NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : June Has Been Red-Hot Month

Almost nothing has gone wrong in June for the Cincinnati Reds, who have led the National League West virtually the entire month.

Wednesday’s series finale at Cincinnati with the San Francisco was a prime example.

The Giants made three errors and struggling Cincinnati pitcher Chris Hammond (5-2) hit his first major league home run--a 400-foot drive that put the Reds in front and led them to a 6-4 victory. It was the Reds’ sixth consecutive victory and their 18th in the last 22 games.

The Giants’ errors contributed to four unearned runs after they had taken a 3-0 lead.

In their last five victories, the Reds have scored 10 unearned runs on nine errors by the Giants and Dodgers.

The Giants’ pitching has gone sour this month, yielding an average of five runs per game. They have lost 11 of 15 to fall below .500. They trail the Reds by 7 1/2 games.

“We get three quick runs and can’t seem to hold them,” Giant Manager Roger Craig said. “That club’s hot. They keep coming back. We made some mistakes on balls we normally catch. In all three games, our pitching had something to do with their offense.”

Except for the fastball that Hammond hit for a two-run homer in the fourth, John Burkett (5-3) didn’t pitch poorly. The other four runs in 6 2/3 innings were unearned.

Hammond also went 6 2/3 innings to get the victory but had trouble concentrating on pitching after his home run.

“I always thought about doing this,” Hammond said, “but I didn’t think I’d be able to go back out there. My legs were tingling. I was in another world.”

Pittsburgh 8, Philadelphia 2--The news on Barry Bonds was better than expected, but with their newfound power, the Pirates may not be tempted to rush him back.

Gary Varsho and Jeff King opened the first two innings with home runs and Mike LaValliere hit his first of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth.

With hot Randy Tomlin (9-3) on the mound, it was a romp. Tomlin had a shutout in the eighth, but won his fifth in a row.

It was decided not to put Bonds, who has a strained rib cage muscle on his right side, on the disabled list. The injury has improved considerably and Bonds may rejoin the team in a few days.

Bonds has hit 15 home runs, is batting .293, scored 47 runs and driven in 43.

The Pirates lead the Eastern Division by 6 1/2 games.

San Diego 5, Houston 0--Andy Benes pitched nine scoreless innings at the Astrodome for the second time in a row. This time, thanks to three Astro errors, he won.

Early in the season, Benes struck out 11 and gave up five hits, but left in a scoreless game.

But the three errors helped account for all five runs against Willie Blair (0-1).

Benes, who had lost twice and had two no-decisions in his previous four starts, gave up four hits and struck out eight to improve to 6-5. In 18 innings in Houston, he has 19 strikeouts.

Montreal 5, New York 2--Dennis Martinez pitched another strong game, Moises Alou hit a two-run home run and the Expos beat the slumping Mets for the fifth time in six tries at Shea Stadium.

Martinez (7-5) gave up seven hits in 7 1/3 innings and Mel Rojas came in to get the last four outs, three on strikeouts.

Spike Owen hit his sixth home run for the Expos, who tagged Sid Fernandez (5-7) for five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Mets, only a game from last place in the East, have lost 10 of their last 13 games. They trail Pittsburgh by eight games.

St. Louis at Chicago--Ray Lankford’s home run and the Cardinals’ 5-3 lead were for naught as this game at Chicago was rained out in the third inning.

Ozzie Smith, who has chicken pox, was put on the disabled list. Manager Joe Torre and four players, including bullpen ace Lee Smith, have never had chicken pox, and were given blood tests.