NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Fregosi, Dykstra Make Case for Umpires

If Richie Phillips, head of the umpires’ union, wants testimony in negotiations with owners that have so far been less than fruitful, he can call on Philadelphia Manager Jim Fregosi.

Center fielder Lenny Dykstra would probably put in his two cents worth too.

The two were livid Saturday night when replacement umpires refused to count a run Dykstra insisted he scored in a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Philadelphia.

Trailing by a run in the eighth inning, the Phillies had Dykstra on third base and Gregg Jefferies on first with one out when Dave Hollins hit a hard grounder to first baseman Orlando Merced, who touched the bag, then threw to shortstop Jay Bell, who tagged the sliding Jefferies for the third out.

Fregosi and third base coach Larry Bowa immediately contended that Dykstra crossed the plate before Jefferies was tagged.

Plate umpire Mark Widlowski disagreed.

“Damn right I’m upset,” said Fregosi, ejected by Widlowski after a lengthy and animated argument. “The man cost us a ballgame.”

Said Dykstra: “That call was so bad, it’s . . . scary.” “They have no idea what’s going on. They . . . it up.”

Widlowski was a minor league umpire from 1985 to 90.

San Francisco 1, Florida 0--For the second game in a row, the Giants got a strong pitching performance from an unexpected source. Trevor Wilson, who last started a game in August of 1993, then spent months in mental and physical rehabilitation, gave up two hits in six innings at San Francisco.

A run-scoring double from Matt Williams in the sixth inning supported Wilson, and Rod Beck got his 41st consecutive save.

The Marlins had only three hits.

San Diego 9, Cincinnati 5--Andujar Cedeno hit a three-run homer to highlight a six-run first inning for the Padres, who won at home, handing the Reds their fourth loss in a row.

Cincinnati fell to 0-4 for the first time since 1971.

Scott Sanders (1-0) pitched five shutout innings for the Padres, who have won three in a row. Bip Roberts of the Padres left the game in the third inning for precautionary reasons after being hit in the helmet by Pete Schourek (0-1). Both benches and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown in the incident.

New York 5, St. Louis 4--Pete Harnisch, who grew up a Met fan in New York and was traded to them by the Houston Astros in November, pitched three-hit ball for six innings and left with a 4-1 lead. But the Mets needed an 11th-inning single from Joe Orsulak on an 0-and-2 pitch with the bases loaded to win.

Chicago 5, Montreal 4--Jaime Navarro’s first National League pitch was a good one, and all Mark Grudzielanek could do was loft a fly ball to right field. Sammy Sosa, never considered a good outfielder, lived down to his reputation by dropping the ball for an error.

After Roberto Kelly singled home Grudzielanek, Sosa apologized to Navarro. Then Sosa atoned by hitting a homer, tripling and singling for the Cubs, who are 4-0 for the first time since 1969.

Colorado 2, Houston 1--The unbeaten Rockies won their fourth game in a row, using Eric Young’s two-run single to win at Houston.

The Rockies, who managed only three hits in Friday night’s 2-1 victory over the Astros, again won with only three hits.