NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pitch Under Chin Spices Reds’ 6-1 Victory

It’s probably just as well that the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds will wind up their season series today at Cincinnati. The teams have developed a dislike for each other.

Trouble between the clubs began early in the season when the Reds were beating everyone.

When pitcher Ken Howell of the Phillies hit Barry Larkin early in a game on April 30, Reds’ relief pitcher Norm Charlton retaliated in the eighth inning. He hit Phillies’ star Von Hayes in the ribs with a pitch, starting a free-for-all.

The anger simmered until Friday night. Since April, the Reds have established themselves as the best in the West and Charlton has become a starting pitcher. But Friday night, Phillies Dennis Cook came out of the bullpen, and couldn’t resist hitting Charlton with a pitch. Another free-for-all erupted.

Jose Rijo, just off the disabled list, kept things lively Saturday. Rijo, starting for the first time since June 28 when he strained his right shoulder, pitched six solid innings for the Reds, who won, 6-1.

Rijo (6-3) threw under the chin of shortstop Dickie Thon in the fourth inning. Thon and catcher Joe Oliver argued and both benches emptied, but no punches were thrown.

Thon said the incident would have been ignored if Reds Manager Lou Piniella hadn’t kept insisting Rijo wasn’t throwing at him. Thon’s career was nearly ended when he was hit in the eye with a pitch by Mike Torrez in 1984.

Eric Davis hit his 13th home run to snap a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning and the Reds scored four in the seventh. The Reds, 7-4 against the Phillies, lead the West by 10 games.

“We don’t throw at people,” Piniella said. “I think it was a bit of a repercussion from last night. But believe me, we don’t throw at people. It would be silly to start doing that with a 10-game lead.

“As for Rijo, he labored a little early, but it was an encouraging outing. With (left-handed ace Danny Jackson) probably lost for the season, we need all the help we can get.”

Chicago 3, San Francisco 2--For the second game in a row at Chicago, Jeff Brantley, the Giants’ No. 1 closer, failed to protect a one-run lead.

Friday, Brantley gave up run-scoring hits to Shawon Dunstan and Joe Girardi in the ninth inning and lost.

This time, Brantley balked home the tying run in the eighth inning, and then, with two out, shortstop Jose Uribe couldn’t handle Girardi’s grounder and the winning run scored from second.

The Giants defense and Brantley’s ineffectiveness helped the Cubs win their sixth in a row and enabled rookie Mike Harkey (8-4) to pitch his first complete game.

The Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg hit his 25th homer to regain the league lead from Kevin Mitchell of the Giants.

New York 4, Atlanta 2--Ron Darling found a team he could beat and Darryl Strawberry hit a three-run home run at New York to move the Mets within half a game of first in the East.

Darling (3-5) won for the first time in more than a month, despite giving up home runs to Ron Gant and Jim Presley.

Strawberry was in a three-for-24 slump when he hit the home run with two on in the first inning.

Rain delayed the start 45 minutes, but the Mets, with only four hits, made it six out of seven over the Braves.

Montreal 3, Houston 2--Tim Raines’ run-scoring single with two out in the eighth inning at Houston allowed the Expos to snap a five-game losing streak.

Zane Smith (6-7) went seven innings, giving up seven hits and both Astros runs. Tim Burke finished for his 12th save.

St. Louis 4, San Diego 2--Pedro Guerrero hit his 10th home run and drove in three runs at St. Louis in a game shortened to seven innings because of rain.

It was the sixth loss in a row for the Padres, who were batting in the eighth when rain stopped play. After waiting nearly two hours the game was shortened.