National League Roundup : Perhaps Mets Left Their Bats in San Francisco

The New York Mets may be the scourge of the East, but in California, they are just another team having trouble scoring runs.

Mookie Wilson grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the ninth inning Sunday at San Diego to finish off a 1-0 loss to the Padres. It was the Mets’ fourth consecutive loss in California.

After scoring 13 runs Tuesday at San Francisco in the first game of an 8-game tour of the state, Mets bats have been almost completely silenced. They’ve been shut out twice and have scored total of three runs in the other two games.

They conclude the trip with three games against the Dodgers, beginning tonight when they face their old nemesis, John Tudor.

The Mets, who say they are worn out from a long season, had a rare Saturday off, but it didn’t seem to revive them.

Another fine performance by Ron Darling (12-9) was wasted. He yielded only 5 hits in 7 innings, but 2 of them came in the fourth and resulted in the run that beat him. Roberto Alomar singled, went to second on an infield out and scored on Carmelo Martinez’s single. It was the third game-winning hit in the last four games for Martinez.

Andy Hawkins (11-10) and Mark Davis gave up a total of 8 hits and 4 walks, but the Mets couldn’t come up with a key hit.

Hawkins walked Wilson and Len Dykstra to open the eighth and Davis came to the rescue. Wally Backman, attempting to bunt, popped out. Keith Hernandez flied to center and Darryl Strawberry struck out.

With one out in the ninth, two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Wilson. He hit a hard grounder right at shortstop Garry Templeton, who started the game-ending double play.

Although the Mets still lead the Eastern Division by 3 1/2 games, they seem to be losing their confidence. They no longer are a swaggering, arrogant group, pitcher Bob Ojeda told Marty Noble of Newsday.

“We used to be called arrogant,” he said. “When’s the last time you heard someone call us that?”

The Mets seem to go into a tailspin when Strawberry goes into a slump. He had a single and a double Sunday, his only hits in 14 at-bats since he hit his 30th home run Tuesday night at San Francisco.

The Mets have been mediocre, at best, since the midway point of the season July 3 when they had a 52-29 record and a 7 1/2-game lead. They were averaging almost five runs per game and their earned-run average was 2.91.

Since then, they are 19-23 and have batted .228, averaging 3 1/2 runs per game. Their pitching staff’s ERA has risen half a run a game.

“We haven’t been hitting much off anybody,” Mets Manager Davey Johnson said. “We’ve had guys you never heard of slam-dunk our bats.”

Houston 2, Pittsburgh 1--It seemed like the right move at the time when Manager Jim Leyland of the Pirates ordered an intentional walk to switch-hitter Kevin Bass in the 14th inning at Pittsburgh.

With the potential winning run on second and two out, Leyland wanted left-hander Bob Kipper to face left-handed hitting Gerald Young, who was 0 for 5.

Young singled up the middle, the only hit off Kipper (2-5) in three innings of relief, to drive in Billy Hatcher, who had walked, with the winning run.

With the win, the Astros stayed 5 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. The Pirates remained 3 1/2 games behind the Mets.

The Pirates scored their only run in the fourth inning, using a double by Jose Lind that took a bad hop over center fielder Young’s head and Bobby Bonilla’s single to center, his first hit in 20 at-bats.

Glenn Davis hit his 25th home run in the second inning for the Astros’ first run. It was just the third off Bob Walk in 165 innings this season.

Third baseman Buddy Bell prevented the Pirates from winning in nine innings. With runners on first and third and two out in the ninth, Bell caught Al Pedrique’s line drive.

San Francisco 6, Philadelphia 3--With all their troubles, the Mets have fared better on their trip to California than two other Eastern Division teams. Neither the Phillies nor Montreal Expos have won a game.

Candy Maldonado, who has spent most of this season in a slump, had 3 hits, drove in 2 runs and scored twice to lead the Giants.

It was the fifth win in a row for the Giants, but for the fifth day in a row they failed to gain ground on the Dodgers. It was the eighth loss in a row for the Phillies.

St. Louis 7, Cincinnati 1--Injuries to regular starters and the trade of John Tudor have made a starter out of Scott Terry and a genius of Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog.

Terry, in his third start since Aug. 11, pitched a 5-hitter for his first complete game and second win in a row. The run he gave up in the fourth was the only run he has yielded in 20 innings in his 3 starts.

His infield hit with two out and the bases loaded in the second gave the Cardinals the lead and Vince Coleman followed with a bases-clearing double to make it 4-0.

Atlanta 1, Chicago 0--In the six games in the National League there were only 26 runs scored. In this game at Chicago, where the wind was blowing in, Pete Smith pitched a 5-hitter for his first shutout.

Gerald Perry’s sacrifice fly in the first inning drove in the only run.