National League Roundup : Mets Come West, Take Giant Step Backward

The New York Mets may have convinced themselves they are the best team in baseball, but the San Francisco Giants aren’t buying it.

When the Mets arrived in San Francisco for a weekend series to open a swing through California, they were talking about how early they would clinch the East.

The Mets were saying they had the best pitching staff in baseball, that Darryl Strawberry was finally living up to expectations and Gary Carter was making the comeback of the year.

But, when former Met Kevin Mitchell homered and singled to drive in three runs and lead the Giants to a 5-1 victory Sunday, it gave the Giants a sweep of the three-game series.

Until the Mets arrived, the Giants, the Western Division champions last year, had been struggling. Their pitching had been good, but they couldn’t score runs.

They still aren’t knocking down the fences, but the Giants, thanks to the Mets, have straightened out and climbed above .500.

The Mets went into the series leading the league in runs scored. But they scored only five in the series.

Strawberry was 0 for 11, Carter was 2 for 8, and Keith Hernandez was 0 for 8 in the first two games and then was benched Sunday.

None of the big three drove in a run. In addition, Strawberry lost Rob Thompson’s fly ball in the sun in the seventh and it went for a run-scoring triple.

Mitchell, batting .190 going into the game, followed Will Clark’s double in the first inning with his sixth home run and Sid Fernandez (1-3) was on his way to another defeat. Mike LaCoss (2-3) pitched seven strong innings, giving up only five hits. He struck out seven.

Joel Youngblood scored on Thompson’s fluke triple, the one Strawberry lost in the sun. Youngblood had singled for his sixth hit in 12 at-bats as a pinch-hitter.

It will be interesting to see how the miserable weekend affects Strawberry. He came into the series batting .321, with 10 home runs and 23 runs batted in. New York reporters had been writing about how calm the usually emotional Strawberry has been this season.

“Emotional players like me tend to have problems,” Strawberry recently told Claire Smith of the Hartford Courant. “It’s taken me time to realize there are ups and downs. I’ve changed my emotional approach. I just want to help the club win games. I don’t want to get too high or too low.”

San Diego 2, Montreal 1--It wasn’t a fun weekend in California for any of the Eastern invaders. The Phillies salvaged one of three from the Dodgers, but the lowly Padres swept three from the Expos.

In the finale, Shane Mack singled home Benito Santiago in the seventh-inning for his second game-winning hit of the series.

Andy Hawkins, with help from two relievers, continued the sharp San Diego pitching. Hawkins (4-3) held the hard-hitting Expos to four hits in seven innings.

The Expos, who had 129 runs in their first 31 games, had only four runs and 14 hits in the three games. Only two of the hits were for extra bases.

St. Louis 7, Atlanta 6--After playing all 19 innings in Saturday night’s nearly six-hour game, slender center fielder Willie McGee was given the day off at St. Louis--almost.

McGee, batting .324, shook off his fatigue and singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth to climax a two-run rally.

The Braves had gone ahead, 6-5, on Gerald Perry’s opposite-field homer off Todd Worrell in the top of the ninth.

Jose Oquendo, who was the loser Saturday night after pitching three scoreless innings, was McGee’s replacement in center. He was given an intentional walk to load the bases just before McGee’s winning hit handed Bruce Sutter his first defeat.

Chicago 2, Houston 1--Rick Sutcliffe (3-3) pitched a five-hitter at Houston for his fourth complete game.

Jerry Mumphrey had the big hit in the fourth inning when the Cubs scored both their runs. He doubled in Rafael Palmeiro, then scored the winning run on Vance Law’s single.

Cincinnati 7, Pittsburgh 6--Eric Davis opened the 12th inning at Pittsburgh with a double, his only hit in six at-bats, and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Bo Diaz.