Major League Roundup : Coach’s Memory Helps Expos Beat Giants in 15

Montreal coach Larry Bearnarth turned a lesson learned this winter into a 15-inning, 4-2 victory for the Montreal Expos Monday at San Francisco.

Bearnarth remembered that Giant pitcher Frank Williams had trouble fielding his position while playing in the Puerto Rican winter league. So, when Montreal’s rookie reliever Randy St. Claire came up for his first major league at-bat in the top of the 15th, Bearnarth told him to think about bunting.

St. Claire laid down a near-perfect bunt and eventually came around as the winning run.

“I was on my own,” St. Claire said of the play. “But before I went up to bat, Larry Bearnarth told me the pitcher (Williams) had difficulty fielding. I thought I might as well bunt, it would probably be the only way I could get a hit.”

St. Claire beat out the bunt and moved to second when third baseman Chris Brown’s throw got by first baseman Scot Thompson. One out later, Williams, 0-2, walked U. L. Washington and Vance Law followed by hitting a slow roller down the third-base line that Williams fielded. However, his throw home was wild and allowed two runs to score.

St. Claire also got his first big league decision by shutting out the Giants on two hits over the final four innings.

“The hit I don’t really care about. Getting that first win is great,” he said.

St. Claire, who was with the Expos briefly last year, was recalled from the minors two weeks ago.

Philadelphia 3, San Diego 2--Ozzie Virgil hit a pair of homers to account for all the Phillies’ runs as they defeated the Padres at San Diego to snap a three-game losing streak.

Virgil cracked his seventh homer in the second inning to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead off Padres starter Dave Dravecky, 4-3, who had his personal four-game winning streak snapped.

Virgil made it 3-0 in the fourth when he belted a 2-1 pitch into the left-field seats to score Rick Schu, who had reached on shortstop Garry Templeton’s fielding error.

Kevin Gross (4-6) went 7 innings. Kent Tekulve came in to pick up his third save.

St. Louis 9, Houston 5--Andy Van Slyke and Willie McGee each had three hits, and Jack Clark belted a two-run homer to lift the Cardinals to a rain-delayed victory over the Astros at St. Louis.

Tommy Herr, the National League’s leading hitter and top RBI man, went 2 for 3 to boost his average to .377 and drove in two runs to give him 43 for the season.

John Tudor won to improve to 2-7, striking out three and walking two in five-plus innings. After an 84-minute rain delay, Ken Dayley came in to pitch the final four innings and earn his fifth save.

The Cardinals clubbed Houston starter Nolan Ryan (5-3) for eight runs and 11 hits in 4 innings.

Texas 7, Chicago 3--Larry Parrish drilled a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Rangers rallied for five runs to beat the White Sox at Arlington, Tex.

With one out and the score tied, 2-2, Toby Harrah and Buddy Bell singled before Parrish hit his third home run in two games, off Chicago starter Britt Burns, 6-5.

Greg Harris (1-1) pitched the last two innings for the victory in relief of starter Burt Hooton.

Boston 6, Cleveland 5--Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd gave the Indians four runs in the first two innings, then settled down and yielded just four hits the rest of the way as the Red Sox rallied to win at Boston.

Boyd (6-4) finished with a nine-hitter, struck out nine and walked two in recording his seventh complete game, tops in the American League.

Seattle 9, Detroit 8--Jim Presley hit a pair of two-run singles in the sixth and seventh innings to help the Mariners overcome a five-run deficit and defeat the Tigers at Detroit.

Darrell Evans had a pair of homers for the Tigers.

New York 5, Oakland 2--Phil Niekro pitched a five-hitter over eight innings for his 291st career victory, and Dave Winfield went 4 for 4 with two RBIs as the Yankees won at home.

Niekro (7-3) walked two and struck out six, including Dave Kingman three times.