NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Attempted Bunt Powers Reds

It has been a strange week in baseball, especially in the ninth inning.

First, there was Tuesday night’s game at Dodger Stadium, when the Philadelphia Phillies scored nine runs in their last at-bat to beat the Dodgers, 12-11.

The game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pirates Saturday night at Pittsburgh wasn’t quite as strange, but it was unusual.

The National League’s division leaders were locked in a scoreless game through eight innings. An attempted sacrifice bunt that wound up a fluke two-base hit opened the doors for the Reds to win, 6-1.

Bob Walk, making his first start since going on the disabled list Aug. 10 because of a groin injury, and Norm Charlton (10-7) had pitched well for eight innings.

Stan Belinda (2-4) replaced Walk, who gave up four hits, walked none and struck out five.

After Belinda walked Norm Larkin, Hal Morris attempted to sacrifice. He hit a blooper toward first, and Belinda dived for it. The ball bounced off his glove into foul territory and by the time first baseman Sid Bream picked the ball up, there were runners on second and third and Morris had a 40-foot double.

After Eric Davis bounced a single through the drawn-in infield to score one run, Paul O’Neill doubled in another run. Before the inning ended, there was a walk, two more singles and a wild pitch.

When Bobby Bonilla tagged reliever Tim Layana for his 30th home run in the bottom of the ninth, it was too late.

“You watch baseball long enough,” said Manager Lou Piniella of the Reds “and you see some strange things. And that was strange. We were bunting, playing for one run and we wind up with six. That’s baseball.”

Said Belinda: “It was in the palm of my glove, but when I hit the turf, the ball popped out. I should have had it. You see outfielders dive on the turf all the time and don’t think anything about it. But pitchers don’t have to do it very often.”

Said Pirate Manager Jim Leyland: “If Stan catches the ball, it’s a double play. We didn’t make that play, but that wasn’t the game. We didn’t do much with the bats.”

Morris is batting .387 since being brought up in June. But this is the first time he was ever teased about hitting a double.

In his last five starts Charlton has an ERA of 0.79.

The Reds lead the Dodgers and Giants by 6 1/2 in the West. The Pirates lead the Mets by three in the East.

The Reds, who lost all four games at home to the Pirates last week, have won two in a row at Pittsburgh.

San Francisco 3, Philadelphia 2--The Giants finally solved their former teammate, Terry Mullholand, at San Francisco and kept pace with the Reds and the Dodgers in the West.

On Aug. 15, the last time he faced the Giants, Mulholland pitched a no-hitter. The no-hit string ended when Brett Butler singled home a run with two out in the third and Greg Litton singled in another run.

In the fourth, Matt Williams hit a home run and the Giants held on to win when Jeff Brantley came through with clutch pitching in the ninth.

The Phillies, who have lost four in a row since their 12-11 comeback against the Dodgers, loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Brantley, still bothered by a shoulder injury, struck out Dale Murphy and got John Kruk on a grounder for his 18th save and first since Aug. 11.

“Actually, I thought they hit the ball harder when I threw the no-hitter than they did today,” Mulholland said.

Chicago 6, Atlanta 3--Mark Grace had two run-scoring singles at Chicago to help the Cubs end a three-game losing streak.

In the last nine games, Grace is batting .457 (16 for 35).

Montreal 2, San Diego 1--Andres Galarraga hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning at Montreal to give rookie Chris Nabholz his second victory in a row.

The home run was only the second hit off Dennis Rasmussen (8-13).

Nabholz gave up a run and three hits in seven innings.

Houston 6, St. Louis 4--Franklin Stubbs and Craig Biggio each drove in two runs at Houston as the Astros handed Jose DeLeon his 13th defeat in 20 decisions.

Jim Deshaies (6-11) had a shutout until Ozzie Smith hit his first home run of the season in the seventh inning and Willie McGee followed with his third. Rex Hudler hit his fourth in the eighth for the Cardinals.