National League Roundup : Cubs Share Bulls’ Cheers in Victory

There have been many lean seasons for Chicago baseball and basketball fans. The Cubs, the White Sox and the Bulls have struggled through years of mediocrity.

But now Chicago sports fans are being overwhelmed. The Cubs and Bulls, at least, are providing them with all the excitement they could want.

The cheers often seemed out of sync Saturday at Wrigley Field as 34,546 fans watched the East-leading Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3.

For instance, when Eric Davis hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to narrow the lead to two runs, there was a tremendous roar from the fans. They were listening to the radio and were cheering Michael Jordan’s basket that gave the Bulls the victory over the Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of the National Basketball Assn. playoffs.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” Rick Sutcliffe (6-3) said. “We kind of had divided attention because we’re all Bulls fans.”

In another superlative effort, Sutcliffe struck out eight. He had a three-hitter until Davis hit his seventh home run, this one into a 20 m.p.h. wind.

“How could we not know what was going on with the Bulls,?” Manager Don Zimmer asked. “Every few seconds there was a tremendous roar from the crowd. We knew it wasn’t because we were swinging the bats. We had already stopped hitting.”

Amazingly, the Cubs moved into first place after they lost their entire outfield because of injuries: Andre Dawson, the offensive leader of the club, rookie Jerome Walton and Mitch Webster.

The new outfield has three rookies--Dwight Smith, Gary Varsho and Doug Dascenzo. Smith and Varsho were prominent in the victory. Smith drove in two runs with two singles, and Varsho scored twice.

The Reds, who lead the West, ran out of luck with Jose Rijo pitching. His first nine appearances resulted in victories, with Rijo getting four of the decisions. But he gave up six hits and four runs in four innings and the Reds could never catch up.

The Reds also lost shortstop Barry Larkins. He was struck in the left cheek by a line drive hit by Mark Grace. He was taken to a hospital for X-rays.

Red Manager Pete Rose said the Cubs are solid.

“They’re for real,” Rose said. “They have beaten us three out of five. They make things happen. Any time they have a chance to run, they run. You can’t take them lightly.”

San Francisco 6, Philadelphia 2--One of the biggest problems Manager Roger Craig has had this season is trying to convince Atlee Hammaker that he is more important to the Giants as a reliever than a starter.

Craig lost ground in this game at San Francisco. Injuries forced Craig to start Hammaker.

The veteran left-hander, the National League earned run-average leader (2.25) as a starter in 1983, responded by holding the Phillies to one hit in six innings to improve his record to 4-3. The hit was a lead-off home run in the third by Steve Lake.

“I’m excited about starting,” Hammaker said, “but I’m not trying to prove anything. I know I can pitch, so it’s just a matter of going out there and trying to produce. I’ll do whatever they want.”

Houston 5, Pittsburgh 4--The Pirates’ luck continues to be dismal. They had a 4-2 lead with two out in the ninth inning at Pittsburgh.

But Glenn Davis hit a two-run home run, his 11th homer of the season, to tie the score.

An error by third baseman Bobby Bonilla on a grounder by Davis started the winning rally in the 12th. Rafael Ramirez singled home the winning run with two out.

Errors produced four unearned runs for the Astros.

Glenn Wilson is about the only Pirate hitting threat. Wilson had two doubles, giving him seven consecutive multiple-hit games. His two-run double gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

Atlanta 4, St. Louis 1--The Braves ended their losing streak at six on a Cardinal error at St. Louis.

Third baseman Terry Pendleton muffed a ground ball to let in the tying run in the eighth and Andres Thomas later added a two-run home run.

The Braves had scored only 13 runs in their previous 10 games.

Jose DeLeon (6-3) gave up one earned run in eight innings.

San Diego 5, Montreal 0--Walt Terrell pitched a six-hitter and Tim Flannery had two run-scoring hits for the Padres at San Diego.

The Padres ended a string of 29 scoreless innings and three straight shutouts by Montreal pitchers with a run in the second inning. They scored three runs in the third off Mark Gardner (0-1), who was making his first major league start.

Terrell (4-5) walked four, struck out three and ended his three-game losing streak with his first shutout since July 30, when he beat the Texas Rangers while pitching for the Detroit Tigers.