NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mets Still Can’t Figure Out Pirates’ Tomlin

Pittsburgh’s Randy Tomlin continued his mastery of the slumping Mets Friday night at New York, and the Pirates continued to dominate the National League East.

Tomlin (8-3) gave up five hits in 7 1/3 innings, and the bullpen finished up a 3-2 victory. Tomlin, who is 13-14 against the rest of the league, is 7-0 against the Mets.

Tomlin, who shut out the Mets, 3-0, last Sunday, has won four in a row. The Pirates have won three in a row and lead the East by five games.

Roger Mason came to the rescue of Tomlin with runners on second and third in the eighth and got two groundouts. Bob Patterson retired all three batters in the ninth for his third save.

The big hit for the Pirates was Steve Buechele’s hit-and-run double against Sid Fernandez that scored two runs in the third inning to put them ahead for good.

The Mets have had trouble with other pitchers such as Mike Krukow and Juan Marichal over the years, but nothing like Tomlin.

Tomlin, in addition to having a losing record against the rest of the league, has an earned-run average of 3.18. Against the Mets, he has an ERA of 1.75.

A home run by Howard Johnson in the seventh, his first in 105 at-bats, ended Tomlin’s scoreless streak at 22 innings.

“I can’t figure out why we can’t hit him,” Johnson said. “His delivery is unorthodox. That seems to be the problem.”

Manager Jim Leyland of the Pirates said it was hard to explain. “I think it’s just one of those freak things,” he said.

Atlanta 6, San Diego 4--The Braves rallied for three runs in the eighth inning at Atlanta to win for the 11th time in their last 13 games.

Pinch-hitter Deion Sanders tied the score with a home run and Ron Gant won it with a run-scoring single.

The Padres took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth. Dan Walters’ run-scoring single deprived Tom Glavine of a chance to become the first 10-game winner in the majors.

Sanders’ home run against Mike Maddux took Glavine off the hook. Otis Nixon beat out a bunt, stole second and stopped at third on Terry Pendleton’s single.

Gant’s hit scored the go-ahead run and Pendleton scored on a grounder to give the Braves a two-run edge.

According to Nixon, who was waiting in the on-deck circle, Sanders, who had hit only two home runs, called his shot.

“I’m going to take him deep,” Sanders told Nixon.

The rally ended the Padres’ three-game winning streak.

Philadelphia 8, St. Louis 5--Darren Daulton hit his seventh home run in the last eight games and the Cardinals couldn’t halt their slump at home.

Daulton, who is seven for 17 with four homers in four games against the Cardinals, also had a run-scoring single.

The Cardinals have lost nine of 11 and 12 of 15.

After spotting the Phillies a 6-1 lead, they scored four runs in the fifth.

But John Kruk, who had three hits and increased his major league-leading average to .377, drove in a run with an infield hit in the sixth and Daulton homered in the seventh.

San Francisco 3, Houston 2--Cory Snyder extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single in the eighth inning at Houston that broke a 2-2 tie.

Kirt Manwaring singled to open the inning and was sacrificed to second. He stopped at third on Willie McGee’s single, his fourth hit of the game. After Will Clark was walked intentionally, Snyder beat out a dribbler down the third-base line to give the Giants the lead.

Chicago 5, Montreal 2--Andre Dawson had already hit a home run against Dennis Martinez at Chicago, so Expo Manager Felipe Alou decided to walk him in the eighth inning of a 2-2 tie.

But left-handed hitting Derrick May foiled the strategy and hit a three-run home run to give the Cubs the victory.

“I didn’t go against the book,” Alou said after putting the right-handed hitting Dawson on base and pitching to May. “The book I read said Dawson had nearly 400 home runs. I knew May didn’t have many.”

The home run was the first of the season for May and only the third of a brief career.

The victory was costly. Outfielder Sammy Sosa suffered a broken hand when he was hit by a Martinez pitch in the fifth inning. He is likely to be out four weeks.