National League Roundup : Darling Has No-Hitter for Seven Innings, and Again He Doesn’t Win

Even when New York Met pitcher Ron Darling throws seven no-hit innings, he can’t get a victory.

Darling, who has not won a game since April 22, did not give up a hit until the eighth inning Sunday, but the Philadelphia Phillies rallied against reliever Roger McDowell in the ninth for a 5-4 victory at Philadelphia.

“For another four or five days, I’m the pitcher who hasn’t won in two-plus months. It’s not very much fun,” said Darling, who left after giving up two hits and the first Phillies’ run in the eighth inning.

Mike Schmidt singled off McDowell (4-3) with two out in the ninth to score Juan Samuel with the winning run. Doug Bair (1-0) earned the win with one perfect inning of relief.

The biggest hit of the game may have been pinch-hitter Greg Gross’ triple off Darling to lead off the eighth inning.

Samuel followed with a run-scoring single to left to chase Darling, who struck out eight and walked five, and bring on Jesse Orosco.

The Phillies scored three in the inning and then won the game in the ninth on RBI singles by Rick Schu and Schmidt.

St. Louis 7, Montreal 6--Ozzie Smith’s suicide-squeeze bunt in the 11th scored Curt Ford and gave the Cardinals a victory over the Expos at Montreal.

Ford opened the 11th against Jeff Parrett (1-2) with a bloop double. He moved to third on Vince Coleman’s sacrifice and scored on Smith’s bunt.

The Expos wasted a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth when they loaded the bases with one out, but reliever Todd Worrell struck out Tim Wallach and Hubie Brooks.

Ken Dayley (1-0) got the victory with two innings of one-hit relief.

Jack Clark’s two-run homer, his 22nd, gave St. Louis a 5-5 tie in the fifth.

San Francisco 8, Houston 4--Pinch-hitter Harry Spilman hit a three-run homer to lead the Giants over the Astros at San Francisco.

Nolan Ryan (4-8) took the loss but struck out 11 in five innings, raising his major league-leading total to 4,401.

The Astros scored three times off winner Atlee Hammaker (4-5) in the first inning on Bill Doran’s two-run homer and Glenn Davis’ bases-empty shot, his 13th.

The Giants took a 4-3 lead in the third on Will Clark’s two-run homer, his 14th, and a run-scoring single by Mike Aldrete.

Doran’s second homer of the game made it 4-4 in the fifth, but the Giants scored four runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Aldrete and Spilman’s homer.

Atlanta 5, San Diego 2--Graig Nettles and Gerald Perry hit home runs as the Braves ended a six-game losing streak by beating the Padres in San Diego.

The Braves scored three times in the sixth inning and broke a 1-1 tie against Ed Whitson (8-7). With two out, Dale Murphy doubled and Ken Griffey singled him home. Nettles followed with a two-run homer, his fourth of the season and second in two days.

Perry hit a solo home run, his fourth, in the seventh off Craig Lefferts.

Braves starter Charlie Puleo (2-1) gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings for the win, and Gene Garber earned his eighth save.

Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 2--R.J. Reynolds’ two-run single off Cub relief ace Lee Smith triggered a five-run rally with two out in the eighth inning as the Pirates won in Pittsburgh.

Rick Sutcliffe (10-4), attempting to become the National League’s first 11-game winner, had limited the Pirates to one run on six hits before being lifted after walking pinch-hitter John Cangelosi and running the count to 3-0 on Barry Bonds.

Smith came on to walk Bonds and, with the bases loaded two outs later, Reynolds singled to start the rally.