National League Roundup : Darling Wins Again, and Mets Only 3 1/2 Behind

The onrushing New York Mets are convinced the St. Louis Cardinals are feeling the pressure.

Ron Darling pitched a four-hitter and struck out 11 Friday night at New York as the Mets whipped the Chicago Cubs, 7-1, for their seventh consecutive victory and moved within 3 1/2 games of the Cardinals in the East.

Howard Johnson, who felt vindicated when his confiscated bat was returned after it was determined that it had not been tampered with, tripled in a run in the second inning, and the Mets never looked back.

Rafael Santana and Gary Carter hit home runs off Rick Sutcliffe (15-5) and, with Darling pitching brilliantly, it was a romp. Darling lost his shutout in the eighth when Ryne Sandberg homered for his 1,000th hit.

“I think they (Cardinals) are a little scared of us now,” Carter said. “I gotta believe they’re looking over their shoulders.”

The Mets’ surge began shortly after Manager Davey Johnson removed Carter from the cleanup spot and inserted Darryl Strawberry. Both seem to have benefited from the switch.

The return to form of Darling has played a part, too. On July 21, the Mets were 10 games behind the Cardinals and Darling had a 4-7 record. Darling has won four in a row and the Mets are 13-3 in that period.

“I’ve turned it around simply by throwing strikes and staying ahead of the batters,” Darling said. “Let’s face it, 10 weeks ago I was horrible.

“Now, we’re in the race to stay. I would prefer the Cardinals’ position, but, we’re going to make a run at them. We’ll be there.

“When we had the rain delays the other night, we watched the Cardinals on TV playing the Expos. They just don’t look like the club they were a month ago. They are tense.”

Philadelphia 15, St. Louis 5--After hitting a home run and a double and driving in five runs at Philadelphia, Chris James laughed and said: “Ah, it was the lively ball, and I used a corked bat.”

James’ hitting made it easy for Shane Rawley to win his sixth in a row and 14th of the season to tie his career high.

James is hitting .331 and has hit 13 home runs since being recalled from Maine June 2.

The Phillies, who had scored only 15 runs in losing six straight games, hammered out 15 hits against five pitchers, including Jose Oquendo.

Oquendo, who has played every position except catcher, pitched the ninth, giving up four hits and three runs.

“Nobody got hurt, that’s the best thing I can say,” Manager Whitey Herzog of the Cardinals said. “The Mets are playing very well, but we can’t worry about them. We have to play well ourselves.”

San Francisco 3, Cincinnati 1--The Giants’ two hot hitters, Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark, hit home runs at San Francisco, and Mike LaCoss pitched another fine game.

Mitchell, who is hitting .484 for the last seven games, hit a two-run homer in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. Clark’s home run was his 21st of the seasonand third in four games.

LaCoss (10-6) has beaten the Reds twice and the Cardinals once in his last three starts. He pitched a five-hitter in his first complete game.

The victory in the opener of a four-game series moved the Giants to within four games of the Reds.

Cincinnati’s Bill Gullickson (10-9) gave up only five hits, but two were homers. He has allowed 32 homers this season.

Pittsburgh 9, Montreal 3--Second baseman Vance Law’s two-out error set up four unearned runs in the second inning at Pittsburgh and enabled Bob Walk to win his first game in almost three months.

Walk (3-1) went six innings, giving up five hits and all three runs, to win for the first time since May 13.

Catcher Mike LaValliere had a big game for the Pirates. He had three hits, scored two runs, drove in two runs and cut down two Expos trying to steal. He ended Tim Raines’ string of 27 consecutive steals.

San Diego 7, Houston 1--Stan Jefferson and the major leagues’ leading hitter Tony Gwynn hit first-inning triples at San Diego to get the Padres off to a fast start against Mike Scott.

The Astros stranded 10 runners in the first four innings.

It was the Padres’ fifth win in the last six games.