National League Roundup : Astros Beat Slumping Cardinals, 5-4, Trail Giants, Reds by Half-Game

The Houston Astros rebounded from a disastrous 1-6 trip with a 7-0 homestand that propelled the defending National League West champions back into the title chase.

Thursday at Houston, rookie Gerald Young collected four hits and scored the game-winning run on Glenn Davis’ sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to give the Astros their 11th straight win at the Astrodome, 5-4, over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals.

The victory gave the Astros a season-high seven-game winning streak and moved them within a half-game of Cincinnati and San Francisco for the lead.

The Cardinals, who lost their fifth straight, leads the East by 2 1/2 games over the New York Mets and 3 over the Montreal Expos.

Rocky Childress (1-1) worked one inning for the victory and Juan Agosto pitched 1 innings for his first save.

The Cardinals had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh on a two-run triple by pinch-hitter Terry Pendleton and a two-run home run by Jack Clark, his 33rd, but the Astros came back in the bottom of the inning to take the lead back for good. Davis’ sacrifice fly and an error by St. Louis third baseman Jose Oquendo scored the runs.

Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 3--Dave Parker hit his 22nd home run, and first since July 29, to snap a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning, and Buddy Bell knocked in three runs at Cincinnati as the Reds moved back into a tie with San Francisco for the lead in the West.

Ted Power (10-7) pitched the first 5 innings for the win while John Franco worked 1 innings of relief to earn his 24th save. Mike Dunne (7-5) took the loss, Pittsburgh’s first in six games at Three Rivers Stadium this season.

“We had our chance in the ninth inning tonight, but John Franco is probably the best left-handed relief pitcher in baseball,” Pirates Manager Jim Leyland said. “He tends to get stronger as the pressure gets greater.”

The Reds held a pre-game meeting, but it didn’t make a difference at first--Pittsburgh’s Barry Bonds led off the game with a homer, his fourth in the three-game series.

New York 7, San Francisco 4--The Giants’ one-day reign as leaders of the West ended at New York as Barry Lyons hit his first career grand slam in the sixth inning to bring the Mets back from a 4-3 deficit.

Kevin McReynolds hit a solo home run in the fourth as the Mets set a team single-season record with 149 homers, bettering the old mark of 148 last year.

David Cone (3-2) pitched four innings of two-hit relief after starter Terry Leach, coming off his first loss of the season after winning 10 straight, failed to finish the third inning. Cone struck out six and didn’t walk a batter, and Randy Myers struck out five more while pitching three innings of hitless relief for his third save.

Lyons, calling it the biggest hit of his career, said: “It was even more so since it won the game for us. It was a fastball, and from the time I hit it I thought it had a chance to get out of here.”

Atlanta 13, Chicago 4--Gary Roenicke drove in five runs with a pair of home runs and Dale Murphy hit a two-run homer to lead the Braves at Atlanta in a game protested by the Cubs.

Manager Gene Michael lodged the protest in the sixth inning on the grounds that Atlanta reliever Jim Acker was rubbing the ball in his glove. The umpires checked Acker’s glove twice in the inning for foreign substances, but found none.

Acker (1-5) ended a personal 11-game losing streak with the victory.

Murphy lined his 33rd homer of the season in the fifth inning, with Roenicke on base after a walk, to break a 3-3 tie. Andre Dawson hit his 37th and 38th home runs for the Cubs.

Philadelphia 10, San Diego 2--Juan Samuel drove in three runs and Milt Thompson and Lance Parrish knocked in two apiece at Philadelphia as the Phillies won for the 11th time in 13 games.

Fred Toliver (1-0) earned his first win in the majors, striking out a career-high six in six innings. Wally Ritchie pitched three innings for his third save.

Before taking the mound, Toliver knew he would be going to the minor leagues after the game so the Phillies could activate reliever Michael Jackson from the disabled list.