NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cincinnati’s Rijo Keeps Reds in Right Direction

When the Cincinnati Reds were building their big lead in the National League West, Tom Browning and Jack Armstrong were the pitching stars.

Those two, with considerable help from strong arms coming out of the bullpen, led the Reds to a 9 1/2-game lead before the season was half completed.

Even though their two aces haven’t won a game in two weeks, the Reds show no signs of relinquishing their grip on first place.

The pitching stars now are Jose Rijo and Rick Mahler plus the strong arms--Randy Myers, Rob Dibble and Norm Charlton, who is making his contributions as a starter now.

It was Rijo’s turn to start Tuesday night at Cincinnati and he beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1, with Myers getting his 26th save. Rijo went only five innings, but he drove in what proved to be the winning run on a bunt single in the second inning and improved his record to 10-6.

Rijo wanted to talk about his batting contributions more than his pitching after he gave up six hits in five innings. He is hitting .421 in the last nine games.

He noticed that third baseman Terry Pendleton backed off after the count reached 2-2.

“I saw him back off and said, ‘Thank you.’ I knew I had to drop it fair. Every time I’ve tried to do it, I’ve been successful. You’ve got to believe. I believe.”

Myers ended the game by picking Tim Jones off first base.

Rijo has won twice and so has the surprising Mahler, since either Browning, who has been hurt, or Armstrong, who has been ineffective, has won.

It was another tough loss for Joe Magrane (8-15). He gave up only four hits besides the two-out bunt single that scored Paul O’Neill from third. Another was a run-scoring triple in the first by Barry Larkin.

“This is a rough situation,” said Magrane, who gave up only one hit after the second. “I’ve pitched some good games, but the bottom line is I’m losing.”

Vince Coleman was the Cardinal offense. He singled to stretch his hitting streak to 12 games, stole three bases and scored the only run on a single by Ozzie Smith in the third.

New York 4, San Diego 0--David Cone (10-7) has become the Mets’ most dependable pitcher.

Cone pitched his third consecutive complete game as the Mets celebrated their return home by moving to within two games of first place in the East.

The young right-hander pitched a five-hitter, four singles and a double by Roberto Alomar.

Tim Teufel, getting a chance to start for the first time in 10 days, hit a two-run home run to lead the Mets’ attack.

Atlanta 9, Pittsburgh 0--The Pirates are in another slump, and this time it may wind up with them falling out of first place.

They went four games in front in the East Thursday, have scored only six runs in the last four games, and all the Mets have had to do was go 2-2 and cut the lead to two games.

The Pirates’ latest hitting slump made a winner out of Charlie Leibrandt (6-8) at Atlanta. Leibrandt, who had lost five of his previous six decisions, held the Pirates to five hits in seven innings.

A two-run home run by Francisco Cabrera capped a three-run first inning off John Smiley (7-7) and it was a breeze for the Braves who have the worst record in the league.

Chicago 5, Houston 2--Ryne Sandberg hit a home run in the fourth inning at Houston to become the first second baseman to hit 30 home runs in consecutive seasons.

Sandberg moved into a tie with Pittsburgh’s Bobby Bonilla for the league home run lead. He also helped Greg Maddux improve to 12-11.

Maddux, who pitched his seventh complete game, didn’t allow a runner past second until the ninth when he lost his shutout.

Montreal 5, San Francisco 2--The Giants are in danger of falling out of the race in the West.

Mark Gardner struck out 11 and gave up only three hits in six innings at Montreal, and the Giants fell 8 1/2 games behind Cincinnati.