National League Roundup : Astros Give Up 16 Unearned Runs in Opener; Mets Sweep

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the Houston Astros, the New York Mets have closed ground again on the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Mets swept a doubleheader from the slumping Astros, 16-4, and 7-3, Saturday night at New York and moved to within 2 1/2 games of the Cardinals in the East.

It may be that the Mets set a major league record by getting 16 unearned runs in the first game, although no records are available.

The Astros, like the Dodgers in their game with the Cubs, made five errors. However, the Dodgers won and gave up only three unearned runs.

In the nightcap rookie Charlie Kerfeld made an inauspicious debut for the Astros. He gave up seven walks and six hits, good for six runs, in 3 innings.

The two giveaways stretched the Astros’ losing streak to six games. They have lost 12 of their last 13.

Keith Hernandez drove in five runs in the doubleheader for the Mets, who had a total of 27 hits.

In the third inning of the opener, a throwing error by first baseman Glenn Davis set up the first Met run. In the fifth, third baseman German Rivera fumbled a grounder to pave the way for three more runs.

A three-run home run by Bill Doran helped the Astros rally in the top of the seventh to tie the score, 4-4.

In the bottom of the inning, though, the Mets scored six runs. If Davis had not thrown away Len Dykstra’s sacrifice bunt, the Mets would not have scored at all.

Then, in the eighth, it was shortstop Dickie Thon’s turn to mess up. He fumbled Dykstra’s grounder and, before the six-run inning was over, third baseman Phil Garner also made an error.

San Diego 2, St. Louis 0--Steve Garvey lashed a hit-and-run pitch just inside the right-field line for a triple in the sixth inning at San Diego, and it proved to be the blow that ended the Padres’ six-game losing streak.

Garvey’s hit broke a scoreless pitching battle between Andy Hawkins and Danny Cox and ended the St. Louis Cardinals’ six-game winning streak.

With one out in the sixth, Tony Gwynn reached on first baseman Jack Clark’s error. On the first pitch, with Gwynn running, Garvey stroked his opposite-field hit through the Cardinal bullpen to the wall. Garvey scored the other run on Graig Nettles’ single to right.

Although he was in trouble in almost every inning, Hawkins improved his record to 13-3. The Padres tied a club record by turning five double plays. The last one came with two on in the ninth and Rich Gossage in relief of Hawkins. Terry Pendleton banged into the game-ending double play, and Gossage had his 21st save.

Cincinnati 7, Montreal 6--Pete Rose, in his best offensive display in a month, had three hits at Montreal, and Dave Parker drove in three runs to pace the Reds to victory.

The Reds built a 7-2 lead for rookie Tom Browning (9-7) in five innings. But the Expos pulled within a run, and the Reds used three relievers.

The three hits left Rose just 28 hits away from breaking Ty Cobb’s major league record for hits. Rose has 4,164 hits.

“I hit four balls over the mound,” Rose told the UPI. “If I had been playing in that softball game before our game, I would have been out every time with that extra fielder they put in there.”

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 4--Bob Horner remains as hot as the weather in Philadelphia where he hit two more home runs, but the Phillies finally beat the Braves.

With John Russell driving in three runs with a pair of doubles, the Phillies overcame Horner’s two homers and Dale Murphy’s 26th home run to beat the Braves for the first time this season after 10 defeats.

In another first, Charlie Hudson, despite the home run barrage, pitched his first complete game of the season and improved his record to 5-8.

Horner, in his last 12 games, is 24 for 48 (.500), has hit eight home runs and has driven in 22 runs.

Russell, recalled from Portland June 14, has established himself as the Phillies’ left fielder. In the last eight games he is 12 for 30 with 8 RBI.

San Francisco 8, Pittsburgh 3--Maybe it isn’t mandatory, but it is a good idea for a fellow who pitches on the weakest hitting team in the majors to be able to help his cause with the bat.

In this game at San Francisco, Dave LaPoint singled in two runs in the second inning to get out in front, then walked to trigger a four-run fourth inning that enabled him to improve his record to 5-9.

LaPoint gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings before Greg Minton came on to retire the last nine Pirates for his fourth save.