NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Padres’ McGriff Doesn’t Let Up

Fred McGriff hasn’t let the trade rumors affect him.

McGriff homered and drove in four runs in support of Greg Harris as the San Diego Padres defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4, at Philadelphia on Saturday night.

“I think about it, but I have my pride,” said McGriff, who is 15 for 38 (.395) in his last 12 games. “When I go out on the field, I play my hardest. Wherever I go, I’m still in the big leagues and millions of people would like to be in my shoes.”

McGriff, who had been in a 31 at-bat slump with runners in scoring position and two out, came through twice in that situation.

“It’s been that kind of a year,” he said. “It’s tough to get good pitches to hit with two outs and men on. I’ve either been getting bad pitches to hit or I get walked.”

Said Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi: “If they’re going to trade him, I wish they had done it before tonight. We had our chances in the ninth, but Fred McGriff just did too much to us tonight.”

Harris (8-8) gave up four runs--three earned--on eight hits, struck out one and walked one in 7 1/3 innings, defeating the Phillies for only the second time in seven decisions.

Gene Harris pitched the ninth for his 14th save, striking out Dave Hollins to end the game after the Phillies loaded the bases with two out.

Houston 6, St. Louis 0--Darryl Kile homered and doubled for his first extra-base hits and pitched his first major league shutout at Houston.

Kile (9-1), who has won his last seven decisions, pitched his second complete game of the season, giving up six hits while striking out five and walking one.

Houston took a 2-0 lead in the second against Rheal Cormier (5-5). Ken Caminiti led off with a single and Eric Anthony hit his sixth home run.

The Astros made the score 4-0 in the third. Kile led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Craig Biggio. One out later, Jeff Bagwell singled home Kile. Biggio scored when Caminiti singled and right fielder Mark Whiten mishandled the ball for an error.

Houston added two runs in the fourth when Andujar Cedeno led off with a double and scored on a triple by Steve Finley. After Finley was caught stealing on a failed squeeze play, Kile homered.

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New York 6, San Francisco 3--Eddie Murray’s success with the bases loaded continued when he hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning for the Mets at New York.

The victory was only the fifth in 24 games for the Mets.

Met rookie Jeromy Burnitz had three hits, including a two-run homer, and drove in four runs.

Another Met rookie, right-hander Dave Telgheder (3-0), gave up three runs and nine hits in eight innings. John Franco got the last three outs for his third save.

With the score 3-3, pinch-hitter Joe Orsulak led off the seventh with a double against Billy Swift (10-5), and one out later Vince Coleman walked. The Mets loaded the bases when first baseman Will Clark’s throw to second on Howard Johnson’s grounder was high for an error.

Murray followed with a single to right field to put the Mets ahead and Burnitz delivered a run-scoring single against reliever Jeff Brantley. Murray is 82 for 192 (.427) with 252 runs batted in when batting with the bases loaded.

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Atlanta 11, Florida 2--David Justice and Damon Berryhill hit three-run homers and Pete Smith won for the first time in 10 weeks at Atlanta.

Smith (3-7) had not won since April 24, losing six games with three no-decisions. The right-hander pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and two runs, walking two and striking out three.

Justice, who had three hits, hit his 17th homer during a five-run sixth inning after a run-scoring triple by Deion Sanders, who had four hits, and Jeff Blauser’s RBI bunt single.

Berryhill’s three-run homer, his fifth, came in the fourth after Justice singled and Ron Gant walked.

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Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 3--Right-hander Larry Luebbers, making his major league debut, held Pittsburgh to three runs on six hits and got a hit at Cincinnati.

The rookie right-hander was in command until the sixth inning, when he gave up a single to Al Martin. Orlando Merced then hit his sixth homer of the season off the facing of the second deck in right-center field, making the score 4-3.

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Colorado 5, Chicago 4--A run-scoring single by Chris Jones capped a three-run ninth-inning rally at Denver as the Rockies ended a five-game losing streak.