National League Roundup : Davis, Reds Turn It Around on Mets

Eric Davis and the Cincinnati Reds wanted to greet the defending World Series champion New York Mets with one of their better offensive showings Monday night at Cincinnati. They did, too.

Davis hit a two-run homer, his 14th, and drove in four runs to help the Reds rout the Mets, 12-2, matching their season high for run production.

The Reds were coming off two low-production losses against Philadelphia. The Mets swept the Reds in six games last year at Riverfront Stadium.

“Everybody was excited before the ballgame,” said Davis, who leads the majors in homers and RBIs (36). “We had lost two in a row and we hadn’t been swinging the bats well. We wanted to come out and have a good showing.”

The Reds had 18 hits, including four apiece by Dave Parker and Bo Diaz. Parker, 0 for 17 going into the game, singled home the tiebreaking run in the fifth, and Davis followed with his homer, a towering drive off starter Rick Aguilera.

The Mets, who have lost four straight and 14 of their last 21 games, are 13-16. New York was 22-7 at this point last season.

Philadelphia 7, Houston 6--Juan Samuel hit two homers and drove in five runs and Mike Schmidt hit his 506th career homer to power the Phillies.

With Houston leading, 5-3, in the seventh, Greg Gross walked. Milt Thompson forced Gross at second before Jeff Stone beat out a bunt. Samuel then hit his second homer of the game and fourth of the season over the right-field fence. He has 12 RBIs in his last seven games.

Two pitches later, Schmidt homered to left, moving to within five homers of Mel Ott and 13th place on the all-time list. Schmidt has 11 homers this year.

Montreal 7, Atlanta 6--Tim Wallach’s home run with one out in the 10th inning at Montreal enabled the Expos to reach the .500 level for the first time this season.