NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Slipping Mets Lose 2, Trail Pirates by 2 1/2

You might say the Pittsburgh Pirates are double trouble. They have played five doubleheaders this season and won them all.

Probably none of the sweeps was sweeter than the one Wednesday night at Pittsburgh. Zane Smith pitched a one-hitter in a 1-0 victory in the opener against the New York Mets and Jeff King hit two home runs to lead the Pirates, 3-1, in the nightcap.

Taking advantage of the Mets’ recent terrible slump and their inability to hit left-handers, the Pirates stretched their lead in the National League East to 2 1/2 games. The Mets, who have rallied to overtake the Pirates before, only to falter instead of taking charge, picked a bad time to slump.

For the Mets, it began Tuesday night in St. Louis, when left-hander Joe Magrane and the Cardinals’ bullpen held them to five hits and won, 1-0. In the last three games, the Mets have 13 hits in 27 innings; their only run was Darryl Strawberry’s 31st home run in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s nightcap. And it was too little, too late after King’s two home runs off Bob Ojeda (7-6).

In the first game, Frank Viola, working out of jams in almost every inning, left while tied, 0-0. John Franco, among the top relievers in the league, wound up the loser.

In the ninth, Gary Redus singled. Jay Bell bunted. New catcher Charlie O’Brien picked it up and threw wildly to second with an easy force in view. Andy Van Slyke bunted and Bobby Bonilla was given an intentional pass to load the bases. With the outfield playing in, Barry Bonds hit a long fly to left that went for a game-winning single, his 100th run batted in.

The Mets never really threatened against Smith (10-7), now 4-0 since being obtained from Montreal a month ago. He gave up a lead-off hit to Keith Miller and ended up retiring the last 19 Mets.

One of the reasons the Pirates made the deal for Smith, 29, was that he is one of the many left-handers who has done well against the Mets. Last season, Smith didn’t pitch well against anyone. He was 1-13, equally ineffective for Atlanta and Montreal.

“That’s probably the best game I’ve ever pitched,” Smith said after lowering his ERA for the Pirates to 1.42.

Philadelphia 4, Chicago 1--The Phillies were held to one hit through seven innings off Mike Harkey at Philadelphia. But when he left with a stiff shoulder, the Phillies scored four in the eighth to win it.

Montreal 6, St. Louis 2--Chris Nabholz, who was 0-6 in triple A, improved his record in the majors to 4-0 with this win at St. Louis. Larry Walker and Tim Wallach hit two-run homers.

San Diego 5, Houston 2--Roberto Alomar was three for three with a double and a triple and drove in two runs at San Diego to help Dennis Rasmussen (9-13) win for only the second time in his last 11 decisions.