National League Roundup : Carter Hits Two More Homers to Tie Record as Mets Bury Padres, 9-2

Gary Carter hit two home runs Wednesday night at San Diego to tie a major league record as the New York Mets all but buried the Padres hopes of repeating in the West with a 9-2 rout.

Carter, who hit three consecutive home runs Tuesday night, became the 11th player to hit five home runs in two consecutive games. He now has 25 home runs, eight of them in the last six games.

Carter hit his first home run leading off the second inning to send Roy Lee Jackson on his way to defeat. The victory enabled the Mets to remain one game behind St. Louis in the East, and dropped the Padres 9 games behind the Dodgers in the West and 10 back in the loss column.

The home run in the first gave Carter four home runs in his last five at-bats. After he struck out in the third, Carter singled in a run in the fifth. In the seventh his solo home run increased the Mets’ lead to 6-1. In the ninth, with a chance to break the record, Carter was walked by rookie Bob Patterson as San Diego fans booed.

The last player to hit five in two games was Dave Kingman with the Chicago Cubs in 1979.

Only two players have hit the five in a doubleheader. Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals hit his five on May 2, 1954, while on Aug. 1, 1972, Nate Colbert of the Padres did it.

If Carter can hit two Friday night against the Dodgers, he can set a record for most home runs in three consecutive games.

St. Louis 4, Cincinnati 3--It is no secret that Pete Rose plans on breaking Ty Cobb’s record for most hits in a career at home in Cincinnati.

After being criticized for sitting out Tuesday night’s loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis, the player-manager of the Reds put himself back in the lineup Wednesday and moved to within five hits of breaking the record.

Rose singled to spark a two-run eighth to give the Reds a 3-2 lead, but the Cardinals rallied for two in the ninth to win, 4-3, and hold onto their lead in the East.

Mike Jorgensen, one of the replacements for injured Jack Clark, drilled the game-winning single after a double and an error enabled the Cardinals to pull even.

Rose’s hit, the 4,187th of his career, came off left-hander Ken Dayley, one of the few times the switch-hitting Rose has faced a left-hander in the last three months.

It was only Rose’s ninth hit in his last 41 at-bats.

“It seems that the hits I do get are important,” Rose told the Associated Press. “But I took myself out of the lineup last night because I haven’t been hitting the ball hard. Until recently, even when I went 0 for something, I hit the ball hard two times out of three or three times out of four.”

Against Kurt Kepshire, the Cardinal starter, Rose was called out on strikes in the first inning. It was only the 26th time in 335 at-bats this season that he struck out. Before getting his hit in the eighth, Rose flied out to left in the fourth and walked in the sixth.

Houston 11, Chicago 6--Injuries and players not playing like they did last season have dropped the defending Eastern Division champion Chicago Cubs into fifth place.

But Ryne Sandberg is having a season comparable to 1984, when he was the league’s Most Valuable Player. The Cubs, who lost 65 games last season, lost their 68th in this game at Chicago, but Sandberg hit his 22nd home run and drove in four runs.

His 2-for-4 game lifted Sandberg’s average to .307. Last season, Sandberg batted .314 and hit 19 home runs.

Pinch-hitters did the job for the Astros. Jerry Mumphrey doubled in two runs in the sixth and another pinch-hitter, Tim Tolman, later in the same inning, hit a three-run home run to put Houston in front. Mumphrey stayed in the game and hit a three-run homer in the seventh to turn the game into a rout.

San Francisco 4, Philadelphia 3--The Giants put a dramatic end to the Phillies’ six-game winning streak in this game at San Francisco. With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the Giants trailing, 3-1, right fielder Rob Deer hit a three-run home run.

Kevin Gross had a four-hitter going into the ninth, but when Dan Driessen and Chris Brown singled, Fred Toliver replaced Gross. The rookie got one out, but Deer made him a loser.

Mike Schmidt’s 25th home run, a two-run smash in the sixth, gave the Phillies the 3-1 lead.

Pittsburgh 2, Atlanta 0--Although the Pirates brought Rick Reuschel up from the minors early this season, he isn’t really part of their youth movement.

He definitely is part of next season’s plans, though. One night after signing a three-year contract the 36-year-old right-hander pitched a three-hitter at Pittsburgh. It was his first shutout since 1979 and gave him an 11-7 record.

R.J. Reynolds, in his second game with the Pirates, tripled in the winning run in the fifth inning. He also had a double and stole a base. In two games with the Pirates, Reynolds, who was part of the deal that sent Bill Madlock to the Dodgers, is 4 for 7.