Baseball Roundup : Leonard Hits for Cycle, but Giants Lose

Jeff Leonard became the first San Francisco player in 13 years to hit for the cycle Thursday, but the way the Giants have been playing lately, it didn’t help much.

Cincinnati edged San Francisco, 7-6, to give the Reds a three-game sweep of the series and send the Giants to their seventh straight defeat.

Leonard, captain of the last-place Giants, had nothing to say to reporters despite becoming the first San Francisco player since Dave Kingman in 1972 to single, double, triple and homer in one game. He wound up going 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs.

Cincinnati Manager Pete Rose went 0 for 5 and still needs 41 hits to break Ty Cobb’s record of 4,191 hits.

Despite going hitless, Rose was credited with the game-winning RBI because the run that put the Reds ahead to stay scored on a weakly hit Rose groundout.

“That’s a perfect example of how ridiculous that statistic is,” Rose said. “I go 0 for 5, half-swing on an 0-2 pitch and get credit for the game-winning RBI.”

Just as ridiculous was the way Ron Robinson (2-0) became the winning pitcher. When starter Frank Pastore was lifted after 4 innings, Robinson came in to pitch to one batter. He struck out Chris Brown and then left the game.

Ted Power also was credited with his 12th save of the season--and third save in the last three days--for pitching to only one batter to end the game.

Jim Gott (3-5) took the loss.

St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 3--Willie McGee, the National League’s leading batter with a .355 batting average , hit a triple, two singles, walked and scored three runs as the Cardinals broke the Phillies’ five-game winning streak with the victory at Philadelphia.

Kurt Kepshire (5-5) worked 6 innings for the win, giving up four hits, striking out five and walking four. Shane Rawley (5-6) pitched six innings and took the loss.

Chicago 4, New York, 2--Ryne Sandberg, Billy Hatcher and Leon Durham homered, and Rick Sutcliffe hurled a five-hitter to lead the Cubs past the Mets at Wrigley Field.

It was the Cubs’ second straight victory after a 13-game losing streak that included five losses to the Mets.

Sutcliffe (7-6) turned in his sixth complete game but was touched for home runs by George Foster and Clint Hurdle. Ron Darling (6-2), who had shut out the Cubs and Sutcliffe, 2-0, on June 17 in New York, was the loser.

Atlanta 4, Houston 1--Zane Smith, Jeff Dedmon and Bruce Sutter combined on a six-hitter, and Claudell Washington blasted a solo home run as the Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Astros at Houston.

Smith (4-4) pitched five innings and allowed one run on five hits, walking four and striking out five. Dedmon walked one in his two-inning stint, and Sutter, who gave up the other hit, recorded his 14th save of the year.

Nolan Ryan (8-5) was the loser, but he struck out seven to boost his major league-leading strikeout total to 3,983.

Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 2--Tim Raines hit a two-run homer and Jeff Reardon notched his major league-leading 22nd save as the Expos beat the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

David Palmer (6-6) earned the win, while Larry McWilliams (4-6) took the loss.

Toronto 7, Milwaukee 3--Jesse Barfield drove in a pair of runs, walked twice and stole two bases as the Blue Jays upended the Brewers at Toronto.

Willie Upshaw went 3 for 4 with a double and two singles.

Jimmy Key (6-2) worked 5 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks to record his sixth straight victory. Jim Acker worked the final 3 innings for his ninth save.

Ted Higuera (4-5) was the loser.