National League Roundup : Scott Appears to Have Nothing on the Ball and Is Routed by Giants, 8-1

Roger Craig’s plan Wednesday at San Francisco was to watch Houston’s Mike Scott closely to see if he was doing anything illegal.

He really didn’t need to bother. Scott, in one of his poorest performances of the season, gave up a grand slam to catcher Bob Brenly, and the Giants romped to an 8-1 victory, moving into a first-place tie with Cincinnati in the National League West.

If Scott was scuffing up the baseball, he was getting results similar to the two pitchers who have been caught recently, Joe Niekro and Kevin Gross. Both are having dismal seasons.

Scott isn’t exactly ineffective, but he is nothing like the pitcher he was a year ago when he won the Cy Young Award, had an 18-10 record and an earned-run average of 2.22.

Last week, Brenly was one of the worst hitters in the league, going 3 for 21. But he climaxed a six-run Giant seventh with the bases-loaded blast, his 13th home run this season. It finished Scott.

Scott, in losing for the fifth time in his last seven starts, gave up 12 hits and all 8 Giant runs in 6 innings. He also gave up Candy Maldonado’s 14th home run in the second inning.

The right-hander, who was taught the split-fingered fastball by Craig, is 12-9 with an ERA of 2.99.

“I’m not saying Scott scuffs the ball,” said Craig by way of explaining his decision to watch the right-hander closely, “but can you imagine what would happen to the Astros if Scott got caught and was suspended for 10 days in the middle of the pennant race?

“I didn’t see the ball doing tricks like it normally does when Scott pitches.

“If he had any thought of scuffing the ball, everything that’s been happening the last couple of weeks probably discouraged him. We looked at a lot of balls, and none of them were scuffed.”

Atlee Hammaker (8-8) held the Astros to two hits in six innings before he had to leave because of a tightness in his left bicep.

“I didn’t feel tired,” Scott said. “I just didn’t throw good pitches. I have been going out there and trying to pitch as well as I possibly can. Maybe, I’m trying too hard.”

For the first half of this season, Scott was pitching about as well as he did last year. On June 20, after beating the Dodgers, he was 9-3. But he’s won only three of nine decisions since then. In two of the victories, he didn’t give up a run. The Astros have not given him much offensive support lately.

Philadelphia 13, Chicago 7--It was a big day at Philadelphia for Juan Samuel. He hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to break a 7-7 tie, and also had a single and a triple.

His 22nd home run is the most ever for a Phillie second baseman. The triple was his 10th and enabled him to become the first player ever to reach double figures in doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases in each of his first four seasons.

Manager Lee Elia was full of praise for his second baseman. “He’s the kind of guy you anticipate excellence from every day,” he said, “and he expects that from himself. He’s having a fine year. He just keeps getting better.”

Pittsburgh 11, St. Louis 0--It was an improbable way for the Cardinals to get shut out for the first time this season.

Bob Walk, in just his second start of the season, pitched a four-hitter at Pittsburgh for his first complete game in more than a year.

The Cardinals were the last team to be shutout this season. It happened in their 113th game of the season and it cut their lead in the East to 4 1/2 games.

Since the All-Star game the Cardinals have played 21 of their 27 games on the road.

The Pirates broke the game open with eight runs in the fourth inning and went on to end a six-game losing streak at the hands of the Cardinals.

New York 4, Montreal 2--Mookie Wilson, who has complained about lack of playing time, made the most of his opportunity to play in this game at New York.

Wilson drove in a run and scored another after escaping a rundown in the fourth inning to help Ron Darling (9-7) win his fifth in a row.

Darling had a three-hitter until the eighth when the first three Expos hit safely and Roger McDowell, with hardly time to warm up, had to hurry to the rescue.

Atlanta 2, San Diego 1--Zane Smith pitched a six-hitter, and Gerald Perry hit a home run at San Diego to end the Padres’ seven-game winning streak.

Smith, who has won four in a row to improve his record to 12-6, has beaten the Padres four times in five decisions in the last two years.

He lost his shutout in the sixth when rookie catcher Benito Santiago doubled and scored on Garry Templeton’s single.