National League Roundup : Reds Defeat Giants in 16-Inning Marathon, 4-3

It took 16 innings and 4 hours 51 minutes, but the Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3, Friday night at Cincinnati.

Herm Winningham, the last nonpitcher on the Reds’ roster, beat out a bunt to lead off the 16th, stole second and went to third on Barry Larkin’s sacrifice.

Joe Price, the losing pitcher, intentionally walked the next two batters, but the Reds spoiled the strategy when Kal Daniels hit a long sacrifice fly to score Winningham.

The Giants lost a scoring chance in the 11th when it was ruled that Chris Speier left third base too early on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Mitchell.

In the 14th, the Giants took the lead when Robby Thompson scored from third on a wild pitch. In the home half of the inning, the Reds tied it when Chris Sabo doubled off Jeff Brantley, went to third on Brantley’s wild pitch and scored on reliever Price’s wild pitch.

The Reds, who are 3-1 despite the turmoil surrounding Manager Pete Rose, had 15 of the game’s 26 hits. The Giants had 11 of the game’s 20 walks.

Montreal 7, New York 3--Kevin Gross wanted to go the distance in his debut for the Expos at Montreal. But after throwing more than 120 pitches, he had to have help.

Gross had held the Mets to a run and six hits going into the ninth and had a 7-1 lead. But he gave up a double to Kevin Elster and a walk to Len Dykstra to start the inning, and Andy McGaffigan came in to get the last three outs.

The Expos, with Nelson Santovenia hitting a two-run home run, bombed Ron Darling for five hits and six runs. Darling was gone before he retired a batter in the third.

“If I’m going to go nine innings, it means I’ll be throwing 130 pitches,” Gross said. “I’m just happy to get a victory. I think I’m lucky to be on a club with a chance to win the pennant. I want to do my part.

“It’s nice to get the first one under your belt. I admit I felt pressure. I settled down in a hurry, and with that big lead I wasn’t about to blow it.”

Chicago 6, Pittsburgh 5--After being obtained from Montreal for popular Dave Martinez last season, Mitch Webster heard mainly insults from the bleacher bums in Chicago.

Maybe this year will be different.

Webster went four for five in the game at Wrigley Field, scored a run and drove in a run. His one-out triple in the sixth inning ignited the winning rally.

“All last season when I put him out there, I could hear the bleacher bums yelling, derisively, “Mitch, Mitch, Mitch,” Manager Don Zimmer said. “I felt they wanted to run him out of town. All winter I said he’s a better ballplayer than he’s shown.”

The Cubs trailed, 5-4, when Webster got his triple. Ryne Sandberg bounced out, but Andre Dawson singled Webster home and Mark Grace doubled in Dawson with the winning run.

The Cubs jumped on Mike Dunne for four runs in the second inning after Grace started the rally with a single.

San Diego 5, Houston 3--It wasn’t a pretty performance, but left-hander Dennis Rasmussen got the job done for the Padres at Houston.

Rasmussen, who stranded runners at third base in four of the first six innings, took a 5-2 lead into the ninth. He gave up a single to Ken Caminiti and was replaced by Mark Davis. Davis yielded a run-scoring double to Alan Ashby, then straightened out and picked up his second save.

Luis Salazar, who recently rejoined the Padres in a trade with the Detroit Tigers, paced the San Diego offense. Playing third base, Salazar was three for four.

Batting champion Tony Gwynn was only one for five, but he stole three bases, scored a run and drove in another.