NL Day 14: 3-Way Tie in West

Bob Knepper

Astros 3, Padres 1
Houston got a game back on San Diego in the West, with both teams and Atlanta all 2 games over .500 now. Bob Knepper went 7.2 innings for the win while DiPino went the remaining 1.1 for his 2nd save. Jerry Mumphrey and Denny Walling each had RBI doubles for the ‘stros in the win.

Expos 5, Pirates 4 (12 innings)
Montreal got 7.2 innings of shutout work from their bullpen, leading to a 12-inning win over visiting Pittsburgh. Mike Ramsey, who was playing second base as part of a double switch, lifted a sacrifice fly to Lee Mazzilli in left field, bringing Tim Wallach home from 3rd to end the game.

Mets 4, Dodgers 1
New York won its 3rd straight to move to the top of the East while Los Angeles dropped their 3rd in a row. Bruce Berenyi (W 2-0) went 7 innings allowing 1 unearned run to maintain a 0.00 ERA this year. The sole run allowed came in odd fashion when Dave Anderson walked. Ball four got past the catcher Mike Fitzgerald, allowing Anderson to scamper to 2nd. Fitzgerald’s throw down to 2nd sailed into center field, getting past Mookie Wilson and allowing Anderson to move to 3rd. Anderson was waved home and Mookie’s throw home was late. Danny Heep had three hits filling in for an injured Darryl Strawberry in right. Another rough outing for Fernando Valenzuela (L 0-2) who went 8 innings and allowed 4 runs (2 earned).

Giants 7, Cardinals 3
4 straight losses for the beleaguered St. Louis Cardinals, as Joaquin Andujar allowed a 3-run homer to Dusty Baker, 2-run homer to Johnny LeMaster, and solo homer to Manny Trillo. If there was good news for the Cards, it was that Andujar got 6.2 innings of work in, leaving just 1.1 for the bullpen to pick up. The Cards’ bullpen has been overworked.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
New York Mets             6    3  .667   -    W 3
Philadelphia Phillies     5    3  .625   0.5  W 2
Pittsburgh Pirates        6    6  .500   1.5  L 1
Chicago Cubs              5    5  .500   1.5  L 2
Montreal Expos            5    7  .417   2.5  W 1
St. Louis Cardinals       4    7  .364   3    L 4

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
San Diego Padres          5    3  .625   -    L 1
Houston Astros            6    4  .600   -    W 1
Atlanta Braves            6    4  .600   -    L 1
San Francisco Giants      6    5  .545   0.5  W 2
Cincinnati Reds           4    6  .400   2    W 2
Los Angeles Dodgers       4    9  .308   3.5  L 3

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Dale Murphy                   Craig McMurtry           
     .368, 3 HR, 11 RBI            1-0, 2.57, 9 K          
CHC  Gary Matthews                 Dennis Eckersley         
     .294, 9 RBI, 2 SB             2-1, 1.96, 14 K         
CIN  Dave Concepcion               Frank Pastore            
     .282, 2 SB                    1-0, 0.71               
HOU  Jose Cruz                     Frank DiPino             
     .238, 3 HR                    2-0, 2 Sv, 1.13         
LAD  Mike Marshall                 Rick Honeycutt           
     .302, 2 HR, 6 RBI             2-0, 1.20               
MON  Gary Carter                   Gary Lucas               
     .370, 3 HR, 8 RBI             1-0, 0.87               
NYM  Hubie Brooks                  Bruce Berenyi            
     .324, 2 HR, 6 RBI             2-0, 0.00, 7 K          
PHI  Von Hayes                     Steve Carlton            
     .484, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB       1-1, 1.59, 8 K          
PIT  Jason Thompson                John Tudor               
     .250, 5 HR, 10 RBI            3-0, 1.46, 17 K         
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Goose Gossage            
     .417, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB       1-0, 2 Sv, 0.00         
SFG  Jeff Leonard                  Mike Krukow              
     .351, 4 HR, 9 RBI             2-1, 3.15, 13 K         
STL  Tommy Herr                    Bruce Sutter             
     .390                          3 Sv, 0.63              

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Hayes, Von (PHI)               .484
 2. Foster, George (NYM)           .421
 3. Gwynn, Tony (SDP)              .417
 4. Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .406
 5. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .400
 6. Herr, Tommy (STL)              .390
 7. Redus, Gary (CIN)              .387
 8. Moreland, Keith (CHC)          .371
 9. Carter, Gary (MON)             .370
10. Murphy, Dale (ATL)             .368

HOME RUNS
 1. Thompson, Jason (PIT)             5
 2. Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               4
 3. Carter, Gary (MON)                3
    Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  3
    Durham, Leon (CHC)                3
    Foster, George (NYM)              3
    Murphy, Dale (ATL)                3
    Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3

RUNS BATTED IN
 1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)               11
 2. Dawson, Andre (MON)              10
    Schmidt, Mike (PHI)              10
    Thompson, Jason (PIT)            10
 5. Hendrick, George (STL)            9
    Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               9
    Matthews, Gary (CHC)              9
    McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           9

STOLEN BASES
 1. Raines, Tim (MON)                 7
 2. Gladden, Dan (SFG)                6
    Wiggins, Alan (SDP)               6

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Denny, John (PHI)              0.00
    Dravecky, Dave (SDP)           0.00
 4. Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.63
 5. Pastore, Frank (CIN)           0.71
 6. Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)          1.20
 7. Tudor, John (PIT)              1.46
 8. Darling, Ron (NYM)             1.50
    LaPoint, Dave (STL)            1.50
    Rhoden, Rick (PIT)             1.50
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              1.50

WINS-LOSSES
 1. Tudor, John (PIT)               3-0
 2. Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)            2-0
    DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
    Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)           2-0
    Robinson, Don (PIT)             2-0
    Sambito, Joe (HOU)              2-0

STRIKEOUTS
 1. Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       27
 2. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            25
 3. Soto, Mario (CIN)                18
    Welch, Bob (LAD)                 18
 5. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             17
    Tudor, John (PIT)                17

SAVES
 1. Power, Ted (CIN)                  3
    Smith, Lee (CHC)                  3
    Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3


SCHEDULE
========

PIT   6-6   Rhoden, R            (1-1, 1.50)
MON   5-7   Gullickson, B        (0-1, 5.40)

SDP   5-3   Show, E              (0-0, 4.40)
HOU   6-4   Scott, M             (0-1, 9.00)

PHI   5-3   Koosman, J           (1-1, 2.81)
ATL   6-4   McMurtry, C          (1-0, 2.57)

NYM   6-3   Terrell, W           (0-0, 3.68)
LAD   4-9   Pena, A              (0-1, 2.87)

STL   4-7   Kepshire, K          (0-1, 3.00)
SFG   6-5   Lerch, R             (0-0, 6.14)

CHC   5-5   Sanderson, S         (1-0, 1.13)
CIN   4-6   Hume, T              (0-0, 3.38)

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NL Day 12: Leonard Hits 4th HR for Giants

Jeff Leonard

Giants 8, Braves 4
San Francisco batted around in the 1st inning, taking an early 4-0 lead that held against 1st place Atlanta, pushing the Braves into a 3-way tie in the NL West. Mike Krukow (W 2-1) went 6 innings for the win, while Jack Clark, Joel Youngblood, Brad Wellman and Johnnie LeMaster had two hits each. Atlanta starter Rick Camp recovered to throw a perfect 2nd inning, but had a collision with Jeff Leonard while covering 1st base to start the 3rd and ended up getting pulled at the close of that frame. Leonard later connected for his 4th homer of the year. The left fielder is hitting .382 with 9 RBI. At 5-5, the Giants are one game back in the division.

Mets 8, Cubs 5
Sid Fernandez made his debut for the Mets, going 8 innings and allowing 5 runs (4 earned) while striking out 6 for the win. Kelvin Chapman had 4 hits at the top of the New York lineup, making a spot start at second base in place of Wally Backman who seems to be getting flagged to rest almost every game. Chapman is hitting .467 in 4 games while Backman is hitting .308, appearing in only 3 of the Mets’ 8 games. New York is tied with Philadelphia at 5-3 atop the NL East. Jesse Orosco nabbed his first save of the season for New York. Ryne Sandberg hit his 1st homer for the Cubs in the loss, while Dennis Eckersley allowed 6 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings, taking the loss. It wasn’t all good news for New York, as they took an injury to Darryl Strawberry, keeping him out for the next 5 games. Strawberry is hitting just .214 with 2 HR and 7 RBI in 8 games played, also stealing a pair of bases.

Reds 2, Dodgers 0
Frank Pastore (!) goes 7.2 innings for the win, dropping his ERA to 0.71 across 2 starts while Ted Power notches his 3rd save, maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA in five relief appearances. For the Dodgers, Bob Welch drops to 0-3 despite a nice 3.06 ERA. The Reds’ Cesar Cedeno, getting a start at first base, led off the bottom of the 1st with a base hit, stole second, then scored on a Duane Walker single. Cedeno is hitting .353 over 17 at bats this season. That would prove to be the only run Cincy really needed. Pastore, who died from a motorcycle accident in 2012, had an abysmal 6.50 ERA in 1984, but you wouldn’t know it from his two starts in this project.

Expos 5, Cardinals 3
St. Louis continues to be the most snake-bitten team in the early going. Their #1 pitcher is injured on Opening Day and forced to push back his 2nd start. Their starters routinely get the quick hook, meaning their relief pitchers are run to the point of exhaustion. Their games go extra inning, further pushing their relievers to the edge. And then George Hendrick (.176, 2 HR, 9 RBI) pulls up injured for 5 games and Willie McGee (.122, 3 SB) for one as well. The Cards currently have the 3rd worst offensive production in the league, scoring just 3.2 runs per game, but nothing else is going their way either right now. This is their 3rd straight loss while the Expos are winning their 3rd straight, evening the Cards with a 4-6 record. Dan Driessen’s 3-run shot in the 1st inning gave Montreal a 4-0 lead they never looked back from. Andre Dawson had a pair of hits, driving in the other two Montreal runs. Charlie Lea (W 1-0) went the distance for Montreal, striking out 8. The game ended with Lonnie Smith at the plate as the potential tying runner, only to be whiffed by Lea for the third straight time.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
New York Mets             5    3  .625   -    W 2
Philadelphia Phillies     5    3  .625   -    W 2
Pittsburgh Pirates        5    5  .500   1    W 1
Chicago Cubs              5    5  .500   1    L 2
Montreal Expos            4    6  .400   2    W 3
St. Louis Cardinals       4    6  .400   2    L 3

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
San Diego Padres          4    2  .667   -    L 1
Houston Astros            5    3  .625   -    L 2
Atlanta Braves            6    4  .600   -    L 1
San Francisco Giants      5    5  .500   1    W 1
Cincinnati Reds           4    6  .400   2    W 2
Los Angeles Dodgers       4    8  .333   3    L 2

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Dale Murphy                   Craig McMurtry           
     .368, 3 HR, 11 RBI            1-0, 2.57, 9 K          
CHC  Gary Matthews                 Dennis Eckersley         
     .294, 9 RBI, 2 SB             2-1, 1.96, 14 K         
CIN  Gary Redus                    Mario Soto               
     .387, 3 SB                    2-1, 4.50, 18 K         
HOU  Jose Cruz                     Frank DiPino             
     .235, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB       2-0, 1 Sv, 1.35         
LAD  Pedro Guerrero                Rick Honeycutt           
     .360, 5 RBI                   2-0, 1.20               
MON  Gary Carter                   Steve Rogers             
     .324, 2 HR, 5 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
NYM  Mookie Wilson                 Bruce Berenyi            
     .324, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 SB       1-0, 0.00               
PHI  Von Hayes                     John Denny               
     .484, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB       1-0, 0.00               
PIT  Marvell Wynne                 Don Robinson             
     .362                          2-0, 1 Sv, 1.93         
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Goose Gossage            
     .429, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB       1-0, 1 Sv, 0.00         
SFG  Jeff Leonard                  Mike Krukow              
     .382, 4 HR, 9 RBI             2-1, 3.15, 13 K         
STL  David Green                   Joaquin Andujar          
     .250, 2 HR, 6 RBI             1-0, 1.93               

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Gladden, Dan (SFG)             .500
 2. Hayes, Von (PHI)               .484
 3. Gwynn, Tony (SDP)              .429
 4. Foster, George (NYM)           .412
 5. Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .406
 6. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .400
 7. Redus, Gary (CIN)              .387
 8. Garner, Phil (HOU)             .385
 9. Leonard, Jeff (SFG)            .382
10. Raines, Tim (MON)              .375

HOME RUNS
 1. Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               4
 2. Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  3
    Durham, Leon (CHC)                3
    Foster, George (NYM)              3
    Murphy, Dale (ATL)                3
    Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3
    Thompson, Jason (PIT)             3

RUNS BATTED IN
 1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)               11
 2. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)              10
 3. Hendrick, George (STL)            9
    Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               9
    Matthews, Gary (CHC)              9
    McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           9

STOLEN BASES
 1. Gladden, Dan (SFG)                6
 2. Dernier, Bob (CHC)                5
    Raines, Tim (MON)                 5
    Wiggins, Alan (SDP)               5
    Wilson, Mookie (NYM)              5

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Denny, John (PHI)              0.00
    Dravecky, Dave (SDP)           0.00
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              0.00
 5. Tudor, John (PIT)              0.57
 6. Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.63
 7. Pastore, Frank (CIN)           0.71
 8. Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)          1.20
 9. Darling, Ron (NYM)             1.50
    LaPoint, Dave (STL)            1.50
    Rhoden, Rick (PIT)             1.50

WINS-LOSSES
 1. DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
    Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)           2-0
    Robinson, Don (PIT)             2-0
    Sambito, Joe (HOU)              2-0
    Tudor, John (PIT)               2-0

STRIKEOUTS
 1. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            25
 2. Soto, Mario (CIN)                18
    Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       18
    Welch, Bob (LAD)                 18
 5. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             17

SAVES
 1. Power, Ted (CIN)                  3
    Smith, Lee (CHC)                  3
    Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3


SCHEDULE
========

PIT   5-5   Tudor, J             (2-0, 0.57)
MON   4-6   Rogers, S            (1-0, 0.00)

SDP   4-2   Lollar, T            (0-1, 3.00)
HOU   5-3   Niekro, J            (1-0, 1.84)

NL Day 11: Standings Shake-Up

Bruce Benedict

Nothing was left as it was in the standings as the top teams dropped and the runner-ups were winners.

Braves 8, Giants 7 (13 innings)
San Francisco continued to make things difficult for me with their games that are seemingly always high-scoring and going into extra innings. The Braves took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the 3rd, only to see that lead down to one by the top of the 7th. Atlanta re-extended the lead to 3 runs in the top of the 9th, but in came Donnie Moore to try and notch his first save of the season in the bottom of the 9th. Now, with my older brother having been a big Angels fan and me seeing what he went through in the 1986 ALCS, I have special feelings about Moore. I mean, I know that blown save in ’86 essentially led to a whole bunch of dark things in Moore’s life, so even in the “imaginary world” of sport sims, I really want Moore to have success. So it’s a bit heart-breaking when, even in Strat-O-Land, things don’t turn out well. Bob Brenly led off reaching base on an error by Rafael Ramirez. Then Joel Youngblood homered to make it a 7-6 game. Wellman singled, moved up to second on a sacrifice, and then scored on a one-out single by Dan Gladden to tie the game. DAMN IT! To his credit, with men on 2nd & 3rd and one out, he got Manny Trillo on a shallow fly into left and then struck out Chili Davis to get the game into extra innings. Fast forward to the 13th inning and the Braves are at bat, two outs and nobody on. Bruce Benedict walks. Rick Mahler (yes, a pitcher) pinch hits and singles to keep the inning alive and Albert Hall doubles Benedict in. Jeff Dedmon throws a spotless bottom of the inning and the Braves move atop the NL West at 6-3.

Phillies 8, Astros 7
I take it personally, for some reason, when leads aren’t hold, particularly when a Hall of Fame pitcher is the one who is failing. So this game caused some agitation for me. Nolan Ryan had a 6-3 lead headed into the bottom of the 7th inning and all seemed right with the world until Von Hayes clubbed his second homer of the game off of Ryan, tying the ballgame up. Bill Dawley came out of the pen and fared no better in the 8th, allowing four straight base hits to the bottom four men in the Philadelphia order as the Phils stormed back for an 8-7 win, Larry Andersen throwing a perfect 9th for the first Philadelphia save of the season. I somehow inadvertently used their actual closer that year, Al Holland, in the 7th and 8th innings, so he picked up the win. Oops. I’ll try and make it up to Mister Holland. That .484 batting average that Von Hayes now has is pretty nice, although he is conspicuously absent from the list of top MVP vote-getters in an informal poll.  The win moved Philadelphia into 1st place in the East.

Pirates 6, Padres 5 (12 innings)
An exciting one in San Diego with Pittsburgh’s Don Robinson playing the role of hero, coming out of the pen and retiring all 12 Padres he faced for the win, ending the game with a rare strike out of Tony Gwynn and also fanning veteran Steve Garvey for the 3rd out. In the top of the 12th, Marvell Wynne led off with a triple – his 4th of the year – scoring on a Johnny Ray base hit.

Mets 7, Cubs 2
Dwight Gooden (W 1-1) struck out 9 Cubs, going the distance for his first win of the year. Rick Sutcliffe (L 1-1) picked up 10 strikeouts of his own, but was smacked around in a rough 8th inning that saw New York snap a 2-2 tie behind a 5-run inning, sending 10 men to the plate. George Foster has three hits for the Mets, improving to .433 on the season.

Expos 5, Cardinals 4 (11 innings)
The Cardinals couldn’t hang on to a 4-1 lead. Having only one rested relief pitcher hurt them, particularly when combined with a starter who couldn’t get through 7 innings and a game getting into extra frames. It was a bad combination leading to Bruce Sutter allowing his first run of the season when Miguel Dilone’s pinch-hit single scored Dan Driessen from 2nd, ending the game. That’s two straight wins now for the ‘spos, who started the year 1-6.

Reds 9, Dodgers 3
It was all Cincinnati, with Eric Davis’ 3-run homer highlighting a 4-run 1st inning for the Red Legs. Two runs in the 2nd meant emergency starter Jerry Reuss collected just 4 outs in total. Things didn’t get much better from there as Mario Soto (W 2-1) picked up his second win for Cincinnati, going the distance for the win and striking out 8 Dodgers.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Philadelphia Phillies     5    3  .625   -    W 2
New York Mets             4    3  .571   0.5  W 1
Chicago Cubs              5    4  .556   0.5  L 1
Pittsburgh Pirates        5    5  .500   1    W 1
St. Louis Cardinals       4    5  .444   1.5  L 2
Montreal Expos            3    6  .333   2.5  W 2

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Atlanta Braves            6    3  .667   -    W 2
San Diego Padres          4    2  .667   0.5  L 1
Houston Astros            5    3  .625   0.5  L 2
San Francisco Giants      4    5  .444   2    L 2
Los Angeles Dodgers       4    7  .364   3    L 1
Cincinnati Reds           3    6  .333   3    W 1

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Dale Murphy                   Craig McMurtry           
     .382, 3 HR, 11 RBI            1-0, 2.57, 9 K          
CHC  Gary Matthews                 Dennis Eckersley         
     .313, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB       2-0, 0.53, 11 K         
CIN  Gary Redus                    Mario Soto               
     .387, 3 SB                    2-1, 4.50, 18 K         
HOU  Jose Cruz                     Frank DiPino             
     .235, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB       2-0, 1 Sv, 1.35         
LAD  Mike Marshall                 Rick Honeycutt           
     .314, 2 HR, 6 RBI             2-0, 1.20               
MON  Andre Dawson                  Steve Rogers             
     .323, 1 HR, 6 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
NYM  George Foster                 Bruce Berenyi            
     .433, 3 HR, 6 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
PHI  Von Hayes                     John Denny               
     .484, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB       1-0, 0.00               
PIT  Marvell Wynne                 John Tudor               
     .362                          2-0, 0.57, 8 K          
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Goose Gossage            
     .429, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB       1-0, 1 Sv, 0.00         
SFG  Jeff Leonard                  Frank Williams           
     .387, 3 HR, 8 RBI             1-0, 5.00               
STL  Tommy Herr                    Bruce Sutter             
     .324                          3 Sv, 0.63, 7 K         

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Hayes, Von (PHI)               .484
 2. Foster, George (NYM)           .433
 3. Gwynn, Tony (SDP)              .429
    Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .429
 5. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .400
 6. Leonard, Jeff (SFG)            .387
    Redus, Gary (CIN)              .387
 8. Garner, Phil (HOU)             .385
 9. Murphy, Dale (ATL)             .382
10. Moreland, Keith (CHC)          .371

HOME RUNS
1. Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  3
   Durham, Leon (CHC)                3
   Foster, George (NYM)              3
   Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               3
   Murphy, Dale (ATL)                3
   Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3
   Thompson, Jason (PIT)             3

RUNS BATTED IN
1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)               11
2. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)              10
3. Hendrick, George (STL)            9
   Matthews, Gary (CHC)              9
   McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           9

STOLEN BASES
1. Gladden, Dan (SFG)                6
2. Dernier, Bob (CHC)                5
   Raines, Tim (MON)                 5
   Wiggins, Alan (SDP)               5
   Wilson, Mookie (NYM)              5

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Denny, John (PHI)              0.00
    Dravecky, Dave (SDP)           0.00
    Rogers, Steve (MON)            0.00
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              0.00
 6. Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)        0.53
 7. Tudor, John (PIT)              0.57
 8. Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.63
 9. Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)          1.20
10. Darling, Ron (NYM)             1.50
    LaPoint, Dave (STL)            1.50
    Rhoden, Rick (PIT)             1.50

WINS-LOSSES
1. DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
   Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)         2-0
   Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)           2-0
   Robinson, Don (PIT)             2-0
   Sambito, Joe (HOU)              2-0
   Tudor, John (PIT)               2-0

STRIKEOUTS
1. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            25
2. Soto, Mario (CIN)                18
   Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       18
4. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             17
5. Gooden, Dwight (NYM)             16

SAVES
1. Smith, Lee (CHC)                  3
   Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3
3. Dedmon, Jeff (ATL)                2
   Power, Ted (CIN)                  2
   Tekulve, Kent (PIT)               2


SCHEDULE
========

ATL   6-3   Camp, R              (0-0, 1.80)
SFG   4-5   Krukow, M            (1-1, 3.21)

CHC   5-4   Eckersley, D         (2-0, 0.53)
NYM   4-3   Fernandez, S         (NR)

STL   4-5   Horton, R            (1-0, 0.00)
MON   3-6   Lea, C               (0-0, 5.54)

LAD   4-7   Welch, B             (0-2, 3.09)
CIN   3-6   Pastore, F           (0-0, 1.80)

NL Day 10: Padres, Pirates Go 15

San Diego Padres

Padres 4, Pirates 3 (15 innings)
The Padres won their 3rd straight, moving into 1st place in the West after out-lasting the Pirates in a 15-inning skirmish. Rick Rhoden (7 IP, 3 ER) had done well to keep Pittsburgh in the game, but their offense couldn’t capitalize on opportunities.  In the 7th, for example, they led 3-2 with one out and men on the corners.  San Diego starter Eric Show was pulled in favor of Greg Harris.  He got Marvell Wynne to hit a grounder to Steve Garvey at first, who threw out Dale Berra at the plate. After a walk to Johnny Ray loaded the bases, Bill Madlock grounded one to Kurt Bevacqua at third, who stepped on the bag to force Wynne.  In the 11th, Lee Lacy led off with a single, stole 2nd, and moved to 3rd on a Berra sacrifice.  But pinch-hitter Joe Orsulak whiffed and Wynne popped up to 2nd.  All told, San Diego relievers combined to go 9 innings, allowing 6 hits and no runs. In the bottom of the 15th, Tony Gwynn doubled and then scored on a game-ending base hit off the bat of Garvey.  Garvey finished the day having driven in 3 of the 4 San Diego runs.

Braves 7, Giants 1
Elsewhere in the West, Atlanta stayed a half game back of San Diego behind a solid win over San Francisco.  Len Barker (W 1-0) went 7 innings in his first start of the season, while Gerald Perry reached base in all 5 plate appearances, connecting for his 2nd homer of the year. Dale Murphy went 0-for-4 for Atlanta, though he picked up an RBI on a 1st inning sac fly.

Phillies 6, Astros 0
John Denny (W 1-0) tossed a 3-hit shutout in his first start for the Phillies, who were led by Von Hayes on offense.  Hayes went 4-for-4 with a triple, RBI, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.  Von leads the team with a .444 batting average in 7 games.

Cubs 3, Mets 2
Steve Trout (7 IP, 2 ER) and Ron Darling (6 IP, 2 ER) each had good starts for the Cubs and Mets, respectively.  Davey Lopes’ solo homer in the 9th put the Cubs ahead 3-2 and Lee Smith (S 3) came on for an uncharacteristically quiet save, striking out Hubie Brooks, Jose Oquendo and Ron Hodges in order.

Expos 4, Cardinals 3
Montreal won just their 2nd game of the year, coming from behind to beat a St. Louis team that is suffering from major bullpen shortages right now.  Jeff Lahti (L 1-1) was forced to pitch tired, marking the 2nd straight game the Cards had to do that.  With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th, things fell apart.  Dan Driessen led off with a double and Tim Wallach walked. With one out, Doug Flynn singles in Driessen, tying the game.  Tony Scott then pinch hit and singled in Wallach – game over.

Dodgers 3, Reds 1
Rick Honeycutt improved to 2-0 on the season, going 6+ innings for the win, while Tom Niedenfuer (S 1) finally didn’t pitch horribly, striking out 3 men around a walk in the 9th for his first save.  It took 10 games to get there, but it was a good feeling to finally pick that up for the closer who still has a 2.00 WHIP in four appearances.  Dave Anderson was at the center of the offense – driving in two men with a 2nd inning double, then walking, stealing 2nd and scoring the Dodgers 3rd run in the 5th inning.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Chicago Cubs              5    3  .625   -    W 1
Philadelphia Phillies     4    3  .571   0.5  W 1
St. Louis Cardinals       4    4  .500   1    L 1
New York Mets             3    3  .500   1    L 1
Pittsburgh Pirates        4    5  .444   1.5  L 1
Montreal Expos            2    6  .250   3    W 1

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Houston Astros            5    2  .714   -    L 1
San Diego Padres          4    1  .800   -    W 3
Atlanta Braves            5    3  .625   0.5  W 1
San Francisco Giants      4    4  .500   1.5  L 1
Los Angeles Dodgers       4    6  .400   2.5  W 1
Cincinnati Reds           2    6  .250   3.5  L 1

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Dale Murphy                   Craig McMurtry           
     .367, 3 HR, 11 RBI            1-0, 2.57, 9 K          
CHC  Keith Moreland                Dennis Eckersley         
     .387, 1 HR, 4 RBI             2-0, 0.53, 11 K         
CIN  Gary Redus                    Ted Power                
     .296, 2 SB                    2 Sv, 0.00              
HOU  Phil Garner                   Frank DiPino             
     .385, 4 RBI                   2-0, 1 Sv, 1.35         
LAD  Mike Marshall                 Rick Honeycutt           
     .344, 2 HR, 6 RBI             2-0, 1.20               
MON  Andre Dawson                  Gary Lucas               
     .346, 1 HR, 6 RBI             1-0, 1.17, 7 K          
NYM  George Foster                 Bruce Berenyi            
     .385, 3 HR, 5 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
PHI  Mike Schmidt                  John Denny               
     .407, 3 HR, 10 RBI            1-0, 0.00               
PIT  Jason Thompson                John Tudor               
     .281, 3 HR, 7 RBI             2-0, 0.57, 8 K          
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Goose Gossage            
     .455, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB       1-0, 1 Sv, 0.00, 4 K    
SFG  Dan Gladden                   Mike Krukow              
     .611, 3 SB                    1-1, 3.21, 9 K          
STL  Tommy Herr                    Joaquin Andujar          
     .333                          1-0, 1.93               

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Gwynn, Tony (SDP)              .455
 2. Hayes, Von (PHI)               .444
 3. Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .429
 4. Leonard, Jeff (SFG)            .423
 5. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .407
 6. Moreland, Keith (CHC)          .387
 7. Foster, George (NYM)           .385
    Garner, Phil (HOU)             .385
 9. Ramirez, Rafael (ATL)          .378
10. Knight, Ray (NYM)              .368

HOME RUNS
1. Foster, George (NYM)              3
   Murphy, Dale (ATL)                3
   Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3
   Thompson, Jason (PIT)             3
5. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)               2
   Carter, Gary (MON)                2
   Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  2
   Durham, Leon (CHC)                2
   Green, David (STL)                2
   Hendrick, George (STL)            2
   Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               2
   Marshall, Mike (LAD)              2
   Mazzilli, Lee (PIT)               2
   McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           2
   Perry, Gerald (ATL)               2
   Strawberry, Darryl (NYM)          2
   Trevino, Alex (ATL)               2
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               2

RUNS BATTED IN
1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)               11
2. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)              10
3. Hendrick, George (STL)            9
   McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           9
5. Matthews, Gary (CHC)              8
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               8

STOLEN BASES
1. Raines, Tim (MON)                 5
2. Dernier, Bob (CHC)                4
   Washington, Claudell (ATL)        4
   Wiggins, Alan (SDP)               4

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Denny, John (PHI)              0.00
    Rogers, Steve (MON)            0.00
    Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.00
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              0.00
 6. Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)        0.53
 7. Tudor, John (PIT)              0.57
 8. Sanderson, Scott (CHC)         1.13
 9. Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)          1.20
10. Rawley, Shane (PHI)            1.29

WINS-LOSSES
1. DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
   Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)         2-0
   Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)           2-0
   Sambito, Joe (HOU)              2-0
   Tudor, John (PIT)               2-0

STRIKEOUTS
1. Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       18
2. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            15
3. Pena, Alejandro (LAD)            14
4. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             13
5. Rhoden, Rick (PIT)               12

SAVES
1. Smith, Lee (CHC)                  3
   Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3
3. Power, Ted (CIN)                  2
   Tekulve, Kent (PIT)               2


SCHEDULE
========

ATL   5-3   Perez, P             (1-1, 4.50)
SFG   4-4   Laskey, B            (1-0, 4.50)

HOU   5-2   Ryan, N              (0-0, 3.68)
PHI   4-3   Hudson, C            (1-0, 0.00)

PIT   4-5   McWilliams, L        (0-2, 3.86)
SDP   4-1   Hawkins, A           (NR)

CHC   5-3   Sutcliffe, R         (1-0, 5.79)
NYM   3-3   Gooden, D            (0-1, 11.81)

STL   4-4   Cox, D               (0-1, 4.15)
MON   2-6   Gullickson, B        (0-1, 5.54)

LAD   4-6   Reuss, J             (NR)
CIN   2-6   Soto, M              (1-1, 6.00)

NL Day 9: Save Me From the Giants

Duane Kuiper

Giants 11, Braves 10
I know there are some Strat-Heads who like this sort of game, but I am not one of them. The game started off oddly, with Rick Mahler, coming off an amazing first start of the season, lasting just 1.2 innings of work and allowing 7 runs (6 earned) to put the Braves behind 7-1.  Soon enough, Atlanta had added 4 runs, only one of which was earned thanks to costly errors by third baseman Joel Youngblood and left fielder Jeff Leonard.  That cut the Giants’ lead to 7-5.  They extended it back up to 9-5 after 6 innings of work as Atlanta’s bullpen had their own struggles.  In the top of the 7th, Dale Murphy led off with a homer and Chris Chambliss walked, forcing Giants’ starter Randy Lerch out of the game.  In came Gary Lavelle, who walked Randy Johnson (great porn name, by the way), allowed a double to Glenn Hubbard that made it a 9-7 game, walked the bases loaded, allowed an RBI single to Claudell Washington, and then had a grounder to shortstop Johnny LeMaster thrown into an adjacent county allowing two more runs to score and give the Braves a 10-9 lead.  Things calmed down until the bottom of the 9th when Donnie Moore came in to try and notch his first save of the year, facing the bottom 3 in the San Francisco order.  In true Moore fashion, however, things didn’t go according to plan.  Duane Kuiper led off with a single, giving him an improbably fourth time reaching base in five plate appearances.  (Joe Posnanski would be happy.)  He moved up to 2nd as the prospective tying run after a LeMaster sacrifice bunt.  Jack Clark pinch-hit and singled him over to 3rd.  Dan Gladden then singled into right, scoring Kuiper to tie the game, and the defensive substitute of Albert Hall in right field booted the ball, allowing Clark to move to 3rd and Gladded to 2nd.  Manny Trillo then ignored the infield playing in, lifting a fly ball to Murphy in center field, deep enough to score Clark from 3rd.  Giants win a maddening game, 11-10, joining Atlanta at 4-3 in the NL West.  I prefer low-scoring games, so rolling up games with the Bay Area teams has been my own personal nightmare, thus far.  The average game involving the Giants has had 11.5 runs scored – highest in the National League – and games with the Athletics have had 10.2 – 2nd highest in the American League. If both teams reach the World Series, I may consider not playing it!

Mets 7, Cubs 6
Darryl Strawberry and George Fostered each had three hits and a homer in a victory for New York, who took over 1st place in the NL East with a 3-2 mark to start the season.  It wasn’t an easy win, with the Mets blowing an early 5-2 lead as the Cubs chipped away, tying the game in the top of the 9th on a 2-out, 2-RBI single by Gary Matthews, who reached base four times.  In the bottom of the 9th, Strawberry led off with a walk, moved up to 3rd on a Foster single, then scored on an RBI single past a drawn-in infield by Hubie Brooks, who rolled up the GB++.

Cardinals 8, Expos 6
Make it 3 straight losses for Les Expos. They took a 4-3 lead into the 8th inning, but ultimately lost it when George Hendrick hit a three-run homer in the 9th off of Jeff Reardon.  Reardon then allowed a follow-up homer to David Green (2nd).  Montreal tried to come back, but Andre Dawson’s 1st tater of the year cutting into the lead.  With two on and two out, Jeff Lahti finally got Tim Wallach on a pop up to Art Howe at short.  Lahti pitched the final 2 innings and was throwing tired as the only eligible pitcher out of the Cardinals’ bullpen.  Joaquin Andujar threw 7 innings in his first start since opening day for the 4-3 Cardinals, who are tied with the Mets and Cubs atop the NL East, though percentage points behind New York.

Reds 6, Dodgers 4
Cincinnati won for just the 2nd time in 7 games and the Dodgers lost their 3rd straight in a game pitting two teams who are each struggling to start the season.  Fernando Valenzuela became the first pitcher in the season to make a 3rd start to the season and so far the dice are just not going his way.  He started off with 4 shutout innings before things blew up.  His final line: 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K.  He is 0-1 with a 6.05 ERA across 19.1 innings of work.  The big blow came in the bottom of the 6th when, trailing 4-3 with the bases loaded and one out, Nick Esasky came up with a base-clearing triple.  John Franco (0.2 IP), Bob Owchinko (1 IP) and Ted Power (Sv, 2 IP) pitched a fine 3.2 innings of work out of the Cincy pen to notch the victory.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Chicago Cubs              4    3  .571   -    L 1
St. Louis Cardinals       4    3  .571   -    W 1
New York Mets             3    2  .600   -    W 2
Pittsburgh Pirates        4    4  .500   0.5  W 2
Philadelphia Phillies     3    3  .500   0.5  L 3
Montreal Expos            1    6  .143   3    L 3

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Houston Astros            5    1  .833   -    W 2
San Diego Padres          3    1  .750   1    W 2
Atlanta Braves            4    3  .571   1.5  L 1
San Francisco Giants      4    3  .571   1.5  W 1
Los Angeles Dodgers       3    6  .333   3.5  L 3
Cincinnati Reds           2    5  .286   3.5  W 1

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Dale Murphy                   Craig McMurtry           
     .423, 3 HR, 10 RBI            1-0, 2.57, 9 K          
CHC  Keith Moreland                Dennis Eckersley         
     .370, 1 HR, 4 RBI             2-0, 0.53, 11 K         
CIN  Nick Esasky                   Ted Power                
     .364, 1 HR, 4 RBI             2 Sv, 0.00              
HOU  Phil Garner                   Frank DiPino             
     .455, 4 RBI                   2-0, 1 Sv, 1.35         
LAD  Mike Marshall                 Orel Hershiser           
     .310, 2 HR, 6 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
MON  Andre Dawson                  Steve Rogers             
     .346, 1 HR, 6 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
NYM  George Foster                 Bruce Berenyi            
     .455, 3 HR, 5 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
PHI  Mike Schmidt                  Steve Carlton            
     .391, 3 HR, 8 RBI             1-1, 1.59, 8 K          
PIT  Jason Thompson                John Tudor               
     .280, 3 HR, 6 RBI             2-0, 0.57, 8 K          
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Ed Whitson               
     .438, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB       1-0, 0.00               
SFG  Jeff Leonard                  Mike Krukow              
     .455, 2 HR, 7 RBI             1-1, 3.21, 9 K          
STL  David Green                   Bruce Sutter             
     .316, 2 HR, 4 RBI             3 Sv, 0.00              

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Foster, George (NYM)           .455
    Garner, Phil (HOU)             .455
    Leonard, Jeff (SFG)            .455
 4. Gwynn, Tony (SDP)              .438
 5. Murphy, Dale (ATL)             .423
 6. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .391
 7. Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .375
 8. Moreland, Keith (CHC)          .370
 9. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)            .368
    Knight, Ray (NYM)              .368

HOME RUNS
1. Foster, George (NYM)              3
   Murphy, Dale (ATL)                3
   Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3
   Thompson, Jason (PIT)             3
5. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)               2
   Carter, Gary (MON)                2
   Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  2
   Green, David (STL)                2
   Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               2
   Marshall, Mike (LAD)              2
   McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           2
   Strawberry, Darryl (NYM)          2
   Trevino, Alex (ATL)               2
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               2

RUNS BATTED IN
1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)               10
2. Matthews, Gary (CHC)              8
   McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           8
   Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               8
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               8

STOLEN BASES
1. Dernier, Bob (CHC)                4
   Raines, Tim (MON)                 4
3. Gladden, Dan (SFG)                3
   Washington, Claudell (ATL)        3
   Wilson, Mookie (NYM)              3

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Darling, Ron (NYM)             0.00
    Horton, Ricky (STL)            0.00
    Rogers, Steve (MON)            0.00
    Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.00
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              0.00
 7. Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)        0.53
 8. Rhoden, Rick (PIT)             0.56
 9. Tudor, John (PIT)              0.57
10. Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)          1.00

WINS-LOSSES
1. DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
   Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)         2-0
   Sambito, Joe (HOU)              2-0
   Tudor, John (PIT)               2-0
5. Orosco, Jesse (NYM)             2-1

STRIKEOUTS
1. Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       18
2. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            15
3. Pena, Alejandro (LAD)            14
4. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             13
5. Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)          11
   Welch, Bob (LAD)                 11

SAVES
1. Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3
2. Power, Ted (CIN)                  2
   Smith, Lee (CHC)                  2
   Tekulve, Kent (PIT)               2


SCHEDULE
========

ATL   4-3   Barker, L            (NR)
SFG   4-3   Robinson, J          (0-0, 0.00)

HOU   5-1   LaCoss, M            (NR)
PHI   3-3   Denny, J             (NR)

PIT   4-4   Rhoden, R            (1-1, 0.56)
SDP   3-1   Show, E              (0-0, 4.50)

CHC   4-3   Trout, S             (0-1, 6.00)
NYM   3-2   Darling, R           (0-0, 0.00)

STL   4-3   LaPoint, D           (0-0, 1.35)
MON   1-6   Smith, B             (0-1, 2.57)

LAD   3-6   Honeycutt, R         (1-0, 1.00)
CIN   2-5   Price, J             (0-1, 7.50)

NL Day 8: Astros Do It Again

Harry Spilman

Astros 3, Dodgers 2
Something always goes right for Houston, it seems, as they improve to 5-1.  All five wins this season have been by a single run and 4 of those 5 wins have been credited to a member of the bullpen.  Today they take a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on three straight L.A. errors.  Bob Knepper cruises until the 7th inning when he serves up back-to-back solo shots to Mike Marshall (2) and Mike Scioscia.  They head into the bottom of the 9th trailing 2-1 to Alejandro Pena who is dealing for the Dodgers. Phil Garner triples to lead off. Jose Cruz walks. Jerry Mumphrey is erased on a 6-3 when Anderson makes a great play at short. Enos Cabell is walked to load the bases. Kevin Bass grounds to third and Garner is thrown out at home. Bases loaded, two out, down by one. Jim Pankovits pinch hits and singles a run in to tie it. In comes Tom Niedenfuer to pitch and Harry Spilman to pinch hit and up comes another single. Game over. Astros have been outscored this season but have a 5-1 record. Go figure.

Cubs 3, Phillies 1
Chicago moves into 1st place in the NL East with their 3rd straight win over the Phils. Dennis Eckersley (W 2-0) allows 1 run in 8 innings of work. Lee Smith (S 2) gives up a leadoff single to Oliver before John Wockenfuss lines out to Davey Lopes at 2nd base who then doubles Oliver off of first.  Ozzie Virgil grounds out to Lopes and that’s the ballgame. Why so many mentions of Lopes at second? Because Ryne Sandberg came up with a 2-game injury in the 7th inning. He had gone 2-for-4 with a triple before the injury.  He’s hitting .292 this season. Gary Matthews homered for the Cubs. Steve Carlton (L 1-1) threw well, but gets stuck with the loss.

Padres 10, Cardinals 7
St. Louis has nobody eligible to start who is rated as a starter and only three rested pitchers available to boot. They turn to Neil Allen (who made 1 start in ’84) and the worst possible thing happens – he only makes it through 1.2 innings before he’s out of the game.  The Padres put 8 runs on the board in the inning. The Cardinals make a game of it, scoring 5 in the 6th and 2 more in the 9th. They actually have two men on with nobody out before Goose Gossage (S 1) comes in for San Diego and ends the game with a strike out of David Green. Kevin McReynolds homered for the 2nd time this year for the 3-1 Padres.

Braves 10, Reds 2
Things continue to start poorly for Cincinnati. Promising young pitcher Jay Tibbs gets his first start of the season, serves up two fluky homers to Rafael Ramirez and Gerald Perry to fall behind 3-0 early on, and then comes up injured when batting in the bottom of the 3rd.  He’s going to miss 15 games before returning, so things aren’t looking too good for the Reds. The Braves, on the other hand, are now 4-2. Craig McMurtry (W 1-0) takes a shutout into the 9th before running out of gas. Chris Chambliss and Ken Oberkfell also went deep in a 4-homer game for the Bravos.

Pirates 8, Expos 7
A wild back and forth game that has 5 lead changes, the final one coming on Lee Mazzilli’s solo homer in the bottom of the 7th. Kent Tekulve throws a perfect 9th inning for his 2nd save of the season. On the bright side for the 1-5 Expos, their bats woke up, as they hit their first homers of the season including a pair by Gary Carter. Tim Raines also homered for them in the first at bat of the game, but was later injured and will miss a game. Andre Dawson went 2-for-4 and is hitting .381 this year.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Chicago Cubs              4    2  .667   -    W 3
Pittsburgh Pirates        4    4  .500   1    W 2
Philadelphia Phillies     3    3  .500   1    L 3
St. Louis Cardinals       3    3  .500   1    L 2
New York Mets             2    2  .500   1    W 1
Montreal Expos            1    5  .167   3    L 2

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Houston Astros            5    1  .833   -    W 2
Atlanta Braves            4    2  .667   1    W 1
San Diego Padres          3    1  .750   1    W 2
San Francisco Giants      3    3  .500   2    L 1
Los Angeles Dodgers       3    5  .375   3    L 2
Cincinnati Reds           1    5  .167   4    L 1

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Dale Murphy                   Rick Mahler              
     .364, 2 HR, 9 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
CHC  Bob Dernier                   Dennis Eckersley         
     .320, 4 SB                    2-0, 0.53, 11 K         
CIN  Gary Redus                    Ted Power                
     .300, 1 SB                    1 Sv, 0.00              
HOU  Phil Garner                   Frank DiPino             
     .455, 4 RBI                   2-0, 1 Sv, 1.35         
LAD  Bill Russell                  Rick Honeycutt           
     .545                          1-0, 1.00               
MON  Andre Dawson                  Steve Rogers             
     .381, 4 RBI                   1-0, 0.00               
NYM  Mookie Wilson                 Bruce Berenyi            
     .333, 1 HR, 3 SB              1-0, 0.00               
PHI  Mike Schmidt                  Steve Carlton            
     .391, 3 HR, 8 RBI             1-1, 1.59, 8 K          
PIT  Jason Thompson                John Tudor               
     .280, 3 HR, 6 RBI             2-0, 0.57, 8 K          
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Goose Gossage            
     .438, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB       1-0, 1 Sv, 0.00         
SFG  Jeff Leonard                  Mike Krukow              
     .412, 1 HR, 5 RBI             1-1, 3.21, 9 K          
STL  David Green                   Bruce Sutter             
     .333, 1 HR, 3 RBI             3 Sv, 0.00              

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Garner, Phil (HOU)             .455
 2. Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .444
 3. Gwynn, Tony (SDP)              .438
 4. Foster, George (NYM)           .412
    Leonard, Jeff (SFG)            .412
 6. Ramirez, Rafael (ATL)          .407
 7. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)            .400
 8. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .391
 9. Wohlford, Jim (MON)            .389
10. Guerrero, Pedro (LAD)          .382

HOME RUNS
1. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3
   Thompson, Jason (PIT)             3
3. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)               2
   Carter, Gary (MON)                2
   Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  2
   Foster, George (NYM)              2
   Marshall, Mike (LAD)              2
   McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           2
   Murphy, Dale (ATL)                2
   Trevino, Alex (ATL)               2
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               2

RUNS BATTED IN
1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)                9
2. McReynolds, Kevin (SDP)           8
   Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               8
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               8
5. Thompson, Scot (SFG)              7

STOLEN BASES
1. Dernier, Bob (CHC)                4
   Raines, Tim (MON)                 4
3. Washington, Claudell (ATL)        3
   Wilson, Mookie (NYM)              3

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Andujar, Joaquin (STL)         0.00
    Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Darling, Ron (NYM)             0.00
    Horton, Ricky (STL)            0.00
    Mahler, Rick (ATL)             0.00
    Robinson, Jeff (SFG)           0.00
    Rogers, Steve (MON)            0.00
    Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.00
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              0.00
10. Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)        0.53

WINS-LOSSES
1. DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
   Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)         2-0
   Sambito, Joe (HOU)              2-0
   Tudor, John (PIT)               2-0
5. Andujar, Joaquin (STL)          1-0
   Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)            1-0
   Gossage, Goose (SDP)            1-0
   Hershiser, Orel (LAD)           1-0
   Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)           1-0
   Horton, Ricky (STL)             1-0
   Hudson, Charlie (PHI)           1-0
   Laskey, Bill (SFG)              1-0
   Mahler, Rick (ATL)              1-0
   McMurtry, Craig (ATL)           1-0
   Niekro, Joe (HOU)               1-0
   Robinson, Don (PIT)             1-0
   Rogers, Steve (MON)             1-0
   Sanderson, Scott (CHC)          1-0
   Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)           1-0
   Thurmond, Mark (SDP)            1-0
   Whitson, Ed (SDP)               1-0

STRIKEOUTS
1. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            15
2. Pena, Alejandro (LAD)            14
   Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       14
4. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             13
5. Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)          11
   Welch, Bob (LAD)                 11

SAVES
1. Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3
2. Smith, Lee (CHC)                  2
   Tekulve, Kent (PIT)               2


SCHEDULE
========

ATL   4-2   Mahler, R            (1-0, 0.00)
SFG   3-3   Lerch, R             (NR)

CHC   4-2   Ruthven, D           (NR)
NYM   2-2   Terrell, W           (0-0, 2.25)

STL   3-3   Andujar, J           (1-0, 0.00)
MON   1-5   Palmer, D            (NR)

LAD   3-5   Valenzuela, F        (0-0, 4.50)
CIN   1-5   Russell, J           (0-1, 4.50)

NL Day 7: Sutcliffe fans 11, Cubs move up

Rick Sutcliffe

Cubs 11, Phillies 4
Rick Sutcliffe (W 1-0) struck out 11 men in 8 innings of work as the Chicago Cubs crushed the Philadelphia Phillies to create a 3-way tie at the top of the NL East.  Chicago had 17 hits, including 4 by Leon Durham and 3 each by Bob Dernier, Rich Moreland, and Ron Cey.

Astros 2, Dodgers 1
Over in the NL West, the Houston Astros improved to 4-1 as Joe Niekro (W 1-0) went 7 strong innings, allowing just one run.  Frank DiPino notched his 1st save, pitching the final two innings.  Houston scored both runs in the bottom of the 3rd when Bill Doran tripled, Craig Reynolds doubled, and Phil Garner singled.  Through five games this season, Garner has a .500 batting average.  Niekro allowed a run in the 6th, walking Mike Marshall with the bases loaded and two out before retiring Mike Scoscia on a come-backer.

Padres 5, Cardinals 1
Tony Gwynn reached base four times and hit his first home run of the season, leading San Diego to a win over St. Louis.  The Cardinals are now in a 3-way tie for 1st place in the NL East.  Ed Whitson (W 1-0) went 6 innings for the Padres, allowing one unearned run.

Reds 5, Braves 4
The Reds got their first win of the year.  Mario Soto (W 1-1) went 8 innings for the win while Ted Power (S 1) pitched the 9th, striking out Alex Trevino with the tying run on base to end the game.  Gary Redus paced the Cincinnati offense from the top of the order, going 3-for-5 with a triple, stolen base, and two runs batted in.

Pirates 4, Expos 0
John Tudor improved to 2-0 on the season, throwing 7.2 shutout innings before control problems forced him from the game.  With two on and two out in the 8th, Kent Tekulve (S 1) came on on got Mike Stenhouse on a slow roller to Jason Thompson at first.  Thompson, by the way, poked his 3rd homer of the season for the Pirates, who are now 3-4.

STANDINGS
=========

NL EAST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Chicago Cubs              3    2  .600   -    W 2
Philadelphia Phillies     3    2  .600   -    L 2
St. Louis Cardinals       3    2  .600   -    L 1
New York Mets             2    2  .500   0.5  W 1
Pittsburgh Pirates        3    4  .429   1    W 1
Montreal Expos            1    4  .200   2    L 1

NL WEST                   W    L   PCT  GB    STR
Houston Astros            4    1  .800   -    W 1
Atlanta Braves            3    2  .600   1    L 1
San Diego Padres          2    1  .667   1    W 1
San Francisco Giants      3    3  .500   1.5  L 1
Los Angeles Dodgers       3    4  .429   2    L 1
Cincinnati Reds           1    4  .200   3    W 1

TEAM STARS
==========

     BATTER                        PITCHER                  
ATL  Claudell Washington           Rick Mahler              
     .444, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB       1-0, 0.00, 4 K          
CHC  Keith Moreland                Dennis Eckersley         
     .350, 1 HR, 4 RBI             1-0, 0.00, 6 K          
CIN  Nick Esasky                   Ted Power                
     .400, 1 HR                    1 Sv, 0.00              
HOU  Phil Garner                   Frank DiPino             
     .500, 4 RBI                   2-0, 1 Sv, 1.35, 4 K    
LAD  Bill Russell                  Rick Honeycutt           
     .545                          1-0, 1.00               
MON  Tim Raines                    Steve Rogers             
     .346, 4 SB                    1-0, 0.00               
NYM  Hubie Brooks                  Bruce Berenyi            
     .400, 2 HR, 4 RBI             1-0, 0.00               
PHI  Mike Schmidt                  Steve Carlton            
     .421, 3 HR, 8 RBI             1-0, 0.00, 4 K          
PIT  Jason Thompson                John Tudor               
     .318, 3 HR, 5 RBI             2-0, 0.57, 8 K          
SDP  Tony Gwynn                    Ed Whitson               
     .364, 1 HR, 1 SB              1-0, 0.00, 3 K          
SFG  Dan Gladden                   Bill Laskey              
     .667, 2 SB                    1-0, 4.50               
STL  David Green                   Bruce Sutter             
     .364, 1 HR                    3 Sv, 0.00              

LEADERS
=======

BATTING AVERAGE
 1. Russell, Bill (LAD)            .545
 2. Garner, Phil (HOU)             .500
 3. Murphy, Dale (ATL)             .471
 4. Washington, Claudell (ATL)     .444
 5. Guerrero, Pedro (LAD)          .433
 6. Wohlford, Jim (MON)            .429
 7. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)            .421
 8. Foster, George (NYM)           .412
    Leonard, Jeff (SFG)            .412
10. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)            .400

HOME RUNS
1. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               3
   Thompson, Jason (PIT)             3
3. Brooks, Hubie (NYM)               2
   Cruz, Jose (HOU)                  2
   Foster, George (NYM)              2
   Murphy, Dale (ATL)                2
   Trevino, Alex (ATL)               2
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               2

RUNS BATTED IN
1. Murphy, Dale (ATL)                9
2. Schmidt, Mike (PHI)               8
   Virgil, Ozzie (PHI)               8
4. Thompson, Scot (SFG)              7
5. Guerrero, Pedro (LAD)             5
   Leonard, Jeff (SFG)               5
   Maldonado, Candy (LAD)            5
   Nettles, Graig (SDP)              5
   Thompson, Jason (PIT)             5
   Trevino, Alex (ATL)               5

STOLEN BASES
1. Raines, Tim (MON)                 4
2. Dernier, Bob (CHC)                3
   Washington, Claudell (ATL)        3
   Wilson, Mookie (NYM)              3

EARNED RUN AVERAGE
 1. Andujar, Joaquin (STL)         0.00
    Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)           0.00
    Carlton, Steve (PHI)           0.00
    Darling, Ron (NYM)             0.00
    Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)        0.00
    Horton, Ricky (STL)            0.00
    Hudson, Charlie (PHI)          0.00
    Mahler, Rick (ATL)             0.00
    Robinson, Jeff (SFG)           0.00
    Rogers, Steve (MON)            0.00
    Solano, Julio (HOU)            0.00
    Sutter, Bruce (STL)            0.00
    Whitson, Ed (SDP)              0.00

WINS-LOSSES
1. DiPino, Frank (HOU)             2-0
   Tudor, John (PIT)               2-0
3. Allen, Neil (STL)               1-0
   Andujar, Joaquin (STL)          1-0
   Berenyi, Bruce (NYM)            1-0
   Carlton, Steve (PHI)            1-0
   Eckersley, Dennis (CHC)         1-0
   Gossage, Goose (SDP)            1-0
   Hershiser, Orel (LAD)           1-0
   Honeycutt, Rick (LAD)           1-0
   Horton, Ricky (STL)             1-0
   Hudson, Charlie (PHI)           1-0
   Laskey, Bill (SFG)              1-0
   Mahler, Rick (ATL)              1-0
   Niekro, Joe (HOU)               1-0
   Rogers, Steve (MON)             1-0
   Sambito, Joe (HOU)              1-0
   Sanderson, Scott (CHC)          1-0
   Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)           1-0
   Whitson, Ed (SDP)               1-0

STRIKEOUTS
1. Sutcliffe, Rick (CHC)            15
2. Valenzuela, Fernando (LAD)       14
3. Perez, Pascual (ATL)             13
4. Welch, Bob (LAD)                 11
5. McWilliams, Larry (PIT)          10
   Soto, Mario (CIN)                10

SAVES
1. Sutter, Bruce (STL)               3
2. Dedmon, Jeff (ATL)                1
   DiPino, Frank (HOU)               1
   Minton, Greg (SFG)                1
   Power, Ted (CIN)                  1
   Robinson, Don (PIT)               1
   Sisk, Doug (NYM)                  1
   Smith, Lee (CHC)                  1
   Tekulve, Kent (PIT)               1
   Zachry, Pat (LAD)                 1


SCHEDULE
========

LAD   3-4   Pena, A              (0-0, 3.86)
HOU   4-1   Knepper, B           (0-0, 1.29)

CHC   3-2   Eckersley, D         (1-0, 0.00)
PHI   3-2   Carlton, S           (1-0, 0.00)

SDP   2-1   Thurmond, M          (NR)
STL   3-2   Rucker, D            (NR)

ATL   3-2   McMurtry, C          (0-0, 4.50)
CIN   1-4   Tibbs, J             (NR)

MON   1-4   Lea, C               (0-0, 2.25)
PIT   3-4   Candelaria, J        (NR)