NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Armstrong Wins Fifth, Reds Get a 5-0 Victory Over Mets

Jack Armstrong joined some elite company Thursday night at New York with another outstanding performance for the Cincinnati Reds.

Armstrong, a right-hander who was the Reds’ No. 1 draft choice in 1987, pitched 7 2/3 innings and earned his fifth victory as the Reds beat the Mets, 5-0, for their eighth victory in 10 road games.

Armstrong (5-0), Mets’ left-hander Frank Viola and Oakland right-hander Dave Stewart are the only five-game winners in the major leagues.

“I pitched pretty good I guess,” said Armstrong, who allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one. “I didn’t overpower anyone.”

He didn’t have to against the error-prone Mets, who have lost five of their last six and committed 27 errors in 22 games.

Howard Johnson made three errors, tying his club record for shortstops set on July 18, 1985.

Joe Oliver keyed the Reds’ offense with his first two home runs.

Former Met Randy Myers pitched 2 1/3 innings for his fifth save.

Houston 10, Philadelphia 3--Bill Gullickson pitched a strong game at Philadelphia as the Astros beat the Phillies.

Gullickson (2-1), who was signed as a free agent last December after he went 21-14 in two seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, pitched 7 1/3 innings and surrendered six hits to the Phillies, who had 20 hits Wednesday night in a 14-4 victory over the Astros.

Gullickson struck out four, walked three and never trailed after Ken Caminiti hit a two-run single off Terry Mulholland (1-1) in the first inning.

Caminiti had three runs batted in.

Len Dykstra had four hits and Carmelo Martinez hit his third homer for the Phillies.

Atlanta 4, Montreal 1--The Braves scored three runs in the ninth at Montreal and extended their winning streak to five games.

Left-hander Tom Glavine pitched seven innings, giving up only a bunt single to Otis Nixon.

Charlie Kerfeld (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the victory. Joe Boever pitched the ninth for his second save.

Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd had his best game since joining the Expos as a free agent last winter, giving up six hits and striking out five in six innings.