National League Roundup : Sanderson, Smith Stop Giants on One Hit, 2-1

The wind was blowing out at Chicago’s Wrigley Field Friday, but the San Francisco Giants didn’t take advantage of it.

In fact, the leaders of the West had only one hit, a double by Jeff Leonard off Scott Sanderson in the fourth inning, and were beaten by the Cubs, 2-1.

Sanderson (5-6) struck out nine Giants in seven innings, then Lee Smith struck out two more in the last two innings.

On a hot day, Sanderson, a disappointment in three seasons with the Cubs, seemed to get faster as the day got hotter.

“The heat must have been good for him,” Giant Manager Roger Craig said.

Keith Moreland drove in two runs with a first-inning single, and that’s all Sanderson needed. He retired the first 11 batters before Leonard doubled. Chili Davis followed with a hard smash that handcuffed third baseman Davey Lopes for an error, and Leonard raced home with the Giant run.

Davis was upset because the official scorer deprived him of a hit.

“No doubt about it,” he said. “Sanderson is never hard to hit--for me.”

Until he gave way to Smith in the eighth, Sanderson was never again in trouble.

“The Giants are not first by mistake,” Sanderson said. “With the wind blowing out, I wanted to limit what I was going to give their guys to hit. I definitely made some mistakes. Fortunately, they didn’t hit them on the button.”

It was the fourth strong outing in a row for Sanderson, who has been bothered by injury much of the last two seasons. Although he is only 2-1 in his last four starts, he has given up only 12 hits and 4 runs in his last 24 innings.

Mike LaCoss (9-4), who had won four of his last five decisions, gave up only five hits in seven innings. Ryne Sandberg, who singled to start the first-inning rally, had three hits, including the one hit Greg Minton gave up in the eighth.

Houston 3, New York 0--Bob Knepper had not won a game in almost six weeks, and the Mets had not been shut out in 1986 until this game at Houston.

Knepper, who was the first pitcher in the National League to win 10 games, pitched a three-hitter to improve his record to 11-7 and end a four-game losing streak. The veteran left-hander was making his eighth start since he won No. 10. Although he did not pitch poorly in all of them, he didn’t get much support from the Houston hitters.

The Mets had gone 110 games--since John Tudor of St. Louis did it last Sept. 11 in a key game in the 1985 Eastern Division race--without being shut out.

Knepper didn’t get much offensive help in this one. It was a scoreless game until the seventh, when Alan Ashby singled with the bases loaded on a 3-and-1 pitch to drive in two runs and hand Ron Darling (9-3) his first loss since June 6.

The Mets had only one runner reach second base--Ray Knight in the fifth--as Knepper recorded his fourth shutout.

Pittsburgh 12, San Diego 7--The steamy 85-degree weather got to 37-year-old Rick Reuschel at Pittsburgh, but not before he ended his career record-tying seven-game losing streak.

With U. L. Washington getting three hits, driving in four runs and scoring two, the Pirates built a 10-1 lead for Reuschel in five innings.

Reuschel gave up nine hits but only three runs in seven innings, and the Pirates were able to hold off the Padres despite Tony Gwynn’s three-run homer in the ninth.

Washington’s bases-loaded triple in the fifth inning was the highlight of a five-run Pirate rally.

Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 5--Dave Parker hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning at Cincinnati to help the Reds build a 5-0 lead, then saved the victory with his arm.

The Phillies rallied to cut the lead to 6-5 with two out and Glenn Wilson on second. Pinch-hitter Luis Aguayo lined a single to right, and Parker threw out Wilson in a close play at the plate.

“It’s hard for an outfielder to be where Parker was and make that play,” Manager Pete Rose said. “He’ll do it sometimes, but it’s tough to do it consistently.”

The victory pulled the Reds within two games of .500 and within five games of first place in the West.

Montreal 5, Atlanta 4--Hubie Brooks had three hits and drove in three runs at Montreal to lead the Expos to a comeback victory in a rain-soaked game.

The game was interrupted by rain for more than two hours after Brooks singled in a run for the Expos in the first inning.

The Braves held a 4-1 lead going into the sixth, when the Expos rallied to tie the score.