National League Roundup : Pirates Help Themselves, Dodgers

When the New York Mets failed to take charge of the National League East before the All-Star break, it gave new hope to the young, talented Pittsburgh Pirates.

Although their best pitcher, John Smiley, had to leave because of a hand injury after one inning Thursday night at Pittsburgh, the Pirates rallied to rout the San Francisco Giants, 9-2, for their sixth straight victory.

The Pirates remained 3 1/2 games behind the Mets. The Giants fell four games behind the Dodgers in the West.

Brian Fisher took over after Smiley complained of inflammation in the joints of the fingers on his pitching hand. Smiley, who has won six straight decisions, is expected to be ready for his next start.

Fisher, removed from the starting rotation because of a series of poor outings, pitched 5 scoreless innings to gain his first victory since May 21. He last relieved more than a year ago.

Andy Van Slyke and Darnell Coles each drove in four runs as the Pirates beat Rick Reuschel (11-5) for the third time this season.

Van Slyke, the fleet center fielder who says his goal is to get 20 home runs, 20 steals and 20 triples, moved closer to his goal. He had 2 triples and now has 14 triples, 14 home runs and 12 stolen bases.

“When we fell 7 1/2 games back early this month, we thought we were in real trouble,” Van Slyke said. “But we’ve discovered that we’re back in the race and we are enjoying it.”

New York 9, Atlanta 8--The Mets, acting not at all like a team ready for a runaway, staggered to victory in the 11th inning at Atlanta after blowing an 8-3 lead.

Dale Murphy hit a three-run homer off Ron Darling in the first, but the Mets scored the next eight runs.

The Braves pulled even in the eighth, before left fielder Ken Griffey, who earlier got his 2,000th hit, made an error in the 11th to give the Mets the win.

With Darryl Strawberry on first base, Kevin McReynolds singled to left, his fifth hit of the game. When Griffey bobbled the ball, Strawberry went all the way home.

Montreal 1, Cincinnati 0--Everything generally goes right for the Expos in extra innings.

Danny Jackson (10-5), who has been effective all season for the Reds, struck out second baseman Rex Hudler for what should have been the second out in the bottom of the 10th at Montreal. However, the last strike was a wild pitch, and Hudler reached first base. He came home on Luis Rivera’s triple.

It gave the Expos their eighth straight victory and their 13th in 17 extra-inning games this season. Jeff Parrett (10-2), who retired all six batters he faced, improved his career record in extra-inning games to 8-0. Pascual Perez matched Jackson through eight innings, giving up only three hits.

Houston 7, Philadelphia 5--Relief pitcher Juan Agosto (7-0) failed to hold a lead for Mike Scott at Philadelphia, but the Astros rallied in the ninth to win their fourth in a row.

Scott, taken off the disabled list just before the game, left with a 5-3 lead after giving up three runs and four hits in six innings. One of the hits was Mike Schmidt’s 537th home run, which put him ahead of Mickey Mantle on the career list.

Billy Hatcher’s one-out double in the ninth and Rafael Ramirez’s run-scoring single made a winner out of Agosto.

San Diego 3, St. Louis 1--Returning home failed to end the Cardinals’ deep slump. With the Padres’ Andy Hawkins (9-7) pitching a six-hitter, they lost their seventh in a row and 12th in their last 14.

Hawkins lost his shutout when Tom Brunansky hit his 14th home run in the ninth inning.

Reliever Dan Quisenberry, just signed by the Cardinals, came in with two on and one out in the ninth and gave up two run-scoring singles.