National League Roundup : Padres’ Dravecky Cools Reds, 3-0

Early last week, when it appeared the Dodgers were poised to make a move on first place, the San Diego Padres took the last two games of a three-game series to beat them back.

Friday night, the second-place Cincinnati Reds, riding a three-game winning streak, came to Jack Murphy Stadium and took the opener, 11-9, moving within four games of first place. Momentum seemed to be shifting to the Midwest, especially since the Reds were scheduled to start their ace, Mario Soto, Saturday night.

But left-hander Dave Dravecky restored order, stopping Cincinnati, 3-0, on eight hits for his fourth consecutive victory.

The win boosted San Diego’s lead in the West to five games, the biggest advantage in baseball’s four divisions.

Dravecky (8-4) pitched his second shutout of the season, walking three and striking out four. He lowered his earned-run average to 2.02, second best in the league. He has allowed only one run in his last 34 innings.

Dravecky worked his way out of several jams to beat Soto (8-7), who lost his fourth straight, the first time he has lost four in a row since 1981.

Soto pitched well but wilted in the sixth, when he gave up triples to Garry Templeton and Tim Flannery and a run-scoring single to Tony Gwynn.

Carmelo Martinez closed out the scoring with his 10th home run of the season in the seventh off reliever Tom Hume.

St. Louis 6, New York 0--Joaquin Andujar became the first 13-game winner in the major leagues, shutting out the Mets on six hits at St. Louis.

Andujar (13-3), who had lost his last two bids for No. 13, struck out three and walked one in recording his seventh complete game.

The victory pushed the Cardinals, who have won 11 of their last 14 games, into first place in the National League East, a half-game ahead of the Montreal Expos.

St. Louis got to Met rookie Rick Aguilera (1-2) for four runs in the second inning, the scoring interrupted by a 39-minute rain delay. The Cardinals, possessors of baseball’s best home record (23-10), surpassed the 1-million mark in attendance with a crowd of 47,891. The Cardinals have drawn a million fans for 23 straight seasons, this being the earliest they have reached the plateau.

Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 5--Tony Pena led off the bottom of the 15th with a solo home run to lift the Pirates past the Cubs at Pittsburgh.

Pena’s homer was his fifth of the season and his fifth game-winning RBI. It also made a loser of George Frazier (3-2) and snapped the Cubs’ three-game winning streak. The win went to Rick Reuschel (5-1), who pitched one inning of scoreless relief.

The Cubs had tied the score at 5-5 in the top of the ninth. Ryne Sandberg led off with an infield single, his fourth hit of the game, and moved to third when reliever John Candelaria overthrew first base. Gary Matthews then walked, and Keith Moreland followed with a sacrifice fly.

Houston 8, San Francisco 1--Bob Knepper may be the best road show in the majors. The left-hander gave up four hits, struck out six and walked two at Candlestick Park to hand the struggling Giants their ninth loss in a row.

Knepper (8-4) has won 10 straight games on visiting fields, dating back to June 29, 1984, when he lost at Philadelphia.

Saturday, however, his contributions were not restricted to his pitching. Knepper came into the game with one hit in 32 at-bats, but he had a two-run single in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth to make a loser of Atlee Hammaker (3-8). It was the fifth career homer for Knepper, who has a .141 career average.

The loss tied a San Francisco franchise record for consecutive defeats, set last season. The Giants have also lost 11 straight to Houston dating back to last year.

Philadelphia 6, Montreal 2--Garry Maddox had three hits and drove in three runs to back the four-hit pitching of Kevin Gross as the Phillies stopped the Expos at Montreal.

Gross (6-7), who struck out five and walked only one in his first complete game of the season, did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.

The Phillies struck quickly against Expo starter Mickey Mahler (1-2). Juan Samuel led off the first with a single, and one out later, Mike Schmidt doubled. After Glenn Wilson grounded out, Ozzie Virgil walked to load the bases, and Maddox blooped a double to right, scoring Samuel and Schmidt.

Montreal scored in the fifth when rookie Al Newman got his team’s first hit, a single, went to second on an infield out and scored on Andre Dawson’s pinch single.