National League Roundup : Davis Helps the Reds Win on Giant Errors, 5-4

Eric Davis has hit only three home runs this month, so he’s finding other ways to help the Cincinnati Reds win.

Davis, who defeated the San Francisco Giants on June 8 by dashing home from first base on a 400-foot single by Dave Parker, beat the Giants, 5-4, Wednesday on a 10th-inning sprint from first base following an errant pickoff throw by Scott Garrelts.

Davis led off the 10th with a single, went to third on Garrelts’ wild throw and scored when first baseman Will Clark bobbled the pickup in the right-field bullpen for a second error on the play.

“You’ve got to do what you have to do to win,” Davis said. “When the ball got away at first base, I just took off.”

“I’m just running in that situation,” he added. “There’s really no time to think. I can’t run and think at the same time, anyway.”

Giants Manager Roger Craig spoke of Davis’ speed with envy.

“When you’ve got speed, a lot of things can happen,” Craig said. “It’s a great commodity. I wish we had some.”

The Giants had rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Leadoff batter Bob Brenly was safe at second when his grounder went through third baseman Buddy Bell’s legs for an error. Pinch-runner Eddie Milner went to third on Chris Speier’s groundout to second.

Reds’ relief ace John Franco replaced Frank Williams and walked pinch-hitter Bob Melvin. Robby Thompson then scored Milner with suicide squeeze, with Milner beating Franco’s throw to the plate.

But Franco (4-1) got Jeffrey Leonard to line out to shortstop and struck out Clark to end the rally and set the stage for Davis.

St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 3--Terry Pendleton hit a two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning, snapping a tie and powering the Cardinals to victory, despite Mike Schmidt’s 512th career homer.

Pendleton’s homer, his fifth of the season and second in 10 games, followed Willie McGee’s two-out single. The blast off Mike Jackson (1-6) snapped a tie that Schmidt had created in the top of the eighth with his 17th homer of the season. Schmidt’s blast moved him into a tie for 11th place on baseball’s all-time home run list with Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks.

Todd Worrell (2-3) checked the Phillies after Schmidt’s homer and retired five straight batters to pick up the victory. By winning, St. Louis increased its lead in the National League East to 4 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs.

Pittsburgh 9, Montreal 6--Pitcher Brian Fisher hit a three-run homer, and R. J. Reynolds and Barry Bonds added solo home runs as the Pirates ended a three-game losing streak in this game at Pittsburgh.

Fisher (4-4) allowed 9 hits and 2 runs in 5 innings as he won his second straight start. His second three-run homer of the season came in the second inning off Jeff Fischer (0-1) and gave Pittsburgh a 5-1 lead.

New York 2, Chicago 1--Bill Almon’s bases-loaded single through a drawn-in infield in the ninth inning gave the Mets the victory at New York.

The Mets loaded the bases against reliever Lee Smith (2-5) with one out on singles by Kevin McReynolds and Howard Johnson and a walk to Dave Magadan. Almon, acquired from Pittsburgh last month and just 2 for 16 with the Mets, then bounced a 1-2 pitch cleanly up the middle.

Roger McDowell (4-2) pitched the ninth for the victory. New York was outhit 12-8, but still ended the Cubs’ three-game winning streak.

Houston 12, San Diego 7--Jose Cruz hit a two-out, three-run double in the seventh inning as the Houston Astros rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Padres at San Diego.

The Astros trailed, 5-0, after two innings but rallied for six runs in the fifth inning, when they sent 10 men to the plate.