BASEBALL - BRAVES RALLY TO BEAT CUBS .
ATLANTA 1996-08-25
Fred McGriff went 5-for-5 and homered twice , including a three-run blast with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning that lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday .
" I was just trying to hang in there and hit it up the middle , " said McGriff about his homer in the ninth . "
I was just looking for the ball , trying to stay on it .
Brad Clontz ( 6-2 ) picked up the win in relief for Atlanta , which has won 11 of its last 13 games .
In Colorado , Mark Thompson threw an eight-hitter for his third complete game and Ellis Burks homered and drove in three runs as the Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3 .
Vinny Castilla and Dante Bichette each added two RBI for Colorado , which improved the major league 's best home mark to 44-20 .
At Florida , Kevin Brown scattered seven hits over eight innings and Kurt Abbott snapped a sixth-inning tie with a two-run double as the Florida Marlins defeated the tired Cincinnati Reds 5-3 .
The Marlins won for just the third time in nine games , taking advantage of a Reds ' team that has not had a day off since August 8th and was playing its fourth game in 43 hours .
In Los Angeles , Tom Candiotti allowed two runs in seven innings and singled home the go-ahead run and Mike Piazza and Todd Hollandsworth drove in two runs apiece as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 7-5 .
Candiotti ( 8-9 ) walked one , allowed five hits and struck out a season-high eight batters for Los Angeles , which has won 10 of its last 14 games .
In San Diego , Joey Hamilton allowed two hits over seven innings and Rickey Henderson hit his major league-record 69th leadoff homer as the San Diego Padres defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1 for their fifth win in six games .
Hamilton ( 12-7 ) won his second straight start , allowing just a sixth-inning run and a pair of singles .
In San Francisco , Pedro Martinez allowed two hits in eight innings and David Segui drove in two runs as the Montreal Expos shut out the San Francisco Giants 3-0 for their third straight win .
Martinez ( 11-7 ) , who lasted just 1-1/3 innings in his last start against San Diego five days ago , pitched eight-plus innings , walking four and striking out 10 .
In Houston , Orlando Miller 's two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth off Todd Stottlemyre gave the Houston Astros a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals and left the teams in a virtual tie for the lead in the NL Central division .
Shane Reynolds ( 16-6 ) fired a five-hitter , walking one and striking out six .