National League Roundup : Giants, for First Time at Full Strength, Now Making a Run at Reds

When Candy Maldonado rejoined San Francisco Saturday for the game at Candlestick Park with the leaders of the West, the Cincinnati Reds, the Giants were at full strength for the first time this season.

Trailing by three games, the Giants once again have let the Reds know they are ready to challenge for the division title.

Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark, two of the hottest hitters in baseball, provided the offense as Atlee Hammaker pitched the Giants to a 5-2 victory over the Reds.

Hammaker had a one-hitter and a 5-0 lead when Eric Davis hit his 31st home run to spoil the bid for a shutout.

Mitchell and Clark each drove in a run in the four-run first inning off Tom Browning, and Clark hit his 23rd homer in the sixth. It was Clark’s eighth home run in the last 18 games. As a rookie last season, he hit 11 home runs.

Hammaker (7-8) became the second pitcher in a row to go the distance for the Giants. Mike LaCoss beat the Reds, 3-1, Friday night.

Maldonado, who broke a finger in late June, doubled in a run and scored in the first inning.

Mitchell and Clark started hitting as a tandem July 29. In the nine games, Clark is 15 for 32 (.469) with 10 runs, 5 home runs and 14 runs batted in. Mitchell sat out a game, but in the eight he has played he is 17 for 34 (.500) with 7 runs, 3 home runs and 7 runs batted in.

“I don’t consider myself a streaky home run hitter,” Clark said. “I try to be a consistent hitter, and if the home runs come, fine. I’m just coming of age as a big league hitter.”

Although Browning settled down to pitch well after his rocky start, he didn’t escape the wrath of Manager Pete Rose.

“He’s given up three, four, five runs in the first inning almost every game recently,” Rose said. “He’s got to give his team a better chance. What good does it do to settle down?

“As for our hitters, they’re still on Eastern Daylight Time, and we’re playing in West Coast time.”

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 2--Are they making a farce out of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth’s ruling that a manager can ask the umpires to confiscate one bat per game?

After the Pirates’ R. J. Reynolds hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning at Pittsburgh, Montreal Manager Bob Rodgers had his bat removed from the game.

Manager Jim Leyland of the Pirates retaliated by asking for Tim Raines’ bat to be removed after Raines hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

Meanwhile, with a new bat, Reynolds doubled and scored a run in the sixth and singled home a run in the seventh.

Under the ruling handed down by Ueberroth Thursday, the bats will be sent to the National League office and will be X-rayed to determine if they have been tampered with.

Chicago 5, New York 3--The Cubs’ Mike Mason put an end to the Mets’ seven-game winning streak at New York and threw a big scare into them when he hit Darryl Strawberry in the head with a pitch.

Strawberry led off the second inning, and Mason, making his third National League start since being acquired from Texas, hit the Met slugger on the right earflap of his helmet. Strawberry, unable to duck the pitch, spun to the ground, where he remained for more than a minute.

Although he left the game, Strawberry apparently escaped injury. It is expected he will play today.

Mason appeared to be unnerved. Before the inning was over, he walked two batters, and gave up two hits and all three Met runs. He settled down to go 5 innings and improve his record to 4-1.

Luis Quinones and Dave Martinez each drove in two runs to spark the Cubs, who had 16 hits and left 14 runners on base.

St. Louis 9, Philadelphia 5--Tony Pena hit a three-run home run, and Tommy Herr had four hits, including his second home run of the year, at Philadelphia.

Herr also had two doubles and a single, driving in three runs to lead a 13-hit attack.

Danny Cox, out since July 10 with a broken toe, held the Phillies to one run and three hits in four innings. But when the first two Phillies hit safely in the fifth, Manager Whitey Herzog went to his bench. Todd Worrell pitched two scoreless innings to gain the victory.

Surprisingly, Manager Lee Elia didn’t ask the umpires to confiscate Herr’s bat after he hit the 18th home run of his eight-year career with one on in the seventh.

The victory enabled the Cardinals, who have been struggling lately, to extend their lead in the East to 4 1/2 games over the Mets.

San Diego 4, Houston 3--Nolan Ryan’s run of bad luck continued at San Diego. Baseball’s strikeout king, seeking to end an eight-game losing streak, departed with one out in the seventh inning and a 3-1 lead.

But Astro bullpen ace Dave Smith couldn’t hold it, and the Padres scored twice in the ninth.

In the 10th, John Kruk, who had hit a homer for the only run off Ryan and who had singled and scored a run in the ninth, singled to left to score Tony Gwynn from second base with the winning run.