National League Roundup : Youmans Wins Again--as Good as Gooden?

Ever since they were high school teammates in Tampa, Fla., Floyd Youmans has had to take a back seat to Dwight Gooden.

Gooden was a first-round pick by the New York Mets in the 1982 draft; Youmans went to the same club in the second. While Gooden was a success from the minute he joined the Mets in 1984, Youmans struggled with control and was sent to Montreal in the Gary Carter deal.

Gooden won the National League Cy Young Award in 1985, but Youmans barely made it to the majors that season. Even when Youmans showed signs of maturing into a big league pitcher last season, he was regarded as a poor man’s Gooden.

It may be, that finally, Youmans is going to overcome the tag that he is the second-best active pitcher from Tampa.

The hard-throwing Expo right-hander pitched his second consecutive shutout Thursday night at Montreal, giving the Expos a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Youmans gave up just three hits in a follow-up to his one-hitter last week against Houston, in which he had a no-hitter until the eighth inning.

Youmans (7-3), who is having his best season even though he has had to go on the disabled list twice because of a back sprain, received all the help he needed from Hubie Brooks. The shortstop, who also was a part of the Carter trade, drove in two runs with his eighth home run of the season and a sacrifice fly.

Youmans has won six in a row. In his last 31 innings, he has given up only nine hits and a single run. His season seems to have turned around.

In his first seven starts this season, Youmans lasted only 23 innings, giving up 37 hits and 23 runs, all but one of them earned.

“He’s come back from a couple of injuries,” Manager Bob Rodgers of the Expos said, “and he has finally regained full strength. He has become an outstanding pitcher.”

Youmans is not bothered by the constant comparison with Gooden, he said.

“My confidence has never been so high,” Youmans said. “Every time I go out there, I just feel like I’m going to get the batter out. Tonight it took me until the second inning to get into the groove. I guess that’s because I hadn’t thrown in a week.”

New York 9, Cincinnati 0--Even when Youmans is enjoying success, he can’t escape the specter of Gooden. While he didn’t match his former teammate’s performance, Gooden gave up just seven hits at New York.

It was the 14th shutout for Gooden and improved his record to 7-2 after missing the first six weeks because of a drug problem.

While the Mets were winning their fourth in a row, the Reds lost their fourth in a row and their seventh in the last eight.

Gooden got all the runs he needed in the fourth inning when the Mets loaded the bases and Red center fielder Tracy Jones lost Kevin McReynolds’ fly ball in the lights to allow three runners to cross the plate. Gary Carter hit a three-run home run in the seventh.

Houston 2, Philadelphia 1--Nolan Ryan couldn’t take his regular turn at Houston because he injured his right foot during the All-Star break at his ranch south of Houston.

But Danny Darwin proved a capable replacement. Darwin (8-6) pitched a four-hitter and became the winner when Gerald Young came through with a run-scoring single with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

San Diego 9, St. Louis 8--Benito Santiago hit a home run off Todd Worrell with one out in the 10th inning at San Diego to give the Padres a victory over the Cardinals.

It was a win for the team with the worst record in the league over the team with the best and cut the Cardinals’ lead in the East to eight games.

The Cardinals tied the game at 8-8 in the eighth.

Chicago 4, San Francisco 1--Jamie Moyer (9-6) and Scott Sanderson combined on a four-hitter at San Francisco to lead the Cubs to victory.

After Moyer gave up 1 run and 4 hits in 6 innings, Sanderson retired seven batters in a row for the save.