National League Roundup : Dykstra Loses Bat, Cardinals Lose Game, 5-0

Len Dykstra of the New York Mets completed the Whitey Herzog Cycle, hitting a single, double, triple . . . and then having his bat confiscated.

Herzog, who has had umpires take Met Howard Johnson’s bat on several occasions over the past two seasons, went after Dykstra Tuesday at New York. At the same time, Dykstra and New York pitcher Bob Ojeda combined to stop Herzog’s Cardinals, 5-0, sending St. Louis to its fifth straight defeat.

Ojeda (5-5) allowed nine hits, struck out three and walked one in pitching his second complete game and second shutout of the season. The left-hander also picked up his first major league run batted in with an eighth-inning single.

Cardinal starter Jose DeLeon (4-5) fell to 1-8 lifetime against New York.

Dykstra drove in two runs. His bat was confiscated after the last hit, the triple in the seventh.

The Cardinals stranded 11 runners, 7 in scoring position. They loaded the bases with two out in the second, but Vince Coleman grounded out. They had runners at first and third with nobody out in the ninth, and the bases loaded with two outs.

Cincinnati 7, Houston 1--Jose Rijo pitched a two-hitter for eight innings to extend his league-high winning streak to eight, and Nick Esasky hit a grand slam to lead the Reds at Cincinnati.

Rijo, in his second start since going into the rotation, improved to 8-1. The right-hander, who became a starter after the Reds traded Dennis Rasmussen to the Padres, struck out seven and walked one before reliever Rob Murphy pitched the ninth. The only hits Rijo surrendered were singles by Alex Trevino in the third inning and Kevin Bass in the seventh.

Esasky’s grand slam, the fifth of his career and first by a Red this season, capped a five-run fifth inning against Astro starter Danny Darwin (3-5).

Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 3--The Pirates, who beat the Cubs 14 of 18 games last season, improved to 9-2 for 1988 as Darnell Coles hit a pair of solo home runs and Randy Milligan hit a two-run homer at Chicago.

Bobby Bonilla also homered for the Pirates, his 15th of the year, matching his career high.

John Smiley (6-4) allowed seven hits and struck out five in five innings. Jeff Robinson pitched two innings of one-hit relief for his seventh save.

Montreal 9-2, Philadelphia 0-4--At Philadelphia, Dennis Martinez pitched a three-hitter and knocked in two runs to lead the Expos in the first game, and Juan Samuel homered, tripled and scored two runs to lead the Phillies in the second game.

Samuel, who tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the first inning to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead, hit his sixth home run to give Philadelphia a 3-0 advantage in the fifth.

In the first game, Martinez (7-6), who has won his last four decisions, surrendered only singles to Steve Jeltz in the sixth and eighth innings and to Chris James in the seventh. Martinez struck out 10 and walked 2 in pitching his third complete game of the season.

San Diego 8, San Francisco 5--Marvell Wynne hit a three-run homer to cap a seven-run sixth inning as the Padres rallied to defeat the Giants and extend their winning streak to six games.

The Giants, who lost their fourth consecutive game, held a 5-0 lead before the Padres took advantage of a pair of errors to score six unearned runs in the sixth inning for their biggest inning of the year.