NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Coleman Steals Home and Spotlight as Cardinals Stop Cubs, 9-4

Fours were wild for Vince Coleman of the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday night at St. Louis.

Coleman had four hits in four at-bats, with a home run and a triple, scored four runs and stole four bases, including home in the eighth inning as the Cardinals ended the Chicago Cubs’ eight-game winning streak with a 9-4 victory.

“I just do the best I can and let you guys clap for me,” Coleman said to reporters after the last-place Cardinals won for the fifth time in six games and stopped the Cubs’ longest streak since 1978.

“I’ve gone five for five before, but I’ve never done anything like this. This is the best game of my career.”

Reliever Scott Terry (1-5) pitched four scoreless innings for his first victory since last Aug. 11, Willie McGee had two hits to extend his hitting streak to a major-league high 17 games, and Pedro Guerrero and Tom Pagnozzi drove in two runs apiece for the Cardinals.

McGee had two hits in five at-bats. He is 30 for 70 (.429) with 11 runs batted in during the streak, raising his average to .332. He’s also 15 for 34 against the Cubs with eight RBIs and is batting .398 (33 for 83) in July.

But Coleman stole the show.

He walked, stole second and scored in the first, hit his fifth home run of the season--and second in three days--in the second, singled and stole a base in the fourth, then tripled and scored in the sixth. In the eighth he singled, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored easily on an 0-and-2 pitch in the dirt from Mike Bielecki as catcher Joe Girardi scooped the ball out too late on a close play at the plate.

San Diego 10, Cincinnati 0--Bruce Hurst pitched a two-hitter and Roberto Alomar drove in three runs at San Diego to help the Padres snap an eight-game losing streak.

Alomar hit a two-run single in the fifth and a had sacrifice fly in the seventh. Tony Gwynn added a double, two singles and two RBIs for the Padres, who used 16 hits to end their longest losing streak since 1980.

Hurst (6-8) struck out eight and walked two in his first shutout and fourth complete game of the season.

The win was Greg Riddoch’s second in 13 games since taking over as Padre manager.

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 3--Doug Drabek won his fourth consecutive start and Barry Bonds celebrated his 26th birthday with three hits and three stolen bases at Montreal.

Drabek (12-4) gave up six hits, struck out four and walked one in 7 1/3 innings. Stan Belinda pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

Pittsburgh, which remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mets in the East, scored twice in the fifth off starter Kevin Gross (8-7) to take a 4-2 lead. Wally Backman led off with a double and scored on Jay Bell’s single, with Bell taking second when the throw hit Backman as he crossed the plate.

Reliever Steve Frey got the next two hitters, but Bonds drove home Bell with a single. Bonds is batting .493 with runners in scoring position.

New York 7, Philadelphia 4--Mackey Sasser hit a pair of two-run homers at Philadelphia as the Mets rallied to beat the Phillies.

The Mets trailed, 4-0, when Howard Johnson walked to lead off the seventh inning and Sasser followed with a homer.

New York scored four more runs in the eighth to take a 6-4 lead. Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds singled with one out. Johnson doubled on reliever Roger McDowell’s first pitch to score Strawberry and McReynolds, tying the game. Sasser followed with his fifth homer of the season.

Atlanta 9-9, Houston 3-8--Juan Agosto’s wild pitch with two out in the 10th inning gave the Braves the win in the second game at Atlanta. Rookie Dave Justice hit a three-run homer in the opener to help the Braves win the opener.

The sweep gave the Braves a four-game winning streak and continued the Astros’ troubles on the road. They are 11-36 away from the Astrodome, worst road record in the majors. They have lost 23 of their last 25 games on the road.