National League Roundup : Samuel Breaks Up Moyer’s No-Hitter in Ninth

Pitcher Jamie Moyer flirted with a no-hitter for eight innings before weakening in the ninth Monday night in the Chicago Cubs’ 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Philadelphia.

Juan Samuel led off the ninth with a line single to center to end Moyer’s no-hit bid. Von Hayes then walked and Mike Schmidt singled to drive home Samuel.

Although he pitches for the Cubs, the crowd was cheering loudly in the ninth inning for Moyer, 24, who grew up in Souderton, Pa., and attended St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

The crowd booed Samuel’s hit.

“That’s the first time I got booed for getting a hit in Philadelphia,” Samuel said. “I knew he was going for the no-hitter. I tried not to be over-anxious.”

Said Moyer: “I was thinking a little bit about the no-hitter in the seventh and eighth innings, but I was more concerned about winning the game. I just hope I can continue to pitch well. I won’t think about throwing a no-hitter, even though it would have been great to accomplish it.”

Asked about Samuel’s hit, Moyer said: “I was a little upset with myself. I got the ball up a little, and I think he was looking for it up. It’s a guessing game, and he guessed right. I used a change-up a lot. It’s a pitch I’ve been working on, and it’s really developing.”

Moyer gave much credit to catcher Jody Davis. “Jody called a great game,” Moyer said. “We were working very well together. We had no differences at all.”

After giving up the hit to Schmidt, Moyer was replaced by Lee Smith. Lance Parrish greeted Smith with a single that scored Hayes. Smith retired the next three Phillies to earn his first save.

Moyer struck out a career-high 12 batters and walked 6. Moyer usually is considered a finesse pitcher but stifled the Phillies with a good fastball.

Moyer had a perfect game for 6 innings at Montreal last Aug. 16 before Jim Wohlford singled. He settled for a two-hit shutout, the only complete game of his career.

Cubs Manager Gene Michael said he had no second thoughts on lifting Moyer.

“He was tired. He threw 150 pitches,” Michael said. “Sometimes he tries to be a little too fine, but he had great stuff tonight.”

Said Phillies Manager John Felske: “He was really outstanding. He had four pitches going for him.”

Moyer struck out the side in the first and fifth innings.

Only two batters came close to getting a hit before the ninth, both in the fourth inning. With one out, Schmidt hit a high drive to deep center field that Bob Dernier caught at the base of the wall.

After Parrish walked, Glenn Wilson hit a slow roller to third baseman Keith Moreland, whose throw to first just nipped Wilson for the third out. The Phillies protested umpire Satch Davidson’s call to no avail.

Don Carman (0-1) took the loss, giving up three runs over five innings.

Cincinnati 7, Atlanta 2--Eric Davis had three hits, including a tie-breaking double in Cincinnati’s two-run fifth inning as the Reds beat the Braves in Atlanta.

Davis’ grounder over the third-base bag ignited the Reds to their fifth victory in six games.

“We were 14-3 in our last 17 games in spring training,” Reds Manager Pete Rose said. “We’re not doing anything different.

“Winning is a great habit to get into, and we’re only going to get better as a team.”

All eight Reds’ starters got at least one hit, with Tracy Jones also getting three.

“Davis was hitting .440 going in,” Rose said. “He’s been hitting the ball real well. It was Tracy’s first start, and he got three, and Dave Parker also got a couple of big hits.”

With the score tied 2-2, Dave Concepcion opened the fifth for the Reds with a single off starter Zane Smith (0-1). It was the 14th consecutive start in which Smith has failed to win. The left-hander, who was 8-16 last season, last won on July 2, 1986 against San Francisco. Since then he is 0-8.

St. Louis 8, Pittsburgh 4--Jack Clark and rookie Jim Lindeman hit homers, and Willie McGee had a three-run triple as the Cardinals used a pair of four-run innings to beat Pirates in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates led, 1-0, after five innings on Johnny Ray’s run-scoring single in the first as Doug Drabek (0-1) limited St. Louis to two hits.

But Jose Oquendo singled with one out in the sixth, and Tommy Herr followed with an RBI double in the right-field corner.

Clark followed with his second homer of the season and the 31st of his career against Pittsburgh. One batter later, Lindeman hit his third homer of the season and third of the series.