National League Roundup : Lancaster Leads Cubs With His Arm and Bat

Pitcher Les Lancaster, batting because Chicago had only a reserve catcher on the bench, got his first hit of the season to drive in the winning run and the Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3, in 11 innings at Chicago.

Lancaster, hitless in nine at-bats, hit a hard grounder off the glove of third baseman Ken Oberkfell for a two-out double down the left-field line. The hit scored Curtis Wilkerson, who singled with two out, and ended San Francisco’s five-game winning streak.

Wilkerson also had a two-out, two-run single to cap a three-run rally in the ninth.

Lancaster (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Randy McCament (1-1), who entered with two out in the ninth, took the loss.

The Cubs tied the score with three runs off Steve Bedrosian in the ninth on a rally that started with consecutive one-out singles by Mark Grace and Damon Berryhill. One out later, Dwight Smith singled to drive in a run and Wilkerson singled home two runs.

Mike LaCoss of the Giants tied his career high with nine strikeouts, giving up three hits and walking one. He left after seven innings because of stiffness in his shoulder, giving way to Bedrosian.

Montreal 4, Cincinnati 1--Mark Langston struck out a season-high 13 and held the slumping Reds to four hits as the Expos won at Montreal.

Langston, 7-3 since his acquisition from Seattle on May 25, reached double-figure strikeouts for the fourth time as an NL pitcher and handed the Reds their fifth straight loss and 10th in 11 games.

Langston’s previous strikeout high for the Expos was 12 in his NL debut against San Diego. His career high is 16, set last season with Seattle. The only run Langston gave up was a homer by Todd Benzinger, his 10th of the season, in the first.

Montreal scored all of its runs in the fourth against Rick Mahler (9-9), who gave up six hits in six innings.

St. Louis 7, San Diego 1--Tom Brunansky hit a three-run home run and Joe Magrane gave up five hits in eight innings for his sixth straight victory as the Cardinals won at San Diego.

Magrane (11-6) walked four and struck out five while shutting down the Padres, who had scored a total of 26 runs in their two previous games. Todd Worrell pitched a hitless ninth.

“I didn’t really have outstanding stuff,” Magrane said. “I didn’t know if I could pitch (in San Diego). It’s too relaxed and just too beautiful. My brain was getting a tan.”

Pedro Guerrero gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a two-out homer in the first inning against Padre starter Walt Terrell (5-13), who leads the majors in losses.

Terry Pendleton had the first of his four singles before Jose Oquendo added an RBI single for a 2-0 lead. Oquendo had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest in either league.

Terrell has lost eight of his last nine decisions, winning twice in 14 starts since April 29.

New York 4, Atlanta 1--Darryl Strawberry hit his 21st homer and drove in three runs to carry the Mets past the Braves in a game delayed because of rain for 1 hour 48 minutes at New York.

Bob Ojeda (6-9) gave up two hits in 5 2/3 innings to win for the first time since June 26. He came into the game having given up 21 hits and 15 runs in his previous 9 2/3 innings. He struggled again, walking six and throwing 46 pitches for balls and 53 for strikes.

Both hits off Ojeda were singles by Andres Thomas, the second driving in a run in the sixth.