NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Wallach Goes Back to Third and Homers

One of the first moves made by Manager Felipe Alou of the Montreal Expos was the return Tim Wallach from first base to third base.

Wallach showed his appreciation Saturday at Montreal.

Larry Walker and Wallach hit consecutive home runs in the eighth inning, and the Expos rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-6.

Walker hit his eighth home run off Mike Stanton to break a tie, and four pitches later, Wallach hit his second. Wallach’s turned out to be a big one when Greg Olson homered off Expo reliever John Wetteland in the ninth inning.

“I’m willing to go back and forth (between third and first) if it helps because we’re playing well,” Wallach said. “It’s good to get back over to third. It’s like old times. I felt uncomfortable at first, although I’ve become familiar enough to play there.

“Felipe doesn’t want me to blow my arm out at third. It’s a good idea for me to play both spots. It’s for my arm more than anything.”

Alou indicated Wallach would be in the lineup at one of the positions.

“I’m not going to take Wallach out of the lineup, even if he’s only batting .150,” Alou said.

The Expos jumped on Charlie Leibrandt for eight hits and four runs in three innings.

The Braves, who won the pennant last season, fell to 19-25. A year ago they were 25-19.

New York 6, San Francisco 3--The two players who must come through if the Mets have a chance to win the East produced this victory at San Francisco.

Bobby Bonilla went four for five, including a three-run home run, and Dwight Gooden (4-4) had his most impressive outing of the season.

Gooden gave up five hits in eight innings, his longest stint since undergoing shoulder surgery last fall, to end the Giants’ four-game winning streak.

The only blemish against Gooden was Cory Snyder’s home run to lead off the eighth inning.

Bonilla, who had a double and two singles in addition to his fifth home run, has three home runs and 10 runs batted in over the last five games. Bonilla is 11 for 20 in the five games. He raised his average to .265.

Bonilla hit a towering home run off Dave Burba (2-5) with one out in the third inning to give Gooden a solid lead.

“I was just looking to get the run in from third,” Bonilla said. “I got a fastball I could turn on.”

Eddie Murray drove in a run for the Mets to reach the 1,500 RBI mark.

Cincinnati 10, Philadelphia 0--Greg Swindell pitched a six-hitter at Philadelphia for his first shutout in almost three years and was prominent at bat, too.

Swindell, getting to swing a bat after six seasons in the American League, had two hits and drove in two runs.

“It was like a dream game to get two hits and pitch a shutout,” said Swindell (4-2). “I tried not to think about it (the shutout), but I really wanted it. I got a second wind about the second inning.”

Hal Morris had three hits and Bip Roberts drove in two runs as the Reds ended the Phillies’ three-game winning streak.

St. Louis 10, Houston 4--Ray Lankford tripled with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and Donovan Osborne survived a rocky first inning at St. Louis to win his fifth game.

After giving up three runs and three hits in the first inning, Osborne gave up only one earned run and three more hits over the next five.

With the score tied in the sixth inning, the Astros walked Tom Pagnozzi to get to Lankford and the center fielder made them pay.

Cris Carpenter pitched three hitless innings for the save and singled home the last two runs.

Ozzie Smith had three hits for the Cardinals and needs only four to reach 2,000.

Chicago 7, San Diego 2--Ryne Sandberg ended an 0-for-17 slump with three hits at San Diego, including a home run. He drove in three runs and the Cubs stopped a three-game losing streak.

Mike Morgan (4-2) pitched six innings to win his fourth in a row. He gave up a two-run home run to Gary Sheffield in the fifth inning. Sheffield, who has hit safely in 16 games in a row, leads the league with 36 runs batted in.