Mitchell Ups Homer Total With 3 More : Majors’ Leader Has 22 After Giants Split Pair With Reds

Kevin Mitchell’s hitting flurry continued Tuesday night when the San Francisco Giants third baseman hit three home runs in a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds.

Mitchell, who leads the major leagues with 22 homers and 61 runs batted in, has hit seven homers in his last six games.

Mitchell led off the ninth inning with his second solo home run of the game to give the Giants and pitcher Rick Reuschel a 3-2 victory over the Reds and a split of the doubleheader at Cincinnati.

Mitchell, who had 19 home runs and 80 RBIs last season, hit a three-run homer in the first game, which the Reds won, 4-3, when Mike LaCoss walked Eric Davis with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

Reuschel, 40, the first major league pitcher to win 11 games, scattered six hits through 8 2/3 innings. Reuschel (11-2) has seven consecutive victories.

“I like him a lot, the way he works and approaches the game,” Mitchell said of Reuschel. “I try to give it my best every time I’m out there; I like to see him win.”

Mitchell’s first homer came in the first inning of the first game off Scott Scudder. He hit his second off Tom Browning in his first at-bat of the nightcap.

In the second game, Robby Thompson’s first fielding error in 66 games helped the Reds tie the score, 2-2, in the eighth. But Mitchell, 27, led off the ninth with a homer over the left-field wall off reliever Rob Dibble (4-2).

“I don’t know how long he can keep going, I just hope he does,” Reuschel said of Mitchell.

In the first game, Barry Larkin started the ninth-inning rally with his fourth hit, a one-out single off LaCoss (2-4). With Larkin running, Joel Youngblood hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Jose Uribe bungled for an error that sent Larkin to third.

After Rolando Roomes grounded back to LaCoss and Paul O’Neill was walked intentionally, Davis walked on a full count to force in Larkin home with the winning run.

The first-place Giants remained a game ahead of the Reds in the NL West.

Chicago 8, New York 4--Dwight Smith hit a two-run homer, and Lloyd McClendon drove in two runs with a home run and a single as the Cubs won, despite a Met triple play at Chicago.

Damon Berryhill also drove in two runs with two singles as the Cubs got their third consecutive victory, and 15th in 20 games.

Chicago scored three runs in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead on consecutive singles by Doug Descenzo, Mitch Webster, Ryne Sandberg, Berryhill and McClendon. However, the rally ended when Vance Law hit into a triple play.

With runners on first and second, Law lined to first baseman Dave Magadan on a hit-and-run play. Magadan stepped on first to double McClendon and threw to shortstop Kevin Elster, who caught Berryhill off second base.

Darryl Strawberry hit his 13th homer after Magadan singled in the sixth to make it 6-4, but the Mets lost for the sixth time in 10 games.

Montreal 3, St. Louis 2--Pascual Perez, making his first start since May 17, gave up five hits in six innings and had a sacrifice fly to lead the Expos at Montreal.

Rex Hudler had a two-run homer for Montreal as the Expos won for the 10th time in 13 games.

Perez, who was dropped from the starting rotation last month after losing his first six decisions, struck out five and did not walk a batter. Andy McGaffigan pitched one inning in relief and Tim Burke went the last two for his 13th save.

Joe Magrane (3-5) gave up five hits in six innings in dropping his third consecutive decision. Magrane hasn’t won since May 10.

Philadelphia 9, Pittsburgh 4--Randy Ready and John Kruk, acquired in a trade last week from the San Diego Padres, each drove in two runs in a five-run, second-inning rally as the Phillies snapped an 11-game losing streak at Philadelphia.

The Phillies sent 11 batters to the plate in the second and took a 6-1 lead. Dwayne Murphy opened the inning with his third home run of the season. With two outs, Darren Daulton and Tom Herr walked and Ready then doubled home two runs to chase Pittsburgh starter Brian Fisher.

Houston 8, San Diego 7--The Astros keep winning extra-inning games at Houston.

Glenn Davis’ 10th-inning single skipped off the glove of right fielder Bip Roberts, allowing Bill Doran to score from first base as the Astros rallied to beat the Padres.

JUNE BOOM

A rundown of where Kevin Mitchell of the San Francisco Giants has hit seven home runs in the last six games:

Date Opponent HRs/Total June 2 Atlanta 2/17 June 3 Atlanta 1/18 June 4 Atlanta 1/19 June 7 Cincinnati 3/22