National League Roundup : Phillies’ Howell Baffles Reds, 4-1

It seems as if Ken Howell has Cincinnati’s number.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ right-hander baffled the injury-depleted Reds with low breaking balls in a 4-1 victory Monday night at Riverfront Stadium, Howell’s third consecutive win over Cincinnati.

Howell (8-5) gave up six hits in 7 2/3 innings, and Roger McDowell finished the game for his ninth save. In his last three starts against the Reds, Howell has held them without an earned run in 23 2/3 innings.

“There are three guys in their lineup I try not to let beat me,” he said, referring to outfielders Kal Daniels, Eric Davis and Paul O’Neill. “The rest of the guys I go after and challenge. I want to make them show me they can pull the ball and hit it in the alleys.”

They couldn’t. The Reds got seven hits--one double and six singles, including four infield singles.

“He threw a lot of low breaking balls out of the strike zone that our hitters swung at,” Cincinnati Manager Pete Rose said. “We don’t have a hell of a lot of disciplined hitters.”

Cincinnati’s only run Monday was unearned--on a wild pitch by Howell with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. It was Howell’s 17th wild pitch of the season.

However, Howell struck out Ron Oester to end that threat and the Reds got just one more runner to second base the rest of the game.

The Reds have lost seven of their last eight games and 23 of their last 33.

Houston 6-12, New York 0-3--If the Astros are going to battle San Francisco in the West, they need good pitching. Against the Mets at New York, they got plenty of it.

Glenn Davis hit a two-run homer to cap a six-run second inning and Bob Knepper won his first game since May 29 as the Astros won the second game to complete a sweep of the doubleheader.

In the opener, Jim Deshaies yielded only two hits in eight innings and combined with Larry Andersen to blank the Mets.

“Deshaies was outstanding, but Knepper did a great job, too,” Houston Manager Art Howe said. “It’s tough to concentrate when you get staked to a lead like that (8-0) after three innings.”

The Astros had 14 hits in the second game. Alex Trevino had four hits and scored three runs. Ken Caminiti drove in four runs.

The two losses dropped the Mets five games behind first-place Montreal in the East. The last time New York dropped a doubleheader at Shea Stadium was Aug. 23, 1985, against the San Diego Padres.

Pittsburgh 4, San Diego 1--Glenn Wilson, who had not homered in his 98 at-bats over the last 32 games, hit two solo homers and Randy Kramer and Bill Landrum combined on a four-hitter at San Diego.

Wilson hit his first homer off Greg Harris with one out in the second inning. He hit his second, and ninth of the season, in the sixth, also off Harris.

Harris, making only his second major league start, replaced Eric Show, who went on the 21-day disabled list last Saturday with a pinched nerve in his back.

Montreal 5, Atlanta 2--Jeff Huson, recalled from the minors Sunday, hit a two-run double to key a three-run fourth inning as the Expos won at Montreal.

Huson was called up from Indianapolis, the Expos’ triple-A affiliate in the American Assn. to replace shortstop Spike Owen, who sustained an ankle injury in Sunday’s game against Cincinnati.

Pascual Perez (5-9) yielded only five hits and two runs in eight innings, striking out six. Tim Burke got the last three outs for his 20th save.

San Francisco 8, St. Louis 4--Robby Thompson’s bases-loaded triple highlighted a seven-run second inning as the Giants rallied from a four-run deficit at San Francisco.

Thompson leads the National League with nine triples and is three away from the San Francisco record of 12, set in 1960 by Willie Mays.