National League Roundup : Padre Pitchers Can’t Stop Giants’ Mitchell

On a day in which National League pitchers were mostly in control, Kevin Mitchell used his bat to handle the San Diego Padres.

The Padres have made a late-season run that has put a scare into the San Francisco Giants. A sweep of Sunday’s doubleheader at Candlestick Park would have put the Padres only three games out of first in the West.

But in a rain-delayed first game, Mitchell hit two home runs to lead the Giants to a 5-3 victory that all but ended the Padre pennant hopes.

Mitchell not only leads the majors with 45 home runs, he also leads both leagues with 120 runs batted in. He has a chance to be the first National League batter to hit 50 home runs since George Foster in 1977.

Bruce Hurst pitched a five-hitter for his league-leading 10th complete game as the Padres won the second game, 6-1.

Hurst (15-10) who walked four and struck out seven, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. Will Clark’s single and two walks loaded the bases, but Greg Litton flied to right.

Rick Reuschel (16-7) gave up six hits and three runs in seven innings, walking six and striking out five.

The rainout Saturday that forced the doubleheader was probably a blessing for Mitchell. For several weeks, he has been bothered by chipped bones in his left wrist that eventually will require surgery. When he is rested, Mitchell can come back and hit the long ball.

“It’s no big deal,” said the slugger who is virtually a cinch to win the NL most valuable player award. “It bothers me a little, but we’re going after the pennant. I’ll have that taken care of after we’re through playing.”

Mitchell’s bat enabled Scott Garrelts to improve his record to 14-3, although his major league leading earned-run average climbed to 2.27. He gave up six hits and three runs in six innings. Steve Bedrosian pitched the last two innings for his 22nd save.

San Diego’s Jack Clark had four hits, including his 23rd home run in the first inning that gave the Padres a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh 2, Chicago 0--The first-place Cubs aren’t just good, they’re also lucky. When they go into a mild slump, so does their primary opposition.

The team that is playing the best in the East already did the Cubs a favor by putting challengers into a slump. With Doug Drabek pitching an eight-hitter at Pittsburgh, the Pirates beat the Cubs two in a row, but it did little harm.

Despite losing two of the three to the Pirates, the Cubs’ magic number is nine and they lead second-place St. Louis by five games.

The Pirates, expected to be a contender, are finally playing to expectations. They won two out of three from the Mets, swept three from the Cardinals and are 7-2 against the top three teams in the East.

“Pittsburgh’s been a good club the last two weeks,” Cubs’ Manager Don Zimmer said. “They’ve been beating everyone. But I kind of like the position we’re in.”

Philadelphia 9-0, St. Louis 5-2--Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog blamed lack of hitting for the Cardinals’ slump after they cut the Cubs lead to a half game Sept. 8.

But there have been two bigger problems--the injury to bullpen ace Todd Worrell and the recent ineffectiveness of 18-game winner Joe Magrane.

Both problems hurt the Cardinals at Philadelphia where a sweep could have moved St. Louis to within four games of the Cubs.

Magrane, trying for the fourth time to win his 19th game in a season in which he has pitched more innings (214) than ever, had a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning. With Worrell injured, there was nobody to come in when Magrane faltered. The Phillies won it when John Kruk hit a grand slam with two out in the 12th.

Montreal 1, New York 0--Talking about teams having troubles scoring brings to mind the Mets.

They managed to get Mark Langston out of his slump at Montreal.

Langston was only 1-4 with an earned-run average of 5.17 in his five previous starts. But he held the Mets to three hits and struck out nine to improve to 12-7 and record his fourth shutout.

Houston 1, Cincinnati 0--Mark Portugal has been a fortunate find for the Astros. Portugal, unsuccessful with Minnesota, pitched a five-hitter for his first shutout in a game at Houston.

Portugal is 6-1 since joining the Astros after an 11-19 record in four seasons with the Twins. Ken Caminiti’s 10th home run leading off the fifth inning was the only run.