National League Roundup : Three-Hitter by Cardinals’ Magrane Keeps Astros in Their Place

Joe Magrane, the National League’s hard-luck pitcher, kept the Houston Astros from gaining ground on the Dodgers Friday night.

Magrane pitched a three-hitter at Houston to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 victory, keeping the Astros 6 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, who lost, as usual, to the Mets.

For Magrane, who has an earned-run average of 2.17, the victory was only his third in 11 decisions. He lost four games last month, most in the league. His only victory was a one-hitter, 1-0, and he lost by scores of 1-0 and 2-0. The 1-0 loss was to the Astros Aug. 17, when he pitched a three-hitter.

But on Friday, Jose Oquendo made sure Magrane, 24, a left-hander, had something to work with. Oquendo led off the third against Mike Scott (13-5) with a double, stopped at third on Tom Pagnozzi’s single and scored while Magrane was bouncing into a double play.

In the ninth, Oquendo’s sacrifice fly scored Tom Brunansky, who had opened the inning with a double.

Magrane gave up an infield hit in the fourth, a double to Glenn Davis in the seventh and a single to Billy Hatcher in the eighth.

He would be glad to turn the hard-luck title over to Scott. In his last four starts, Scott has given up a total of four earned runs, but he is 0-2.

Magrane was one of the keys to the Cardinals’ hopes of repeating in the East. But in his third start of the season, he tore rib cartilage and was out almost two months. Before he returned, three other starters went out with injuries. When Magrane did come back in mid-June, the Mets had already made it clear that this was their year.

For a loser, Magrane has been consistently effective. In 14 of his last 16 starts, he has gone at least seven innings in which he has given up zero, one or two runs. In only two of those has he been given enough runs to win.

“This has been a learning process for me,” Magrane said. “I can’t make a mistake or let anything go wrong. These are the type of games and the situations that make me a better pitcher.

“I realize I have a shot at the ERA title, but that doesn’t mean a thing. The bottom line is winning games. That’s how they judge whether a pitcher is any good.”

It was the fifth win in a row for the Cardinals, who were in danger not long ago of becoming the first team to win a pennant one year and finish last the next.

The Astros’ slump continues. They have lost four of their last five and have scored more than three runs in only four of their last 21 games.

Montreal 10, San Francisco 0--Speaking of bad luck, the Giants continue to get their share of it. In the process of being humiliated at Montreal, they lost another pitcher.

Atlee Hammaker, who served up a two-run home run to Andres Galarraga in the first inning, was hit in the knee by a line drive by Tracy Jones in the second and limped off. About half the Giant staff is on the disabled list.

Galarraga hit another home run, a three-run shot in the eighth, to make it easy for Bryn Smith to improve to 10-8. Galarraga has 26 home runs this season.

The Giants remained 7 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, with time running out.

Atlanta 2, Pittsburgh 1--For all intents and purposes, the Pirates have dropped out of the pennant race. When they can score only one run against the weakest team in the league, they are no longer in a position to pose a problem for the New York Mets.

In the game at Atlanta, rookie Jeff Blauser celebrated his first start of the season at second base. He scored the tying run in the eighth and hit a bloop double with two out in the ninth inning to score Jerry Royster from second with the winning run. The eighth loss in the last 11 games dropped the Pirates 8 1/2 games behind the Mets in the East.

The slump-ridden Pirates managed only six hits off Tom Glavine and Paul Assenmacher (6-6), who won it with two shutout innings of relief.

Veteran Bob Walk was protecting a 1-0 lead until the eighth, when Blauser singled to start a tying rally.

Cincinnati 6, Chicago 5--Tom Browning doesn’t always pitch well, but the Reds usually win, anyway.

Browning (14-5) gave up 12 hits in five innings at Chicago, but Eric Davis hit a two-run home run and a game-winning triple as the Reds won for the ninth time in Browning’s last 10 starts.

For most of the Reds, who kept their slim hopes alive in the West by moving within eight games of the Dodgers, it was an enjoyable afternoon. But not for Kal Daniels.

When he struck out in the ninth, the angry Daniels threw his bat and it skidded into the Reds’ dugout. Although nobody was hurt, Daniels, who had been warned before about the dangerous practice, was suspended for one day without pay. He will miss today’s game.

San Diego 7, Philadelphia 4--Tony Gwynn scored twice and doubled in a run at Philadelphia and the Padres’ bullpen shut down the Phillies in the last four innings.

Gwynn, who has raised his average 73 points since July 2 to challenge for the batting title, is a big reason why the Padres have won 15 of their last 22 games.

Gwynn has raised his average to .319, a point behind Gerald Perry of the Braves. He has refused to blame a sore thumb for his bad start.

“I wouldn’t be out there if I didn’t think I could do the job,” Gwynn said. “I don’t have a clue as to what I was doing wrong when I was hitting .200. All I know is I’m hitting the way I should now.”

Jimmy Jones (9-12) staggered through five innings to get the victory. But Lance McCullers pitched three sparkling innings of relief and Mark Davis pitched the ninth for his 25th save.