National League Roundup : Tudor Is Busting Out Again, Wins 2-Hitter

Apparently, June is when John Tudor really starts pitching. Last season, the St. Louis Cardinal left-hander was 1-7 going into June. He went 6-0 in the first month of summer and wound up the season winning 20 of his last 21 decisions.

Tudor’s start this season was a little better, but now that it’s June, he’s a red-hot Redbird.

Tudor gave up only two hits, one a two-run home run in the fourth inning by Ryne Sandberg, as he pitched the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs Saturday at St. Louis.

Tommy Herr, slowly emerging from a season-long slump, singled home Jack Clark, who had tripled, in the seventh inning to give the Cardinals the winning run. Herr entered the game batting .176. Last season, he batted .302.

The tying run off loser Rick Sutcliffe (4-7) came on Willie McGee’s home run in the sixth, only the 17th homer in 51 games for the Cardinals.

Tudor, though, was the big story. He won his third game in a row to improve his record to 6-3 and has pitched complete-game victories in both of his June starts.

“He pitched the same way we usually see him,” Cub Manager Jim Frey said. “He doesn’t give in. He runs the ball in and out and he changes speeds on his fastball. He threw a lot of changeups away.”

Tudor, who struck out five, walked three and raised his career record against the Cubs to 6-1, is one of the few bright spots this season for Manager Whitey Herzog.

“He was very, very outstanding,” Herzog said. “He got only a couple of pitches up all day. When he keeps the ball down, he is a tough pitcher to beat.”

Herr thinks that his slump is over. “I’m encouraged with the way I’m swinging the bat,” he said after getting his first game-winning RBI. “I can feel it coming back.”

San Francisco 6, Cincinnati 2--Bob Brenly’s first home run in six weeks came with two on base in the fourth inning and broke a 1-1 tie at San Francisco. The lead was all Mike Krukow needed to win his eighth game, the same number he won all last season.

“I tried another new stance--stance 219-B,” Brenly said after his fourth home run of the season. “Basically, I just changed some things I was doing wrong. I’m holding the bat higher and I’m swinging faster.”

Krukow (8-3) gave up eight hits, struck out eight and walked none in pitching his third complete game. Last season, he was 8-11. He has never won more than 13 games in any of his 10 seasons.

New York 6, Pittsburgh 4--Dwight Gooden isn’t always the masterful pitcher he was last season, but he usually wins.

Gooden gave up four hits and four runs in seven innings at Pittsburgh but did not return after a rain delay. Jesse Orosco pitched two hitless innings for the save. Gooden is 8-2 this season and 32-6 since the start of 1985. He is 6-0 in his career against the Pirates.

The victory increased the Mets’ lead in the East to nine games.

Philadelphia 3, Montreal 1--Glenn Wilson singled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning at Montreal, and Shane Rawley went on to win his eighth game.

The Phillies have won 10 of their last 12 games. For Rawley (8-4), who gave up six hits, it was his fifth complete game.

The start of the game was delayed 23 minutes because of rain.

Atlanta 4, San Diego 2--Ken Oberkfell hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning at San Diego to help Rick Mahler improve his record to 6-5.

The home run, his third of the season and only his 18th in more than 950 games, disappointed a Sports Bag Night crowd of 54,732, a record for a regular-season game in San Diego.

Graig Nettles singled in the two Padre runs off Mahler in the seventh.