National League Roundup : Gooden Hands Cubs Eighth Straight Loss, 1-0

Dwight Gooden was holding onto a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning with runners at first and second after consecutive singles by Keith Moreland and Ryne Sandberg.

But, with 51,778 fans at Shea Stadium and the knowledge that the Mets’ bullpen had been mediocre on a 1-6 trip, New York Manager Dave Johnson was not about to take his right-hander out.

“He’s probably the only pitcher in baseball with two men on and three guys coming up, all left-handers, it’s still his ballgame,” Johnson said. “It was his game to win or lose.

“Besides, if I’d have taken him out in that situation, they’d have lynched me.”

Gooden got Leon Durham and Richie Hebner on pop flies, then ended the game by striking out Thad Bosley, giving the Cubs their eighth straight loss. Gooden (10-3), has three shutouts, six complete games and a four-game winning streak.

He struck out nine, walked two and allowed six hits in lowering his major league-leading earned-run average to 1.66. He also leads the majors with 125 strikeouts.

The victory was the Mets’ third straight, all over the Cubs, with whom they complete a four-game series today. All three victories have come by complete-game pitching performances, the first two by Ron Darling and Ed Lynch. The last time the Mets put together three straight complete-game victories was August, 1976, by Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack and Tom Seaver.

Philadelphia 1, St. Louis 0--Jerry Koosman and Don Carman combined on a five-hitter and Greg Gross drove in the game’s lone run as the Phillies edged the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Koosman (2-1) allowed five hits over six innings to notch his 218th career victory. It was the veteran left-hander’s second outing since coming off the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed knee.

Carman earned his second save, striking out three over three innings.

The loss snapped the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak and a personal eight-game winning streak for Joaquin Andujar (12-2). The right-hander struck out six and gave up six hits.

The Phillies scored in the second inning. Mike Schmidt and Glenn Wilson led off with singles and Tom Lawless forced Schmidt on Ozzie Virgil’s grounder. Gross followed with a sharp single to left field and a sliding Wilson beat the throw to the plate by Vince Coleman.

Houston 7, Atlanta 3--Craig Reynolds and Jose Cruz homered to help Joe Niekro to his 197th career victory as the Astros defeated the Braves at Atlanta.

Niekro (4-7) yielded 12 hits over 7 innings, with Frank DiPino going the final 1 innings.

Steve Bedrosian (3-6) took the loss.

Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 3--Jim Wohlford’s pinch-hit single with two outs in the eighth inning scored Vance Law with the winning run as the Expos beat the Pirates at Montreal.

Wohlford lined a 1-0 pitch from John Candelaria to score Law, who had tripled off Pirate starter Jose DeLeon (2-9) earlier in the inning.

Tim Burke (3-0) pitched 3 innings of one-hit relief. Jeff Reardon pitched the ninth inning to pick up his major league-leading 20th save.

San Francisco 5, Cincinnati 2--Bob Brenly ripped a pair of homers and drove in four runs to power the Giants past the Reds at San Francisco.

The victory went to Dave LaPoint (3-6), who gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. Scott Garrelts pitched three innings of scoreless relief, striking out six, for his fifth save. Cincinnati’s Mario Soto (8-6) went six innings, yielding four runs on three hits and six walks.

Reds player-manager Pete Rose, did not play. He needs 46 hits to break Ty Cobb’s record of 4,191.