NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Gibson Takes Advantage of Playing Time

Manager Jim Leyland believes in using his entire roster. The strategy often pays off.

Lately, his pet project has been to get playing time for Kirk Gibson, the veteran outfielder the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired near the end of spring training.

For the second time in three games, Gibson came up with a big hit Wednesday night at Montreal and the Pirates stretched their winning streak to nine games with a 2-0 victory over the Expos.

Gibson hit Dennis Martinez’s third pitch of the game for a home run, and Doug Drabek (3-1) made it stand up with a five-hitter.

The Pirates’ 12-2 start is their best in 78 years.

It was Gibson’s second home run of the season. The other was a grand slam that helped win Monday’s game, also at Montreal.

“It was a fastball up, and up where I could drive it,” Gibson said.

Drabek is accustomed to winning at Montreal. He is 12-6 against the Expos and 7-1 at Montreal.

“(Even) with Kirk’s homer, you’re not going to relax,” Drabek said. “But it’s nice to have a cushion early in the game.”

It was a tough loss for Martinez (1-3). The only other hit he gave up in eight innings was Gibson’s single in the third. The Pirates picked up an extra run on Steve Buechele’s single.

Some hard feelings carried over from Tuesday night’s game when Expo reliever John Wetteland hit Barry Bonds.

Drabek responded by hitting Larry Walker in the first inning. Walker backed up onto the field toward the mound and appeared to say something to plate umpire Dana DeMuth. Walker then walked toward first base while well inside the foul line. DeMuth immediately issued a warning to Leyland.

“I told Dana that it was done on purpose,” Walker said. “He said no, but I know that it was. When I went up there in the ninth inning, I told (Pirate catcher Mike) LaValliere to tell Doug not to throw around my head.”

New York 3, St. Louis 2--As the fog rolled in at Shea Stadium, Eddie Murray crashed out of his.

Murray hit his first home run as a Met with one out in the ninth inning to break the 2-2 tie and move the Mets above .500 (8-7).

When Murray homered off Cris Carpenter, the field looked more like a scene out of San Francisco than New York.

Murray didn’t see the ball after it took off. “I wondered if I got enough on the ball in the fog,” Murray said. “I really didn’t see it go out.”

Jeff Innis, who struck out the side in the ninth inning, got the victory.

David Cone held the Cardinals hitless until the fifth and struck out seven in 7 1/3 innings.

San Diego 9, Atlanta 4--The Braves ended a 2-8 trip with Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine being beaten at San Diego.

Glavine was hammered for five runs in the first inning, and when he left after four innings, he had given up 11 hits and six runs and his record was 2-1.

Fred McGriff hit a two-run double and Jerald Clark a two-run home run in the first inning. They led a 15-hit assault that dropped the Braves (6-10) deeper into the cellar in the West.

The Braves began the trip with three defeats in close games at Cincinnati. They followed by losing three out of four to the Dodgers.

“I don’t have anything to attribute my performance to other than I just kept missing up over the plate and when I do, I get killed,” Glavine said.

Tony Gwynn, raising his average to .381, and Gary Sheffield had three hits.

Atlanta’s Deion Sanders, whose 14-game hitting streak was ended Tuesday night, led off the game with a home run to give the Braves a temporary lead. Sanders also singled, raising his batting average to .388.

Bruce Hurst pitched 7 1/3 innings to get his first victory of the season.

Chicago 9, Philadelphia 5--The Cubs weren’t really too perturbed when Darren Daulton and Wes Chamberlain hit first-inning home runs to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead. After all, the wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field, and they were facing a pitcher who has fared poorly at Chicago.

Ryne Sandberg hit a three-run home run and Andre Dawson also homered and drove in three runs as the Cubs rallied to beat Terry Mulholland (0-3).

Mulholland went into the game with an ERA of 11.67 at Wrigley Field. Giving up six runs in six innings improved it only slightly.

“It’s difficult to pitch here,” Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi said. “In this game you make your own breaks, but this is a difficult park for pitchers when the wind is blowing out.”

Houston 3, San Francisco 1--Chris Jones hit a two-run home run in the 12th inning to end the long home stand on a happy note for the Astros.

The Astros finished with a 9-6 record and took over first place in the West Division.

Eric Yelding had a one-out single in the 12th before Jones hit his first homer of the season, a shot off Mike Jackson (0-1).