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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Astros Stays Hot, Smother Smoltz

Associated Press

National League

The Houston Astros, behind Shane Reynolds, won their sixth in a row and sent John Smoltz to his third straight loss Thursday night with a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Smoltz (14-4) had won 14 consecutive games before his current woes. The Astros scored four times in the second, batting around during an inning in which they had six of their eight hits against Smoltz.

The Braves pinch hit for Smoltz in the fourth, but Dwight Smith struck out with the bases loaded.

Smoltz has allowed 17 earned runs in 14-1/3 innings in losing his last three starts. He still leads the majors in wins, and remains the likely starting pitcher for the N.L. in Tuesday night’s All-Star game.

Reynolds (10-5) extended his mastery of the Braves, running his career record against them to 3-0.

Mets 4, Expos 0

Montreal

Rookie Robert Person allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings and Todd Hundley hit a two-run homer sending New York past Montreal.

Person (2-3), making his fifth start since returning from the minors June 13, struck out three and walked one. He worked around a single by F.P. Santangelo and a double by Dave Silvestri in the second inning, and allowed only two other hits.

Reds 2, Cubs 1

Chicago

Mark Portugal won his fourth straight game and Jeff Shaw was strong in relief as Cincinnati beat Chicago.

Portugal allowed four hits over five-plus innings, outpitching Cubs starter Jim Bullinger (3-7), who made his first start in a month since being demoted to the bullpen. Bullinger allowed five hits in six innings, striking out six.

Cardinals 7, Pirates 1

Pittsburgh

Brian Jordan homered and drove in four runs as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.

St. Louis, in last place a month ago, is pushing division leader Houston after winning 11 of its last 12 division games and 15 of 21 overall.

Phillies 8, Marlins 5

Philadelphia

Rookie reliever Ron Blazier pitched 2-2/3 shutout innings and Philadelphia starter Curt Schilling hit a three-run double as the Phillies beat Florida.

Blazier (2-0) allowed only two hits as the Phillies sent the Marlins to their fifth straight loss.

Padres 8, Giants 4

San Diego

Steve Finley homered for the sixth time in seven games against San Francisco, and had three RBIs as San Diego beat skidding San Francisco for the sixth straight time.

The Giants have lost 12 of their last 14.

Dodgers 9, Rockies 4

Los Angeles

Delino DeShields and Eric Karros highlighted an eight-run second inning with two-run homers to lead Los Angeles past Colorado.

Clearing the bases

St. Louis’ Brian Jordan is 7 for 15 with two homers and seven RBIs since Sunday. He is batting .700 with the bases loaded. … Jim Bullinger’s start was Chicago’s 344th straight by a right-handed pitcher, tying a team record. The last time a left-hander started a game for the Cubs was Sept. 29, 1993, when Greg Hibbard got the nod against the Dodgers. The Cubs previously started 344 consecutive right-handers from Aug. 19, 1931-April 29, 1934.