NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Met Fans Get the Point Across, $1 at a Time

It was a ‘60s Friday night in New York, though the guys protesting were infants when the acts they emulated were being performed.

Three men wearing “Greed” T-shirts ran onto the field at Shea Stadium in the fourth inning, threw 150 dollar bills at players and then stood at second base to receive an ovation from a crowd that later saw the Mets come back from a five-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-8.

It was a novel twist to the fans’ backlash protesting the players’ strike that delayed the season and cost last year’s World Series.

“We were trying to think of a good fan protest, and I remembered Abby Hoffman throwing money on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,” said Vincent DeCrescenzo, 27, a waiter who spent time in a holding cell with his friends before being ejected from the park.

The players were impressed by the action, if not the cash.

“That was a great stunt. Very ingenious. If they had thrown 50s out, we might have picked them up,” said Met starter Bret Saberhagen, who was pounded for 10 hits and seven runs in five innings.

Todd Hundley’s bases-loaded double in the seventh inning capped New York’s comeback from a five-run deficit.

San Francisco 4, Florida 0--The Giants were revisited by a problem from a year ago, pitching injuries, but got a strong performance from emergency starter Mark Leiter, working in place of William VanLandingham. Leiter gave up only two bunt hits.

VanLandingham was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a rib cage injury sustained while throwing on the sideline earlier this week. For Manager Dusty Baker, whose staff was destroyed by injuries last season, it was frustrating. “We’ll just have to adjust,” Baker said. “We’ve been adjusting around here for the last few years.”

The Marlins had their own problems. Reliever Bryan Harvey, limited to 12 appearances last season because of three serious injuries, gave up Glenallen Hill’s three-run home run and lasted only three batters before being hurt again.

Chicago 4, Montreal 3--Kevin Foster yielded three hits in six innings, and Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer at Chicago for the Cubs, who have won their first three for the first time since 1988.

The winning run was scored by Brian McRae, who doubled off pitcher Jeff Shaw’s leg, stole third base and came home on catcher Tim Laker’s throwing error in the sixth inning.

Philadelphia 5, Pittsburgh 2--Paul Quantrill pitched six shutout innings, and Kevin Stocker drove in three runs for the Phillies, who won their home opener.

Jim Eisenreich hit a solo homer in the seventh on the second major league pitch thrown by Pirate reliever Gary Wilson.

Colorado 2, Houston 1--Jason Bates hit Darryl Kile’s first pitch of the third inning over the right-field fence, and the Rockies added another run in that inning to spoil the Astros’ home opener. Colorado is unbeaten after three games.

After Vinny Castilla flied out, Kile hit pitcher Kevin Ritz with a pitch. Ritz then stole second base and scored the Rockies’ second run on Joe Girardi’s single.

San Diego 8, Cincinnati 7--Bip Roberts’ bases-loaded infield single with two outs in the ninth inning gave the Padres a victory at San Diego after they had blown a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning.