National League Roundup : A Broken-Bat Single Snaps Scott’s No-Hit Bid

Mike Scott of the Houston Astros, trying to pitch the first no-hitter of the season in the majors after several other pitchers had near misses, shut down the Atlanta Braves for 8 innings Sunday before Ken Oberkfell’s broken-bat single.

“You don’t get that close very often,” said Scott, who finished with a one-hitter and beat the Braves, 5-0, at Houston to improve his record to 7-2. “There’s a lot of luck involved in a no-hitter. When they hit the ball well, we just happened to have guys in front of it. I’ll probably lose a little sleep over it tonight. I had the best fastball I’ve had in some time, especially in the last few outings.”

With a crowd of 31,778 on its feet in the ninth, Scott retired pinch-hitter Ken Griffey when second baseman Bill Doran made a diving stop of a grounder in the hole and, from his knees, threw to first base. Albert Hall then grounded out to first baseman Denny Walling unassisted, before Oberkfell lined the next pitch for a single that fell well in front of the lunging Kevin Bass in right field. Gerald Perry grounded out to second base, concluding the second one-hitter of Scott’s career.

“Look at this,” Oberkfell said. “A guy pitches a one-hitter, and I’m the star of the game. I didn’t want to be the last out. I was just looking for a ball that was up in the strike zone.”

The only other Braves to reach base were Dion James, on shortstop Rafael Ramirez’s error with one out in the fifth, and Ozzie Virgil, on Craig Reynolds’ throwing error in the eighth.

Scott pitched the National League’s last no-hitter, on Sept. 25, 1986, in a victory over the San Francisco Giants that clinched the Western Division title in Houston.

“It was one hit short of that magic,” Houston catcher Alan Ashby said. “If you’re comparing him to two years ago, he was great today. Two years ago, he was superhuman.”

Scott’s effort marked the sixth time this season that a pitcher has carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and lost it.

Chicago 4, St. Louis 3--Greg Maddux became the major leagues’ first 11-game winner and also scored twice as the Cubs swept the three-game series at St. Louis.

Maddux (11-3) got his fifth straight win, allowing eight hits. He also singled twice, reached base on an error that allowed Darrin Jackson to score the go-ahead run, and scored on a sacrifice fly later in the sixth inning.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with none out against Maddux in the ninth. Pat Perry relieved Maddux and allowed a one-out, run-scoring grounder by Curt Ford before retiring Vince Coleman on a grounder to third.

Montreal 4, New York 3--Hubie Brooks singled home Tim Raines in the 11th inning to cap the Expos’ comeback from a 3-0 deficit after eight innings at Montreal.

The Mets lost for the fifth straight time as Terry Leach (1-1) walked Raines to lead off the 11th. Raines stole second, took third on Casey Candaele’s sacrifice bunt and scored when Brooks singled to center.

In the first eight innings, Met starter Sid Fernandez allowed only Mitch Webster’s fifth-inning double. Fernandez struck out 10 before giving way to reliever Randy Myers in the ninth.

Myers hit Raines with a pitch leading off the ninth, and Candaele followed with a single. Andres Galarraga tied the score with his league-leading 16th home run.

The Expos ran their extra-inning victory string in the past two years to 20-2, including 8-1 this season.

Cincinnati 10, San Francisco 6--Danny Jackson limited the Giants to one hit through six innings and also drove in three runs to lead the Reds at San Francisco.

Jackson (6-3) retired 15 straight after a first-inning single by Chris Speier. Tim Birtsas pitched the final two innings for the Reds, yielding a three-run homer to Rusty Tillman with two out in the ninth.

Jackson, who struck out eight, had a run-scoring single in a five-run second inning and added a two-run double in the third while the Reds were building a 10-0 lead.

Philadelphia 5, Pittsburgh 4--Kevin Gross (7-2) pitched 7 innings to win for the fifth time in his last six decisions, and Steve Jeltz drove in two runs with a triple and a double to lead the Phillies at Pittsburgh.

1988 NEAR NO-HITTERS

The six pitchers who this season have taken no-hitters into the ninth inning with number of outs when first hit occurred, batter and hit:

Date: April 28 Pitcher: Nolan Ryan, Houston Opponent: Philadelphia First Hit: Mike Schmidt, single, one out Date: May 2 Pitcher: Ron Robinson, Cincinnati Opponent: Montreal First Hit: Wallace Johnson, single, two outs Date: May 8 Pitcher: Doug Drabek, Pittsburgh Opponent: San Diego First Hit: Randy Ready, single, none out Date: May 28 Pitcher: Odell Jones, Milwaukee Opponent: Cleveland First Hit: Ron Washington, single, one out Date: June 6 Pitcher: Tom Browning, Cincinnati Opponent: San Diego First Hit: Tony Gwynn, single, one out Date: June 12 Pitcher: Mike Scott, Houston Opponent: Atlanta First Hit: Ken Oberkfell, single, two outs