National League Roundup : Rose Has the Right Man at Plate

With the game on the line and Goose Gossage on the mound, Cincinnati Manager Pete Rose had the man he wanted at the plate during the ninth inning Sunday at San Diego.

The batter was Pete Rose, the player.

With runners on first and second and one out, Rose bounced a 1-2 pitch through the left-side hole to gave the Reds a 3-2 victory over Andy Hawkins and the Padres.

“I wanted to bat in that situation, especially since I’d already batted two other times with runners on, and I didn’t knock anyone in,” Rose said.

“I might be wrong, but I don’t think that there’s any guy who can blow it by me on a fastball. He tried the sinker down on me and really got the ball he wanted, but I hit the hole.”

The winning rally began when Nick Esasky led off with a single against Hawkins (11-2). Gary Redus sacrificed Esasky to second, and Hawkins walked Eddie Milner. Rose then singled.

Rose’s second hit of the day pulled him within 39 of breaking Ty Cobb’s all-time hit mark of 4,191.

The victory, the second in the three-game series for the Reds, moved Cincinnati within four games of NL West-leading San Diego. In their first meeting this year, the Padres had won three of four games with Cincinnati.

“We wanted to come back out here and play well,” Rose said. “Every series is important--I don’t care if it’s still June. The guys might have been tight that first series, but a good player learns from that kind of experience. That was the first big series for this team in two or three years.”

John Franco (4-1) earned the victory by pitching the final two innings, giving up one hit. Cincinnati starter Tom Browning went the first seven innings allowing just two hits.

Houston 6-4, San Francisco 2-7--Vida Blue pitched 7 innings and rookie Chris Brown scored three runs as the Giants snapped a 10-game losing streak by taking the second game of a doubleheader from the Astros at Candlestick Park.

Blue (4-2) breezed to victory after being staked to a 7-1 lead after five innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and struck out six while notching his 2000th career strikeout, the eighth active pitcher to reach that mark.

Mark Davis pitched the final inning for his fourth save. Ron Mathis (3-3) was the loser.

Houston won the opener as Bill Doran hit a two-run homer to snap a fifth-inning tie. Mike Scott (6-4) got the win, while Dave LaPoint (3-7) took the loss.

The opening-game loss gave the Giants their longest losing streak since they moved to San Francisco in 1958. It was the longest tailspin for the Giants since they dropped 11 in a row in 1951.

Chicago 9, Pittsburgh 2--Outfielder Keith Moreland drove in three runs to lead the Cubs to a win over the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

Moreland singled in a run in a two-run seventh that tied the game at 2-2, then suffered a bad bruise when he slammed his knee sliding into third base before scoring on a single by Richie Hebner.

But Moreland shrugged off the injury and doubled in two more runs in the Cubs’ five-run eighth inning off losing reliever Don Robinson (2-3).

Scott Sanderson (4-3) scattered five hits and walked one in his second complete game of the year to pick up the victory, while rookie Bill Hatcher had a career-high four hits in five at-bats for the Cubs, who had 14 hits.

The Cubs’ comeback from a 2-0 deficit spoiled the Pirates’ “Ballot by Ballpark Day,” a promotion designed to show that the city wants the team to stay in Pittsburgh. The promotion drew 31,384 fans, the team’s second-largest home crowd of the season.

St. Louis 2, New York 1--Vince Coleman singled home Ivan DeJesus from second base in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Cardinals the victory at Busch Stadium and a sweep of their three-game series against the Mets.

DeJesus, who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Terry Pendleton in the 10th inning, led off the 11th with a ground-rule double to left-center. Coleman followed with his single just inside the left-field line.

Both hits came off Jesse Orosco (1-4). Orosco relieved Dwight Gooden, who went eight innings, allowing five hits, striking out three and walking one in lowering his major league leading ERA to 1.65.

Reliever Ken Dayley (2-0) got the victory, the fourth straight by the Cardinals.

Philadelphia 3, Montreal 2--Derrel Thomas and Tim Corcoran lined run-scoring singles in the ninth inning as the Phillies rallied for two runs against relief ace Jeff Reardon to beat the Expos at Montreal.

Reardon, who leads the major leagues with 22 saves, took over to start the ninth with the Expos leading, 2-1. Glenn Wilson led off with a single and took third on a one-out single by Garry Maddox, with Maddox taking second on the throw.

Pinch-hitter Greg Gross was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Corcoran followed with his tying single. Randy St. Claire replaced Reardon (2-3) and threw a pitch in the dirt, but Maddox was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Thomas then singled to center, driving home Gross with the winning run.

Reliever Kent Tekulve (4-2) pitched the final two innings for the victory.