National League Roundup : Johnson’s Homer Helps Mets Rout Expos, 11-5

When Howard Johnson suddenly became a home-run hitter in 1987, Whitey Herzog and other managers in the National League started checking his bat.

Nobody could believe that a fellow whose career-high homer total was 12 through five major league seasons would suddenly hit 36 in a season.

They don’t bother to check the bat of the slugging third baseman of the New York Mets anymore. They know he is for real.

Johnson, almost by himself, is providing the power to keep the New York Mets from completely collapsing in the National League East.

Johnson hit a three-run home run in the first inning Friday night at New York to trigger an 11-5 victory over the division-leading Montreal Expos.

The Mets, who figure they will have to sweep the three-game series to get into the pennant race, had 15 hits and trail the Expos by six games.

The Mets have learned to expect HoJo, as they call him, to produce, but they were encouraged by Darryl Strawberry’s three hits, including a double. Strawberry, expected to have a big year, was five for 45 before the game.

In the just-completed series at St. Louis, Manager Whitey Herzog ordered his staff to pitch around Johnson, who bats in front of Strawberry. They walked him six times, three intentionally.

But with two on and nobody out in the first inning, Bryn Smith had to pitch to Johnson, who hit his 27th home run. Johnson also had a single and a triple and scored three runs. He has had two or more hits in 14 of his last 19 games.

Johnson leads the Mets in home runs, runs batted in (70), runs (79), doubles (28) and stolen bases (31).

Less than two hours before the game, General Manager Frank Cashen called a team meeting to announce that pitching star Dwight Gooden is likely out for the season.

“I thought it was good Frank came down,” Johnson said. “We have the best talent in baseball, and as professionals we need to go out and play with the same attitude.”

Meanwhile, Manager Bob Rodgers of the Expos was beginning to think Herzog had the right idea.

“Maybe we have to walk Johnson every time up,” he said.

San Francisco 4, Houston 2--Everything straightens out for the Giants as soon as they get home.

Will Clark hit a two-run home run into the upper deck at Candlestick Park in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and give the Giants a 35-15 record at home, best in the majors.

Clark’s 17th home run came after Robby Thompson singled off Danny Darwin with two outs.

Don Robinson pitched a three-hitter as the Giants increased their lead in the West to three games.

The Giants announced that they had released veteran reliever Goose Gossage and signed starter Bob Knepper, who left Houston and became a free agent rather than report to the minor leagues.

Gossage, who has 306 major league saves, was 2-1 with the Giants in 21 appearances. He had a 2.68 earned-run average and four saves.

Knepper was 4-10 at Houston with a 5.89 ERA. He pitched five years for San Francisco earlier in his career.

Chicago 3, Pittsburgh 2--For some time, the Cubs’ starting pitchers have seen Mitch Williams march out of the bullpen when they got in late-inning trouble, and the performance of the left-handed relief pitcher has been a bright spot for Manager Don Zimmer.

“I’ve been watching him for about 100 games now,” Zimmer said after Williams earned his 28th save in this game at Pittsburgh. “I always expect him to do something. Almost always, he saves the victory.”

In the top of the ninth, Vance Law broke up the tie game with a run-scoring single. Williams gave up a hit in the bottom of the inning, but that’s all, and the Cubs moved within a game of the Expos.

Mike Bielecki went eight innings to improve to 11-5.

St. Louis 6, Philadelphia 3--The Cardinals seldom get two home runs in a game at spacious Busch Stadium, so it’s news when they get two in an inning.

Vince Coleman and Pedro Guerrero hit homers in the fifth inning to help Joe Magrane improve his record to 13-7 on a hot, muggy night in St. Louis.

The temperature was 95 degrees at game time.

Cincinnati 5, Atlanta 4--Former Dodger Mariano Duncan led off the bottom of the 10th inning at Cincinnati with his first home run of the season--and only the eighth of his career.

It was the sixth victory in the last eight games for the Reds, who scored twice off Atlanta’s best relief pitcher, Joe Boever, in the ninth to send it into extra innings.