NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Padres Lose Longest Game of the Season

Fernando Vina singled home the winning run in the 15th inning at New York to give the Mets a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres Wednesday night in a 4-hour 57-minute game, the longest in the majors this season.

Tim Mauser (1-1), the Padres’ sixth pitcher, relieved to start the inning and gave up a leadoff single to Kevin McReynolds, who advanced on Bobby Bonilla’s groundout. Pinch-hitter Luis Rivera fouled out and Vina hit a grounder that bounced off Phil Clark’s glove at first for a hit as the winning run scored well past midnight.

“I knew it would have been a tough play,” Vina said. “I was just running hard if he didn’t field it--to beat a throw to the first baseman.”

Doug Linton (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings for the victory, which ended the Padres’ four-game winning streak and the Mets’ three-game losing streak.

Derek Bell of the Padres, in his first game since Tuesday’s arrest on a charge of soliciting a prostitute, went two for seven with a double.

“Great baseball game. That’s all I can say,” Met Manager Dallas Green said, looking as exhausted as his players. “We didn’t play good situation baseball. We probably could have won it five different innings.”

Padre starter Andy Ashby gave up two runs and five hits in eight innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.

New York’s Bobby Jones extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 18 innings before faltering in the seventh. He gave up two runs and four hits in six-plus innings, walked seven--three intentionally--and struck out five.

Montreal 7, San Francisco 1--Ken Hill scattered six hits for his first complete game in more than a year, leading the Expos against the Giants at Montreal.

The victory capped another successful April for Hill. He is 4-1 this April, he was 2-0 in April 1992, and he went 4-0 in April 1993.

Hill, who last went the distance in a 6-1 victory over the Giants last April 24, gave up one unearned run in pitching his ninth career complete game. He struck out one and walked two.

The right-hander, who was slow to recover from a groin pull during the second half of last season, threw hard and low, getting 18 ground ball outs.

“He’s back to the form of ’92 when he was awesome,” Expo Manager Felipe Alou said.

Sean Berry had three hits for the Expos, who have won seven of their last eight games.

Montreal got five hits, all singles, off Mark Portugal (2-2) in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Moises Alou got things started with a single, extending his batting streak to 14 games.

Portugal gave up five runs and nine hits over five innings.

Pittsburgh 3, Cincinnati 1--The Pirates expected Zane Smith to be their best pitcher, but for the time being he is also their best hitter. His two hits in this victory over the Reds at Pittsburgh raised his batting average to .500. He is six for 12.

On the mound, Smith kept the Reds off-balance with an assortment of sinkers and off-speed pitches.

Carlos Garcia had a go-ahead, run-scoring double and Jay Bell homered off former Pirate John Smiley (2-2) to back Smith’s four-hit pitching. The complete game was only the second since 1992 for Smith, who gave up one hit over the final six innings.

Smith (3-1) has won three in a row and already has matched his victory total since developing shoulder problems in July 1992. He was 3-8 last season and didn’t pitch for the final six weeks to avoid reinjuring the shoulder.

Smith was a 16-game winner in 1991.

The Reds, who entered the game with a major league-leading 13-5 record, lost for only the second time in nine games. They had also won 10 of their last 14 against Pittsburgh.

Houston 8, Chicago 5--Jeff Bagwell drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout in the seventh inning as the Astros rallied from five runs down for a victory over the Cubs at Houston.

Houston trailed, 5-0, after two innings before battling back to hand Chicago its 10th loss in 12 games.

Ken Caminiti hit a three-run homer and Andujar Cedeno added a solo shot for the Astros.

Shane Reynolds picked up his first win since Sept. 27, 1992, with three scoreless innings of relief.

Florida 3, Colorado 2--Gary Sheffield homered for the third consecutive game and Charlie Hough (2-0) pitched seven strong innings, leading the Marlins over the Rockies at Miami.

A day after relief ace Bryan Harvey was placed on the disabled list, the Marlins barely held on in the ninth.

Pinch-hitter John Vander Wal’s triple made it 3-2 with one out, but Jeremy Hernandez retired pinch-hitter Eric Young on a pop and got Walt Weiss on a fly ball for his second save.

Sheffield hit his eighth homer of the season, and tied a team record for home runs in a month, with a two-run shot in the first inning.