National League Roundup : Cardinal Bullpen Trio Stymies the Braves, 5-2

Who would have thought that the St. Louis Cardinals, after losing their outstanding relief pitcher, Bruce Sutter, would still be unbeatable in the late innings?

When the Cardinals completed a sweep of their three-game series at Atlanta Sunday with a 5-2 victory, it gave them a 62-0 record in games in which they have held a lead after eight innings. It also enabled them to remain one game in front of the New York Mets in the East.

In the absence of Sutter, who signed with the Braves as a free agent, Manager Whitey Herzog has done a masterful job of manipulating his bullpen.

After Neil Allen proved a flop early in the season, Herzog has relied mainly on three pitchers, none of them famous as stoppers, to do the job--Jeff Lahti, Ken Dayley and Bill Campbell. He had to call on all three of them to save this victory for Kurt Kepshire (10-7).

Kepshire, given a lead on Andy Van Slyke’s 11th home run and a two-run triple by Tommy Herr, needed help with two out in the eighth. Lahti, who leads the staff with 15 saves, put down the rally, but in the ninth, Terry Harper hit his second home run of the game, the first run allowed by Lahti in his last nine appearances.

With two outs and runners on second and third, Herzog brought in the left-handed Dayley to pitch to Chris Chambliss. The Braves sent Bob Horner up to bat for Chambliss and Herzog ordered an intentional walk, putting the potential tying run on base. Campbell then came on to get Rick Cerone on a grounder.

“I wasn’t going to pitch to Horner, no way, “ Herzog told the Associated Press. “I know it was against the book, but I know what Horner can do.”

Another reason the Cardinals are doing so well is their ability to win on the road. They opened the season by losing nine of their first 10 games away from St. Louis. Since their wretched start, they are 35-19 on the road and their 36-28 mark overall is the best in the league.

Cincinnati 5, Chicago 3--The Reds acquired Bo Diaz and Buddy Bell a few weeks back in the hope they would help them overtake the Dodgers in the West. Mostly, they have been disappointing.

In this game at Cincinnati, they both contributed. Bell, batting .197 as a Red, doubled home the tying run in the fifth and Diaz, a .109 batter for the Reds, doubled in the winning run. The victory left the Reds eight games behind the Dodgers.

Nick Esasky, who moved to left field after Bell took over at third, drove in two runs with a home run and a single to help Tom Browning improve his record to 13-9.

Philadelphia 14, San Francisco 5--Juan Samuel and Von Hayes hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning at Philadelphia, two of 10 extra base hits by the Phillies.

Pitcher Kevin Gross hit his first career home run in a four-run second inning, but couldn’t make it through the third inning and missed a chance to win his 13th. Dave Rucker pitched five scoreless innings to get the victory.

Glenn Wilson also homered for the Phillies who had four doubles and two triples among 14 hits.

Pittsburgh 9-10, Houston 3-9--After Rick Reuschel pitched a four-hitter in the first game at Pittsburgh and drove in three runs with a double and home run, the Pirates made it a sweep.

Sammy Khalifa singled home the winning run in the nightcap with one out in the ninth inning after the Pirates had blown a 9-4 lead.

Reuschel (10-6) solidified his bid for the Comeback of the Year with another scintillating performance. With better support from the usually light-hitting Pirates, he would be shooting for a 20-victory season. The Pirates beat Mike Scott (13-7), who is 0-7 against them, in the opener.