National League Roundup : Mets Denied Once Again, This Time by Hayes’ Homer

Von Hayes broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-out, two-run homer as the Philadelphia Phillies once again stopped the New York Mets from wrapping up the Eastern Division title Saturday night before a crowd of 47,108 at Philadelphia, many of them chanting, “Let’s Go Mets.”

New York still needs only one victory over the second-place Phillies to gain its third divisional title. The Mets failed to get it Friday, when Philadelphia won, 6-3, and they had leads of 3-0 and 4-3 Saturday before losing, 6-5.

Since a title is all but inevitable (New York’s lead is 20 games), the Mets’ biggest concern now is the condition of 16-game winner Bob Ojeda, who left after five innings with stiffness in his left forearm. Manager Davey Johnson could not say whether Ojeda, a left-hander, would miss a start, but he did indicate that the condition has already caused some trouble.

“He got loose between starts, but it re-surfaced in the fourth inning,” Johnson said.

Ojeda’s replacement, Roger McDowell, allowed two runs in the sixth to tie the score, 4-4, and then served up Hayes’ 15th home run. McDowell (13-8) was making a team-record 67th appearance.

Philadelphia’s Dan Schatzeder (4-4) threw 1 innings of one-hit relief for the win.

Pittsburgh 5, Chicago 2--Jim Morrison, who went 4 for 4 with two home runs Friday night, came back Saturday night at Pittsburgh to collect three hits in four at-bats, including a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning.

Bob Patterson (2-2) earned the win with 2 innings of scoreless relief, and Don Robinson got his 11th save as the Pirates won for the 10th time in 14 tries against Chicago, which saw its five-game winning streak end. Greg Maddux (1-2) took the loss.

Cub Leon Durham’s second-inning home run was his 19th of the season and fourth in the last six games.

Montreal 5, St. Louis 1--Dennis Martinez scattered seven hits in 8 innings, and Jeff Reardon finished up for his 33rd save to tie Todd Worrell for the league best as the Expos won at St. Louis.

Martinez (3-5) said he has been pleased with his comeback from a sore arm at the beginning of the season and from a drinking problem for which he sought treatment three years ago.

“I feel good about myself, and even if I lose, I can feel good about the progress I’ve made,” Martinez said.

“It used to be if I lost, I would go out and drink too much, now I can deal with it and be thankful for what God has given me.”

The game marked the 80th time this season that the Cardinals have scored three runs or less. They are 17-63 in those games.

Atlanta 4, San Francisco 1--Dale Murphy hit a three-run homer, his 28th home run of the season and the 21st of his career at Candlestick Park, to lead the Braves. Only Willie Stargell (25) and Ron Cey (24) have hit more in San Francisco among visiting players.

Atlanta right-hander Rick Mahler (13-15) held a 1-0 lead when Murphy connected on an 0-and-2 slider from rookie left-hander Terry Mulholland (1-7) with two outs in the fifth. Mahler finished with a nine-hitter as the Braves snapped a six-game losing streak.

San Diego 4, Houston 3--Steve Garvey’s two-run single climaxed a three-run, ninth-inning rally for the Padres at San Diego.

Craig Lefferts (8-7), the last of five Padre pitchers who combined to hold Houston to four hits, got the win. Astro reliever Dave Smith (4-7) took over for Charlie Kerfeld with two outs in the eighth, then failed to retire a batter in the ninth and got the loss, this after starter Nolan Ryan pitched two-hit ball for seven innings and left with a 3-1 lead.