National League Roundup : Dawson Hits Three Home Runs as Cubs End Phillies’ Five-Game Win Streak

Andre Dawson hit three home runs Saturday at Chicago to drive in all of the Cubs’ runs in a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Dawson spent 11 seasons with Montreal, where he earned recognition as one of the National League’s best players. After all but forcing the Cubs to sign him as a free agent, Dawson, 33, is having his finest season.

The second three-homer game of his career gave him the league lead in home runs with 31 and the major league lead in runs batted in with 92. In 1983, his best previous season, he hit 32 home runs and drove in 113 runs.

Dawson said his desire to play day baseball at Wrigley Field was a major reason for signing with the Cubs. It is the park in which he has had both of his three-homer games.

“This was a bigger thrill, because it came before the home crowd,” Dawson said after his slugging ended the Phillies’ five-game winning streak.

In September 1985, Dawson hit three against the Cubs while with the Expos.

Dawson hit a three-run home run in the third inning to put the Cubs in front, then led off the fifth and seventh innings with home runs. It took a brilliant play by third baseman Mike Schmidt to prevent an even bigger day for Dawson. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning, Dawson ripped the ball toward left field. Schmidt made a leaping catch and turned it into a double play.

“I try to do my best,” Dawson said. “I realize certain things are expected of me. When runners are on base, I have to drive them in.”

The wind was blowing out and helped the last two home runs, but the first one carried deep into the bleachers in left-center.

There was a little extra pressure, because Manager Gene Michael continued to keep catcher Jody Davis on the bench in a disciplinary move. The catcher was making a TV commercial and showed up late for batting practice Friday. He hasn’t played in the last two days, and Michael said he didn’t know when Davis would play again.

San Francisco 7, Cincinnati 3--After his team lost the opener of the three-game series at Cincinnati, Giant Manager Roger Craig told his players he wanted them to “come out smokin’.” They did just that.

Will Clark hit a two-run home run in the first inning, and before rain halted play for more than an hour in the fifth inning, the Giants had presented Mike LaCoss with a 7-0 lead.

When LaCoss needed help in the sixth, Craig brought in his newest acquisition. Don Robinson, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday, pitched 2 innings in his debut with the Giants, giving up 4 hits and 1 run.

Kevin Mitchell also hit a home run off loser Bill Gullickson (10-8).

The victory put the Giants two games behind the Reds in the West.

“I told the players that the Reds aren’t a better team than we are,” Craig said. “Today’s win makes a big, big difference in how we come out of this town.”

St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 6--Although John Tudor was ineffective in his first start since the second week of the season, the Cardinals rallied at St. Louis to tie in the ninth and win in the 10th, increasing their lead in the East to five games.

Sid Bream’s wild throw home with the bases loaded on Jose Oquendo’s one-out grounder permitted Tommy Herr to score the winning run.

A sacrifice fly by Curt Ford and a run-scoring single by Vince Coleman enabled the Cardinals to score twice in the ninth and send the game into extra innings.

Tudor, who suffered a broken leg in a freak accident April 19, pitched 4 innings, giving up 7 hits and 5 runs, 4 of them earned.

Todd Worrell retired all four Pirates he faced to gain the victory.

The Cardinals still were without Jack Clark, who was injured in Wednesday night’s game against the New York Mets.

New York 12, Montreal 4--Terry Leach, just off the disabled list, held the Expos to 4 hits in 7 innings at Montreal to win his ninth game without a defeat this season.

The Mets had only seven hits, but loser Floyd Youmans (8-5) walked 6 batters in 3 innings, and Howard Johnson completed the rout by hitting a grand slam in the sixth inning.

First baseman Vance Law pitched a hitless ninth for the Expos, who made four errors to contribute eight unearned runs.

San Diego 6, Houston 0--Former UCLA left-hander Eric Nolte, who began the season in Class A ball, held the Astros to five hits in seven innings at Houston to win his major league debut.

Although the Padres have the worst record in the league, they are 27-23 since June 4, the best record in the West during that span.

Benito Santiago hit a homer and drove in three runs for the Padres.