NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : A New World for Braves, Who Win Again

By this time last season, the Atlanta Braves had already established themselves as the worst team in the National League West.

One-fifth of the way into the new season, the Braves have established themselves as maturing and much improved.

Left-hander Tom Glavine is only 25, but as a five-year veteran he is the ace of a good young staff.

Glavine pitched a strong six innings Sunday at Atlanta to win his fourth in a row as the Braves beat Pittsburgh, 7-1, for their fifth victory in the last seven games.

Glavine (6-2) gave up only five hits and left with a commanding lead.

Pittsburgh starter Zane Smith, formerly of the Braves, gave up five runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings and fell to 5-2.

The Braves are 18-14 and trail the division-leading Dodgers by half a game. At this juncture last season, Atlanta was 12-20 and fading fast.

Glavine believes he knows why the Braves are improved.

“Last season we tried to build a team around pitching when we didn’t have a defense or hitting,” he said. “This year we have those and it has helped the pitching. It shows in the standings.”

One of the moves the Braves made was to sign third baseman Terry Pendleton as a free agent. They knew he was an outstanding fielder, but he also has been a contributor on offense.

Pendleton had three hits, scored twice and drove in two runs. A lifetime .259 hitter, he raised his average to .315.

“I would have lost this game last year,” Glavine said. “But what separates mediocre pitchers from good ones is being able to win when you don’t have your best stuff.”

In his last six starts, five of which he has won, Glavine has pitched three complete games and pitched at least six innings in all six. In the game he lost, he pitched a complete game at Houston, giving up only two runs, but the Braves didn’t score.

San Diego 3, Cincinnati 2--Andy Benes, who lost his first four decisions, was ill with the flu Saturday night at Cincinnati, but his pitching on Sunday made the Reds ill.

On a muggy day, Benes lasted six innings, giving up a run and seven hits and handing the slumping Reds their second loss in a row.

“I was up most of the night, vomiting,” Benes said. “I pitched on an empty stomach, and I’m satisfied with the results. But I’m tired.”

The Reds, who have scored two runs or fewer in seven of the last 12 games, fell into fourth place, three games behind the Dodgers in the West.

In the last two games, the Reds are 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position and have stranded 18 runners.

St. Louis 9, Houston 2--With the Cardinals going for a youth movement in the outfield, veteran Milt Thompson only gets to start one game a week. He has made the most of it.

Thompson, playing left field, had three hits and scored four runs as the lead-off batter to help make it easy for Ken Hill (4-2) to get another victory.

Thompson, who lost his regular job when he hit only .218 last season, raised his average to .415 and lifted the Cardinals to within 2 1/2 games of first in the East.

Montreal 5, San Francisco 4--Ivan Calderon singled in a run with two out in the 13th inning at San Francisco and the Expos dealt another loss to the hapless Giants. The Giants (12-25) have the worst record in the majors.

After Kevin Mitchell and Manager Roger Craig were ejected in the ninth for protesting a called third strike on the hitter, Kevin Bass hit a two-run homer to prolong the agony and send the game into extra innings.

Chicago 2, Philadelphia 1--Luis Salazar singled in the winning run in the 10th inning at Philadelphia. The first three Cubs to face Roger McDowell in the extra inning singled and McDowell made a wild throw on a pickoff try, but the Cubs scored only once.

Dale Murphy hit his seventh home run in the sixth inning for the only Phillies run.