NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cardinals Come Back Again to Win

The St. Louis Cardinals, in the process of rebuilding, were not expected to be much better than they were last season. A year ago the Cardinals were last in the National League East, 25 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

But the Cardinals have overcome one of their glaring weaknesses from 1990 and are off to a very good start. Last season when St. Louis fell behind, it seldom came back.

In the early going at least, the Cardinals are the most dangerous team in the league in the late innings.

For the ninth time in 14 victories, they overcame a deficit Friday night at Cincinnati. They spotted the Reds two runs in the first inning, then battled back for a 4-2 victory.

Ray Lankford and Ozzie Smith singled in runs in the ninth, the fifth time the Cardinals have won in their last at-bat, and Lee Smith retired the Reds on 10 pitches for his ninth save. He hasn’t missed a save opportunity this season.

The big right-hander also has two victories, figuring in all but three Cardinal victories.

In four of the last six games, the Cardinals have come from behind to win. It is becoming of concern to Lee Smith.

“I hope we don’t keep spotting teams a lead and hoping we can come back for the rest of the season,” he said. “I don’t feel tired or anything, but it would be nice to go in front early and stay there.”

Red Manager Lou Piniella is bothered by his team’s .234 average.

“We scored two runs again,” he said after holding a closed-door meeting. “We’ve got to start getting some people in. We had good pitching early, put two runs on the board and then stopped.”

A pinch single by Craig Wilson off Randy Myers drove in the tying run in the seventh. It was the fourth pinch-hit in five tries for Wilson and was the second game in a row in which Myers failed to hold a lead.

Pittsburgh 1, Houston 0--Zane Smith (3-1) needed only 1 hour 45 minutes at home to pitch a four-hit shutout against the light-hitting Astros.

Pete Harnisch pitched another strong game for the Astros, but he threw a home run ball to first baseman Orlando Merced in the third inning.

The Pirates, who lead the East by 1 1/2 games over the Cardinals, have won 10 of their last 12 and six of their last seven at home.

“I felt so good I thought I could pitch forever,” Harnisch said. “But Zane had other ideas.”

New York 3, San Francisco 0--David Cone (3-1) retired the first 16 Giants at New York and gave up four hits in eight innings before being relieved by John Franco.

Cone struck out eight in five innings, but with one out in the sixth inning Mike Felder broke up his no-hitter with a single to right.

The speed of Vince Coleman led to the only run Cone needed in the first inning. Coleman legged out an infield hit off Kelly Downs (1-1), stole second and continued to third on catcher Steve Decker’s wild throw. Coleman scored on a passed ball.

Consecutive doubles by Kevin Elster and Rick Cerone drove in runs in the sixth inning. Cerone extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Montreal 4, San Diego 1--Ivan Calderon drove in two runs at Montreal to help Oil Can Boyd win his first game after losing three times.

Boyd gave up four hits and the Padre run in seven innings to end his slump.

Calderon’s sacrifice fly pulled the Expos, who have won four in a row, even in the fourth inning. In the sixth he singled in the tiebreaking run and sent Andy Benes to his third defeat without a victory.

Boyd gave credit to teammate Dennis Martinez. “He told me to just do the things I did last year,” Boyd said. “He made me feel good when he said I was one of the best pitchers he’s seen.”

Atlanta 5, Chicago 2--Greg Olson’s two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning at Atlanta broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Braves their second victory in a row.

Tom Glavine (3-2) gave up three hits and struck out four in six innings. He left for a pinch-hitter during the winning rally.

Juan Berenguer and Kent Mercker checked the Cubs in the last three innings.