National League Roundup : Cubs Left Stranded by Walk and Pirates, 8-0

To hear Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bob Walk describe his 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs Monday, he almost didn’t deserve it.

“They had a lot of baserunners,” said Walk (7-4) after pitching his first complete game this season and his first shutout since last August. “It just seemed like they couldn’t get the key two-out hit they needed. So it really wasn’t a whole lot of my doing.”

The Cubs, 2-8 against the Pirates this season, did have their chances against Walk, who gave up eight hits and four walks. But they stranded 10 baserunners on a day when the wind was blowing out at 15 m.p.h. in cozy Wrigley Field.

Walk held the Cubs to seven singles and a double. He had five strikeouts. Chicago’s Calvin Schiraldi (3-4) allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 2 innings.

New York 2, St. Louis 1--Lee Mazzilli singled home the winning run in the 12th inning, ending a pitching duel as the Mets beat the Cardinals at New York to end a five-game losing streak.

Mazzilli, a switch-hitter who was 0 for 13 right-handed, bounced a single over charging third baseman Tom Lawless that scored Howard Johnson from second base with none out in the 12th.

The Mets, who squandered a bases-loaded situation in the 11th, came back when Johnson was hit by a pitch by reliever Ken Dayley leading off the 12th. Home plate umpire Dutch Rennert then warned Dayley and Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog about close pitches.

Pinch-hitter Wally Backman popped up a bunt between home and first. Dayley dived for the ball, but it glanced off his glove for a single that moved Johnson to second. With the Cardinals’ infield expecting another bunt, Mazzilli grounded the first pitch into left field.

Philadelphia 5, Montreal 2--Chris James, Luis Aguayo and Mike Young hit solo home runs as the Phillies beat the Expos at Philadelphia, snapping the Expos’ four-game winning streak.

Shane Rawley (5-6) pitched his third complete game after lasting one-third of an inning Friday night against Pittsburgh in a game eventually won by Philadelphia, 12-10. Against the Expos, he allowed nine hits and struck out seven.

Rawley also was credited with the game-winning run batted in on a fielder’s choice grounder in a three-run second.

It was the fifth victory in seven games for the Phillies.

San Diego 7, San Francisco 3--Eric Show allowed four hits in 7 innings, and Roberto Alomar hit a home run at San Diego to lift the Padres to their fifth straight victory.

The Padres have won 6 of 7 games and 8 of 11 on their 13-game home stand under new Manager Jack McKeon. The Giants, who fell to 31-31, have lost three straight.

The Padres beat Mike Krukow (4-4) despite the right-hander’s fifth career homer, a one-out shot off Show (5-6) in the third.

Mark Davis pitched the final 1 innings for his 10th save in 10 opportunities. Davis also hit a two-run homer in the eighth.

Houston 6, Atlanta 5--Denny Walling’s run-scoring single broke an eighth-inning tie, and the Astros won at Houston to move into a virtual first-place tie with the Dodgers in the West.

Kevin Bass led off the eighth with a single off Jose Alvarez (2-2). Bass then stole second and scored the tiebreaking run on Walling’s first game-winning hit of the season.

Juan Agosto (3-0) got the victory with one inning of relief.

Nolan Ryan started for the Astros and struck out eight to regain the NL lead from teammate Mike Scott. Ryan has 97, and Scott is second with 96.