National League Roundup : Cone Into Groove and So Are Streaking Mets

At the start of the season, the New York Mets had such a deep, talented group of starting pitchers that they had no spot for David Cone, a promising right-hander.

He began his second season with the Mets as a long reliever.

Injuries gave him a chance to join the rotation, however, and he has become the staff’s most dependable pitcher.

Cone (12-2) turned in another quality performance Sunday at Pittsburgh as the Mets sent the Pittsburgh Pirates reeling to a 6-2 defeat. It was the Pirates’ fifth straight loss and their third straight to the Mets. They dropped into third place, 7 games behind New York.

Cone held the slumping Pirates to five hits in eight innings, departing for a pinch-hitter in a four-run ninth that broke open the tight game.

A walk and a single by Mookie Wilson off reliever Bob Kipper put two runners on in the ninth, and pinch-hitter Kevin McReynolds broke the 2-2 tie with a single off Jeff Robinson. It was the first of three consecutive run-scoring singles by pinch-hitters.

“By no means is the race over,” said Cone, who has done more than any other pitcher to help the Mets’ build their big National League East lead. “We still have a long way to go, and here comes Montreal.”

Cone became a starter on May 3 after picking up two victories in relief. He started his 18th game Sunday.

Pirate Manager Jim Leyland said the big difference between Pittsburgh and New York is depth.

On Sunday the Mets, with Keith Hernandez back in the lineup, had McReynolds, Gary Carter and Tim Teufel for pinch-hitting duty. The Pirate substitutes were rookies Tommy Gregg, Tom Prince and Orestes Destrade, plus Mike Diaz, who is slumping.

“Let’s just say I manage what I’ve got,” Leyland said. “I don’t have any excuses, but I don’t have a bench, either. But last night, they used quality pinch-hitters and still had Hernandez left.

“We’re pressing a little bit. We tried to make things happen and it didn’t work.”

This season, Carter is 4 for 5 with 4 runs batted in as a pinch-hitter. As a team, the Mets are batting .263 in pinch-hit situations and have 26 runs batted in.

The Mets have won six of seven from the Pirates in the last two weeks and, in the last three years, are 39-10.

San Francisco 14, Atlanta 4--One of the reasons the Giants are in third place, 4 1/2 games back in the West, is their inconsistency at the plate.

Occasionally, there are games such as this one at Atlanta in which they look powerful. But they often follow a big attack with half a dozen low-scoring games and make their job of repeating as West Division champin that much tougher.

Bob Brenly hit his fifth home run and drove in five runs to lead the 17-hit attack that made it easy for Rick Reuschel (15-5).

Reuschel, bothered with a hamstring problem, gave up four runs in six innings, but by that time the Giants had 11 runs.

Montreal 11, St. Louis 5--The Expos are, in the opinion of pitcher Bryn Smith, a mirror image of last year’s Cardinals, who won the National League pennant.

“We’ve got speed, power in the middle of the lineup and good starting and relief pitching,” Smith said after improving his record to 8-6 in a game at St. Louis.

“We’re like the Cardinals of last year. We can score a run without a hit.”

The Expos have won five straight and 13 of their last 16.

Philadelphia 7, Chicago 4--Lance Parrish hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning at Chicago to provide the margin of victory for the Phillies.

Angry over the Cub performance, Manager Don Zimmer lashed out at his players.

“I have every reason to be hot,” he said. “My players seem more interested in personal statistics than in winning.

“We couldn’t get anyone to hit to the right side to move a runner from second to third. That’s why we lost.”

Cincinnati 4, San Diego 3--Bo Diaz walked with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to break a tie at Cincinnati and give Tom Browning his 11th victory.

The Reds are trailing the Dodgers by 7 1/2 games in the West.

John Franco pitched the last 1 innings for his 24th save.