivera (9-6) pitched seven innings and lost for the third consecutive time, giving up seven hits and four runs. He struck out seven and walked two.

Montreal 11, Florida 1--Chris Nabholz pitched well, and Larry Walker and Moises Alou led the Expos’ 18-hit attack at Montreal.

Alou drove in four runs, and Walker had three hits and scored four times as Montreal won for the fourth time in five games.

After the game, the Expos were angry, simmering about the low fastball by reliever Rich Rodriguez in the seventh that sent outfielder Marquis Grissom down.

The outfielder, already hobbled, left the game with a bruised left knee.

“I don’t know if the guy did it on purpose,� said Alou. “But with the score like that and a guy known for his control, it’s the first thing you think of.

“We were all very mad on the bench.�

Nabholz (6-8) six-hit the Marlins over eight innings, striking out two and walking one. He got plenty of support, with Sean Berry and Delino DeShields also getting three hits each.

San Diego 11, Cincinnati 9--Archi Cianfrocco atoned for a two-run throwing error in the eighth inning by leading off the ninth with a homer that rallied the Padres at Cincinnati.

Phil Plantier hit two homers, including a solo shot leading off the seventh that snapped a 6-6 tie, and Derek Bell added a run-scoring single in the eighth to put the Padres ahead, 8-6.

Cianfrocco, playing third base , let the tying runs score in the bottom of the inning by throwing Jacob Brumfield’s attempted sacrifice bunt into the Reds’ bullpen for the sixth error of the game.

Cianfrocco opened the ninth by hitting a 2-and-2 pitch from Jeff Reardon (2-4) over the wall in center for his sixth homer--the first Reardon has given up in 40 2/3 innings. Tony Gwynn completed the rally with a two-run double.

St. Louis 3, New York 2--Todd Zeile homered, then put St. Louis ahead to stay with a sacrifice fly, and rookie Allen Watson pitched well at St. Louis as the Cardinals rebounded from a dismal trip.

The Cardinals were 3-7 on their just-completed trip and swept in a three-game series by National League East-leading Philadelphia.

Zeile has 45 of his team-leading 65 RBIs in the last two months, and he’s batting .395 (17 for 43) with 19 RBIs in his last 11 games.

Watson (3-0) worked seven innings, giving up a run on four hits, striking out four and walking two. Lee Smith, pitching for the first time in eight days, got the last four outs for his major league-leading 35th save.