National League Roundup : Parker Snaps Slump With His 20th Homer, Six RBIs

Dave Parker, battling a slump and the flu, equaled his single-game career high in runs batted in with six Thursday night as he helped the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Expos, 8-4, at Montreal.

Parker got three RBIs with his 20th home run of the season. He also had a double and a single.

“I didn’t feel very good before the game and I was very close to taking the night off,” Parker said. “I’m glad I decided to play. Everything turned out quite nicely.”

Parker, who increased his RBI total to 67, entered the game in a slump, his average having dropped to .267. He has been taking extra batting practice the past several days.

“For two days, I hit for an hour each time out,” Parker said. “I noticed that my mechanics were all messed up and I was swinging at bad pitches. Pete (Manager Rose) told me that when you take a lot of extra BP, you sometimes get tired and it takes a while until you see some results.”

Parker last had six RBIs on May 9, 1975, when he played for Pittsburgh.

Ted Power (8-5) overcame a shaky first inning and allowed eight hits over eight innings. John Franco pitched the ninth inning for the Reds.

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 1--Don Carman pitched five-hit ball over seven innings and drove in a run with a single as the Phillies won at Philadelphia.

Carman (6-7) struck out six and walked five. But for a fly ball lost in the lights in left field, he would have escaped without allowing a run. Mike Jackson pitched the final two innings for the Phillies.

Carman went hitless last season in 31 at-bats, and had three hits this season in 35 at-bats, when he got the game-winning RBI in the fifth.

The Phillies’ Mike Schmidt drove in a run with a double in the second. It was his 1,454th RBI, which moved him into 28th place on the all-time list ahead of Eddie Mathews.

San Diego 2, Pittsburgh 1--Eric Show allowed six hits over 8 innings as the Padres won at San Diego.

Show (5-11), who struck out eight, gave way in the ninth to Rich Gossage, who got the last out for his seventh save.

Randy Ready hit his second homer of the season, leading off the second inning, to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. San Diego added a run in the third when Stan Jefferson walked with one out and scored on Tony Gwynn’s double to right center. Gwynn had two hits to raise his league-leading batting average to .363.