NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Sheffield Homers Touch Off Brawl; Padres Win

Gary Sheffield hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and Trevor Wilson took it out on Fred McGriff by hitting him with a pitch that caused a bench-clearing brawl during the San Diego Padres’ 9-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants Thursday night at San Francisco.

Frank Seminara (1-2) picked up his first major league victory in his fourth big league start, going six innings before being ejected for throwing a pitch that hit Robby Thompson in the seventh.

The benches emptied for a second time after Thompson was hit, but only words were exchanged. The game proceeded after Mike Maddux replaced Seminara, who gave up five hits and four runs in helping send the Giants to a sixth consecutive loss. Maddux pitched three innings to get his second save.

McGriff stepped in against Wilson after Sheffield hit the first grand slam of his career to give the Padres an 8-0 lead in the fourth.

Wilson’s next pitch hit McGriff on his right leg. McGriff dropped his bat and charged the mound. Wilson threw his glove at McGriff and the two tumbled to the ground.

In an instant, the benches cleared, with players and coaches from both sides mixing it up. It took about 15 minutes for the umpires to restore order.

At one point, the fight seemed to be dying down. But as Wilson walked away from the mound toward the dugout, McGriff went over to him and the two exchanged punches again. Other players and coaches rejoined the melee before calm was restored.

Wilson and McGriff were ejected. Wilson (5-6), whose face appeared puffy as he left the game, gave up eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Sheffield, who had a career-high six runs batted in, suffered a strained left shoulder in the brawl and left the game. McGriff suffered a strained muscle in his left rib cage.

Also ejected were San Francisco batting coach Dusty Baker, Padre third base coach Bruce Kimm, bullpen catcher Ron Ogelsby and pitcher Jose Melendez.

Cincinnati 7, Atlanta 5--Glenn Braggs hit a two-run pinch homer in the 10th inning at Atlanta, lifting the Reds past the Braves for their seventh consecutive victory.

The game drew a sellout crowd of 47,896, the largest in Atlanta since 1983.

Scott Bankhead (8-1) picked up the victory with 2 1/3 innings of relief in the opener of the four-game series between two of baseball’s hottest teams. Norm Charlton picked up his 16th save.

It was Cincinnati’s 19th victory in 23 games. The loss ended Atlanta’s winning streak at seven.

Paul O’Neill hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Reds a 5-3 lead. The Braves tied it in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded single by Otis Nixon.

St. Louis 8, New York 3--Omar Olivares pitched seven shutout innings and sparked a three-run rally with a double as the Cardinals beat the Mets at New York.

New York has lost six of seven and dropped into a virtual tie with Philadelphia for the East cellar.

Olivares (4-3) gave up two hits, struck out three and walked three.

With two out in the fourth, Olivares doubled off Pete Schourek (0-3) and scored on Geronimo Pena’s single. Bernard Gilkey added an RBI single and Felix Jose hit a run-scoring double.

Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 0--Chris Nabholz and Jeff Fassero stopped the Pirates on three hits and the Expos won at Pittsburgh.

Nabholz (5-5) was working on a two-hitter when he walked the bases full with one out in the sixth.

Manager Felipe Alou turned to Fassero, who got Don Slaught to ground into an inning-ending double play and pitched 3 2/3 innings of one-hit relief for his first save.

Moises Alou, Larry Walker and Tim Wallach had run-scoring doubles for the Expos in the first inning off Vicente Palacios (3-2).

Philadelphia 4, Chicago 3--Lenny Dykstra hit a two-run double in the eighth inning at Philadelphia and the Phillies ended the Cubs’ six-game winning streak.

Former Dodger Mike Hartley (3-1) pitched one scoreless inning for the victory, and Mitch Williams pitched the ninth for his 13th save.