NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Reds Snap Out of Hitting Slump Against Tudor

The Cincinnati Reds probably weren’t looking forward to playing the Cardinals Friday night in St. Louis.

The Reds were in their first batting slump of the season, and they were scheduled to face John Tudor, one of the hottest pitchers in the league.

Cincinnati, which had batted .221 in the previous four games, handed Tudor his first defeat after four victories.

Todd Benzinger had three hits and drove in three runs as the Reds won, 8-3. Tudor, who went into the game with an 0.96 earned-run average, lasted 5 1/3 innings. He gave up nine hits and five runs, four of them earned.

The Reds’ hard-throwing relievers, Norm Charlton and Rob Dibble, took charge after Ron Robinson (1-1) went five innings to get credit for the victory.

Milt Thompson, who became the Cardinals’ regular right fielder after the trade that sent Tom Brunansky to the Boston Red Sox for reliever Lee Smith, hit a 414-foot home run to center field in the fifth inning.

Tudor’s throwing error helped the Reds score two runs and take a 4-2 lead in the fifth.

“I didn’t expect to win every game,” Tudor said. “This is a good-hitting team. I still feel good, so I’m not worried.”

Until the slump, the Reds had been hitting above .300. In all, they got 15 hits. Every player in the starting lineup except Robinson had at least one hit. Barry Larkin, Mariano Duncan, Billy Hatcher and Paul O’Neill each had two hits. Duncan also stole two bases.

“We needed a game like this,” Manager Lou Piniella said. “Frankly, I didn’t know we would get it against Tudor.”

Montreal 5, San Francisco 4--Ordinarily, Rick Reuschel is not a pitcher the Expos enjoy facing, especially when they are in a slump.

Reuschel, who entered the game at Montreal with a 26-20 lifetime record against the Expos, was facing a team that had not scored more than two runs in eight of their last 12 games.

But the Expos, with Tim Raines hitting a two-run homer in the first inning, scored two more runs in the second and one in the fourth to end a two-game losing streak.

“The only way you can beat a guy like Reuschel is to get to him early,” Montreal Manager Bob Rodgers said. “Fortunately, we were able to do it. We got to him before he got his act together.”

Kevin Gross (3-1) gave up nine hits and all the Giant runs in six innings. Tim Burke pitched a hitless ninth inning for his seventh save.

Dave Martinez of the Expos had three hits, scored a run and drove in two. He drove in Delino DeShields with the final Expo run after DeShields walked and stole second.