NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Gooden Gets 150th as Mets Beat Padres

Dwight Gooden is no longer an extremely hard thrower, and believes he will have to become more of a finesse pitcher to continue toward a goal of 300 victories.

“If I do get close to 300, I’ll be throwing more like Frank Tanana,” he said. “The first inning is still my problem.”

Gooden, a notoriously slow starter, fell behind by 1-0 in the opening inning Tuesday night at New York, but wound up beating the San Diego Padres, 9-7, for his 150th victory.

He didn’t disagree with Manager Dallas Green’s decision to replace him after eight innings. Gooden (8-8) also had a three-run triple as he ended a personal four-game losing streak.

Jeff Kent hit a three-run homer in a four-run eighth inning and Eddie Murray went three for five for New York.

San Francisco 13, Montreal 5--Mark Carreon had a two-run double and winning pitcher Bryan Hickerson added a two-run single as the Giants beat the Expos at Montreal.

The Giants reached double figures in runs for the third consecutive game. They have 33 runs and 44 hits in their last three.

“It’s been that way all season long,” Carreon said. “We really pull together well, up and down the lineup. We have injuries right now, and our bench has come in and picked up the starters.”

St. Louis 5, Atlanta 4--Gregg Jefferies homered and had three RBIs, and Todd Zeile drove in the winning run as the Cardinals rallied in the ninth inning to beat the Braves at St. Louis.

The Cardinals trailed by 4-3 after the Braves scored twice in the eighth inning against reliever Omar Olivares. Luis Alicea led off the Cardinal ninth with a single to center and was bunted to second by Ozzie Smith. Jefferies singled to score Alicea and went to second on the play at the plate. He scored on Zeile’s single to left to make a loser of reliever Mike Stanton (4-3), who opened the ninth.

Cardinal starter Bob Tewksbury held the Braves scoreless over six innings. Tewksbury, who was seeking his sixth consecutive victory, walked none and now has given up only six walks in 112 2/3 innings.

Chicago 3, Cincinnati 2--Jose Vizcaino’s double keyed a two-run third inning and the Cubs held on at Chicago to end the Reds’ four-game winning streak.

Jose Bautista (4-2) was the winner in an emergency relief role. Bautista took over for Jose Guzman, who left in the fourth inning when a line drive by Barry Larkin hit him under the left kneecap.

Pittsburgh 10, Houston 3--Don Slaught and Jeff King homered, and Jeff Ballard got his first National League victory for the Pirates at Houston. The Pirates ended a four-game losing streak.

Ballard, making his first NL appearance, gave up three runs on 10 hits in 8 2/3 innings while striking out four and walking three.

Colorado 8, Florida 3--Andres Galarraga and Dante Bichette hit two-run homers, helping Armando Reynoso and the Rockies defeat the Marlins at Denver.

Galarraga hit a 473-foot homer to center field in the first inning, the longest at Mile High Stadium this season.