National League Roundup : Gooden Has Three-Hit Shutout, Strikes Out 13

The New York media have a tendency to overrate the athletes who perform for teams in their city. The first sign that an athlete has some talent brings out the superlatives.

Dwight Gooden is an exception. No matter what is written or said, it’s almost impossible to go overboard on this young man. Unlike Clint Hartung and Lee Mazzilli, Gooden is for real.

In another magnificent performance Friday night at New York, Gooden outpitched Steve Carlton in the Mets’ 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Gooden, who had a no-hitter with two out in the seventh, settled for a three-hitter and struck out 13 to improve his record to 5-1. A clean single to right by Tim Corcoran ended the no-hit bid. Gooden seems certain to improve on last season, when he was 17-9, set a major league strikeout record for rookies (276) and was Rookie of the Year.

The Mets have such confidence in the 20-year-old righthander that they throw him in against the best in the league. Already this season, he has taken on Houston’s Nolan Ryan and St. Louis’ Joaquin Andujar in addition to Carlton.

It marked the second time Gooden has beaten Carlton (0-3), who had six strikeouts in three innings but gave up a two-run home run to George Foster in the fourth.

Gooden’s early-season figures are remarkable. He has started seven games and gone at least seven innings in each start. In 55 innings, he has given up only 31 hits and 8 earned runs for an earned-run average of 1.31. He has 56 strikeouts. In his only defeat, April 24 at St. Louis, a broken-bat single in the seventh drove in the run that beat him.

“I always feel I can win the game with him out there,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “Fans love to see those double-digit strikeout games, but for my money, I’d rather have fewer strikeouts. That way, late in the game and later in the season, he will have something left.”

Gooden, who said he would someday like to pitch a no-hitter or two, didn’t know until the sixth inning that he had one going.

“I looked up at the scoreboard,” he said, “and saw there were no hits. I knew there had been baserunners, but I guess they were on walks.”

The Phillies knew from the start that Gooden was sharp.

“Usually, it takes him a little while to get going,” Philadelphia Manager John Felske said. “But tonight, he was overpowering from the first pitch. When he throws the way he did tonight, nobody will beat him.”

When he came to bat in the eighth inning, the Shea Stadium crowd of 46,153 gave him a standing ovation. Gooden responded by getting a single, his second hit of the game.

Montreal 5, Atlanta 0--Rick Mahler’s unbeaten string ended at seven in this game at Montreal, but Bryn Smith extended his to five by pitching a five-hitter.

Mahler, the winningest pitcher in the majors, had trouble mainly with Vance Law. Law singled in the first and scored, then doubled with the bases loaded in the second to drive in three.

“I kept falling behind the batters,” Mahler said. “I wasn’t sharp tonight, but I guess I was due for a bad one after the way I’ve been pitching. Anyway, we didn’t score any runs, so it’s hard to win if you don’t score.”

Smith, in pitching his first complete game of the season, walked one and struck out two.

Chicago 6, San Diego 2--The Cubs had not scored a run in 26 innings, and LaMarr Hoyt was working on a one-hitter and leading, 1-0, in the seventh inning at San Diego.

Ryne Sandberg hit Hoyt’s first pitch of the inning over the left-field fence for his fifth home run of the season. The Cubs scored another run in the inning on a double by Jody Davis, and in the ninth, Richie Hebner hit a three-run home run.

Steve Trout worked the first 7 innings to raise his record to 5-1. Lee Smith finished up to gain his eighth save.

Larry Bowa, playing in a league-record 2,154th game at shortstop, made an error to allow the Padres an unearned run in the third inning.

Steve Garvey was 3 for 4 and is 11 for 16 in his last four games.

Cincinnati 5, Houston 2--Joe Niekro, needing a victory to become the winningest pitcher in Astro history, sailed through seven innings at Cincinnati with a three-hitter and a 2-0 lead.

But the 40-year-old knuckleball pitcher faltered in the eighth, and Frank DiPino couldn’t halt a five-run Red rally. Dave Parker, hitless in three tries against Niekro, singled with the bases loaded to tie the game, and Cesar Cedeno singled in the go-ahead run.

The next batter, Nick Esasky, hit a sharp grounder through the legs of third baseman Phil Garner, and the hard-hit ball went through the legs of left fielder Jose Cruz to send the final two runs home.

St. Louis 9, San Francisco 3--Tom Herr, the National League’s leading hitter, delivered a two-run single to crack a seventh-inning tie and then doubled home two runs in the ninth as the Cardinals rallied to beat the Giants at San Francisco.

The Cardinals entered the seventh trailing, 3-2, but struck for three runs against starter Dave LaPoint and reliever Greg Minton.