Expos’ Martinez Improves To 7-0

Pedro Martinez improved to 7-0 with seven solid innings and Mike Lansing matched a career-high with five hits including a home run, leading the Montreal Expos to a 7-4 victory Sunday over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

Martinez allowed three earned runs for the first time in 14 starts since last Aug. 24 and his earned-run average jumped from 0.79 to 1.20. He struck out seven, walked one and joined the Mets’ Bobby Jones (7-2) as the National League’s only seven-game winners.

Martinez set a club record by winning seven straight starts to open a season and earned his first win against the Dodgers in four career appearances, giving the Expos their sixth win in seven games. He allowed solo home runs by Todd Zeile in the fourth and Eric Karros in the seventh.

Braves 5, Cardinals 1

Atlanta

Tom Glavine, showing no effects of a sore hand that caused him to miss a start, pitched a seven-hitter and Atlanta won its third in a row.

Jeff Blauser broke up a tight pitching duel between Glavine and Andy Benes with a two-out, two-run double that snapped a 1-1 tie in the seventh. Benes (2-2) retired 19 in a row after giving up a first-inning run.

Reds 5, Padres 0

Cincinnati

Barry Larkin had a season-high three hits, including a bases-loaded single, and got a standing ovation for rally-killing defensive plays.

Dave Burba (4-4) gave up seven hits in six innings as the Reds pitched their first shutout of the season. Three relievers held the Padres to two hits in the final three innings.

Cincinnati stole seven bases, one by Larkin, and won for the second time in eight games. The Reds are off to their worst start in 47 years. The Padres couldn’t overcome Fernando Valenzuela’s shortest outing of the season.

Mets 10, Rockies 4

New York

Five straight walks by Colorado pitchers - three with the bases loaded - helped New York score eight runs in the eighth inning.

New York trailed 4-2 entering the eighth before Colorado’s bullpen totally unraveled, throwing 20 balls in 22 pitches to five batters.

Marlins 5, Pirates 3 (10)

Pittsburgh

Gregg Zaun hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit single in the 10th, one pitch after apparently thinking he had walked, and Florida overcame Midre Cummings’ two-run pinch homer in the ninth.

The Marlins swept a road trip for the first time in their five-year history by winning two in Atlanta and three in Pittsburgh.

Cubs 5, Giants 3

Chicago

Sammy Sosa’s first of two home runs - a 463-foot shot over the left field bleachers onto Waveland Avenue to make it 3-0 - was his 150th with Chicago, 10th highest in team history.

Sosa also led off the seventh with a shot to straightaway center that landed in the juniper bushes planted in the center field bleachers. It broke a a 3-3 tie and was the 22nd multi-homer game of his career.

Phillies 5, Astros 3

Philadelphia

Scott Rolen hit a two-run homer and Garrett Stephenson allowed only six hits and one unearned run over seven innings for Philadelphia.

Rolen’s third-inning home run, his third in three days and fourth of the season, gave the Phillies a 4-0 lead. Darren Daulton then followed with his fifth of the year.

Clearing the bases

Jeff Bagwell drove home a run in the eighth with a double, his 999th career hit…. Atlanta is 22-0 when leading after eight innings…. Tom Glavine is the winningest left-hander in baseball during the last nine years with 142 wins…. Manager Ray Knight coached third base for the third straight game and said he might keep the dual roles for the rest of the season…. Ryne Sandberg did not start because of a tender left groin…. The Dodgers failed to hit a double for the first time in 21 games.