National League Roundup : Cardinals Win Two, Tie Mets

The St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday, 3-1 and 4-3, to move into a tie with the New York Mets for first place in the National League East.

Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith isn’t too excited about it, however.

“In many cases, it’s not always good to be in first place unless you can sit out there with a six- or seven-game lead,” Smith said. “When you’re having to win, it’s tough to win every day.”

The Mets and Cardinals are almost accomplishing that. St. Louis has won 8 of its last 9, while New York has won 10 of 11.

One of the keys to winning the division is likely to be how they fare against each other in the remaining six games between the clubs. The Cardinals will play at Shea Stadium Sept. 10-11-12, while the Mets will travel to St. Louis Oct. 1-2-3.

In the first game, Kurt Kepshire gave up five hits in eight innings, and Darrell Porter drilled a two-run single to give St. Louis the victory.

Kepshire (9-6) allowed two hits in the first eight innings, but after giving up three straight singles in the ninth, he was replaced by Jeff Lahti. Ken Dayley replaced Lahti and got his ninth save.

In the nightcap, Smith drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the 12th inning, winning it for the Cardinals.

Tito Landrum opened the 12th with a double off loser Cecilio Guante (3-5) and went to third on Tom Herr’s fly-out. After Jack Clark and Andy Van Slyke were intentionally walked to load the bases, Larry McWilliams replaced Guante. Brian Harper pinch-hit for Mike Jorgensen and hit into a force play, with Landrum out at the plate. Smith then walked on four pitches to score the winning run.

Bill Campbell (3-2) pitched the final inning for St. Louis to earn the win.

Pinch-hitter Jim Morrison had a two-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the score. Sammy Khalifa tripled off reliever Ricky Horton to lead off the inning. When Morrison pinch-hit for Junior Ortiz, Joe Boever relieved and gave up Morrison’s second homer of the season.

Cardinal center fielder Willie McGee, who suffered a slight sprain of his left ankle while chasing down a ball in the sixth inning of the second game, left the game for precautionary X-rays. No break was found.

McGee had a total of five hits in the two games to raise his league-leading average to .361.

The losses were the eighth and ninth in a row for Pittsburgh. Since a 6-3 victory July 22 over the Dodgers in Los Angeles, the Pirates have lost 14 straight away from home.

New York 10, Philadelphia 7--The game was supposed to be a pitching duel between an old Met, Jerry Koosman, now with the Phillies, and the new Met sensation, Dwight Gooden. Instead, it turned out to be a slugfest.

Rookie Len Dykstra decided the outcome with a ground-rule double in the eighth that broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Mets the win at Shea Stadium.

The Mets survived a poor outing by Gooden to win their 10th game in their last 11.

Gooden, working in 95-degree heat, left after five innings with a 6-5 lead. He gave up eight hits and five runs as the Phillies scored in each of the first four innings. Gooden struck out only four batters.

“A couple of times, I found myself trying to overthrow, and it was up,” Gooden said. “And when I tried to take something off it, the ball was in the dirt. I never found the rhythm.”

Gary Carter hit his 17th homer of the year, and Ray Knight followed George Foster’s walk with his fifth homer in the first inning to put the Mets ahead, 5-1.

Montreal 7, Chicago 3--Quietly, the Expos have remained in the NL East race, just five games behind the Mets and Cardinals.

Tim Raines had three doubles and two RBIs, while Vance Law added a two-run homer at Chicago as the Expos handed the Cubs their 10th loss in 11 games.

Cincinnati 5, San Diego 4--Tony Perez’s pinch single with two out in the 10th inning drove in Ron Oester to break a 4-4 tie and give the Reds the win at San Diego.

The Padres scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth off Ted Power to send the game into extra innings. A sacrifice fly by Steve Garvey, doubles by Graig Nettles and Carmelo Martinez, and an RBI single by Kevin McReynolds tied it up.

John Franco (10-1) pitched one-third of an inning to pick up the victory. Joe Price got his first save.

Reliever Gene Walter (0-1) intentionally walked Pete Rose, and Roy Lee Jackson came in to face Perez, who lined his game-winning hit to center field.

Houston 4, San Francisco 1--Another former Met pitcher, Mike Scott, pitched a six-hitter as Houston won at San Francisco. Dickie Thon had three RBIs, and Bill Doran hit his 12th homer.

The Astros have won 15 of their last 17 games against the Giants.