NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rijo’s Pitching Speaks for Itself in Reds’ 6-1 Victory Over Astros

Jose Rijo did the pitching for Manager Lou Piniella, who did the talking for his pitcher.

Rijo allowed one hit over seven innings and retired 21 of the first 23 batters he faced as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Astros at Houston, 6-1, Thursday night, but then declined to talk about it.

Piniella was happy to.

“He pitched as well as I’ve seen him this year,” Piniella said. “His arm stiffened up and that’s why we took him out. We’ll take seven good innings like that every time.”

Rijo (4-1) retired the first 13 Astros he faced before walking Franklin Stubbs in the fifth inning. Two batters later, Ken Caminiti lined a single to center for Houston’s first hit.

Rijo, who gained his fourth consecutive victory and improved to 6-1 lifetime against the Astros, struck out three and walked one.

The Astros, who have lost seven games in a row, got their only run off Norm Charlton on one-out singles by Ramirez, Casey Candaele and pinch-hitter Glenn Wilson. Rob Dibble pitched the ninth.

The Reds got all they needed in the first inning off Bill Gullickson (3-4) on Barry Larkin’s sacrifice fly and a run-scoring triple by Eric Davis.

Mariano Duncan hit a solo homer in the seventh.

Philadelphia 3, Chicago 1--Lenny Dykstra extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a tie-breaking RBI double in the seventh inning at Chicago and Ken Howell won his fourth consecutive decision as the Phillies handed the Cubs their fifth loss in a row.

Dykstra leads the majors with a .414 average and is batting .447 (38 for 85) during his 20-game streak.

Howell (7-3), who has not lost since May 5, allowed five hits, walked three and struck out eight. Mike Bielecki (3-4) allowed six hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Chicago’s Andre Dawson hit the 334th homer of his career and 15th of the season.

Pittsburgh 5, New York 4--Barry Bonds doubled home the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning after Bobby Bonilla reached base on center fielder Keith Miller’s error and the surging Pirates beat the Mets at New York.

Neal Heaton, who has an 8-1 record, took a 4-0 lead into the fifth, but the Mets scored three runs after an error by third baseman Wally Backman.

The Mets tied it on Gregg Jefferies’ RBI single in the seventh.

Montreal 3, St. Louis 2--Tim Wallach’s run-scoring double broke a sixth-inning tie to give the Expos a victory over the Cardinals at Montreal.

Jose DeLeon (5-4) had a one-hitter and a 2-1 lead until the Expos scored twice in the sixth.

Zane Smith (3-3) earned his first victory since April 20 by allowing two runs and eight hits in seven innings.