National League Roundup : Hoffman Pitches Reds to 8-3 Win Over Mets

Guy Hoffman won again for the Cincinnati Reds, which has quietly become the norm for the 30-year-old left-hander, and not only this season.

Friday night at Cincinnati, he allowed 1 run and 5 hits in 6 innings and drove in the go-ahead run to break a 1-1 tie as the Reds beat Ron Darling and the New York Mets, 8-3. It was Hoffman’s seventh victory in the last eight decisions and 13th in 17 over the past two seasons.

Hoffman, currently with his fifth professional team in four years, is 7-2 in 1987 and is a major reason that the Reds lead the West. Bo Diaz, with a home run off the still-slumping Darling and a double off Doug Sisk, had four RBIs to lead the Cincinnati offense.

On the other hand, Darling (2-6) has not won in 72 days, or 14 starts, and has lost 6 straight decisions. This time, he gave up 7 hits and 5 runs in 6 innings.

Before the game, Met outfielder Darryl Strawberry threatened to fight teammates Wally Backman and Lee Mazzilli about their comments regarding his two-game absence from the lineup earlier this week. A closed-door team meeting seemed to soothe some of the bitterness, but Strawberry remained upset over the incident and repeated that he wanted to leave New York after his contract is up in two years.

“I feel like I want to get out of here now,” Strawberry said before the game. “I feel I might end up hurting somebody around here.”

The incident started when players saw a newspaper picture of Strawberry at a recording session. Strawberry said he started to feel ill Monday night, but he was at the session Tuesday. He did not play Tuesday night or Wednesday night against the first-place St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium.

The Mets also learned Friday that outfielder Mookie Wilson, who is batting .314 in 63 games, wants to be traded because he is unhappy sharing playing time with Len Dykstra.

“I’ve requested to be traded because I want to play every day, and it’s evident to me there’s no way I’ll be playing regularly,” Wilson said. “Given the situation, I feel it’s in my best interest to play elsewhere.”

Manager Davey Johnson said he did not want to trade Wilson.

“I’m disappointed that people put themselves ahead of the team,” said Johnson, whose Mets trail the AL East-leading St. Louis Cardinals by six games and are in danger of being passed by Montreal and Chicago. “We don’t need all this distraction. I sympathize with Mookie’s frustrations, but I have a ballclub to run. I’d like to accommodate every individual, but that’s not possible.”

St. Louis 9, Atlanta 1--Bob Forsch won the 150th game of his career by allowing only 3 hits through 7 innings, and Jack Clark hit a home run and drove in four runs at Atlanta as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in 11 games.

Clark leads the majors with 77 RBIs, and his three-run homer in the fifth inning tied Dale Murphy of the Braves for the league home run lead at 24.

As for his accomplishment, Forsch was unmoved.

“Was that what it was?” he said of the milestone. “Honestly, I didn’t realize that. The important number is seven.” Forsch is now 7-3.

Philadelphia 2, Houston 1--With 56,825 fans on hand in Philadelphia, the largest crowd of the season in the league, Bruce Ruffin grounded the Astros in a game that he called the best outing of his career.

Ruffin (5-6) allowed 6 hits in 8 innings and recorded 18 outs on ground balls to beat Nolan Ryan, who has lost his last four starts to fall to 4-9. Ryan struck out 10 Phillies.

Lance Parrish singled home Milt Thompson, who had walked, with the go-ahead run in the third inning, and Ruffin made it stand up. Houston had an opportunity to tie the score in the sixth, but Glenn Davis was thrown out at the plate on a bid for an inside-the-park home run.

Montreal 2, San Diego 1--Floyd Youmans, who came off his second stint of the season on the disabled list, pitched four-hit ball in 6 innings at Montreal in his first appearance in three weeks and drove in both Expo runs with a double in the second inning.

“The main thing for me is I felt no pain,” said Youmans, who has been hindered by strained back muscles. “I didn’t have the velocity I would have liked to, but I was able to get ahead of the hitters and make the pitches when I had to. And we had a heck of a defense.”

San Francisco 3, Chicago 1--Jeffrey Leonard stole home, and Rob Thompson hit a single to score pinch-runner Mark Wasinger to break an eighth-inning tie and beat Jamie Moyer at Chicago.

Giant Manager Roger Craig said Moyer (8-6) “pitched a heck of a ballgame to lose. Our guy pitched good, too, to get out of that jam.”

Craig’s “guy” was Kelly Downs (7-4), who loaded the bases in the sixth with one out but did not let Chicago score. Downs gave up 1 run and 7 hits in 7 innings, and Jeff Robinson finished for his ninth save.