NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pirates Lose Van Slyke for Six to Eight Weeks

Andy Van Slyke, the All-Star center fielder of the Pittsburgh Pirates, suffered a broken right collarbone Monday night when he slammed into the wall during the Pirates’ 8-3 loss to the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Van Slyke is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks.

“We can’t lose him,” pitcher Denny Neagle said. “That’s the worst thing that can happen.”

Van Slyke, hitting .322, leads the Pirates with six home runs and 39 runs batted in.

Van Slyke suffered the injury chasing Erik Pappas’ first major league home run, a two-run shot, in the fourth inning.

Van Slyke got his glove on the ball, but it glanced off and went into a row of bushes beyond the wall. He was down on the warning track for several minutes.

“Andy plays in pain,” said Kent Biggerstaff, Pirate trainer. “But he was sore in a couple of places and you have to take what he says seriously.”

Gregg Jefferies also hit a two-run homer to rally Cardinals rallied from a two-run deficit.

Philadelphia 10, Montreal 3--Terry Mulholland improved to 9-1 lifetime against the Expos as the Phillies extended their season-best winning streak to six games at Montreal.

The Expos have lost seven of nine and dropped 12 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia in the National League East.

Mulholland (8-5) gave up eight hits, struck out four and walked three in 8 1/3 innings.

New York 7, Atlanta 4--Met rookie Doug Saunders had his second two-hit day in as many major league games and Bobby Bonilla drove in two runs as New York ended a six-game losing streak at Atlanta.

Saunders, who scored three runs, is four for nine in two games with the Mets since being called up from triple-A Norfolk on June 13.

Bonilla, who has 23 RBIs in his last 29 games, drove in Saunders in the first with a single and again with a double in the fifth.

Chicago 6, Florida 3--Jose Guzman drove in his first major league run and gave up three runs over six innings before leaving with a stiff lower back at Chicago as the Cubs ended the Marlins’ four-game winning streak.

Guzman (6-5) gave up seven hits, walked four and struck out one. Randy Myers, the fourth Chicago pitcher, worked the ninth for his 19th save.