Bucs Play Ball Off The Diamond

On the day baseball returned to Pittsburgh, the Pirates’ owners finally decided to play ball with John J. Rigas.

Swayed by Mayor Tom Murphy’s promise of millions of dollars’ worth of concessions, the team’s board of directors made an abrupt about-face and will try to finalize a sale with Rigas within 10 days.

Rigas has promised to keep the team in Pittsburgh and spend more money to field a competitive team.

Around the N.L.

Colorado’s Ellis Burks, on a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Colorado Springs after offseason wrist surgery, developed soreness in his back and was sidelined for one game… . The Phillies and Cardinals benches cleared briefly in the seventh after Mariano Duncan was thrown out at the plate on a grounder. Duncan came in with a high slide on catcher Tom Pagnozzi, but replacement home plate umpire Bill Davis got between the two… . Atlanta’s Fred McGriff, who went 4 for 5 Wednesday, lifted his batting average to .833 with his second-inning single against the Giants.

Rockies 8, Mets 7

Denver

Walt Weiss singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, leading Colorado past New York and putting the Rockies two games over .500 for the first time in club history.

Padres 13, Astros 1

San Diego

Bip Roberts tied a career high with four hits, Tony Gwynn homered and San Diego beat Houston before a crowd of only 7,468.

Braves 6, Giants 4

Atlanta

Against a backdrop of protesting fans, Atlanta beat San Francisco on a threerun homer by David Justice in the eighth inning. He connected for his second home run of the year after walks to Jeff Blauser and McGriff, giving Atlanta a 6-3 lead.

Expos 2, Pirates 1

Pittsburgh

The strong arms of Pedro Martinez and three relievers combined to keep Pittsburgh scoreless for eight innings, and Shane Andrews drove in both runs in Montreal’s win.

Phillies 6, Cardinals 2

St. Louis

Darren Daulton drove in three runs, and Dave Hollins had three hits and an RBI as Philadelphia beat St. Louis. Daulton had a run-scoring groundout in the sixth, and his two-run double off Tony Fossas in the seventh put Philadelphia ahead 6-2.