Charlton Doesn’t Duck

Philadelphia reliever Norm Charlton wasn’t worried about returning to the mound Thursday, five days after being hit in the head by a line drive.

Charlton (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Kevin Stocker hit a goahead, two-run single in the bottom of the inning as the Phillies defeated the visiting Chicago Cubs 5-3.

“I didn’t feel leery at all; I didn’t even think about it,” said Charlton, who avoided serious injury when he was struck last Saturday. “Maybe I should have, but it didn’t occur to me at all.”

The Phillies set a National League record by not losing consecutive games during their first 33 games of the season. The previous record was held by the 1907 Cubs.

The bases-loaded single by Stocker, a Central Valley graduate, snapped a 3-3 tie.

“Different guys have made big plays all year,” said Phillies manager Jim Fregosi.

Dodgers 6, Braves 3

Atlanta

Roberto Kelly, facing his 1994 teammates for the first time this season, had three hits, scored twice and drove in three runs to lead Los Angeles over Atlanta.

Pirates 5, Reds 3

Pittsburgh

Denny Neagle (5-1) ran his winning streak to five games and ended Cincinnati’s at nine as Orlando Merced’s two homers and four RBIs led Pittsburgh.

Expos 6, Cardinals 2

Montreal

Montreal rookie Carlos Perez improved his record to 5-0, limiting St. Louis to five hits over seven-plus innings and lowering his earned-run average to a league-low 1.54.

Sanders avoids D.L.

Deion Sanders has a sprained and badly swollen left ankle but apparently no fracture, so the Cincinnati Reds decided not to put him on the disabled list.

Sanders, who is hitting .350 in his last 12 games, was injured Wednesday as he stumbled into third base attempting to steal.

Sanders is listed as dayto-day, but probably won’t be ready to play for at least a week.

Clearing the bases

Philadelphia, starting a nine-game road trip today, is 12-3 on the road… . Atlanta’s Marquis Grissom has not hit into a double play in 133 at-bats, tops in the majors… . Cincinnati’s Steve Gibralter, called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day, singled in his first major-league atbat… . St. Louis’ last 21 homers have been solo shots.