Justice’s Monster Hr Sparks Braves

National League

David Justice turned an off night into a game-winning one Monday night with a 431-foot, two-run homer in the sixth inning that carried the Atlanta Braves to their third victory in a row, 4-3 over the Montreal Expos in Atlanta.

“I had just struck out twice,” Justice said. “I was just trying to get a pitch I could see. I was not thinking about a home run. Fortunately, I hit it well.”

After a 46-minute rain delay to start the game, the Braves overcame a 3-0 deficit in winning for the 10th time in 13 games. They handed the Expos their 10th loss in 12 games.

Ryan Klesko also homered for Atlanta and Tom Glavine (6-4) beat the Expos for only the seventh time in 18 career decisions.

“We’ve seen him (Glavine) a lot better than that, but he’s a great pitcher,” Expos manager Felipe Alou said. “He won the game. We knew he didn’t have his best stuff and he was high in the pitch count. We knew he wouldn’t go nine.”

Glavine thought he had better stuff than the results he got, with the Expos getting several bloop hits.

The Braves rallied off reliever Luis Aquino (0-2), who yielded a one-out double to Fred McGriff before Justice hit the next pitch over the center field fence. Klesko hit his seventh homer 418 feet over the right field fence in the fifth on a 1-2 pitch from starter Gil Heredia.

Astros 11, Cardinals 0

Houston

Greg Swindell pitched a six-hit shutout and rookie Orlando Miller drove in a career-high five runs with three hits as Houston scored 10 runs in the first two innings before coasting to the victory over St. Louis.

Swindell (5-3), who got his first shutout since Oct. 1, 1993, allowed only seven baserunners. He struck out five and walked one. Only three St. Louis runners made it as far as second base.

Pirates 8, Cubs 6

Chicago

Carlos Garcia went 3-for-4 with a homer and extended his hitting streak to 20 games as Pittsburgh beat Chicago, dropping the Cubs to .500 for the first time this season.

Garcia also doubled and singled and is hitting .365 (27-for-74) during his streak. Al Martin had three hits and three RBIs as the Pirates had a season-high 16 hits.

Dodgers 8, Padres 5

Los Angeles

Mike Piazza’s three-run, ninth-inning homer snapped a tie and lifted Los Angeles to its sixth straight victory by beating San Diego.

Reliever Brian Williams (1-5) hit Delino DeShields with a pitch, balked him to second and walked Jose Offerman to start the inning. Trevor Hoffman came on and Piazza drove his first pitch over the short fence near the right field pole for his 12th home run and seventh homer in his last 47 at-bats.

Marlins 9, Mets 4

Miami

Jeff Conine’s two-run homer sparked a five-run sixth inning, lifting Florida to the victory over New York, pushing the Mets deeper into last place in the N.L. East.

Florida, fresh off a 6-6 road trip, remain in fourth place, a berth the Marlins secured after Sunday’s 5-1 victory over Cincinnati. Florida bettered its league’s worse home record to 7-16.

Clearing the bases

Hideo Nomo of Los Angeles was selected the league’s player of the week. He allowed five hits in two starts, pitching his first career shutout Saturday, a two-hitter against San Francisco. For the week, he allowed only two runs and five hits in 17 innings with 21 strikeouts… . Denver’s Coors Field will be the site of the 1998 All-Star game, baseball officials formally announced. This year’s game will be played in Arlington, Texas, next year’s in Philadelphia, and the 1997 game in Cleveland.