NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rueter Defeats Giants in Debut

The odds were stacked against Kirk Rueter, but the Montreal Expo pitcher beat them and the San Francisco Giants, 3-0, Wednesday night at Montreal in his major league debut.

Rueter gave up two hits in 8 1/3 innings and Larry Walker and Moises Alou homered to lead the Expos.

“That will be a special one for the rest of my life,” Rueter said.

Rueter gave up a leadoff walk and a single, then retired the next 18 batters.

“I was scared to death,” Rueter said. “It was not the situation I wanted. That’s what I dreaded the most, getting those two guys on first, then having to face Will Clark and Barry Bonds.”

The 22-year-old left-hander faced only three batters in every inning but the first, eighth and ninth in stopping the Giants’ three-game winning streak and the Expos’ three-game losing streak. In their previous three games, the Giants had scored 33 runs on 44 hits. They had beaten the Expos six consecutive times.

“That’s what worries me about young pitchers,” Giant Manager Dusty Baker said. “If you don’t get them early and take their confidence away, they get rid of their jitters and end up being pretty tough.

“That’s just about the finest game I’ve seen a young pitcher throw in a long time.”

Rueter left after walking Steve Scarsone with one out in the ninth. Former Dodger John Wetteland got the final two outs for his 19th save.

“I wish I could have left him to finish the game,” Expo Manager Felipe Alou said of Reuter. “But I have a job to do and we had a good shot at saving the win for the boy.”

Rueter struck out five and walked three in beating San Francisco rookie Greg Brummett (1-2).

Walker led off the second with his 11th homer, the only hit Brummett gave up until Darrin Fletcher’s two-out single in the fifth.

Brummett, recalled from triple-A Phoenix on Monday to replace the injured Trevor Wilson, made his third start for the Giants.

Pittsburgh 5, Houston 2--Orlando Merced drove in three runs with a double and a single at Houston as the Pirates handed the Astros their third consecutive loss.

“He’s been playing good all year,” Pittsburgh Manager Jim Leyland said of Merced. “He’s using all fields.”

Paul Wagner (4-5) put in 3 1/3 innings off scoreless relief, giving up two hits while striking out three and walking two. He entered with two outs in the fourth and the bases loaded in relief of Tim Wakefield and retired Craig Biggio on a grounder to end the inning.

St. Louis 3, Atlanta 1--Resurgent Joe Magrane outpitched run-starved Greg Maddux--whose error opened the door--and the Cardinals won at St. Louis for their third consecutive victory.

Magrane (8-7) gave up five hits in seven innings to win for the sixth time in seven decisions. Lee Smith got the final four outs for his major league-leading 30th save.

Maddux (7-8) gave up 10 hits, with one walk and six strikeouts, in his fourth complete game, but lost his third consecutive decision. The Braves have scored a total of nine runs in Maddux’s losses.

Cincinnati 4, Chicago 3--While Wrigley Field is not one of Kevin Mitchell’s favorite ballparks, he felt right at home there as he had two homers and three runs batted in, leading the Reds at Chicago.

“I never hit here,” Mitchell said. “I (even) have problems seeing the ball in the outfield. But today, I saw the ball good. I don’t know what it was. I just felt good.”

Mitchell has hit safely in 26 of his last 27 games. In that span, he has nine home runs and 21 RBIs.

Tim Pugh (5-9) won his second consecutive start, giving up three runs on seven hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Colorado 6, Florida 5--Chris Jones’ two-out run-scoring single off relief ace Bryan Harvey in the bottom of the ninth gave the Rockies the victory at Denver.

Harvey (1-2) entered the game in the ninth and gave up a one-out single to Eric Young, who stole second and went to third on a groundout. He scored on Jones’ infield single.