National League Roundup : Phillies Win on Hayes’ Ninth-Inning Homer

Von Hayes wanted to hit the ball where a Pittsburgh Pirate couldn’t catch it, and he found the perfect spot.

Hayes hit a two-out home run in the ninth inning Thursday to give the Philadelphia Phillies an 8-7 victory over the Pirates at Philadelphia.

“I wasn’t thinking home run,” Hayes insisted. “I just wanted to hit a gapper.

“My swing dictates line drives. I was looking for a pitch I could drive into the gap. It was a fastball up, and it really felt good.”

Hayes, who went 3 for 3, hit a 3-and-2 pitch from reliever Barry Jones (1-2) over the right-center-field fence to give the Phillies their third straight win. Hayes has driven in the decisive run in all three victories.

Hayes, who leads the league with 30 doubles and has 10 home runs, also singled home a run.

“He (Jones) got behind, 3 and 0, then threw two balls (for strikes) trying to keep the ball away,” Hayes said. “Then I got a pitch I could drive. He (Jones) got it up, and I got it up.”

Philadelphia’s Gary Redus hit his second homer of the game and ninth of the season to tie the score, 7-7, in the eighth.

Kent Tekulve (5-1) pitched the ninth inning for the Phillies to get the victory.

Barry Bonds hit his 13th home run for the Pirates, and Johnny Ray added his fifth.

Atlanta 7, San Diego 3--Ken Griffey hit a two-out, tie-breaking grand slam in the eighth inning to power the Braves past the Padres at Atlanta.

Griffey’s fourth career grand slam came off reliever Craig Lefferts and pinned the loss on Gene Walter (2-2). Atlanta reliever Jeff Dedmon (4-6) worked 1 innings and got the victory. Gene Garber pitched the ninth.

San Diego tied the score, 3-3, in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Garry Templeton.

John Kruk and Omar Moreno hit homers for San Diego, and Dale Murphy got his 21st for the Braves.

Montreal 5, Chicago 4--Tom Nieto hit his first home run of the season with two out in the 10th inning to push the Expos past the Cubs at Montreal.

Nieto fouled off several 3-and-2 pitches from Ron Davis (0-1) before hitting his homer over the left-field wall. Davis, who took over at the start of the ninth inning, was making his first appearance since being acquired from Minnesota in a trade this week.

Andy McGaffigan (7-4) pitched one inning to get the victory.

Former Expo Terry Francona tied the game, 4-4, when he led off the top of the ninth inning with his first home run of the year, off Jeff Reardon.

Jody Davis hit his 16th homer, and Thad Bosley also connected for the Cubs. Andre Dawson hit his 17th homer for the Expos.

Cincinnati 2, San Francisco 0--John Denny pitched a three-hitter, and Pete Rose drove in the winning run to lift the Reds to victory over the Giants at Cincinnati.

The defeat dropped the second-place Giants five games behind Houston in the NL West.

Denny (10-10) struck out eight, including the side in the ninth, and walked none in recording his second complete game and first shutout of the season. He also singled home the Reds’ final run.

Rose singled home the first run off Kelly Downs (0-3) in the fifth inning. Rose went 3 for 4 and is 8 for 11 in his last four games, raising his average from .204 to .229.

New York 4-1, St. Louis 3-5--Rick Horton and Pat Perry combined on a three-hitter, and Andy Van Slyke hit a two-run homer to give the Cardinals a second-game victory and a doubleheader split with the Mets at New York.

Kevin Mitchell drove in three runs with a homer and a tie-breaking single in the ninth inning as the Mets won the opener. The winning hit came off Todd Worrell (7-9), who had not allowed a run in his last 15 appearances. Roger McDowell (12-6) pitched the final two-thirds of an inning to get the victory.

Horton (2-3) gave up three hits in seven innings of the nightcap. He allowed Keith Hernandez’s single with two out in the first inning, walked the next hitter, and then retired 17 straight before Mitchell doubled with one out in the seventh. One out later, Tim Teufel singled home Mitchell.