NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Robinson Provides Phillies With Sound Effort

The Angels released pitcher Don Robinson because they thought he was injury-prone and unreliable.

That may prove true as the season wears on, but the Philadelphia Phillies are happy they picked up the veteran right-hander on May 22.

Robinson, making his first appearance since April 21, pitched five perfect innings and combined with three relievers on a two-hitter as the Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves, 5-2, Tuesday night at Philadelphia.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him throw in three or four years,” Braves’ Manager Bobby Cox said. “He really had the forkball or whatever it was going for him. He really pitched well.”

Robinson allowed only Jeff Blauser’s leadoff single in the sixth, struck out five and did not walk a batter in six innings. It was his first National League win since last July 15, when he defeated the New York Mets while pitching for San Francisco. He was 1-0 with the Angels.

“Since it was my first start in five weeks I wasn’t worried about throwing strikes, but about how far I could go,” Robinson said. “I’m really glad to be back on the East Coast and I’m especially glad to be back in the National League.

Relievers Mike Hartley, Wally Ritchie and Mitch Williams finished, with Williams working two innings for his eighth save.

The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning against Mike Bielecki (1-3). Ricky Jordan led off with a single and scored on Mickey Morandini’s double to left-center. One out later. Morandini stole third and scored on Lenny Dykstra’s two-out double.

Philadelphia added three runs in the eighth off reliever Mike Stanton.

Darren Daulton hit it his fourth home run and Morandini had an inside-the-park homer for the Phillies.

“Robinson did a great job, especially for not pitching in a while,” Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi said. “He mixed his pitches very well and had excellent command.”

San Francisco 3, Chicago 2--Cory Synder drove in the winning run with a single against Chuck McElroy with two out in the top of the ninth at Chicago.

The Giants broke a 2-2 tie with three consecutive two-out hits against McElroy (2-3). Robby Thompson singled, moved to third on Will Clark’s single and scored when Synder followed with a line drive to left.

Cub starter Danny Jackson, who has not won since last June, took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning, but was taken out after issuing a leadoff walk to Kirt Manwaring and a single to Jose Uribe. Bob Scanlan relieved and got Kevin Bass to foul out. But pinch-hitter Willie McGee doubled off the left-field wall, scoring Manwaring and Uribe to tie the score, 2-2.

“It came down to one mistake,” Cub Manager Jim Lefebvre said. “We talked about it before the game--don’t throw him a fastball on the first pitch, especially in an RBI situation. He threw it right down the middle and paid for it.”

Mike Jackson (1-1) pitched one inning for the victory. Jeff Brantley worked the ninth for his fifth save.

Chicago took the lead against Bud Black in the fourth. Mark Grace walked, Ryne Sandberg doubled and Andre Dawson was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Luis Salazar grounded out to second and Grace scored, putting the Cubs ahead, 1-0. Joe Girardi was walked intentionally to fill the bases, but Jose Vizcaino grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Houston 9, Montreal 4--Steve Finley of the Astros drove in four runs with a two-run single and a two-run triple at Montreal.

It was the third consecutive loss for the Expos after two victories under new Manager Felipe Alou. The victory was the sixth in 19 road games for the Astros.

“We’ve been struggling to score runs this year,” Finley said. “We haven’t had too many easy games this year so it’s nice to get those runs.”

Finley’s two-run single came in the seventh after Craig Biggio broke a 4-4 tie with a run-scoring single. The go-ahead run was charged to Chris Nabholz (2-4), who was replaced by Mel Rojas after Scott Servais led off the seventh with a double and took third on a wild pitch.

Rojas walked pinch-hitter Casey Candaele but struck out pinch-hitter Benny Distefano before Biggio grounded a hit-and-run single to right field, scoring Servais and sending Candaele to third.

Joe Boever (1-1) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the victory. Doug Jones got the final four outs for his 11th save.

Servais’ two-run double in the second gave the Astros a 2-0 lead. The Expos came back with a run in their half of the inning on consecutive doubles by Tim Wallach and Gary Carter against Darryl Kile.

Marquis Grissom hit his fifth homer and Larry Walker hit his ninth for the Expos.

Jeff Bagwell hit his second homer for the Astros.

San Diego 6, Pittsburgh 3--Darrin Jackson won the game with a three-run homer against Dennis Lamp in the 10th inning at San Diego.

Benito Santiago doubled with two out and Kurt Stillwell was intentionally walked before Jackson hit a 3-and-0 pitch for his sixth homer, sending the Pirates to their fourth consecutive loss and 10th in 11 games.

Gary Sheffield was 0 for 5, ending an 18-game hitting streak, longest in the majors this season.