National League Roundup : Darling, Orosco One-Hit Pirates

Tuesday was one of those nights at Pittsburgh.

Ron Darling couldn’t believe he left the game with a one-hitter and nearly lost. Jose DeLeon couldn’t believe he struck out 14 and allowed only four hits over eight innings and didn’t win.

Darling and Jesse Orosco teamed on a one-hitter, Howard Johnson made key plays on both offense and defense, and Keith Hernandez hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly to give the New York Mets a 2-1 victory over the Pirates.

“That was as good a pitched game on both sides as I’ve ever seen,” said Met Manager Dave Johnson, whose team won for the sixth time in seven games and the fifth time by one run.

“I’ve never seen two pitchers pitch that well and neither of them get a decision,” Pirate Manager Chuck Tanner said of Darling and DeLeon.

Darling didn’t give up a hit after Johnny Ray’s leadoff single in the first, yet the Pirates gained a 1-1 tie and chased him in the eighth inning without the benefit of a hit.

Mookie Wilson then greeted reliever John Candelaria with a triple to lead off the ninth and came home with the game-winning run on Hernandez’s sacrifice fly.

DeLeon didn’t figure in the decision despite striking out two Mets in each of the first five innings and tying a Pirate club record for the most strikeouts by a right-hander.

“We just don’t get any runs for Jose, I don’t understand it,” third baseman Bill Madlock said. “Every team has a hard-luck pitcher, and he’s our hard-luck pitcher.”

Last season, the Pirates were either shut out or held to one run in 11 of DeLeon’s 13 losses. He dropped nine straight decisions during one stretch and ended 7-13.

Cincinnati 2, Atlanta 1--Eric Davis cracked a sixth-inning leadoff homer to back the seven-hit pitching of Mario Soto as the Reds edged the Braves at Atlanta.

With the score 1-1 in the sixth, Davis drilled a 2-2 pitch off reliever Rick Camp over the left-field fence. It was his first homer of the season.

Soto (2-1) struck out eight and walked two to record his first complete game in three starts.

Atlanta had tied the score in the second on Dale Murphy’s fifth homer of the year, a drive over the left-field fence.

The Reds grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second off starter Len Barker. With one out, Nick Esasky singled and was forced at second by Dave Concepcion. Ron Oester then doubled to center to score Concepcion.

Chicago 1, Philadelphia 0--Bob Dernier’s one-out single down the left-field line broke a scoreless tie and gave the Cubs their fourth straight victory.

The loss dropped Philadelphia to 1-6, the Phillies’ worst start in eight years. The game was played in 46-degree temperature at Chicago with winds gusting to 24 m.p.h.

Larry Bowa led off the 10th with his third hit of the game, a single to center, and went to second on pinch-hitter Chris Speier’s sacrifice off Al Holland, before Dernier delivered his game-winning hit.

Dennis Eckersley (1-1) scattered five hits and struck out 11 in 10 innings to earn the victory.

San Diego 2, San Francisco 1--Andy Hawkins, Craig Lefferts and Rich Gossage combined on an eight-hitter to lead the Padres to the win at San Diego.

Hawkins (2-0) went the first 6 innings and allowed seven hits. Lefferts got the final out in the seventh, and Gossage pitched two innings to earn his first save this year.

San Diego turned four double plays in the win.