NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : No Signs of Faltering in Pirates

This was the season the Pittsburgh Pirates were supposed to fade. They had lost a power hitter, a 20-game winner and their save leader since breezing to the title in the National League East in 1991.

Moreover, they went into the ninth game of the season with a .206 team batting average.

So, why are the Pirates running along in their accustomed spot in front of the National League East?

In part, at least it is because Manager Jim Leyland, though missing slugger Bobby Bonilla and pitchers John Smiley and Bill Landrum, still has a number of good players.

Hot-hitting Cecil Espy and light-hitting Andy Van Slyke had the big hits in a four-run seventh inning that enabled the Pirates to beat Philadelphia, 7-4, Friday night at Pittsburgh.

Espy (.778) pinch-hit a double to drive in two runs and tie the game, and Van Slyke (.138) singled in the go-ahead run to give Doug Drabek (2-1) the victory.

The Pirates have won four in a row, five out of six at home and are 7-2.

One of the juggling jobs Leyland does is with Barry Bonds. In the absence of Bonilla, Leyland’s former cleanup hitter, Bonds, Jeff King and Lloyd McClendon all have batted No. 4 at one time or another.

In this one, King batted fourth, but Bonds, batting fifth, had two hits, starting two outbursts and scoring each time.

Drabek gave up three triples, one to John Kruk, who drove in three runs. Drabek was behind,4-1, when the Pirates used a pinch-hitter for him and took a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning.

“You try to find combinations that will help you win on certain days,” Leyland said. “So far we’ve been able to do it.”

It also helped the Pirate cause that Philadelphia’s rookie shortstop, Kim Batiste, made four errors, including two on one play in the eighth inning.

New York 10, Montreal 2--Eddie Murray hit his fifth double of the young season to drive in three runs in the third inning and break open the first easy victory for the struggling Mets.

The five doubles have driven in eight runs for Murray. Bonilla and Charley O’Brien each had a two-run double for the Mets.

All this made it a romp for David Cone, who picked up his first victory in his third start. Cone pitched a complete game, giving up seven hits.

The Mets pounded Dennis Martinez, who had the best earned-run average in the majors last season, for four runs in five innings.

Martinez wasn’t really impressed by the Mets’ hitting, especially by the pitch Murray--Martinez’s former teammate with the Baltimore Orioles--hit that cost him three runs.

“Eddie was trying to pull the ball,” Martinez said, “That was the key in the entire game. Instead of him pulling the ball, he hits it on the end of his bat. It took so long to get to left field all the runners scored.”

Houston 3, San Diego 1--Pete Harnisch didn’t merely pitch the Astros to victory at Houston, he also delivered the big hit.

Harnisch and Bruce Hurst were in a tight battle, with the Astros holding only a 1-0 lead. But, with two out in the seventh inning and a runner on second base, Hurst gave an intentional walk to Andujar Cedeno.

Harnisch then hit a two-run double.

When Harnisch faltered one out away from his shutout, Doug Jones came to the rescue. Jones gave up a hit that spoiled the shutout, but not the victory.

“I thought about getting our club back to .500,” Harnisch said. “But I didn’t realize I would help do it with my bat.”

San Francisco 7, Cincinnati 3--Rookie catcher Jim McNamara hit his first major league home run and drove in four runs at San Francisco.

McNamara, who had been hitless in his previous four at-bats, led the assault on the Reds’ ace, Jose Rijo (0-3).

McNamara had a hand in all scoring against Rijo, then tagged Dwayne Henry for a two-run homer in the eighth.