National League Roundup : Davis Ends a Big Weekend in Philadelphia With 3 Homers

The Cincinnati Reds regard Eric Davis as some sort of superman.

They say he can run as fast as Carl Lewis, steal bases better than Vince Coleman--and the next thing you know, they’re going to claim he can hit home runs better than Babe Ruth.

They may be exaggerating, but not by much. The young center fielder, in just his second full season in the major leagues, is becoming something of a legend.

The former Fremont High star, who will be 25 on May 29, hit three home runs, including a grand slam, drove in six runs and led the soaring Reds to a 9-6 victory Sunday at Philadelphia.

In the three-game series with the Phillies, Davis went 9 for 13, hit 5 home runs, drove in 11 runs and scored 7. He hit a grand slam Friday night and has the rest of May to become the first batter to hit three grand slams in one month.

They may also decide if he’s a better hitter than Ty Cobb. Going 4 for 5 (he struck out his last time at-bat), Davis raised his average to .411. He leads the majors in home runs (12), RBIs (27) and runs scored (27). He is second in hits (37) and second in the league in stolen bases (10).

Davis, told a few years ago by former pro basketball star Walt Frazier never to get caught up in all the hype and hoopla about himself, has a simple theory about hitting.

“You just have to see the ball,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to hit the ball if you can’t see it. And then when you do, you just let everything else take care of itself.

“I saw the ball good and had some good pitches to hit. It was just my day.”

Davis hit a solo home run off loser Kevin Gross (0-4) in the third, the grand slam off Dan Schatzeder in the fourth and another solo shot off Schatzeder in the sixth. He warmed up in the first inning with a single.

The right-handed swinger spread the homers around, too. The first went to right, the slam to left and the last one to center.

Among the feats Davis claims is that in 50 attempts in high school, he stole 50 bases. He said he has never been timed, but he told Buddy Martin of the Denver Post he thinks he could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds, which would be world class, indeed.

His teammates, including Manager Pete Rose would like to see him race Carl Lewis.

“I’d like to see him race Lewis,” Rose said. “I imagine Lewis would beat him, but not by much. And while we’re at it, I’d like to see Tim Raines and Vince Coleman in the same race. All I know for sure is that Davis is the greatest prospect I’ve seen.

“He’s about the only guy I’ve ever seen with a chance to lead the league in stolen bases and home runs. He has good instincts and all the talent in the world.”

Before this season, Davis had 45 home runs in 245 games, but his average was only .259. His average may never be that low again.

His weekend performance impressed Phillie Manager John Felske.

“He had as good a series as you’ll ever see a player have,” Felske said. “We tried to get the ball in on him but he’s just hot. He can do it all.”

The Reds, who were out of the race in the West by this time last season, didn’t have the benefit of a hot start by Davis. They won only 6 of their first 25 games and trailed Houston by 10 games. Davis was batting .197 with 3 home runs and 9 runs batted in.

Now, with Davis hot, the Reds are 17-8. Because San Francisco is also hot, the Reds lead the West by only a game.

The lead may get bigger, because as Davis said, he’s young and still learning.

Montreal 2, New York 0--Tim Raines may not have all the talent Davis has, but he also is off to a sensational start.

Raines, who climaxed his first day of the season with a grand slam in the 10th inning Saturday at New York, led off this game with a home run against Bob Ojeda. Three Expo pitchers shut out the Mets on 10 hits, making Raines 2 for 2 in game-winning hits.

“I feel good and I feel comfortable,” Raines said. “But I just never expected a start like this: two games and two winning hits. I would have settled for one hit and us just winning.

“There’s work ahead. I’m not in top form, but it’s encouraging.”

Floyd Youmans, who gave up six hits in four innings, retired in the fifth with a strained muscle in his back. Bob McClure got the win with 2 innings of two-hit relief and Tim Burke finished up for his first save.

Chicago 4, San Diego 2--The NL has a bunch of hot hitters. Unfortunately for the Padres (6-20), most of them are playing against them, not for them.

Take Andre Dawson. The former Expo hit a home run in each game of the Cubs’ three-game sweep at Chicago that extended the Padres’ losing streak to five games.

Dawson has hit 6 home runs in his last 9 games.

Rick Sutcliffe (4-2) continued his hot pitching. He retired the first 12 Padres and was within two outs of a complete game when Lee Smith was summoned to pick up the save.

Atlanta 5, Houston 3--Ken Oberkfell and Ken Griffey each drove in two runs at Atlanta to help Zane Smith improve his record to 3-1.

Smith outpitched Mike Scott (3-2), who gave up a two-run double to Griffey in the first and left after five innings.

Smith went 7 innings, working out of a sixth inning jam with the bases loaded and nobody out.

Smith induced Kevin Bass to hit into a pitcher-to-home-to first double play, then struck out Jose Cruz.

Glenn Davis hit a two-run homer, his fourth home run of the season, in the fourth inning for the Astros.