Atlanta Wins Fourth Straight Title
National League
The Atlanta Braves became the first National League team to win four straight division titles, clinching the East on Wednesday with a 9-7 win over Colorado coupled with a loss by second-place Philadelphia.
Atlanta won N.L. West championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The Braves moved to the N.L. East last year, and were in second place behind Montreal when the strike ended the season in mid-August, and no division titles were officially awarded.
“It’s no big deal,” outfielder David Justice said in Cincinnati.”We’ve been there four years. I guess I’m spoiled,” Justice said.The
Braves’ flight was 37,000 feet over St. Joseph, Mo., when the team learned that it had clinched. There was applause, but the club did not break out the champagne that it had on ice in Denver.
Expos 5, Phillies 4
Montreal
Rondell White went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and scored a run as Montreal beat Philadelphia to gain a split of the two-game series.
White, batting .567 over an eight-game hitting streak and .688 in the last four games, singled home Joe Siddall to snap a 2-2 tie in the fifth.
Reds 6, Marlins 0
Cincinnati
Pete Schourek took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Barry Larkin capped a three-run fifth with his 14th homer as Cincinnati downed Florida.
Schourek (16-7) walked Chuck Carr in the first, but he was thrown out trying to steal second. Schourek was perfect after that until Charles Johnson singled cleanly to center with one out in the sixth.
Cubs 7, Dodgers 6 (13)
Chicago
Shawon Dunston drove in a run with a bases-loaded chopper in the 13th inning as Chicago defeated Los Angeles despite blowing a three-run lead in the ninth.
Chicago moved within four games of Los Angeles in the N.L. wild card race.
Cardinals 8, Giants 4
St. Louis
David Bell homered and drove in three runs as St. Louis completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco.
The Cardinals, who outscored the Giants 31-9 in the series, won their season-high sixth in a row.
Padres 8, Pirates 7
Pittsburgh
Pinch-hitter Roberto Petagine’s two-run double keyed a four-run seventh inning that carried San Diego past Pittsburgh.
The Padres used five pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner against four Pirates relievers in the eighth.
Mets 10, Astros 5
New York
Damon Buford hit a pair of homers and Jeff Kent and Carl Everett had one each, leading New York over Houston and preventing the Astros from gaining a game in the wild card standings.
Bobby Jones (9-8) got his fourth straight victory.
Clearing the bases
New York rookie pitcher Bill Pulsipher is out for the season due to a sprained ligament in his left elbow…. The Dodgers are 9-16 the day after Hideo Nomo pitches.