National League Roundup : Reds Get More Relief and Another Victory, 5-1

While the Dodger bullpen has produced mostly arsonists so far this season, Cincinnati relievers have been almost perfect at putting out fires.

It explains why the Reds are off to a fast start in the West and the Dodgers are staggering.

Cincinnati’s five-man relief corps extended its scoreless-inning streak to 16 Saturday at Riverfront Stadium, and the Reds beat the struggling San Diego Padres, 5-1, for their fourth win without a loss. The Padres are 0-5.

Bo Diaz and Kal Daniels hit solo home runs, and Tom Browning pitched a strong six innings, but it is the bullpen that is the talk of Cincinnati.

Rob Murphy, 6-0 as a reliever last season, pitched two hitless innings, and Frank Williams pitched a scoreless ninth. John Franco, Bill Landrum and Ron Robinson weren’t needed.

This quintet has given up only 7 hits in the 16 innings. This is the first of the four games in which the Reds didn’t fall behind. Both Landrum and Murphy have victories in relief.

Franco has been the ace out of the bullpen, but Murphy, a left-hander, has been phenomenal since coming up from Denver in the middle of last season.

Murphy, 26, pitched 50 innings in 34 games and gave up 26 hits and only 4 runs last season. He had an earned-run average of 0.72 and picked up one save. This season, he has given up one hit in four innings.

“We’re all different kinds of relievers, and that’s a big reason why we’ve been successful,” Murphy, a 6-2, 200-pound fireballer, said. “We don’t throw anything like each other.

“When we come in, one right after another, it makes it hard on the other team because they never see the same thing twice. They can’t adjust their batting eyes.”

While the Reds are enjoying success, rookie Manager Larry Bowa of the Padres is enjoying nothing. In his frustration after the fifth loss in a row, he questioned the desire of some of his players.

“I know I can go 0-162 and still be a winner, but we’ve got some guys here who just want to collect a paycheck,” Bowa said. “Some guys can laugh off a loss, but I take it to bed. I wake up with it in the morning.”

St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 3--Contrary to myth, it is not illegal for a Cardinal batter to hit a home run. It’s just unlikely.

Last season, the Cardinals had only 58 home runs in 161 games, the lowest total in the majors.

So, it came as a shock at Pittsburgh for them to hit four in one game, two by rookie outfielder Jim Lindeman.

It helped the Cardinals bounce back from the knowledge that newly acquired catcher Tony Pena will be out for six weeks with a broken thumb. It also helped that his replacement, Steve Lake, hit one of the home runs.

The power display enabled Bob Forsch, starting his 14th season with the Cardinals, to get off to a fast start. The 37-year-old right-hander gave up 3 hits and 1 unearned run in 6 innings.

Lindeman led off the second inning with a shot over the left-field wall and led off the fourth by hitting Bob Kipper’s first pitch deep into the seats in left. Jack Clark hit the other home run. In four games, the Cardinals have six home runs.

Atlanta 4, New York 3--This game at New York proved two things--that the Mets won’t win every game, and Darryl Strawberry won’t hit a home run in every game.

Ken Griffey, who didn’t like New York when he was with the Yankees, hit a two-out single in the ninth inning to score Gerald Perry from second base and give the Braves the victory.

Gene Garber (2-0) pitched two shutout innings to end the Mets’ three-game winning streak. Strawberry, who homered in each of the first three games, had only a single in four at-bats.

However, the new Met slugger, Kevin McReynolds, hit his third home run in four games.

Houston 3, Montreal 2--The Astros rallied for two runs on three doubles in the eighth inning at Houston for their fifth win in a row and the best start in their 26-year history.

Billy Hatcher, Jose Cruz and Kevin Bass hit the doubles after the Expos (0-4) had moved in front, 2-1, with a run off Aurelio Lopez in the top of the inning.

Lopez wound up the winner after Mike Scott struck out seven in seven innings and left with the score tied, 1-1. The only run off Scott was a home run by Vance Law in the fifth.

Chicago 9, Philadelphia 1--The Cubs gave Rick Sutcliffe a lead he could handle at Philadelphia. They scored seven runs in the first inning, and Sutcliffe had an easy time although he gave up Mike Schmidt’s 497th home run.

The Cubs had only three hits in the inning but combined them with four stolen bases and two Phillie errors. Leon Durham’s single drove in two runs, and three more came home when left fielder Mike Easler dropped Chico Walker’s fly ball with the bases loaded and two out.

Sutcliffe gave up just 5 hits and struck out 6 in 8 innings to even his record to 1-1.