NATIONAL LEAGUE : May Is Driving Force as Cubs Outscore the Phillies, 11-7

Derrick May entertained his family on Friday by hitting two homers and driving in five runs to power the Chicago Cubs to an 11-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in a game featuring eight home runs.

The Phillies had their season opening three-game winning streak snapped despite hitting four homers, two by Darren Daulton and one each from John Kruk and Lenny Dykstra. They fell short in a bid to start their season with four straight victories for the first time since 1915.

May, who lives in Newark, Del., only 35 miles from Philadelphia, had 14 members of his family among the sellout crowd of 60,985, largest opening-day attendance in club history. His Mom, dad, sister, father and mother-in-law, cousins, nieces and nephews were all on hand.

“That wasn’t many,” he said. “I had more than 40 last year.”

The Cubs also got home runs from Jose Vizcaino and Mark Grace.

The eight home runs in the game accounted for 17 of the 18 runs scored.

Cubs manager Jim Lefebvre said he planned to platoon May in left field with Candy Maldanado.

That doesn’t bother May.

“At this point I just try to do my job when I’m in there,” May said. “I can’t dictate to the manager. All I can do is play as well as I can when I play.”

May said that a lot of people think that he can’t hit left-handers.

“It’s just that we got a guy like Candy Maldanado who kills left-handers. He hits home runs. The important thing isn’t who plays but for the team to win.”

Lefebvre described May as one of the most improved players in the NL and predicted the outfielder would be one of the better ones before too long.

Phillies manager Jim Fregosi defended starter Ben Rivera, a rookie star last year. “He didn’t have his fastball. It was a tough park to pitch in today (Friday) with the wind blowing out to right.”

Daulton said of the home run binge by both teams, “it was like a launching pad out there. I hope to lose 59 more.”

Lefebvre said he never has seen the ball jump out of Veterans Stadium the way it did Friday.

“It was flying out. You see that usually in the summer but not this time of year. It wasn’t the win. The ball was just jumping.”

Chicago chased Rivera (0-1) with a four-hit, three-run third for a 6-3 lead. With one out, Grace singled and May hit his first home run of the season. Sammy Sosa followed with a triple and scored on Steve Buechele’s single to knock out Rivera for Tommy Greene.

In the fourth, Kruk hit a 3-2 pitch for his first home run and in the fifth Dykstra hit his first to make it 6-5, chasing starter Frank Castillo.

Daulton hit a two-run homer in the eighth to make it 9-7, but Grace came right back with a two-run shot in the ninth off rookie Tyler Green.

Reliever Chuck McElroy (1-0) got the victory with 1 2-3 scoreless innings and Randy Myers finished for his first save as a Cub.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the first with two outs. Kruk hit his fifth double of the season and Dave Hollins walked before Daulton, last year’s NL RBI champ with 109, homered.

Chicago tied it in the second after Rivera appeared to bail out of trouble on a double-play ball. May opened with a single and Sosa walked. But after Buechele grounded into the double play, Rick Wilkins walked and Jose Vizcaino homered to right. Vizcaino entered the season with one homer in 491 career at-bats.

Notes:

The 23 runs scored by both teams were the most ever in a Phillies’ home opener at Veterans Stadium. The previous mark was 16 in a Mets’ win in 1986. ... Daulton’s two home runs and five RBIs ied career highs. ... The eight home runs tied a stadium record set June 22, 1977, when the Phillies hit five and the Cincinnati Reds three. ... All the home runs hit Friday were by left-handers. ... Ricky Jordan got a pinch single to extend his hitting streak through 14 games, including 12 last year. ... Castillo, who was second in allowing extra base hits in the NL last year, gave up three in 4 1-3 innings. ... Rivera’s loss was his first ever at Veterans Stadium. He was 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA until Friday’s defeat. ... The Phillies are 10-13 in openers at the Vet. ... The Cubs’ home runs were their first of the season.