National League Roundup : Griffey Wins It for Braves

Atlanta pitcher Doyle Alexander, making his first appearance of 1987, struck out six and walked none in six innings at St. Louis Tuesday night as the Braves defeated the Cardinals, 5-4, on Ken Griffey’s home run.

Griffey hit an 0-and-1 pitch from St. Louis reliever Bill Dawley into the right-field bleachers to lead off the sixth inning for his fifth homer of the year. It was the only hit reliever Dawley allowed in four innings of work and dropped his record to 0-4.

The Cardinals had taken a 3-1 lead off Alexander in the first inning on homers by Jack Clark, a two-run shot, and Willie McGee on back-to-back pitches. Clark’s home run was his 13th, and McGee’s, which went off the facade in the upper deck in right field, was his third.

“He was throwing real well,” Brave catcher Ozzie Virgil said of Alexander. “He kept us in the game, and that’s all you expect from a starting pitcher. He was changing speeds and moving the ball in and out. That’s what he has to do. He doesn’t have Dwight Gooden’s fastball.”

Said Clark: “He just kept us off balance. He made his pitches when he had to and didn’t give us a chance to get anything going. He made us swing at his pitch.”

Terry Pendleton of the Cardinals went 0 for 4, ending his hitting streak at 19 games, the longest in the majors this season.

Cincinnati 3, Chicago 2--Dave Parker came through with some late-inning power of his own at Cincinnati to gives the Reds the victory, their third in 11 games.

Swinging for the wall, Parker led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer--a hit that popped out of the glove of Cub center fielder Bob Dernier. It was Parker’s 11th home run of the season.

“Without a doubt, I was looking for a home run,” Parker said. “When you’re 35 years old, you don’t like to go past nine innings. I said, ‘I’m going to try to take one deep.’ ”

And he did. Chicago reliever Lee Smith (1-3) threw Parker a 2-and-1 slider low and inside, and Parker swung as hard as he could, sending the ball toward the 404-foot sign in center field.

Dernier sprinted back and threw himself at the wall, stretching his glove over the top. The ball hit in his glove, then fell out as he started bringing it back.

“I did have it,” Dernier said. “I had to fly from the foot of the warning track. The ball was scalded. It was in the end of the glove, and the whiplash took it away.”

Dernier suffered a strained left shoulder on the play and bruised his left leg when he hit the wall.

John Franco (2-1) got the victory for the Reds.

Houston 10, Pittsburgh 3--Kevin Bass ripped a three-run double to highlight a seven-run seventh inning for the Astros at Houston and give rookie reliever Dave Meads his fourth victory in five decisions.

Meads gave up two hits in three innings to earn the victory. Loser Hipolito Pena (0-2) allowed three runs and two hits in 1 innings.

The Astros entered the seventh trailing, 3-2, but struck for their second seven-run inning of the season to go ahead, 9-3.

Billy Hatcher led off the inning with a double, Bill Doran walked and the runners moved up on sacrifice by Chuck Jackson. Glenn Davis was intentionally walked to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Paul Householder walked, scoring Hatcher to tie the score, 3-3, and Bass then doubled to clear the bases.

Alan Ashby followed with a single to right to score Bass. After Dickie Thon walked, Meads followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Ashby scored on a sacrifice fly by Hatcher. Doran then doubled home Thon.

Philadelphia 3, San Diego 1--Glenn Wilson hit a two-run homer to back the combined six-hit pitching of Shane Rawley and Steve Bedrosian at San Diego, leading the Phillies past the Padres, who lost their fourth straight and dropped to 11-37 on the season.

Rawley (5-2) went 7 innings, giving up one run on five hits while striking out seven and walking five. Bedrosian finished the game for his ninth save. Rookie Jimmy Jones (0-2) took the loss.

New York 3, San Francisco 2--Scott Garrelts’ two wild pitches in the eighth inning at San Francisco scored Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry to give the Mets the win.

San Francisco’s Jeffrey Leonard had two singles and raised his major league-leading batting average to .374.