clarinews@clarinet.com (JOE ILLUZZI, UPI Sports Writer) (09/20/89)
Teams prefer playing another contender down the stretch. It's the
teams with nothing to lose they fear the most.
The Mets and the Cardinals know their jobs. They face each other
twice in the next two days in St. Louis and neither is looking for
anything less than a split.
``We're not going in there with the idea of knocking each other
off,'' Mets Manager Davey Johnson said Tuesday after New York knocked
off Chicago 5-2 at Wrigley Field. ``You can make book on that. We still
need to win about all of them and we need some help, it's true. But
we're still in this thing.''
The Cubs spend the next five days against the Phillies and the
Pirates, two teams long gone from the pennant picture. With a four-game
lead over St. Louis and a 5 1-2 game lead over New York, Chicago must
guard against complacency over the remainder of the week if it is to win
the National League East.
``The pressure's off them,'' Cubs pitcher Steve Wilson said of
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. ``They're playing pretty good ball and
they're really pretty good teams.''
While Chicago certainly has the edge as the season winds down, the
Cardinals are positioning themselves well. By beating Montreal 5-0, St.
Louis picked up a valuable game in the standings.
All the Cardinals must do is gain at least one more game over the
next 10 days. If they do, they'll be in position to tackle Chicago on
the final weekend of the season and win the pennant.
``We like our chances better day by day,'' said St. Louis
outfielder Tom Brunansky, who drove in two runs with a single and his
20th homer. ``We could be two games behind at the end of the season and
the Cubs have to come and play us in St Louis.''
In other games, San Diego downed Cincinnati 5-1, Atlanta blanked
Houston 3-0, Pittsburgh topped Philadelphia 4-2 and San Francisco nipped
Los Angeles 3-2.
In the American League, it was: Oakland 5, Cleveland 1; Baltimore
6, Detroit 2; California 7, Minnesota 3; Kansas City 5, Chicago 3; Texas
5, Seattle 3; and Toronto 6, Boston 5, 13 innings. Milwaukee at New York
was rained out.
_M_e_t_s_ _5_,_ _C_u_b_s_ _2
At Chicago, Gary Carter belted a three-run homer and Dwight Gooden
earned his first major-league save. The victory ended the Mets'
three-game losing streak. Bob Ojeda, 13-10, picked up his eighth win in
his last nine decisions. Gooden pitched four innings. Steve Wilson, 5-4,
took the loss.
_C_a_r_d_i_n_a_l_s_ _5_,_ _E_x_p_o_s_ _0
At Montreal, Tom Brunansky drove in two runs with a single and his
20th homer and Bob Tewksbury pitched a four-hitter to win his first
decision in four appearances since St. Louis recalled him Sept. 2 from
the minors. Mark Gardner, 0-2, was the loser. Pedro Guerrero also
homered for the Cardinals.
_P_a_d_r_e_s_ _5_,_ _R_e_d_s_ _1
At Cincinnati, rookie Andy Benes allowed five hits over 6 2-3
innings and Mark Davis earned his 40th save to send the Reds to their
eighth straight loss.Benes, 5-2, struck out nine and did not walk a
batter. He also collected two hits before giving way to Davis, who leads
the majors in saves.
_B_r_a_v_e_s_ _3_,_ _A_s_t_r_o_s_ _0
At Atlanta, Gary Eave combined with two relievers on a four-hitter
to outduel Mike Scott. Eave, 1-0, posted his first major league victory
in his first major league start. Ron Gant and Dave Justice homered off
Scott, 20-9, in the seventh.
_P_i_r_a_t_e_s_ _4_,_ _P_h_i_l_l_i_e_s_ _2
At Pittsburgh, Gary Redus went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a
tie-breaking single to lead the Pirates to their 10th victory in the
last 12 games. Jeff Robinson, 7-11, posted his first victory since Aug.
25. Bill Landrum hurled the ninth for his 24th save. Bruce Ruffin, 5-10,
was the loser.
_G_i_a_n_t_s_ _3_,_ _D_o_d_g_e_r_s_ _2
At San Francisco, Mike Laga lashed a three-run, pinch-hit double
with two out in the fifth to rally the Giants, who remained five games
ahead of the Padres in the NL West. Mike LaCoss, 8-10, won despite
allowing 11 hits over five innings. Steve Bedrosian notched his 22nd
save. Orel Hershiser, 14-14, allowed eight hits in five innings.clarinews@clarinet.com (STEPHEN C. RUTKOWSKI, UPI Sports Writer) (09/21/89)
After winning six straight games, the Chicago Cubs have slumped --
specifically the pitching staff.
Cubs pitchers yielded nine runs and 18 hits to the last-place
Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field Wednesday afternoon and the
result was a 9-8 loss, Chicago's fourth in its last five games. Coupled
with the St. Louis Cardinals' victory over the New York Mets Wednesday
night, the Cubs lead in the National League East fell to three games.
The two teams combined for 36 hits and after four innings the score
was 7-7 and there had already been 23 hits.
Before the slide, the Cubs put together their winning streak in
which they held opponents to nine runs in six games. But during the last
five games, including a 10-6 victory over the Mets Monday, Chicago
hurlers have allowed 30 runs.
``You don't win championships by 10-9 scores,'' Chicago Manager Don
Zimmer said. ``That's not how we got here.''
The Cubs and Cardinals each have 10 games remaining in the season.
The two teams meet each other in St. Louis in a season-ending three-game
series.
Zimmer had a lengthy post-game meeting with his pitchers and
catchers but declined to say what occurred.
``It's nobody's business what happened,'' Zimmer said. ``I don't
have to tell the world what it was about.''
Presumably, the talk entailed recent events such as the Cubs
allowing 20 runs in the first three games of their current homestand.
``We didn't pitch today,'' Zimmer said. ``Everytime I look up early
in the game, we're behind. It's difficult to come back in that
situation. I mean, how many runs can you score?''
Starter Rick Sutcliffe gave up six hits and four runs in 1 2-3
innings. Reliever Les Lancaster, 3-2, took the loss.
``I had no fastball, and I don't know the reason,'' Sutcliffe said.
``When you give up four runs and six hits in less than two innings, you
obviously haven't pitched well.''
Light-hitting Darren Daulton had the first five-hit game of his
major-league career, Ricky Jordan delivered three hits, including a
tie-breaking single in the sixth inning, and Von Hayes added a three-run
home run and an RBI single.
The game lasted three-hours and 49 minutes and featured 35 players,
36 hits of which 31 were singles, nine walks, four wild pitches, one
error and one passed ball.
``Five hits? That gives me 12 for the season, right?'' said
Daulton, who took a .193 batting average into the game. ``I want to play
here more often.''
Elsewhere in the National League, Pittsburgh pounded Montreal 9-1,
San Diego slipped by Cincinnati 3-1 in 10 innings, Houston held off
Atlanta 7-6 in 14 innings, St. Louis defeated New York 5-3 and San
Francisco rallied past Los Angeles 8-7.
In the AL, it was: Baltimore 9, Detroit 2; Boston 10, Toronto 3;
Oakland 8, Cleveland 6; California 9, Minnesota 1; Chicago 7, Kansas
City 2; Texas 3, Seattle 2 and the double-header between Milwaukee and
New York was rained out.
_P_i_r_a_t_e_s_ _9_,_ _E_x_p_o_s_ _1
At Pittsburgh, Bobby Bonilla slammed a three-run homer, Barry Bonds
had a two-run triple, and Jay Bell went 3 for 4 with two RBI to push
Montreal to the verge of elimination in the NL East. Neal Heaton, 5-7,
got the victory. Kevin Gross, 11-12, took the loss.
_P_a_d_r_e_s_ _3_,_ _R_e_d_s_ _1_,_ _1_0_ _i_n_n_i_n_g_s
At Cincinnati, Jack Clark scored from third base with one out in
the 10th inning on a throwing error to help San Diego hand Cincinnati
its ninth straight loss. Norm Charlton, 6-3, took the loss in relief.
Greg Harris, 7-8, picked up the victory for the Padres, who are five
games back in the NL West.
_A_s_t_r_o_s_ _7_,_ _B_r_a_v_e_s_ _6_,_ _1_4_ _i_n_n_i_n_g_s
At Atlanta, Alex Trevino blasted a home run leading off the 14th
off reliever Joe Boever, 4-11, the sixth Atlanta pitcher. Larry
Andersen, 4-4, earned the win pitching the 12th and 13th. Brian Meyer,
the eighth Astros pitcher, picked up his first major-league save.
_C_a_r_d_i_n_a_l_s_ _5_,_ _M_e_t_s_ _3
At St. Louis, Frank DiPino allowed one hit over three innings to
collect his eighth straight victory and help St. Louis move within three
games of the Cubs in the NL East. DiPino, 8-0, was the first of four St.
Louis relievers. Ken Dayley recorded two outs for his 12th save. Starter
David Cone, 13-8, lost.
_G_i_a_n_t_s_ _8_,_ _D_o_d_g_e_r_s_ _7
At San Francisco, Brett Butler singled home the winning run with
none out to cap a five-run ninth inning to rally San Francisco. Trailing
7-3, San Francisco pulled off its biggest last-inning rally this season
to stay five games ahead of the San Diego Padres in the NL West. Kevin
Mitchell ignited the rally against Jay Howell by hitting his 46th homer.clarinews@clarinet.com (ERIK K. LIEF, UPI Sports Writer) (09/22/89)
The St. Louis Cardinals' hopes for a divisional title were dealt a
critical setback Thursday night when two National League East pitchers
threw impressive complete-game victories.
After learning that the Chicago Cubs had taken a 9-1 earlier from
the Philadelphia Phillies behind the six-hit pitching of Greg Maddux,
the Cardinals tumbled another full game in the standings when New York's
Sid Fernandez tossed a two-hitter to lead the New York Mets to a 6-1
victory.
Maddux, 18-12, walked two and struck out six en route to his
seventh complete game of the year.
Fernandez, 12-5, who struck out 13 and did not walk anyone while
pitching to only 29 batters, also led the Mets offensively with three
hits, including his first major-league homer.
``It was too much `El Sid' tonight,'' said Cardinals Manager Whitey
Herzog. ``He had 13 strikeouts and he out hit us. He kept the Mets in
the race and we're one step further away.''
St. Louis's loss ended a four-game winning streak and dropped the
Cardinals four games behind first-place Chicago in the NL East. The Mets
are 5 1-2 games back.
Equally impressed with Fernandez's performance was Mets' Manager
Davey Johnson.
``He was a one-man show out there today,'' said Johnson. ``When he
gets his curve ball over like he did tonight, it's going to be a long
night for people. Tonight was the best I've ever seen him throw.''
Maddux, like Fernandez, benefitted from pitching with a lead.
``The big lead enabled me to concentrate on the batter with runners
on base,'' said Maddux, who won his career-high 18th game. ``It takes a
lot of pressure off the pitcher. I knew that a three-run homer wouldn't
hurt me.''
Elsewhere in the National League, San Diego trounced Cincinnati
11-7, Chicago slammed Philadelphia 9-1, Atlanta silenced Houston 3-0,
Montreal edged Pittsburgh 6-5, New York pounded St. Louis 6-1 and San
Francisco downed Los Angeles 4-3.
In the AL: Milwaukee split a double-header with New York, winning
14-1 in the first game and losing 5-4 in 10 innings in the nightcap;
Cleveland 5, California 4 in 17 innings; Oakland 2, Minnesota 1 and
Seattle 8, Texas 3.
_P_a_d_r_e_s_ _1_1_,_ _R_e_d_s_ _7
At Cincinnati, reliever John Franco walked pinch hitter Carmelo
Martinez to force home the go-ahead run in the ninth and trigger a
four-run inning that sent Cincinnati to its 10th straight loss. Pat
Clements, 4-1, earned the victory and Franco took the loss, dropping to
4-8.
_C_u_b_s_ _9_,_ _P_h_i_l_l_i_e_s_ _1
At Chicago, Greg Maddux fired a six-hitter to equal his career-high
18th victory and Andre Dawson contributed a single and three-run home
run to Chicago's 17-hit attack. Maddux, 18-12, walked two and struck out
six en route to his seventh complete game. Terry Mulholland, 4-7, took
the loss.
_B_r_a_v_e_s_ _3_,_ _A_s_t_r_o_s_ _0
At Atlanta, Tommy Greene tossed a three-hitter to earn his first
major-league victory and Lonnie Smith homered and drove in three runs.
Greene, 1-1, who was called up from Richmond of the International
League, struck out seven and walked two. Starter Jim Deshaies, 13-10,
took the loss.
_E_x_p_o_s_ _6_,_ _P_i_r_a_t_e_s_ _5
At Pittsburgh, Mike Fitzgerald smacked a grand slam, Hubie Brooks
added a two-run homer, and Andres Galarraga went 3 for 5 as Montreal
snapped a three-game losing streak. Dennis Martinez improved to 16-6 and
Tim Burke notched his 27th save. John Smiley, 12-8, gave up six runs and
eight hits.
_M_e_t_s_ _6_,_ _C_a_r_d_i_n_a_l_s_ _1
At St. Louis, Sid Fernandez tossed a two-hitter and hit a home run
and Darryl Strawberry drove in two runs to down St. Louis. Fernandez,
12-5, struck out 13 and did not walk a batter while pitching to only 29
batters. Ricky Horton, 0-3, went just 2 2-3 innings, allowing four runs
and five hits.