NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pitchers Get Battered as Expos Win, 14-11

The wind wasn’t blowing out, so that’s no explanation. There was no heat to make the ball carry. No reason at all why so many baseballs should find so much open space.

Just chalk up the Montreal Expos’ 14-11 victory Thursday over Cincinnati as one of those quirky games where outs are rare, no matter who was at bat.

The Expos scored 14 times in the first four innings at Cincinnati--with Moises Alou and Darrin Fletcher driving in three each--then squirmed as their bullpen frittered away most of an eight-run lead.

The game ended with Mel Rojas retiring Chris Sabo, who represented the tying run, on a popup.

There were 47 baserunners, 30 hits, 25 runs, 13 walks, four errors, three homers, three doubles, two triples, two wild pitches and 3 hours 37 minutes of nearly nonstop offense.

The first four innings alone took two hours. The Expos batted around twice against Tim Belcher and the Reds’ beleaguered bullpen to take a 14-6 lead.

Montreal scored four in the second, two in the third and eight in the fourth off Belcher, Dwayne Henry (0-1) and Steve Foster. The Expos sent up nine batters in the second and 12 in the fourth.

The Expos’ numbers:

--They had 14 runs, two more than their single-game high last year, and 16 hits.

--Every starter had at least one hit and five players had two or more runs batted in through the fourth.

--The Expos, who never got more than six hits in an inning last year, had two six-hit innings in the first four.

St. Louis 2, San Francisco 1--Lee Smith tied Jeff Reardon’s career record with his 357th save as the Cardinals won at St. Louis.

Smith, a 35-year-old right-hander who has been in the major leagues since 1980, pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.

Mark Whiten, acquired by the Cardinals in March from Cleveland, broke a seventh-inning tie with his first home run. Whiten lined a 2-and-0 pitch from rookie reliever Kevin Rogers into the left-field seats. The two-out drive was measured at 408 feet.

Donovan Osborne gave up five hits in seven-plus innings, and Gregg Jefferies homered in the first for the Cardinals, who had only four hits.

San Francisco scored in the second on consecutive doubles by Barry Bonds and Robby Thompson. Osborne, who struck out two and walked one, retired 10 in a row from the fourth through seventh innings.

Jefferies’ home run with two outs in the first was the only hit Bud Black gave up in five innings. Black, who struck out two and walked one, was removed from his last spring training start after 3 1/3 innings because of inflammation in his left shoulder.

Pittsburgh 5, San Diego 4--The Pirates used Andy Van Slyke’s two-run homer and Jeff King’s two-run double to withstand three Padre home runs at Pittsburgh.

Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield and Phil Plantier hit home runs for San Diego, but Padre starter Greg Harris couldn’t last five innings.

Harris gave up five runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, the same distance that Andy Benes lasted on opening night. Harris made his 15th consecutive appearance against Pittsburgh without a victory and is 0-4 lifetime against the Pirates.

Stan Belinda pitched the ninth for his first save.