National League Roundup : Phillies Walk Clark; McGee Makes Them Pay

When the St. Louis Cardinals went into their worst slump of the season in the middle of last month, opponents thought they had found a way to slow down the best offense in the National League.

Manager Roger Craig of the San Francisco Giants came up with the idea. Every time Jack Clark, the Cardinals’ only home run hitter, came up with a chance to do damage, Craig ordered him walked.

It worked in a four-game series at Candlestick Park, because Willie McGee, who bats behind Clark, did the unusual. He grounded into four double plays, and the Cardinals lost all four games.

The strategy doesn’t always work. It backfired on the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night at St. Louis.

With the score tied, 4-4, in the fifth inning and Tommy Herr on first with two out, the Phillies pitched carefully to Clark and walked him. McGee responded with his ninth home run and the Cardinals went on to win, 8-4, and increase their lead in the East to 5 1/2 games.

The three runs batted in enabled McGee to set a career high with 84 RBIs.

The Cardinals, who had only four hits in 13 innings Thursday night, had only seven more in this one, but McGee’s homer may have signaled the end of their hitting slump.

McGee, one of the quietest players in the majors, didn’t have much to say as usual.

“We got some clutch hits and we won and that’s it,” he said.

St. Louis starter Greg Mathews (8-8) settled down after Mike Schmidt and Lance Parrish hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. Schmidt’s home run was his 23rd and first in 16 games.

Todd Worrell pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his 25th save and end the Phillies’ five-game winning streak.

The Phillies’ downfall in the fifth started when shortstop Steve Jeltz booted Herr’s two-out grounder.

“It was a routine grounder and we kicked it,” Manager Lee Elia said.

Chicago 6, New York 1--Pitcher Drew Hall was so anxious to return to the majors that he drove from Des Moines to Chicago in a rainstorm.

Hall, recalled from Iowa, the Cubs’ Triple-A farm club, pitched three scoreless innings to play his part in the Cubs’ second win in a row over the Mets.

The storm dumped more than nine inches of rain on the Chicago area, but stopped before the game.

Hall was brought in when Scott Sanderson (6-6), after holding the Mets to three hits in five innings, had to leave because of a groin injury.

Keith Moreland’s three-run home run in the fifth was the decisive blow for the Cubs. Andre Dawson hit his 36th for the Cubs. The right-handed hitting Dawson has hit 31 of them against right-handed pitchers.

Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 3--Pinch-hitters Reid Nichols and Mike Fitzgerald each drove in a run with two out in the eighth inning at Montreal to bring the Expos from behind.

The Pirates had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth when R.J. Reynolds drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly and Mike Diaz singled in the go-ahead run.

Tim Wallach doubled home a run for the Expos in the first inning to become the first player in the majors to drive in 100 runs this season.

Houston 8, Atlanta 4--Catcher Alan Ashby has quit trying to explain why he is having such a fine season at the plate.

Ashby, who has been the key RBI man for the Astros since being moved into the cleanup spot when Glenn Davis went into a slump, hit a two-run homer to spark a five-run first inning at Houston.

Ashby has 11 home runs and 50 runs batted in. The big first inning made it easy for Bob Knepper, although he gave up 11 hits in 7 innings. Knepper is 5-13.

Cincinnati 2-8, San Diego 0-15--Ted Power held the Padres to three hits in eight innings, and Kal Daniels drove in both runs for the Reds with a two-out double in the fourth inning of the first game at San Diego.

In the second game, rookie Shane Mack drove in five runs with a homer, triple and sacrifice fly, and Randy Ready knocked in four runs for the Padres.

The split gave the Reds a half-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the West.

Tony Gwynn had three hits in the second game, raising his league-leading average to .370.