National League Roundup : Jackson, Bright Red in Dark Season, Beats Mets

When he lost 18 games and his earned-run average soared above 4.00 last season, the Kansas City Royals gave up on Danny Jackson.

They sent the 26-year-old left-hander to the Cincinnati Reds for shortstop Kurt Stillwell. Jackson has been the brightest light in an otherwise dark season for the Reds.

Jackson gave up only three hits in seven innings Monday night and, with the help of bullpen ace John Franco, beat the New York Mets, 2-1, at Cincinnati.

Jackson improved his record to 11-5 on a team that’s under .500.

It was the fourth win in the last five starts for Jackson. His lone defeat in that span was by 1-0 in 10 innings.

The defeat cut the Mets’ shrinking lead in the National League East to two games over the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates, who were rained out at home against the San Diego Padres.

The Reds, at the mercy of Sid Fernandez for five innings, used their speed to get two runs in the sixth inning.

Fernandez held the Reds hitless until Kal Daniels singled to right to open the sixth. Eric Davis walked and they pulled a double steal. Daniels scored after the catch on Nick Esasky’s deep fly to left, and Davis scored, too, on second baseman Tim Teufel’s errant relay throw.

Teufel apparently was startled to see the speedy Davis running instead of pulling up at third base.

“I saw Davis hit third base hard,” Teufel said, “and that surprised me. I was in-between. I threw halfway (between home and third). The throw was lousy.”

Franco got the final four outs to get his 17th save. He has saved the last seven Cincinnati victories.

Jackson has been especially tough on Philadelphia. Although he failed to impress Mike Schmidt when he threw a two-hitter against them on May 4, Jackson has beaten the Phillies four times, allowing just 14 hits and 5 runs in 33 innings.

In two games against the Mets, Jackson has given up only two earned runs in 14 innings.

“You just worry about keeping the game close, getting something started and scoring a couple of runs,” Jackson said. “They had a few opportunities. Fortunately, we scored on our opportunity.”

Although he walked six, Fernandez (5-7) gave up only the single to Daniels in his six innings.

Houston 6, Montreal 1--The Astros’ pitching staff, which was supposed to be as good as any in baseball, has had its troubles this season.

Mike Scott has been injured, Nolan Ryan has pitched as though he has thrown too many fastballs, and others have had problems, too.

So, it was a big lift in this game at Montreal to get a solid performance from Joaquin Andujar. Andujar (1-4) pitched a strong six innings to win his first game in more than a year.

A few years ago, Andujar was one of the best pitchers in the league. He had back-to-back 20-win seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. But injuries have hampered him in recent years.

Kevin Bass hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give Andujar a working margin. Danny Darwin finished up to gain his second save.

Andujar did not care to share his feelings with the media. “I have nothing to say to reporters, no time,” Andujar said.

Chicago 8, San Francisco 3--In their five losing games in the series with the Dodgers, the Cubs scored just eight runs.

A six-run eighth innning at Chicago, triggered by Vance Law’s two-run single, enabled the Cubs to get that many in one game with the fading Giants--who fell eight games behind the Dodgers.

In ending a five-game losing streak, the Cubs extended the Giants’ string to five.

The Giants took a 3-2 lead in the eighth on Kevin Mitchell’s 12th home run. But the Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning. With the infield playing in, Law hit a ground ball into left field to score two runs.

Manager Don Zimmer of the Cubs held a pregame meeting to remind his players it was time to get going.

Atlanta 9-1, Philadelphia 8-4--Rookie Ricky Jordan hit a two-run home run for the second day in a row and it helped the Phillies earn a split of the doubleheader at Philadelphia.

Perhaps if Jordan, who joined the Phillies last week, had been at first base in the opener, it might have had a different outcome. Greg Gross, normally an outfielder, made an error at first in the 11th inning, allowing Andres Thomas to score from second.

The Braves led, 8-6, going into the ninth, but reliever Bruce Sutter couldn’t hold it.

In the nightcap, David Palmer (5-6) gave up just four hits in seven innings.