Path: utzoo!telly!ddsw1!mcdchg!rutgers!texbell!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!looking!clarinews From: clarinews@clarinet.com (ERIK K. LIEF, UPI Sports Writer) Newsgroups: clari.sports.baseball,biz.clarinet.sample Subject: National League Roundup Keywords: baseball, men's professional Message-ID: Date: 22 Sep 89 07:05:59 GMT Followup-To: biz.clarinet.sample Lines: 68 Approved: clarinews@clarinet.com ACategory: sports Slugword: bbn-nlrup Priority: regular Format: summary ANPA: Wc: 717; Id: s0420; Sel: ns--s; Adate: 9-22-310aed; Ver: sked Codes: ysbpmxx. 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.