National League Roundup : Giants Can’t Keep the Cardinals Down, Either
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After beating the Dodgers four times in two nights, the St. Louis Cardinals went to work on demoralizing another team Thursday night.
Their latest victims were the San Francisco Giants, who took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the 10th inning at St. Louis. But the Cardinals rallied for four runs to defeat the Giants, 7-6, extending their winning streak to eight games and their lead in the National League East to 9 1/2 games.
It was the second rally of the game for the Cardinals, after John Morris hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning off Giant starter Mike Krukow to tie the score, 3-3. In the 10th inning, the Giants appeared to have the game in hand when Chris Speier drove in a run with a ground-out and Jeffrey Leonard drove in two more with a single.
But in the bottom of the 10th, Joe Price walked leadoff man Ozzie Smith. Scott Garrelts (6-6) replaced Price and walked Terry Pendleton. After Tommy Herr fouled out, Garrelts walked Jack Clark to load the bases for Willie McGee, who hit a two-run double to make it 6-5, and Mike LaCoss replaced Garrelts.
LaCoss struck out pinch-hitter Vince Coleman and intentionally walked Morris to reload the bases. But the strategy failed when Tony Pena beat out a grounder to shortstop Jose Uribe to tie the game and Jose Oquendo followed with a single to left field to win it.
Houston 4, New York 3--The Mets rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game, but Bill Doran hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the inning to win for the Astros at Houston.
Jim Deshaies brought a 3-1 lead and a four-hitter into the ninth but left after Tim Teufel’s leadoff single. In came Dave Smith, who did not make the All-Star squad despite his 15 saves and 0.52 earned-run average.
Smith allowed a single to Keith Hernandez and a one-out walk to Darryl Strawberry to load the bases. Kevin McReynolds drove in a run on a force play, and Howard Johnson followed with a single to tie the game, 3-3. It was the first time this season that Smith failed in a save opportunity.
In Game 6 of last year’s National League Championship Series, with the Astros leading, 3-0, entering the ninth inning and on the verge of forcing a seventh game, the Mets rallied for three runs to tie and force extra innings, eventually winning in 16.
But Doran saw to it that there was no similar development, drilling a 1-and-1 pitch from Randy Myers (1-4) over the left-field fence for his 11th home run. Smith got the win, his first decision of the season.
Atlanta 11, Philadelphia 6--Dale Murphy drove in five runs with a grand slam and a single to lead the Braves past the Phillies at Atlanta.
The Phillies led, 6-5, entering the sixth inning, but the Braves sent 11 men to the plate and scored 6 runs.
After Andres Thomas singled in a run to tie the game, Murphy connected off Phillie reliever Doug Bair for his 25th home run of the season and his fourth career grand slam. Ken Griffey followed Murphy with his 11th homer for the Braves’ final run.
Philadelphia third baseman Mike Schmidt hit a three-run home run in the first inning, giving him 18 for the season. It was the 513th of his career, moving him ahead of Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks into the No. 11 spot on the all-time list.
Cincinnati 7, Montreal 2--Nick Esasky hit a three-run home run, and Tracy Jones and Dave Parker added solo shots at Cincinnati as the Reds beat the Expos for the eighth straight time.
Esasky hit his 10th home run with one hand, as his right hand slipped off the bat at the start of his swing. He still managed to hit it over the left-field fence to give the Reds a 3-1 lead in the second inning with his second home run in two games.
Jones and Parker homered in the third to give the Reds a 5-1 lead and knock out Montreal pitcher Neal Heaton (10-4), who earlier in the day was passed over in selections for the NL All-Star team.
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