Baseball Roundup : Astros Use Proven Formula to Beat Reds, 5-3

The Houston Astros used lightweight hitting and outstanding pitching, a combination that has put them in command of the National League West in the second half of the season, to complete a three-game sweep of the Reds with a 5-3 victory at Cincinnati Thursday.

The Astros squeezed the most out of meager scoring opportunities, getting three runs on sacrifice flies and one on a wild pitch to lower their magic number for clinching their second division title to seven.

Matt Keough (4-3) and reliever Aurelio Lopez produced a four-hitter to lead the Astros to their second three-game sweep at Riverfront Stadium this season.

It was Houston’s 14th win in the 18-game season series with the Reds, and the victory dropped Cincinnati into a tie for second place with the idle San Francisco Giants, 10 games behind the Astros.

The Astros scored three runs on two fly balls by Alan Ashby and one by Davey Lopes.

“We’ve done that the whole season,” Manager Hal Lanier said. “We’ve done what it takes to win ballgames. It was a close game, and we got three sacrifice flies to get important runs for us.”

The Astros took advantage of Tom Browning’s first-inning wildness, sending eight batters to the plate for three runs. Glenn Davis, who went 3 for 3 and scored three runs, doubled home the first run. A wild pitch by Browning brought in the second, and Ashby’s sacrifice fly scored the third.

Browning (13-13) allowed scoring fly balls by Ashby and Lopes in the sixth inning.

The Reds scored two runs in the third inning on an error and a run-scoring double by Buddy Bell. Dave Parker led off the sixth inning with his 29th home run.

Keough allowed three hits and two walks in six innings, while Lopez gave up just one hit in three innings for his sixth save.

New York Mets 5, Chicago Cubs 0--After a night of celebrating their NL East championship, the Mets used a makeshift lineup and three rookie pitchers to beat the Cubs at New York.

Rick Anderson (2-1), in his first start since Aug. 14, pitched five innings, gave up four hits and walked none. He was relieved by John Mitchell, who allowed two hits in three innings before Randy Myers pitched the ninth.

Howard Johnson’s ninth home run, good for three runs, capped a four-run fourth inning against rookie Greg Maddox (1-3).

Met regulars Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry did not play.

Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 3--Mike Maddux (3-6) allowed one run and four hits in 6 innings at Philadelphia, and Steve Bedrosian recorded his 26th save.

Mike Schmidt collected his 114th RBI, tops in the league. Vince Coleman stole his 98th base of the season for the Cardinals. Greg Mathews (10-7) took the loss.

Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 1--The Pirates scored three runs in the ninth to beat relief ace Jeff Reardon at Montreal.

The winning run came on U.L. Washington’s sacrifice fly that scored Tony Pena. Jim Morrison’s second double tied it, 1-1.

John Smiley (1-0) pitched one inning and got his first major league victory, while Don Robinson earned his 13th save.

Chicago White Sox 6, Seattle 4--Harold Baines went 5 for 5, drove in three runs and scored a run to lead the White Sox at Seattle.

Steve Carlton (4-2) allowed five hits and struck out nine, his American League high, in seven innings for his 323rd career win. Bill Nelson recorded his sixth save.

Danny Tartabull led off the ninth inning for the Mariners with his 25th home run. Bill Swift (2-7) was the loser.