NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Hill Extends Streak as Expos Beat Black

Ken Hill had a sore right wrist and didn’t know until shortly before game time if he would be able to pitch Tuesday night at Montreal.

But neither the wrist, which was injured when he was hit by a ball lined into the dugout Friday night, nor the San Francisco Giants could halt the Expos’ hot right-hander.

Hill (11-4) got the best of another pitcher on a roll, Bud Black (8-3), in the Expos’ 5-1victory.

In winning his sixth in a row, Hill went 6 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and striking out six. Black, who had won four in a row, gave up eight hits and four runs in six innings.

“I felt fine out there,” said Hill, who almost was kept out of the game by Manager Felipe Alou. “I threw all my pitches and I had good velocity. The pitch I was concerned about at the start was the slider. It worked out OK, and once I got into the heat of battle I didn’t even think about the wrist.”

It was a costly loss for the Giants. Catcher Kirt Manwaring suffered a bruised left shoulder when he dropped the ball when Marquis Grissom crashed into him in the Expos’ three-run third inning.

Right after that play, Larry Walker hit a two-run home run to give Hill the lead. Mel Rojas stopped the Giants for 2 2/3 innings for his seventh save.

Grissom, who scored twice, tied an Expo record when he stole four bases. The center fielder leads the majors with 50 steals.

“Manwaring had the plate blocked in the third, and I thought I was beaten by the throw,” Grissom said. “I wanted to jar the ball loose. I hit him mostly with my upper body, and I think his knee hit my stomach. It knocked the wind out of me. I had a sore wrist and hurt a finger. I was lost there for a while.”

Chicago 1, Cincinnati 0--Four Cub pitchers held the leaders of the West to three hits, and Kal Daniels’ fifth home run beat a former Dodger teammate, Tim Belcher, to end the Reds’ four-game winning streak.

Belcher (8-9) gave up only three other hits in seven innings.

Jeff Robinson, making his first start in nearly two years, gave up three hits in 4 2/3 innings. Robinson, pressed into service when Shawn Boskie strained a back muscle, walked five and was in trouble until Ken Patterson (1-1) took over. Jim Bullinger and Bob Scanlan followed and combined for 4 1/3 hitless innings.

Houston 4, Pittsburgh 3--In 64 previous at-bats, utility infielder Juan Guerrero had done little damage.

But with one swing in the 10th inning at Houston, he cut the Pirates’ lead in the East to three games over Montreal.

Guerrero’s first major league home run climaxed a Houston comeback.

Doug Drabek had the Astros shut out on six hits and took a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning.

Drabek, bidding for his third shutout in a row on the road, gave up two hits to start the ninth and Stan Belinda took over. A sacrifice fly, Ken Caminiti’s double, a wild pitch and another sacrifice fly sent the game into extra innings.

Guerrero tagged Roger Mason (2-6) for the home run that raised his average to .185.

Atlanta 9, St. Louis 7--The race in the West tightened, too, but not before the Braves blew a five-run lead at St. Louis.

Sid Bream’s run-scoring double in the 12th inning enabled the Braves to win their 10th in a row and pull to within half a game of Cincinnati.

The Braves jumped out with four runs in the first and, behind Steve Avery, quickly had a 6-1 lead.

The Cardinals pecked away and took the lead with three runs in the sixth, 7-6. Ron Gant homered to tie it in the seventh.

In the 12th, Rex Hudler, who took over at second when Jose Oquendo injured his foot, made an error to start the Braves’ winning rally.

Alejandro Pena (1-4) pitched two scoreless innings to get the victory.

San Diego 4, Philadelphia 3--Bruce Hurst found what had been missing--his fastball--at Philadelphia. Until he tired in the ninth, he had the Phillies at his mercy.

Hurst (9-6) almost didn’t get his eighth victory in his last 11 decisions. He left with a 4-1 lead, two runners on and one out in the ninth.

Before staggering to his 17th save, Randy Myers permitted both runners to score and the potential tying run was on first.

Hurst outpitched Terry Mulholland (9-7), who gave up all four runs and nine hits in eightinnings.