NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Smiley Almost Perfect, Settles for One-Hitter

Perhaps John Smiley missed pitching a perfect game Wednesday night at Pittsburgh because his regular left fielder, Barry Bonds, has a bruised left thumb.

But the Pirate left-hander settled for a one-hitter and a 4-0 victory over the New York Mets.

Gary Varsho, replacing Bonds, misplayed Kevin McReynolds’ drive in the second inning, and it went for a double.

“I should have caught it,” Varsho said of McReynolds’ fly. “The ball really carried longer than I thought it would. It should have been an easy catch. That should have been a perfect game.”

Otherwise, Smiley, who is 8-3 against the Mets, was perfect. He had such control that he went to full count on a couple of hitters. Most of the plays were routine outs.

Varsho’s hustle gave Smiley the only run he needed. He scored from second base when Ron Darling hit him with a pickoff attempt in the fourth inning.

Darling’s wildness and Jeff King’s two-run home run accounted for three more runs in the seventh.

Smiley, who gave up four hits and one run in his first start, couldn’t explain his success against the Mets.

“I’ve had success against the Mets, but I can’t beat the Phillies. Tonight I really felt good.”

Montreal 1, St. Louis 0--Bill Sampen was supposed to be a key member of the Expos’ bullpen. Rushed into the breach as a starter because of injuries, he might have won a job in the rotation.

Sampen gave up three hits in seven innings, and Barry Jones survived a ninth-inning uprising to save it.

Jamie Moyer (0-2) was the loser. He deserved a better fate. The first-inning run was unearned. He gave up five hits in seven innings.

Catcher Tom Pagnozzi’s wild throw on Delino DeShields’ steal of third permitted DeShields to score the only run. Last season Pagnozzi had the best percentage at throwing out baserunners.

Cincinnati 5, San Diego 1--The Reds moved up to the .500 mark (4-4) with their second victory in a row at San Diego.

Rookie Chris Hammond gained his first major league victory, giving up five hits in six innings.

Hal Morris, whose hit won the game Tuesday night, hit a home run in the second inning, and Paul O’Neill hit one in the sixth to put the Reds ahead.

The Reds broke it open with three runs in the eighth.

The Padres, who won six of their first seven games, lead the division with a 6-3 record, a game ahead of Houston.

Chicago 4, Philadelphia 1--The wind was blowing in and it was cold at Chicago, but George Bell remained hot.

Bell, who hit his first home run Tuesday, hit another homer and singled in a second run to lift the Cubs to their fifth win in a row.

The home run leading off the second inning was hit to left-center into a 20 m.p.h. wind.

“I’m swinging good, but it’s easy when it’s this cold (50 degrees),” he said. “This is a nice park to hit in except when the wind is blowing in.”

Shawn Boskie (1-1) went 6 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and a run. Dave Smith, the third Cub pitcher, pitched the ninth for his fourth save.

Houston 4, Atlanta 3--The Astros are supposed to be the worst team in the majors.

But behind Mark Davidson’s two RBIs in the three-run first at Atlanta, the Astros improved their record to 5-4. They are in second place in the West.

The big first inning helped Mark Portugal win his second game in a row.

Portugal, who has a sprained groin muscle, went seven innings, giving up six hits. He gave up two runs in the first on Jeff Treadway’s home run.

Portugal, who retired 14 of the next 15 batters, suffered the injury in the first inning.