National League Roundup : Conroy Briefly Makes St. Louis Forget Andujar

There are a number of people who believe that the demise of the St. Louis Cardinals this season actually began Dec. 10, 1985.

That was the day the Cardinals traded tempestuous Joaquin Andujar to the Oakland A’s. Neither the Cardinal players nor Manager Whitey Herzog were glad to see Andujar, who had been a 20-game winner for two straight seasons, depart.

Until now, the Cardinals had realized almost nothing from the trade. Mike Heath, a highly regarded catcher, had played so poorly that he was virtually booed out of town. Pitcher Tim Conroy couldn’t win for losing.

But Saturday night was a game for Conroy (4-8) to remember. He had a no-hitter for seven innings at St. Louis and, in his first win since July 8, pitched the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The hard-throwing left-hander walked Kal Daniels to open the game, then retired 21 batters in a row before the Reds’ Bo Diaz led off the eighth inning with a line drive to left field that bounced off the glove of a leaping Vince Coleman to spoil the no-hit bid.

Diaz scored the Reds’ second run on a sacrifice fly. Cincinnati had gotten its first run without a hit in the first inning when Daniels, after his leadoff single, stole second, took third on a fly-out and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Conroy gave up two more hits after Diaz’s before Todd Worrell came in to get the last outs of the game.

“Vince should have caught the ball,” Herzog said of Diaz’s drive. “He drifted on it.”

Conroy said he would have enjoyed a shutout but was happy to have any victory.

“I was hoping for a no-hitter,” he said, “but mainly, I wanted a victory. It’s been a long time.”

Since his last victory, Conroy had started eight times, had posted an 0-5 record and had given up 32 runs in 38 innings. He has only one complete game.

“It’s rare for Todd (Worrell) to get a chance to save me,” Conroy said. “I’m usually long gone before Todd’s due.”

Conroy’s performance ended the Reds’ six-game winning streak and left them seven games behind Houston in the West.

Pittsburgh 13, Houston 3--The last time the Cy Young Award went to a pitcher on a last-place team was in 1972. That year Steve Carlton won 27 games for a team that won only 59 games all season.

Rick Rhoden (15-7) is definitely a candidate for that honor. The right-hander, reluctantly remaining a Pirate because management set the price too high, has had an excellent season.

Pitching for the lowly Pirates, it helps to be a hitter, too. The Pirates backed their ace with 18 hits in this game at Houston, although they became the first team in the majors this season to be mathematically eliminated from a division race. Rhoden had one hit and drove in two runs.

Philadelphia 5, San Francisco 3--With almost no fanfare, Mike Schmidt is having his usual fine season. Schmidt hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning at Philadelphia to lead the Phillies to their fourth win in a row.

Schmidt’s home run was his league-leading 28th, and the two runs batted in gave him 93 What that means is that it is almost certain that for the 11th time in the last 12 years the Phillies’ third baseman will hit more than 30 home runs. And for the seventh time in 12 years he will drive in at least 100 runs.

Schmidt, who will be 37 shortly before the end of the season, needs only 14 more home runs to reach 500. He keeps saying that next season will be his last because of injuries. Otherwise he would seem to be a cinch for 600 homer.

Don Carman took a 5-1 lead and a three-hitter into the ninth but needed Steve Bedrosian to come in and get the last out.

Atlanta 4, Chicago 3--Rick Sutcliffe’s luck continues all bad. In this game at Atlanta, Sutcliffe (4-12) held a 3-2 lead going into the seventh.

A double, a strikeout in which the batter reached first, and a walk loaded the bases with two out in the inning, and Frank DiPino was brought in to face Ken Oberkfell. Oberkfell walked, forcing in a run, and Sutcliffe became the loser when Dale Murphy beat out a check-swing single to drive in the winning run.

Doyle Alexander (4-5), who gave way to a pinch-hitter in the weird seventh-inning rally, was the winner, with Gene Garber pitching two shutout innings for the save.

Montreal 10-4, San Diego 1-5--In the first game of the doubleheader at Montreal, the Expos’ Bryn Smith pitched a seven-hitter for his first complete game of the season and also drove in three runs with a double.

The troubled Padres ended a five-game losing streak in the nightcap as Garry Templeton had three hits and drove in three runs, including the winning run in the ninth.

Steve Garvey, who hit his 20th home run in the sixth inning, singled to start the winning rally.