Baseball Roundup : Padres Hang In Race by Defeating Reds, 3-1

The San Diego Padres avoided elimination from the National League West race with a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night in San Diego.

The Padres trail the Giants, who lost to the Dodgers Tuesday night, by four games with four games remaining. After facing the Reds tonight, the Padres will play their final three games against the Giants in San Diego.

Jack Clark and Benito Santiago each hit solo home runs for the Padres, and Mark Davis saved his 43rd game in 47 opportunities.

Tony Gwynn went one for four for the Padres, with a run-scoring double in the eighth, but his average slipped to .332. Will Clark of San Francisco started the night leading the league with a .335 average.

Dennis Rasmussen (10-10) allowed three hits before Davis relieved with two out in the seventh. Davis allowed no hits and struck out three.

Clark put the Padres ahead when he led off the fourth inning with his 26th homer on a pitch from Jack Armstrong (2-3).

It was also the 27th RBI in the last 27 games for Clark, who raised his total to 94 RBIs.

After Armstrong retired Chris James and Garry Templeton, Santiago hit his 16th homer.

It was Santiago’s seventh homer in September and gave the Padres an 18-6 record this month.

New York 3, Philadelphia 0--Sid Fernandez pitched a three-hitter and doubled in a run as the Mets beat the Phillies in New York.

“Sid’s been our most consistent pitcher all year,” Met Manager Davey Johnson said. “We’d be lost without him. Lately he’s come into his own in a big way.”

Fernandez (13-5), who has won nine of his last 12 decisions, struck out nine and walked three for his sixth complete game.

“I didn’t have a good breaking ball at all tonight,” Fernandez said. “My arm didn’t feel that great. The key was getting ahead of the hitters.”

Houston 3, Atlanta 2--Harry Spilman’s run-scoring pinch double with two out in the seventh inning gave the Astros a victory over the Braves at Houston.

Steve Lombardozzi drew a walk from Tommy Greene (1-2) and Spilman followed with bloop double to left field.

Jim Deshaies (14-10) pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and one earned run for the victory. Danny Darwin pitched two innings for his seventh save.

Minnesota 7, Chicago 1--Rick Aguilera tied his career-best with a three-hitter, and Gene Larkin and Kirby Puckett hit two-run homers as the Twins beat the White Sox at Chicago.

Aguilera, 3-5 since coming from the New York Mets in the Frank Viola trade July 31, struck out six and walked three in his second straight complete game.

Aguilera, who retired 22 of the final 24 batters, got 17 outs on ground balls.

“I had a good sinker,” he said. “In this ballpark, with the high grass, you have to take advantage of it. I got a bad break in the first inning. I had to put that out of my head, or I wouldn’t have been out there much longer.”

Puckett went two for four to raise his American League-leading batting average to .343. He leads the majors with 211 hits.

Boston 9, New York 5--Wade Boggs singled twice in an eight-run, first-inning burst and raised his average to .332 as the Red Sox beat the Yankees at Boston.

Boggs, the five-time American League batting champion who is currently in third place, raised his hit total to 203.

Seattle 3, Cleveland 2--Scott Bradley tied the score with a pinch double off reliever Doug Jones, and Henry Cotto drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the eighth inning as the Mariners beat the Indians at Seattle.

Erik Hanson (8-5) pitched eight innings and gave up six hits. Mike Schooler worked the ninth inning for his 32nd save.