National League Roundup : Palmer’s 1-Hitter Drops Cardinals Into Cellar

The St. Louis Cardinals, the defending National League champions, dropped into the cellar of the East with a thud, courtesy of Philadelphia pitcher David Palmer.

Palmer, who pitched a five-inning perfect game at St. Louis in 1984, threw a one-hitter and his first shutout of the season Tuesday night to give the Phillies a 2-0 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

“I could throw the same way against other teams and the balls find the holes,” said Palmer, who had given up 11 runs in his previous two starts. “Tonight, they were right at guys. Tonight, I just went right at the Cardinals. I didn’t fight myself.”

A leadoff single in the sixth inning by Tim Jones was the only hit off Palmer, who walked two and struck out six to improve to 10-4 lifetime against the Cardinals. Jones, a rookie second baseman, was a last-minute starter when Jose Oquendo left the stadium to be with his wife, who was expected to deliver twins.

Ozzie Smith was the only Cardinal to reach third base, after walking with one out in the ninth, stealing second and advancing on a groundout.

“He was making a lot of good pitches,” Phillie pitching coach Claude Osteen said. “Of course, when you’re going against a team that isn’t hitting, it’s hard to tell.”

The decision broke the tie for fifth place in the East between the Phillies and the Cardinals. It was the second consecutive game that the Cardinals were shut out and the 13th time this season they have been blanked. Last year, they were shut out only five times.

St. Louis has scored one run in its last three games.

St. Louis starter Joe Magrane (1-5) pitched eight innings and allowed five hits while striking out a career-high seven. That Cardinals have scored just three runs in Magrane’s five losses, and have scored once in their last three games overall.

Houston 13, San Francisco 10--Buddy Bell hit a three-run homer after Terry Puhl’s run-scoring single broke an eighth-inning tie at San Francisco, and the Astros ended the Giants’ six-game winning streak.

Danny Darwin (5-9) allowed two runs and four hits in 5 innings. Dave Smith pitched the ninth for his 18th save, allowing a run-scoring single to Harry Spilman and a sacrifice fly to Will Clark. Ron Davis (0-1) lost in his Giant debut.

Bill Doran had four hits and drove in four runs for Houston, which tied the Giants for second place in the NL West, 4 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.

Gerald Young, Doran and Puhl singled in the eighth to snap an 8-8 tie. Bell then hit his fourth homer of the season. Rafael Ramirez capped Houston’s 18-hit attack with a solo homer in the ninth, his fourth.

Houston took a 4-0 lead in the first on Puhl’s RBI double, Kevin Bass’ sacrifice fly, Rick Reuschel’s wild pitch with a runner on third and Ken Caminiti’s run-scoring double.

San Francisco scored two in the first on Clark’s RBI single and Kevin Mitchell’s run-scoring double-play grounder and then scored six in the second for an 8-4 lead.

Bob Melvin and Russ Nixon singled and Chris Speier walked, loading the bases. One out later, Brett Butler hit an RBI single and Darwin relieved Bob Knepper. Robby Thompson’s RBI single tied the score, 4-4, and Clark’s sacrifice fly scored Reuschel and put the Giants ahead. Mitchell then hit a three-run homer, his 16th.

Reuschel pulled his right hamstring on the sacrifice fly and was replaced by Randy Bockus, who in the fourth allowed a game-tying grand slam to Doran, his seventh homer and first career grand slam.