National League Roundup : Astros Overwhelm Reuschel, Giants With a Sudden Burst of Power, 8-1

Throughout their history, the Houston Astros have had to scratch for runs. They have seldom been known for their power.

But they hit four home runs Saturday at Houston and routed Rick Reuschel and San Francisco, 8-1, moving within two games of the Giants in the West.

The homer hit by first baseman Glenn Davis was expected. It was his 22nd of the season. Those hit by Craig Biggio (seven) and Ken Caminiti (six) were less predictable, but an indication of more power in the future was the one hit by Eric Anthony.

The 21-year-old outfielder tagged Reuschel (13-5) for his first home run as an Astro in his fifth major league at-bat. It was a two-run shot in the second inning and helped Mark Portugal (2-1) breeze to a three-hit victory. The only run for the Giants came on Will Clark’s 16th home run.

Anthony, rated the top power-hitting prospect in the Astro organization, missed hitting another home run by inches in the eighth. He was brought up from Class AA Columbus, Ga. Friday and went hitless in four at-bats.

“I was real nervous at the start of last night’s game,” Anthony said. “But when I took my first whacks, it went away. It felt good to get the first hit out of the way.”

Portugal, a 26-year-old right-hander, spent parts of the previous four seasons with the Minnesota Twins. Last Saturday, he pitched five shutout innings against Philadelphia.

“I hoped last week wouldn’t be my last game here,” said Portugal. “I think I opened some eyes and maybe I’ll stick around.”

Portugal struck out Kevin Mitchell three times and impressed San Francisco Manager Roger Craig.

“He looked good,” Craig said. “He had four good pitches and good command. If Minnesota has 10 pitchers better than him, the Twins ought to win the pennant.”

Reuschel pitched four innings, giving up four runs.

Chicago 10, New York 3--Until the Mets arrived in Chicago for the weekend, the Cubs were having problems with their offense.

An 18-hit attack, which included home runs by Ryne Sandberg and Damon Berryhill and four hits by Dwight Smith, was the Cubs’ biggest outburst of the season.

In two wins victories over the faltering Mets, who have lost five in a row, the Cubs have 16 runs and 29 hits.

Greg Maddux (11-8) went the distance for the Cubs.

Montreal 2, St. Louis 0--Usually when Dennis Martinez has pitched lately, the Expos have scored quite a few runs and he hasn’t pitched particularly well.

But the veteran right-hander can also be tough in a tight game. He improved to 12-1 with his 10th consecutive victory, giving up eight hits as the Expos stayed in front by 2 1/2 games in the East.

The Cardinals’ Vince Coleman, who saw his consecutive steals streak end at 50 attempts Friday night, was caught again. Nelson Santovenia threw him out Friday night, and Mike Fitzgerald stopped him in this game.

Cincinnati 4, Atlanta 1--Ken Griffey, at 39, is the oldest Red. But he has put new life into the slumping team.

Griffey played all 17 innings Friday night at Atlanta and drove in the winning run. He came back Saturday to hit a two-run triple, breaking a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning.

Eric Davis and Todd Benzinger hit home runs for the Reds, who have won three straight games after losing 10 in a row.

Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 2--John Kruk, coming off the disabled list, made Steve Carlton Night a gala affair at Philadelphia.

Kruk hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning before 47,277 fans to bring the Phillies from behind.

The Phillies retired the No. 32 worn by Carlton, who won 329 games and had 4,136 strikeouts.