National League Roundup : Tudor Has Cardinals Seeing 20-20-20 Vision

It has been 12 years since any major league team had three 20-game winners in a season. It has been 62 years since a National League team had three.

The St. Louis Cardinals may be the next team to accomplish that feat. Joaquin Andujar is almost there (16-5) and Danny Cox is in good shape (12-5).

When John Tudor shut out the Giants on six hits Wednesday at San Francisco, 4-0, it was only his 11th victory, but the 31-year-old left-hander is pitching better right now than either of his teammates.

It was Tudor’s fifth shutout, tying him with Fernando Valenzuela for the league lead. It was also his fourth shutout in his last seven starts and his 10th victory in his last 11 starts.

All the Cardinal runs came in the fifth inning and were unearned, owing to catcher Alex Trevino fumbling Tudor’s one-out bunt. One out later, Willie McGee hit a three-run home run. A walk to Tommy Herr, a steal and Jack Clark’s single accounted for the other run.

Since a former high school teammate spotted a flaw in his delivery while watching a Cardinal game on TV, Tudor has been a brilliant pitcher.

Going into June, Andujar was 9-1 and Cox was 6-1, but Tudor was 1-7. Andujar and Cox have continued to pitch well, but Tudor has been spectacular.

His only loss in the last two months was in Los Angeles last Saturday night, when the Dodgers scored twice in the first inning and beat him, 3-0.

After Tudor’s latest effort, in which he walked none and struck out nine, Giant Manager Jim Davenport told United Press International: “He certainly has pitched well against us. He knows how to pitch. He does all the little things you have to do to win. In my mind, no one has pitched better in the last eight weeks.”

The last team to have three 20-game winners was Oakland in 1973, when a record 12 American League pitchers won 20 or more, and three of them--Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter and Vida Blue--pitched for the A’s.

In the National League, the last three 20-game winners on the same team in the same season were Art Nehf, Jess Barnes and Fred Toney of the 1923 New York Giants. There have been only two 20-game winners in the league since 1980--Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton in 1982 and Andujar last year.

Davenport, after watching the Cardinals win 10 of 12 games from his club, was impressed. He called St. Louis the best team in baseball. At the moment, the Cardinals are 3 1/2 games in front in the East, supposedly the stronger division in the league.

Cincinnati 3, New York 2--In a season of feast-or-famine for the Mets, the latest famine continued at New York. After scoring 31 runs in two games over the weekend, the Mets have scored only three in three games.

The Reds completed a sweep of the series when center fielder Eddie Milner ended a big afternoon by hitting a single up the middle to drive in the winning run with two out in the ninth.

Earlier, Milner scored the first two runs for the Reds and, in the third inning, threw Rafael Santana out at the plate as he tried to score from second on a single.

Player-Manager Pete Rose had two hits for the Reds and drove in a run, and relief pitcher John Franco pitched two hitless innings to improve his record to 9-1. Rose needs only 31 hits to break Ty Cobb’s record.

Philadelphia 3, Houston 1--Nolan Ryan lost a no-hitter with one out in the sixth at Philadelphia, lost a shutout in the seventh and lost the game in the eighth when Von Hayes hit an inside-the-park home run.

After Hayes circled the bases on a drive that hit the center-field fence at the 408-foot mark, Ryan (8-8) departed. He gave up three hits and struck out seven.

Kevin Gross, who ended the no-hit bid with a double, gave up nine hits in eight innings but improved his record to 9-8.

Montreal 3, Atlanta 1--Bryn Smith, in his fourth season with the Expos, is having a big year. The Braves have been a big help.

In this game at Montreal, Smith pitched a three-hitter to improve his record to 12-3. He is 4-0 against the Braves.

One of the Expos’ runs came when center fielder Dale Murphy lost Vance Law’s fly ball in the lights and it went for an inside-the-park home run.

The victory enabled the Expos to tie the Mets for second place in the East.

Chicago 4, San Diego 3--Pinch-hitter Richie Hebner beat out a hit to deep short with two out in the top of the 10th at San Diego to drive in Ryne Sandberg with the winning run.

The Padres had tied the score in the ninth on a double by Steve Garvey and a single by Terry Kennedy.

Sandberg had a two-run homer for the Cubs in the first inning, and Graig Nettles hit a two-run shot for the Padres in the fourth.