National League Roundup : Virgil Hits Another Home Run, but Cardinals Rally to Beat Braves, 5-4

There were a number of good things that happened to the Braves Wednesday at Atlanta, but the bottom line is: They didn’t win.

Ozzie Virgil hit another home run, his eighth in the last eight games, Ken Griffey came off the disabled list to hit two doubles and a triple in his first three at-bats and the Braves built a 4-1 lead in five innings.

But the St. Louis Cardinals, on a run-scoring single by Ozzie Smith in the ninth, fought back to win, 5-4, and take over first place in the National League East.

The tying and winning rallies were the type the Cardinals used so successfully in winning the league title in 1985.

With two out in the seventh, the Cardinals used a single, a balk, a walk, a double steal, two more walks and a hit batsmen to score twice and forge a 4-4 tie.

In the ninth, Vince Coleman opened with a single and stole his 26th base. Smith, after failing to sacrifice twice, singled to right to drive in Coleman.

“First, I wanted to bunt him over to third,” Smith said. “Then, I was still trying to push the ball to the right side and get him to third. I made a mistake and hit the ball where nobody was.”

Rick Horton (2-0) pitched 2 innings of relief to win it. But Todd Worrell came in with the tying run on third in the bottom of the ninth and induced Dale Murphy to pop to third. Worrell earned his eighth save.

Griffey, who missed 15 days with a hip injury, doubled in the first two Atlanta runs and scored another after he led off with a triple in the fifth. He raised his average to .372.

San Francisco 9, Montreal 7--Manager Roger Craig figures that when the Giants start playing well, they will really take off.

“We haven’t played well, but the amazing thing is, we’re in first place,” Craig said.

Chili Davis, with his fourth single of the game, singled home Jose Uribe in the eighth inning at Montreal to break a 7-7 tie and remain ahead in the West.

The Giants tied the game in the sixth when Jeffrey Leonard tripled and scored on Candy Maldonado’s single. Leonard had three hits and leads the league with a .371 average.

Cincinnati 6, Chicago 2--Except for Bill Gullickson, Cincinnati pitchers seem unable to finish what they start.

In this game at Chicago, Dave Parker hit his 10th home run and drove in three runs, and Gullickson pitched a seven-hitter for his second complete game. No other Reds’ pitcher has gone the distance this season.

Nick Esasky, just off the disabled list, and Barry Larkin homered as the Reds knocked the Cubs out of first place in the East and ended a four-game losing streak.

The Cubs’ lost their hot hitter, Andre Dawson. After he singled in the fourth, Dawson limped off with a hamstring injury.

Parker was in a slump and asked Manager Pete Rose to drop him from third to fifth in the batting order.

“I told him I was lunging at the ball and maybe dropping down in the order would help. It did,” Parker said.

Pittsburgh 5, Houston 3--Sid Bream and Barry Bonds hit two-run home runs and Andy Van Slyke hit a solo homer at Pittsburgh to lead the Pirates.

Dorn Taylor, the 28-year-old rookie, went 6 innings and won his first game, thanks to sterling relief pitching by Hipolito Pena. Pena pitched 2 hitless innings for his first save.

New York 10, San Diego 3--Rafael Santana’s two-run double highlighted a six-run fourth inning as New York rallied to win at New York.

The Padres’ Ed Whitson was holding a 2-0 lead in the second inning when home plate umpire Doug Harvey went out to the mound to examine Whitson’s cap.

After running his hand along the inside of the bill, Harvey ordered Whitson to put on a different hat. Two innings later, the Mets chased Whitson.