National League Roundup : Mookie Wilson Isn’t Just Unhappy, He’s Hot

From the way things are going, it seems likely this is going to be a great season for unhappy ballplayers.

George Bell moaned all spring about being merely a designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays. Unhappy George hit three home runs in the opener.

Dave Winfield of the New York Yankees incurred the wrath of his owner, who tried desperately to deal him away. Winfield opened the season hitting and hasn’t stopped yet.

And then there’s Mookie Wilson. Since last July, Wilson, a 10-year veteran, has been asking the New York Mets to trade him. A deal with the Dodgers for Bob Welch fell through and Wilson is still a Met.

An injury to Kevin McReynolds has forced the Mets to use the 32-year-old outfielder.

Wilson responded with the first two home run game of his career, leading the Mets to a 4-3 victory over the Phillies Sunday at Philadelphia.

Dwight Gooden, though he experienced his usual day-baseball problems, improved to 2-0 when Wilson’s two-run home run in the seventh brought the Mets from behind. Gooden gave up five hits and all three Phillie runs in six innings.

Wilson became unhappy when Len Dykstra was given the center-field job in the middle of last season. Wilson thinks he can still play regularly.

In March, unable to make a deal, the Mets tried to placate Wilson with a salary increase, but he reiterated his desire to be traded.

For the moment, though, Wilson sounds like a team player. “We needed this one after losing the previous two,” he said. “We’ve been making mistakes.

“I’m not really a power hitter. The wind was just blowing the right way.”

Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 3--Mike LaValliere said he’s tired of hearing about the Tony Pena trade. But every time he does something, he hears about the deal.

LaValliere was, more or less, a throw-in in the deal that sent Andy Van Slyke and pitcher Mike Dunne to the Pirates and the veteran catcher, Pena, to the Cardinals.

While Pena has struggled, LaValliere has become a valuable Pirate.

LaValliere doubled in the winning run in the 11th inning at St. Louis to give the Pirates the series, 2-1.

Jose Oquendo doubled in Willie McGee in the ninth with one out to send the game into extra innings.

Terry Pendleton, the Cardinals’ Gold Glove third baseman who has had a sore throwing arm all spring, made two more poor throws and has four errors in five games.

San Diego 6, San Francisco 4--The Padres, who scored only seven runs while losing their first five games of the season, finally erupted at San Francisco.

Randy Ready hit a two-run home run and triggered a three-run, first-inning rally by drawing a two-out walk from Dave Dravecky (1-1).

Ed Whitson, who appeared to be on his way to a victory last Tuesday until he had to leave in the eighth inning when he injured his hand, benefitted from the Padres’ outburst. Although he didn’t pitch as well as he did in his first start, he gained the victory.

The Padres had lost nine road games in a row going back to last season.

Houston 12, Cincinnati 3--The road was rough on Mike Scott last season, but the booming bats of Glenn Davis and Kevin Bass made his start in Cincinnati a breeze.

Davis hit a 3-run home run and Bass a grand slam, and Scott pitched a seven-hitter to give the Astros two of three in their series with the Reds.

Last year the Astros were 13-32 against the NL West rivals away from the Astrodome. On the road in 1987, Scott was 6-10 with an earned-run average of 4.26.

Scott fanned eight to reach the 1,000 mark.

Chicago 10, Montreal 7--When the Expos gave up on Vance Law, he signed with the Cubs as a free agent. Montreal may have made a mistake.

Law singled in the winning run, triggering a three-run 10th at Montreal to exact a measure of revenge against his former teammates.

The Expos scored three runs after two were out in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.