National League Roundup : Rare Pena Homer Helps Cardinals Win, 4-2

The St. Louis Cardinals believed that catcher Tony Pena was the one player they needed to win the National League East.

So, they sent three players to the Pittsburgh Pirates to get him. The Cardinals have led the East most of the season, but it’s been in spite of Pena, not because of him.

It wasn’t so much that Pena broke his thumb and missed a month at the start of the season, he has been a flop at the plate and behind it. A four-time Gold Glove winner, Pena has had trouble throwing out runners. As a hitter, he is 60 points below his .286 career average.

Meanwhile, the players the Cardinals traded have done well, especially pitcher Mike Dunne, a nine-game winner and a Rookie of the Year candidate. Andy Van Slyke is outhitting Pena by 60 points and has 19 home runs. Catcher Mike LaValliere has been a surprise, hitting around .300.

Pena came out of his slump Friday night at St. Louis when he hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to give the Cardinals a 4-2 victory over San Diego. The homer also gave the Cardinals hope that Pena will be of value down the stretch.

Pena, batting just .223, was in a 1-for-27 slump when he faced Mark Davis of the Padres with two out and Terry Pendleton on first base. He hit only his fourth home run of the season and first at Busch Stadium to break a 2-2 tie.

He was wondering if the decision to shave off a mustache he had worn for 13 years helped to change his luck.

“I made the decision to shave it off yesterday,” he said. “Maybe, it will change my luck. I can’t worry about it, but I know I’m not a .220 hitter. Maybe I can make up for not helping in the first four months.”

Todd Worrell (8-6) got the last four outs to win the game and keep the Cardinals 3 1/2 games in front of New York.

“Maybe this will get him going,” Manager Whitey Herzog said. “We wanted him for his offense and he’s been miserable.”

Before his home run, Pena twice hit drives to the warning track in left field.

San Francisco 3, Philadelphia 2--Manager Roger Craig keeps saying the Giants are going to win the West, and the way his team is playing, people are beginning to believe him.

Will Clark, who has become the team’s clutch hitter, hit his 28th home run with one out in the 10th at San Francisco to keep the Giants 4 1/2 games ahead of Houston.

A seventh-inning home run by Bob Brenly wiped out a 2-1 Phillies lead and set the stage for Clark.

The Giants have won 8 of their last 11.

Houston 2, Pittsburgh 0--Nolan Ryan hasn’t exactly found that life begins at 40, but then, his 6-14 record doesn’t tell how well he has pitched, either.

In this game at Houston, Ryan gave up only two hits in seven innings. It was the 20th start this season in which Ryan gave up two earned runs or less. But it was only his fifth victory in those 20 games.

Bill Doran hit a two-run single in the fifth inning, and that was all baseball’s strikeout king needed.

With six strikeouts, Ryan took over the league lead. His 210 are the most ever in a season for a pitcher 40 or older.

Cincinnati 4, Chicago 3--It may be too early to count the Reds out of the race. The Cubs found it was too early to count them out of this game at Chicago.

The Cubs, with standout relief pitcher Lee Smith on the firing line, had a 3-0 lead with one out in the ninth inning. But the next out came on Dave Parker’s fly, and it scored the winning run. In between, there were five consecutive hits, including Kal Daniels’ two-run double.

Scott Sanderson had a four-hitter and seven strikeouts through seven innings but had to leave because he felt ill.

Atlanta 7, Montreal 4--Ozzie Virgil drove in four runs, and Dale Murphy hit his 37th home run, tying his career high, at Atlanta.

Neal Heaton (12-7) failed for the eighth time to gain his 13th victory.