National League Roundup : Clark Hits 20th Homer to Beat Pirates in 10th

Jack Clark of the St. Louis Cardinals has a reputation for being one of baseball’s best clutch hitters, and Thursday night at St. Louis, he showed why.

Clark hit his second two-run home run of the game in the 10th inning to give the Cardinals an 8-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Tom Herr opened the inning with a single off losing pitcher Don Robinson (5-5). Clark then hit a 1-and-2 pitch over the fence in left field for his 20th home run, nearly half of the Cardinal team total of 41.

“I wasn’t looking for a home run there,” Clark told United Press International. “I was just looking to protect the plate and put the ball in play.”

The four runs batted in gave Clark 64 this season, the most in the major leagues.

The last-place Pirates scored single runs in the eighth and ninth to send the game into extra innings.

Pittsburgh tied the game in the ninth when pinch-hitter John Cangelosi walked, stole second, moved to third on a fly ball and scored on Andy Van Slyke’s single.

St. Louis took a 5-3 lead by scoring four times in the fourth inning. The key hit was Clark’s first two-run homer.

Bill Dawley (4-4) pitched a scoreless 10th to get the victory.

San Diego 3, San Francisco 1--Carmelo Martinez hit a pair of homers at San Diego to lead the Padres, who have the worst record in baseball, to their sixth straight victory. The Giants have lost six in a row.

The winning streak is San Diego’s longest in more than two years.

Storm Davis (2-7) allowed three hits in six innings en route to his first win since May 4. Rich Gossage pitched the final two innings for his fifth save in another strong performance by the Padre bullpen, which hadn’t allowed an earned run in 20 innings.

Martinez hit bases-empty home runs in the seventh and eighth innings to give him eight for the season.

Atlee Hammaker (3-4) took the loss.

New York 10, Montreal 7--The Mets hit five homers, two by Darryl Strawberry, in winning at Montreal.

Gary Carter hit a two-run home run, and Howard Johnson and Kevin McReynolds added bases-empty homers for the Mets. Strawberry, who had four RBIs, and rookie Keith Miller each had three hits.

Montreal took a 5-4 lead in the fourth inning on Mitchell Webster’s fourth home run and Herman Winningham’s run-scoring single.

But the Mets went back in front in the fifth, 7-5, on Miller’s RBI triple and Carter’s two-run home run, his eighth of the season.

The Mets boosted their lead in the seventh when Strawberry and McReynolds hit consecutive homers.

Doug Sisk (3-1) got the win in relief, and Roger McDowell pitched two scoreless innings for his seventh save.

Neal Heaton (9-3), who had won six straight, was pounded for 7 runs and 9 hits in 4 innings and took the loss.

The Mets had 15 hits off four Montreal pitchers.

Cincinnati 8, Atlanta 4--Eric Davis hit a three-run home run, and Buddy Bell drove in two runs in the Reds’ victory at Atlanta.

The win increased the Reds’ lead over Houston in the West to 2 1/2 games.

Bell broke a 2-2 tied in the third inning when he drove in Davis with a single to right.

The Reds increased their lead to 7-2 in the fourth. Ron Oester tripled and scored on a single by winning pitcher Guy Hoffman. Kal Daniels singled, and then Davis hit a 1-and-2 pitch from Paul Assenmacher for his 21st home run.

For Davis, who was 1 for 20 going into the game, it was his first home run--and RBIs--since June 3. He had missed the last three games with a blister on his left hand.

The Braves’ Dale Murphy hit his 21st home run in the second to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

Hoffman (6-1) allowed 9 hits in 5 innings. John Franco pitched 1 innings for his 14th save.