Cey’s Three-Run Homer Wrecks DeLeon, Pirates

Ron Cey expected a pitch in his kitchen, but not on a silver platter.

Cey hit a mistake by Pittsburgh’s Jose DeLeon for a three-run home run to give the Chicago Cubs a 4-1 victory over the Pirates Thursday at Chicago.

“I thought he’d pitch me in or jam me,” Cey said. “Maybe he made a mistake, but it came out over the plate.

“These conditions were ideal. Not a lot of wind, mild temperatures. Usually in April, the wind blows in. Two years ago, I lost at least three home runs with the wind blowing in. I hate to see it so cold like it was on opening day. You can get sick playing in those conditions.”

Said DeLeon: “It was a fastball, the one bad pitch I made the entire game.”

Cey’s homer capped a four-run fourth inning, all the offense the Cubs needed to make it two straight victories over the Pirates.

Steve Trout limited Pittsburgh to three hits, two in the infield, and got 20 outs on ground balls.

Bill Almon beat out a chopper to Trout in the eighth and went to second when Trout overthrew first base for an error. Almon took third on a ground-out and scored on Johnny Ray’s sacrifice fly.

“The game plan was to get ground balls and throw as few pitches as possible,” Trout said.

“The sinker was really working today.”

Atlanta 6, Philadelphia 3--Dale Murphy drove in three runs, two with his first homer of the season, and rookie reliever Zane Smith pitched out of a bases-loaded jam as the Braves beat the Phillies at Philadelphia.

The defeat, the Phillies’ second this season, extended the Phillies’ two-season losing streak to 11 games.

Murphy drove in a run with a single in the first inning and added a two-run home run in the ninth. He also singled and scored in the third inning.

Smith (1-0) allowed two hits in 3 innings, struck out two and walked one in relief of Pascual Perez. He came on with the bases loaded in the fourth and got Jeff Stone to ground into a double play to end a Philadelphia threat.

Bruce Sutter, Atlanta’s $10-million relief ace, gained his first save.

New York 2, St. Louis 1--Danny Heep walked with the bases loaded in the 11th inning to force in the winning run as the Mets beat the Cardinals at New York.

Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter singled to start the winning rally, and George Foster was walked intentionally by reliever Neil Allen. Allen walked Heep on a 3-and-2 pitch.

The Cardinals scored in the fourth on Jack Clark’s double and Terry Pendleton’s single, but two errors by Pendleton at third base led to an unearned run for the Mets in the bottom of the inning.