NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Home Isn’t Sweet for Mets’ Harrelson, Either

Coming home with Bud Harrelson as manager didn’t seem to help the New York Mets much Monday night.

The crowd of 24,433 didn’t respond when Harrelson popped out of the dugout the first time, and so far the Mets have showed few signs of turning things around.

Nelson Santovenia, hitting only .150, delivered a two-run pinch-single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning as the Montreal Expos rallied for a 5-3 victory over the struggling Mets at New York.

“I really think we’re getting close to busting out,” Harrelson said. “I’m still positive.”

The loss dropped New York to 21-26, its worst record this late in the season since 1983.

Since Harrelson replaced Dave Johnson last Tuesday, the Mets have lost four of five games.

The Expos, who outhit the Mets, 13-5, have won seven of eight road games and their last six of seven overall.

Met starter David Cone (1-4), who matched a career high with 12 strikeouts, also gave up five runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings as the Mets lost for the seventh time in nine games.

Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 2--The Pirates went looking for a left-handed starter when John Smiley went on the disabled list last month. They may have found one on their own pitching staff.

Bob Patterson earned his second consecutive victory as a starter and Barry Bonds hit a two-run triple, leading the Pirates to a 6-2 victory over the Cubs at Pittsburgh.

Patterson (4-1) had a 3-7 record and 5.97 earned-run average as a starter before this season. In his two 1990 starts, he has given up 11 hits and four runs, and struck out nine in 13 1/3 innings.

Against the Cubs, Patterson lowered his ERA this season to 2.91 while giving up five hits in seven innings. He pitched six shutout innings before giving up Hector Villaneuva’s solo homer.

San Francisco 10, Cincinnati 1--John Burkett pitched the first complete game of his career and every Giant starter got a hit by the fourth inning as the Reds were routed at San Francisco.

The Giants got 16 hits and batted around twice in the first four innings to take an 8-0 lead. They scored five runs on seven hits in the first off Ron Robinson (2-2), who had a 6-1 lifetime record against the Giants.

Burkett (5-1) gave up seven hits and got 16 outs on grounders.

San Diego 10, Houston 2--Garry Templeton had four hits and the Padres enjoyed their biggest inning of the season--eight runs in the eighth--and trounced the Astros at San Diego.

Bip Roberts had three of San Diego’s 15 hits and Tony Gwynn and Benito Santiago had two-run singles as the Padres won for the sixth time in seven games and handed Houston its fourth consecutive loss.

The Astros’ Glenn Davis hit his fourth homer in six games and leads the NL with 16.

St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 2--Terry Pendleton’s RBI single over a drawn-in outfield in the 11th inning gave the Cardinals a victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia.

The Cardinals won despite getting only four hits in the last 10 innings after Pedro Guerrero’s two-run double in the first.