National League Roundup : Strawberry Is Back, but Mets Are Beaten, 3-2

The New York Mets reactivated right fielder Darryl Strawberry Friday night, but his presence in the starting lineup wasn’t enough to stop the St. Louis Cardinals, who edged the Mets, 3-2, at St. Louis.

The Cardinals, who have a 22-10 home record, stayed within a half-game of the first-place Montreal Expos in the East, relying on the solid pitching of John Tudor (7-7), who won his sixth straight, and the bats of Tom Nieto and Tom Herr.

Strawberry, who had been out since May 11 after tearing ligaments in his right thumb, was 0 for 3, but his teammates didn’t fare much better against Tudor, who went 7 innings, surrendering nine hits, three by George Foster. Ken Dayley came on to get his sixth save.

After a 1-7 start, the left-handed Tudor has allowed just 7 earned runs in 47 innings during June for a 1.34 earned-run average. He is 6-0 for the month.

“I hope July is as good,” Tudor said. “I just want to keep going as well as I have in June. It’s nice to be at .500.”

St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog agreed.

“Six wins this month. Maybe, he can get one more,” Herzog said. “I’ll start him Sunday; that’s still in June, isn’t it? He’s done as good as you can do, pitching every fifth day.”

Nieto, who played at Cerritos College, delivered a two-out, two-run single in the second, and Herr, the league leader in runs batted in, hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot in the third.

The Mets got their runs via George Foster’s 11th homer in the seventh--his third hit--and Mookie Wilson’s third homer in the eighth.

Montreal 5, Philadelphia 3--Mike Schmidt hit his 40th career home run at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, but it wasn’t enough to upend the first-place Expos.

Expo catcher Mike Fitzgerald, part of the deal that sent Gary Carter to the Mets, hit his first two home runs of the season, and rookie Mitch Webster had three hits to back the eight-hit pitching of Bryn Smith (9-3).

Smith went 8 innings, striking out two and walking none, before giving way to Tim Burke, who retired the final batter for his second save.

Schmidt tied the game at 1-1 with his ninth home run of the season in the fourth. It was his 800th career extra-base hit. He also doubled in the ninth and scored on a single by Glenn Wilson.

After a 22-minute rain delay, the Expos jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second against Charles Hudson (3-7) when Fitzgerald, formerly of Lakewood High School, hit his first home run of the season. Fitzgerald later capped the Montreal scoring with a solo homer in the eighth.

The Expos, already missing eight players because of injuries, lost the services of outfielder Tim Raines, who left in the seventh inning because of a strained left hamstring.

Chicago 5, Pittsburgh 0--At Pittsburgh, Steve Trout scattered seven hits and continued his mastery of the Pirates, beating them for the fourth time this season.

Trout (7-3) walked four batters and struck out only three but managed to pitch his first shutout of the season in extending the Cubs’ winning streak to three games, coming after a 13-game losing string. In 30 innings against the Pirates in 1985, Trout has a 0.60 earned-run average.

The Pirates lost for the sixth time in seven games and are 1-9 against the Cubs this season. Loser Jose DeLeon (2-10) became the first pitcher to lose 10 games.

Cincinnati 11, San Diego 9--In a wild meeting between the best of the West at San Diego, the Reds pulled within four games of the front-running Padres.

Wayne Krenchicki contributed a three-run homer, and Dave Parker added a solo shot to extend the Reds’ winning streak to four games. Parker’s 14th home run led off the fourth inning. An inning later, Krenchicki hit a three-run shot to cap a four-run outburst and give the Reds a 7-2 lead.

The Reds’ Pete Rose went 0 for 2 and still needs 41 hits to break Ty Cobb’s all-time record of 4,191 hits.

Houston 3, San Francisco 1--Phil Niekro yielded 10 hits in 6 innings at San Francisco, but solid relief pitching by Jeff Calhoun and Dave Smith enabled him to collect his 199th major league victory.

Calhoun got Niekro (6-7) out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, and Smith came on to pick up his 13th save.

Denny Walling and Alan Ashby hit solo home runs for the Astros.

Bill Laskey (1-10) became the second 10-game loser in the majors, shortly after Jose DeLeon turned the trick for the Pirates.