Baseball Roundup : Parker Strikes Back: Homer Beats Padres, 3-2

Dave Parker was struggling, so he asked for help.

Parker, after striking out three straight times, hit a solo home run in the eighth inning Thursday at San Diego to give the Cincinnati Reds a 3-2 victory over the Padres.

Parker said that when he came to the plate, he was thinking, “Please Lord, let me make contact.”

The Reds got a 2-2 split in their series with the Padres and moved into a first-place tie with San Francisco and Houston in the National League West.

Andy Hawkins (0-2) mowed Parker down all day with high fastballs but tried to sneak a slider past him on a 2-and-2 count with the score tied, 2-2, in the eighth. Parker drilled it over the right-field fence.

“I could lie and say that I was setting him up, but that sure wasn’t so, “ said Parker, who hit his fifth homer of the season.

Tom Browning (2-2) allowed 7 hits in 7 innings to beat the Padres for the second time this season. He struck out 3 and walked none. Ron Robinson retired the last four Padres to get his second save.

Houston 5, Atlanta 3--Kevin Bass had three hits and drove in three runs as the Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Braves at Houston.

Houston’s Billy Hatcher extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single in the third inning.

St. Louis 5, Chicago 2--Jim Lindeman and Jack Clark each drove in two runs with two-out hits, and Danny Cox became the first Cardinal pitcher to throw a complete game this season, beating the Cubs at St. Louis.

The victory gave the Cardinals a first-place tie with the New York Mets in the National League East.

Cox (3-0), who needed only 109 pitches, scattered 11 hits and did not walk or strike out a batter.

Montreal 6, Philadelphia 5--Dave Engle singled home the tying run, and Andres Galarraga scored the Expos’ winning run on a Phillie error in the seventh inning at Montreal.

Randy St. Claire (1-0) pitched 1 innings of relief to earn the victory. Andy McGaffigan pitched the ninth to get his second save.

New York 5, Cleveland 4--Dave Winfield’s second homer of the game, a three-run shot with two out in the ninth inning, broke a 2-2 tie and moved the Yankees past the Indians at Cleveland.

The win was the 10th straight for the Yankees and lifted them within a game of American League East leader Milwaukee. The Yankees are 13-3, their best start since 1949.

Winfield has three hits in five career at-bats against Cleveland’s Greg Swindell (1-3), all home runs. New York’s Dennis Rasmussen (2-0) allowed two-out homers to Brook Jacoby and Carmen Castillo in the ninth, and Dave Righetti got the final out for his sixth save.

Texas 9, Baltimore 4--The Rangers scored seven runs in the fourth inning, five unearned, to overtake the Orioles at Arlington, Tex.

The Orioles had a 4-1 lead, but Ruben Sierra doubled home the first two runs off Eric Bell (2-1) and scored the tying run on Tom Paciorek’s single. Paciorek took second on a wild pitch and scored the lead run on two of three Baltimore errors in the inning.