NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mets’ Viola as Hot as Weather in Atlanta

Darryl Strawberry is hitting moonshots, and Mackey Sasser is wielding a powerful bat, but the New York Mets are the hottest team in the major leagues because of their pitching.

Frank Viola is the bellwether of the staff that is largely responsible for the Mets winning 17 of their last 19 games and 26 of their last 31.

Viola, with late-inning help from John Franco, became the National League’s first 13-game winner Sunday when the Mets edged the Braves, 2-1, at Atlanta.

Pitching in 100-degree weather, Viola gave up seven hits in 7 2/3 innings. Franco got the last four outs--although he walked two in the ninth inning--for his 17th save. Viola, who probably will not pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star game because he pitched Sunday, has a 13-3 record.

The left-hander, obtained last July 31 in a trade with Minnesota, was the Mets’ pitching staff early in the season. When the club was a struggling 16-14, Viola was 7-0.

“It was really too hot to pitch,” Viola said. “All I could do was go out there and throw hard for as long as I could. I was tired and just hoping to make it through eight so John (Franco) would only have to go one. But I couldn’t make it.”

Strawberry’s two-out double in the first inning produced one run for the Mets, and Sasser’s single set up the other run in the second.

Houston 5, Montreal 3--Pinch-hitter Terry Puhl hit a two-out, two-run double off Dennis Martinez in the seventh inning, and the Astros finally won another road game.

The Astros had lost seven in a row and 20 of their last 21 away from the Astrodome. They were trailing Martinez (6-7) until the hit by Puhl brought them from behind.

“I don’t enjoy facing Dennis in that situation,” Puhl said. “He has one of the best curves in the game. I just went up there swinging and connected.”

St. Louis 4, San Diego 1--Bob Tewksbury (4-1) gave up three hits in 8 1/3 innings at San Diego, and Willie McGee, the No. 5 hitter in the league in batting average at .320, had two hits and drove in two runs.

Tewksbury has given up only one earned run in his last three starts, covering 23 1/3 innings. McGee was eight for 16 in the four-game series.

San Francisco 5-10, Chicago 3-4--Kevin Mitchell ended a five-for-33 slump with home runs in each game at San Francisco to help the Giants cut the Reds’ lead in the West to eight games.

Mitchell hit a two-run home run in the first inning of the opener and was five for eight for the day. He has 21 home runs, 50 RBIs and a .312 batting average.

The Giants’ two young pitchers, Trevor Wilson (6-0) and John Burkett (9-2), earned the victories. Wilson went 5 2/3 innings in the first game, and Burkett went seven in the second.

Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 3--John Kruk drove in the tying and winning runs with singles at Philadelphia and the Phillies avoided a four-game sweep.

Kruk’s two-out single in the seventh inning off Norm Charlton (6-3) scored Randy Ready from third base with the tiebreaking run.