National League Roundup : This Victory Has a Bitter Ending for Philadelphia’s Hudson

Charles Hudson, given his first start of the season by the desperate Philadelphia Phillies who had lost seven in a row, responded by holding the Reds to one hit in eight innings Tuesday at Cincinnati.

Hudson was leading, 4-0, but when the Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with nobody out, Manager John Felske sent in a hitter for his pitcher.

Although he gained his first victory when the Phillies ended their losing streak with a 7-1 victory, Hudson was a little bitter after being deprived of an opportunity to pitch his first major league shutout.

The pinch-hitter, Jeff Stone, grounded into a force at the plate, but Juan Samuel singled in two more runs to give him five for the game.

“With the bases loaded in that situation, when we’ve lost seven in a row, we go for the runs,” Felske said.

Hudson, in his third season with the Phillies, had made 12 relief appearances and was 0-2. He was given a starting job because of an injury to Jerry Koosman. The only hit was a single by Dave Parker leading off the fourth inning.

“Yes,” Hudson said, “I was upset. Any pitcher in that situation would be upset. But it’s not going to cause any bad vibes. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Samuel’s hitting--he had a three-run home run in the fifth--and Hudson’s pitching weren’t the only highlights for the floundering Phillies. Mike Schmidt hit his fourth home run. It was his second in two games and may indicate the veteran third baseman is emerging from a season-long slump.

Schmidt is still under .200. Samuel was batting .230 and had driven in only five runs in 29 games before doubling his RBI total.

San Francisco 3, Pittsburgh 1--If Hudson could just hit as well as some of the Giant pitchers, he might have had a shot at his shutout.

On Sunday, pitcher Jim Gott hit two home runs to help beat St. Louis, and in this game at San Francisco, Mike Krukow pitched a five-hitter and hit two doubles. The first one drove in two runs in the second inning to provide the runs the veteran right-hander needed to improve his record to 3-2. Krukow also lowered his ERA to 1.45.

“We (pitchers) all think we can hit,” Krukow said. “We work hard on our hitting. That’s what makes this game great. It feels good to make such a contribution.”

New York 3, Atlanta 1--The slump continues for the Braves. In this game at Atlanta they had only three hits, one a home run by Claudell Washington. The Braves have scored only two runs in the last 53 innings.

They are making some virtually unknown pitchers appear to be unbeatable. Rookie Calvin Schiraldi, who had a 6.00 ERA, held them to three hits before breaking the little toe on his right foot in the fifth inning. The Braves also drew six walks from Schiraldi. But another rookie, Roger McDowell, replaced Schiraldi and retired all 14 batters he faced, three of them on strikes.

A throwing error by shortstop Rafael Ramirez gave the Mets a run in the second, and Rick Mahler’s record fell to 7-2 when Gary Carter singled in one run in the fifth and George Foster doubled in the other.

San Diego 6, St. Louis 2--Kevin McReynolds hit a three-run home run at San Diego and unbeaten Andy Hawkins struggled to his seventh consecutive victory.

Hawkins gave up home runs to Andy Van Slyke and Darrell Porter and was removed with nobody out in the sixth. Mark Thurmond, usually a starter, went the rest of the way to pick up his first save. He gave up only two hits in four innings.

McReynolds hit his third home run with two on in the first inning off John Tudor (1-5).

Houston 10, Montreal 0--While other teams are struggling for a run or two, the Astros continue to score runs in bunches.

Jerry Mumphrey had three hits and drove in three runs, while Craig Reynolds had four hits and drove in two to pace a 17-hit attack at Houston.

Given all that help, rookies Ron Mathis and Mark Ross combined on a seven-hitter. Mathis went seven to raise his record to 2-1.