NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Braves Make It Easy for Glavine, 15-0

Friday night’s game between the National League division leaders at Pittsburgh figured to be a pitcher’s battle.

The Atlanta Braves were starting their ace, Tom Glavine, who was seeking his major league-leading 18th victory. Zane Smith, who had given up only two earned runs in his last 28 1/3 innings, seemed a worthy foe.

It was no contest. Smith lasted only 17 pitches, the Braves had 22 hits and Glavine breezed, 15-0.

Glavine gave up five hits in seven innings in tying a 78-year-old club record with his 12th victory in a row. In 1914 with the Boston Braves, Dick Rudolph won 12 in a row for the Miracle Braves, who were last on July 4 and won the pennant and the World Series.

Glavine improved to 18-3 and increased the Braves’ lead in the West to 5 1/2 games over the Cincinnati Reds.

“You get down 4-0 against Tom Glavine in the first inning and you’re in trouble,� Pirate Manager Jim Leyland said. “Get down 8-0 in the second to him and you’re in serious trouble.

“This was just Zane’s second start since coming off the disabled list and he couldn’t get loose . . . and his ball didn’t sink. He’s not going to overpower people if his ball is not sinking.�

Smith was sidelined three weeks because of tendinitis in his pitching shoulder.

Lonnie Smith, who singled and scored in the Braves’ four-run first, hit a grand slam in the second. It was his first grand slam in eight years.

Smith went five for six with a career-high six RBIs to raise his career average against Pittsburgh to .350.

Brian Hunter had a two-run homer among his four hits and Otis Nixon went four for six as the Braves won for the 25th time in 32 games and pitched their major league-leading 20th shutout.

“The first two pitches, everyone in our dugout realized (Zane Smith) was having problems,� Lonnie Smith said. “Later on, (Don) Slaught told one of our hitters he was hurting. You could tell he was struggling. He didn’t look the same.�

With the Montreal Expos winning, the Pirates’ lead in the East was cut to 1 1/2 games.

San Diego 5, Cincinnati 1--Gary Sheffield hit his second grand slam of the season and Jim Deshaies gave the Padres another strong effort at Cincinnati.

The bases-loaded home run was part of Sheffield’s ninth consecutive multi-hit game. It lifted the Padres to their seventh victory in eight games and put them one game behind the second-place Reds.

Sheffield increased his major league-leading batting average to .343. He has hit safely in 10 consecutive games, in which he has batted .512.

Sheffield, who moved into a tie with Darren Daulton of the Philadelphia Phillies for the RBI lead with 83, has 25 home runs and trails teammate Fred McGriff by two.

“You hear people talking about “The Zone,� Sheffield said. “That’s right where I am.�

Deshaies (3-2) had a five-hit shutout until the ninth when two hits produced a run and knocked him out of the box. In six starts since coming from Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League, he has not given up more than two runs in any of them.

The Reds have lost four of their last five games.

“This thing has to turn around,� Manager Lou Piniella said. “We’re getting men on, we just have to get them home.�

Montreal 4, St. Louis 1--The Expos, with Dennis Martinez (13-10) giving up two hits in seven innings at Montreal, won their sixth in a row.

The Expos broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh when Rheal Cormier walked Archi Cianfrocco with the bases loaded. Delino DeShields followed with a two-run single and Cormier’s record fell to 3-10.

In his 10 defeats the Cardinals have scored only 11 runs for Cormier.

Martinez said he wasn’t surprised that Manager Felipe Alou pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning.

“I had thrown more than 100 pitches, so I wasn’t about to argue with the manager,� Martinez said. “I was fortunate to go that far. Before the game I didn’t feel it was me. I couldn’t get my back, arm or right leg loose.�

John Wetteland pitched the ninth inning for the Expos to earn his 27th save.

Philadelphia 6, New York 2--Darren Daulton hit a home run and a triple and drove in three runs at New York to help Ben Rivera record his first complete game.

Dwight Gooden (6-10) lost for the fourth time in his last five decisions. He gave up six runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Rivera, who gave up seven hits, also drove in a run to help the Phillies end their four-game losing streak.

Chicago 4, Houston 2--Ryne Sandberg homered and doubled at Chicago and the Cubs ended a four-game losing streak.

Sandberg homered in the first inning and doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning.

Mike Harkey (3-0) gave up two runs (one earned) and six hits in seven innings.