National League Roundup : Cardinals Beat Phillies on Bases-Loaded Walk

The zeros keep rolling up for the St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching staff, even if it doesn’t effect the standings much.

Thursday at St. Louis, Larry McWilliams and two relievers combined to give the Cardinals their third straight shutout, a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The run came on Ozzie Smith’s bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning.

The last time St. Louis had shutouts in three straight games was Sept. 26-28, 1973, when the Cardinals held their opponents without a run for 32 straight innings. In the current streak--a 1-0 win over Montreal Tuesday and a 5-0 victory over the Phillies Wednesday--the string is 29 innings.

The Cardinals, in fifth place 16 games behind the New York Mets, have won 9 of their last 11.

“It’s been a tough year for us; nothing’s really come easy,” Smith said. “I guess this time of the year, things kind of even out.”

McWilliams (5-6) allowed 3 hits through 6 innings to win his first game since May 31. With runners on first and second in the seventh inning, he gave way to Ken Dayley, who got pinch-hitter Jeff Russell to line into a double play to end the inning. Todd Worrell pitched the final two innings for the Cardinals to earn his 28th save.

The Phillies did not get a man past second base, after having just one runner reach third Wednesday.

St. Louis, meanwhile, had five hits off Philadelphia’s Kevin Gross (11-13), who lost for the fifth straight time.

Montreal 5, Pittsburgh 4--The host Pirates, who were pressuring the Mets for the lead in the East earlier in the season, now find themselves having to hold off the Expos in a race for second place.

Montreal moved within 2 1/2 games of Pittsburgh with the win, as Tim Wallach went 3 for 4 and drove in 3 runs, including the game-winner with an eighth-inning double that scored Andres Galarraga.

Pascual Perez (10-6) won for the first time in five starts. The right-hander threw seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and no walks, before Joe Hesketh pitched two innings for his eighth save.

A crowd of 11,289 gave the Pirates an all-time attendance record of 1,707,481 fans at Three Rivers Stadium, breaking the old mark set at Forbes Field in 1960. The record came just three years after Pittsburgh drew 735,900 fans, lost 104 games and finished last.

Pittsburgh’s Barry Bonds hit his 23rd home run to lead off the game.

New York 13, Chicago 6--Howard Johnson had 5 of the Mets’ season-high 20 hits, including a three-run home run in a five-run seventh inning, and Darryl Strawberry had a home run and a pair of singles for three RBIs in the win at Chicago.

New York’s Dwight Gooden (17-6) won his fourth straight decision and increased his career record against the Cubs to 15-3.

Gregg Jefferies also hit a two-run homer for the Mets, his fourth since being brought up from the minors on Aug. 28. He has three three-hit games, nine extra-base hits and seven RBIs.

Cincinnati 2, San Diego 1--Jose Rijo allowed two hits in six innings in his first game since returning from the disabled list, and John Franco earned his league-leading 32nd save at San Diego as the Reds won for the 10th time in 15 games.

Rijo (12-8) last won July 19, against the Mets, breaking a four-game losing streak. Franco has allowed only 1 earned run in the last 35 innings.

The loss snapped the Padres’ six-game winning streak.

San Francisco 3, Atlanta 2--The Giants broke their three-game losing streak as Will Clark hit a home run and Brett Butler went 4 for 4 with 3 doubles at San Francisco.

The game drew just 5,005 spectators. In the Giants’ last three games, a total of 15,685 fans have paid their way into Candlestick Park.

Clark’s fifth-inning home run, his 26th of the season, ended a power shortage that had left San Francisco without a homer for 119 innings and 423 at-bats, dating to Aug. 24.