NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Astros Miss No-Hitter but Get Victory in 13 Innings

Darryl Kile, a 22-year-old right-hander from Chaffey College and Garden Grove, had a first major league start to remember.

Kile, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, had been unimpressive in five relief appearances for the Houston Astros, but he got his chance Wednesday night at the Astrodome when an injury prevented starter Mark Portugal from taking his regular pitching turn against the Cincinnati Reds.

Although he didn’t figure in the outcome, Kile pitched six hitless innings in what became a 1-0, three-hit victory over the Reds in 13 innings.

A no-hitter was broken up by Cincinnati pinch-hitter Bill Doran, who led off the ninth with a single to left-center field off Curt Schilling.

He was the first batter Schilling faced. Al Osuna, who was born in Inglewood and now lives in Anaheim, pitched hitless innings during the seventh and eighth after Kile was taken out because he had made 65 pitches. Kile struck out six and walked only two.

After blowing several chances to win it earlier, the Astros finally scored when Ken Oberkfell blooped a two-out single off second baseman Mariano Duncan’s glove to drive in Rafael Ramirez from third.

The Reds had only three hits off four pitchers. Dwayne Henry went the last two innings for the victory.

Kile, who was 5-10 with Tucson in the Pacific Coast League last year, is part of the youth movement the Astros have begun.

In 6 1/3 innings of relief, he had given up 13 hits and 10 runs, all of them earned. He had yielded two home runs and had an ERA of 14.21.

San Francisco 6, San Diego 1--There were two things unusual about the Giants’ victory at San Francisco.

One, they didn’t hit a home run. Also, they didn’t have to go to their shaky bullpen.

John Burkett held the hot-hitting Padres to six hits and struck out six while handing them their first road loss after five victories.

The Giants, while winning only six of their first 14 games, have hit 20 home runs, seven by Kevin Mitchell.

In 13 of their first 14 games, Manager Roger Craig had to go to his bullpen, which blew three of six save opportunities and lost three games.

With his second victory in three starts, Burkett lowered his ERA from 4.26 to 3.21.

“I was aware that our bullpen was getting a little thin,” Burkett said. “I knew it was important to go six or seven innings. But, I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself. Our middle relief has been throwing a lot of innings, so it was nice to keep them out of the game.

“I think it was really important for us to win today. We didn’t want them to sweep us here at Candlestick.”

Ed Whitson (1-2) was the loser, giving up seven hits and walking three in 6 1/3 innings. The go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch.

“The cold and wind caused my right hand to go numb,” Whitson said. “I had trouble gripping the ball.”

Chicago 1, St. Louis 0--Andre Dawson hit his 350th home run to give the Cubs the edge at St. Louis.

Jose DeLeon gave up only two other hits beside Dawson’s home run leading off the second inning.

Mike Bielecki limited the Cardinals to two hits for seven innings.

Paul Assenmacher, who earned the save, almost threw it away in the ninth.

Assenmacher’s first error in 323 games put Ray Lankford at third with one out. Sunday, Lankford bowled over Philadelphia catcher Darren Daulton to win the game. But this time third baseman Gary Scott fielded Craig Wilson’s grounder and threw home. Lankford was tagged out by catcher Erik Pappas.

Pittsburgh 2, Montreal 1--Doug Drabek, who had lost three games, gained his first victory at Montreal.

Drabek gave up an unearned run in 7 2/3 innings as the Pirates won their fifth in a row.

Dennis Martinez (2-2) gave up eight hits and the Expos lost their fourth in a row.

New York 7, Philadelphia 3--The Mets showed they can revert to power when they need it.

With the addition of Vince Coleman and the subtraction of Darryl Strawberry, the Mets have become a running team.

But Kevin McReynolds broke out of a one-for 27 slump to hit a three-run home run and the Mets handed the host Phillies their ninth loss in the last 10 games. The home run broke a 3-3 tie.

Rookie Peter Schourek gave up only one hit in three innings of relief to win his first game.