Gooden Stumbles, Dodgers Fall, 9-8 : Baseball: Met pitcher gives up seven runs in 5 2/3 innings, but he wins after ramon Martinez is ineffective in the first game of a doubleheader.

Howard Johnson drove in four runs and had three hits Tuesday night as the New York Mets beat the Dodgers, 9-8, in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the Mets’ eighth consecutive victory over the Dodgers.

Dwight Gooden (12-6) pitched ineffectively for his third consecutive start but increased his career record against the Dodgers to 12-1. Gooden, who has won nine of his last 10 decisions overall, gave up seven runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Ramon Martinez (15-5) failed to hold leads of 2-0 and 5-4. Martinez, who had won six in a row since July 5, was knocked out after 4 1/3 after giving up seven runs and five hits.

Martinez, the major league leader with 176 strikeouts, had only two against New York, his fewest of any 1990 start.

Lenny Harris drove in four runs with two two-run singles. His second chased Gooden and pulled Los Angeles to 9-7, and Eddie Murray’s RBI groundout in the seventh brought the Dodgers within a run.

Bob Ojeda pitched 2 1/3 innings, and John Franco worked the ninth inning for his 26th save in 29 opportunities.

Johnson, entering the game in a 3-for-24 slump, hit a three-run homer in the first inning, his 18th of the season. He doubled in the fourth and again in the Mets’ five-run fifth.

Leading, 5-4, Martinez gave up an RBI single to Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds followed with a sacrifice fly off Tim Crews. Johnson’s double made the score 7-5.

Daryl Boston hit an RBI single off Ray Searage and scored on Mackey Sasser’s double.

Murray’s two-run single gave the Dodgers the lead in the first but the Mets went ahead, 4-2, in the bottom of the inning on Gregg Jefferies’ RBI single and Johnson’s home run.

Harris tied the game with a two-run single in the second and Hubie Brooks’ 16th home run put Los Angeles ahead, 5-4, in the third. Brooks has hit four home runs in his last 11 games.

The Dodgers’ Mike Hartley faced David Cone in the second game. It was Hartley’s first major league start since 1986, who had made 196 consecutive relief appearances since then.