National League Roundup : Craig Has the Giants Looking Like Contenders

Roger Craig is a popular fellow among baseball people. That is why so many felt sad when the former Dodger pitcher agreed to manage the San Francisco Giants late last season.

If one had to become a manager, the Giant job had to be the worst choice. Twice in a row they had finished last in the West, the weaker division in the National League.

Management seemed committed to developing players for the rest of the majors, but not for the Giants. Moreover, half of the games had to be managed in Candlestick Park where it is either cold, windy, damp or a combination of the three.

There is no need to feel sorry for Craig. He has turned the Giants around. If he can avoid one of those once-famous Giant June swoons, he has a contender in the West. He has done it with solid pitching and faith in talented youngsters.

Mike Krukow, one of those solid pitchers, retired the first nine Mets Sunday at New York and pitched well into the eighth as the Giants beat the leaders of the East, 7-3. Krukow is 7-3.

The Mets, who have the best record in the majors (31-14), committed five errors and Ron Darling lost after winning his first six decisions. The Giants won the last two games of the series and could have swept. They lost the opener when young infielders Jose Uribe and Rob Thompson collided on a pop fly in the 11th inning.

The Giants, who lost 100 games last season and finished 33 games behind the Dodgers, moved into second place, just three games back. The Giants are 26-23, six games better off than they were a year ago and, incidentally, 3 1/2 games in front of the Dodgers.

To a man, the Giants give the credit to Craig. “You knew from the first week he was here last fall he was a motivator,” said center fielder Dan Gladden, coming back strong from a disappointing 1985 season. “He was able to get us doing things we weren’t doing. He is a positive thinker. He never thinks about anything negative. He has helped us build confidence. We no longer expect to lose.”

Gladden led the attack on Darling and two relievers. He had three hits, scored a run and drove in two others.

Craig is impressed with Krukow, who beat Met ace Dwight Gooden, 10-2, May 22.

“I really didn’t know much about Krukow when I took over this team, but I’ll tell you one thing----he knows how to get mentally prepared for a game.

“He wore a heavy wool jacket during batting practice to get ready for the humidity. Maybe it was all psychological, but it worked.”

When he retired the first nine Mets, it gave Krukow, who won only eight games last season, a string of 32 consecutive Met batters who had failed to get a hit off him.

Houston 8, Montreal 4--Bob Knepper, one of the players the Giants developed for another team, didn’t pitch all that well at Houston, but he became the National League’s first nine-game winner (9-2).

The bullpen had to come to Knepper’s rescue in the seventh after he was unable to hold an early 5-0 lead.

“Today, I got a lot of runs in a game I didn’t pitch real well,” Knepper said. “I started out with a pretty good sinker, but I just didn’t take control of the game.”

Andre Dawson homered twice to drive in all the Expo runs. He has 216 to become the club’s all-time home run leader.

Jose Cruz had three hits and drove in two runs for the Astros, who lead the West by three games.

Philadelphia 16, San Diego 5--After getting outstanding pitching to build a five-game winning streak, the Phillies’ hitters got into the act for No. 6 at Philadelphia.

Glenn Wilson, who went into the game with a .181 average, led the assault on five Padre pitchers. He went 3 for 4, including a home run, drove in three runs and raised his average 14 points.

Juan Samuel hit a three-run double and a solo homer and Darren Daulton hit a three-run homer for the Phillies.

Steve Carlton (4-6) didn’t need to be very sharp to put back-to-back victories together for the first time since 1984. He gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Chicago 7, Atlanta 3--Gary Matthews hit a wind-blown, two-run triple to highlight a three-run first inning at Chicago and Guy Hoffman pitched his first complete game in the majors.

“It was the craziest fly ball I’ve ever seen, it went three different ways,” Cub Manager Jim Frey said of Matthews’ triple.

Ryne Sandberg continued his hot hitting, getting three hits and driving in two runs for the Cubs.

Bob Horner hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Braves.

St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 1--Danny Cox, an 18-game winner last season, finally got his first 1986 win in this game at Cincinnati.

Although he went only five innings before his elbow stiffened, Cox was the winner because he got his first run-batted-in of the season. He hit a weak roller through the right side of the infield in the second inning to drive in Ozzie Smith and give the Cards a 2-1 lead.

Todd Worrell worked out of bases-loaded jams in the seventh and eighth to save the victory for Cox. Worrell, in earning his seventh save, breezed through the ninth, striking out two.

THE GIANTS: THEN AND NOW

1985

Team Won Lost Pct. GB Home Road San Diego 27 18 .600 -- 13-8 14-10 Cincinnati 25 22 .532 3 11-11 14-11 Houston 24 23 .511 4 14-11 10-12 Los Angeles 23 25 .479 5 1/2 10-11 13-14 Atlanta 19 27 .413 8 1/2 11-14 8-13 San Francisco 18 28 .391 9 1/2 10-10 8-18

THE GIANTS: THEN AND NOW

1986

Team Won Lost Pct. GB Home Road Houston 28 19 .596 -- 13-10 15-9 San Francisco 26 23 .531 3 14-12 12-11 Atlanta 25 23 .521 3 1/2 12-10 13-13 San Diego 24 24 .500 4 1/2 15-10 9-14 Los Angeles 23 27 .460 6 1/2 17-10 6-17 Cincinnati 18 27 .400 9 5-15 13-12