National League Roundup : Picking Up Where They Left Off, Pirates Shut Out Cardinals

The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t impress too many people when they finished last season by winning 27 of their last 38 games.

With the start this season, the doubters are taking a second look.

Brian Fisher, who keyed the late-season spurt with some solid pitching, gave up seven hits Tuesday night at Pittsburgh in a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Fisher, who couldn’t make it as a relief pitcher with the New York Yankees, has been sensational as a starter for the Pirates. He is 3-0 this season, has won 7 in a row and is 13-3 since last year’s All-Star game.

The Pirates are 9-3, their best start in 22 years, and lead the National League East by 1 1/2 games over the New York Mets.

The injury-riddled Cardinals (3-9) lost another player, Bob Horner. Horner was hit in the arm by Bobby Bonilla’s line drive in the first inning and was taken to a hospital for X-rays that were negative.

Horner was given an error, and it contributed to the two-run first inning off Danny Cox. Barry Bonds started the rally with a double, his 13th consecutive extra-base hit. Bonds’ streak ended with a single in the second inning that scored the final Pirate run.

“It was a break for me to get away from the Yankees,” Fisher said. “I’m not sure they could have waited for me to make the switch. A couple of poor starts for them, and I’d probably been out of there.

“Here they were able to show the patience. Fortunately, it wasn’t wasted.”

It was the third time in a row he has beaten the Cardinals. Late last season, he shut them out on two hits to delay their division-title clinching. In his first start this season, he gave up three runs in five innings but was the winner.

“Youngsters often have doubts,” Pirate Manager Jim Leyland said, “but Fisher and Bonds are losing their doubts in a hurry.”

Philadelphia 10, New York 2--The Phillies bring out the worst in the Mets. Philadelphia unloaded a 14-hit attack at New York to beat the Mets for the fourth time in five games.

Not only did the Phillies end Bob Ojeda’s consecutive scoreless streak at 15 innings, but they pounded him for 6 runs and 7 hits in 4 innings. There were two balks that contributed to Ojeda’s downfall. After he was knocked out, he argued about the balk calls, then angrily threw his glove into the stands.

Mike Schmidt, batting only .191 going into the game, had three hits, including run-scoring singles in the fourth and fifth.

Don Carman pitched a seven-hitter to beat the Mets for the second time this season.

In five games, the Phillies have scored 37 runs, including 20 in the last two games.

Lance Parrish also had two run-scoring singles. Parrish, who batted .214 against the Mets last season, is 8 for 18 (.444) with 11 runs batted in in 5 games.

Cincinnati 8, San Francisco 0--In his 107th major league start, Dennis Rasmussen pitched a four-hitter at Cincinnati and earned the second shutout of his career.

Nick Esasky drove in four runs with a single and a home run to give Rasmussen all the support he needed. Rasmussen’s other shutout was for the Yankees in 1986.

The Red hammered former teammate Mike LaCoss, who had beaten them four times in a row last season.

Montreal 9, Chicago 1--Tim Wallach emerged from an early season slump, and Dennis Martinez (2-2) pitched a six-hitter at Chicago.

Wallach homered in the second inning to end a 1-for-19 skid and added two singles to pace a 12-hit attack.

Former Expo Vance Law, now the Cubs’ third baseman, extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a fifth-inning single. But the consecutive string of stolen bases by the Expos’ Tim Raines ended at eight when Jody Davis threw him out in the eighth.

Atlanta 5, Houston 4--Ted Simmons blasted a three-run home run in the eighth at Houston, and Bruce Sutter posted his first victory in two years.

Sutter went 1 innings and became a winner when Simmons hit the home run. It was the second win in a row for the Braves after losing their first 10 games.

Paul Assenmacher struck out the side in the ninth to get his first save.