National League Roundup : Gooden Has a Bad One and Loses to Reds, 3-2

Although he is only 21, defeat comes so seldom to Dwight Gooden that it is invariably an occasion to remember.

Such was the case Sunday at New York when Pete Rose hit a bases-loaded single with two out in the second inning to drive in three runs and give the Cincinnati Reds a 3-2 victory.

Rose, the Reds’ player-manager, had only three hits in 24 at-bats this season when he worked the count to 3-and-2 on Gooden. The runners were off with Gooden’s big windup and Rose drilled a line drive off second baseman Tim Teufel’s glove for an unusual bases-clearing single.

Bill Gullickson and three relievers made the lead stand up to end the Mets’ seven-game winning streak and hand them only their second loss in the last 20 games. For the Reds it was their third win in 19 games.

Gooden, who had won five in a row this season and lost only four all last season, gave up eight hits in five innings before leaving.

He went into the game with an earned-run average of 1.04. The hit by Rose drove in more runs than Gooden had given up in any of his previous six starts. His ERA climbed to 1.42.

Beating the best may take some of the heat off Rose and his beleaguered players. Before the game, General Manager Bill Bergesch threatened to make changes if the club didn’t start playing better.

“By the time we get home from this trip, I hope we have seen some sign that we are going to turn this thing around,” Bergesch said. “If we haven’t, there are going to be a whole lot of people out of patience, chief of whom is going to be me.”

Bergesch named names. He is especially upset at Eric Davis and Nick Esasky, both of whom, he said, have cleared waivers and could be returned to the minors. Both are in deep slumps. Davis is hitting .183, Esasky, .161.

Neither was in the lineup Sunday, but Rose said he would oppose demoting Esasky. “He doesn’t deserve that,” Rose said. “There are guys hitting less than he is who haven’t done what he has in the big leagues.”

Before the game the players held a meeting, excluding the manager.

“I wanted the players to talk things over without any front office people there so they could say what they wanted,” Rose said. “I heard a couple of guys talking kind of loud. But they came out with a positive attitude.”

Gooden didn’t seem too perturbed.

“I made a lot of mistakes with my location,” he said. “It was a day in which you go out there against a team that’s struggling and lose. Now, you look forward to the next one.”

St. Louis 4, San Francisco 3--The Cardinals are starting to win the way they did last season--with speed and pitching--and batting champion Willie McGee is finally playing well.

McGee, off to a horrible start, had two more hits at St. Louis, drove in a run and scored the winning run to give the Cards their fourth win in the last five games.

The speedy McGee was on third with one out in a 3-3 tie in the eighth when Tito Landrum hit a short fly to left-center. Dan Gladden made a running catch, but collided with left fielder Candy Maldonado and McGee raced home with the winning run.

Managers Whitey Herzog of the Cardinals and Roger Craig of the Giants disagreed on whether McGee would have scored anyhow.

“He would have made it,” Herzog said. “Whitey’s a better manager than I am, but I got good eyes and Gladden could have gotten him,” Craig said.

McGee, who hit .353 last season, was batting .200 after 23 games. In the last five games he is 11 for 23 and his average has jumped to .252.

Philadelphia 2, Atlanta 1--Steve Bedrosian had a more enjoyable weekend in Atlanta than he did at any time last season when he was with the Braves.

Returning as the bullpen ace for the Phillies, Bedrosian gave up the tying run in the eighth, but became a winner when Ron Roenicke, just up from the minors delivered a two-out, run-scoring single in the ninth.

Friday night, Bedrosian earned his fourth save.

Pittsburgh 4, Houston 3--After Mark Bailey and Dickie Thon hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, Bill Almon hit an inside-the-park homer in the 12th at Pittsburgh. The ball hopped past right fielder Terry Puhl and bounced into the corner.

Jose DeLeon, recently recalled from the minors, gave up one hit in 3 innings to win it.

Chicago 9, San Diego 5--The Cub pitchers are beating the Padres with the bat. In this game at Chicago, Steve Trout singled home two runs in the second to give the Cubs the lead for good. Saturday, Dennis Eckersley hit a two-run homer to beat the Padres.

Neither pitched as well as he hit. Trout barely made it through five innings to improve his record to 2-0.