National League Roundup : Mets’ Johnson Has Bat Checked Again; Giants Win, Take Lead Alone

For the third time this season, Howard Johnson of the New York Mets had the legality of his bat questioned Wednesday night.

After Johnson hit a home run to lead off the second inning at New York, San Francisco Manager Roger Craig leaped out of the dugout and demanded that umpire Dutch Rennert seize the Met third baseman’s bat.

Johnson, who had only 41 home runs in 411 major league games going into this season, now has 30 this season.

In retaliation, Met Manager Davey Johnson demanded that Candy Maldonado’s bat be confiscated when the Giant outfielder hit a line foul in the fourth inning. If it is determined that either bat has been tampered with, the player and his manager face discipline.

Maldonado had the last laugh. He drew a walk to open the 10th inning, and the Giants went on to score four times and beat the Mets, 10-6. San Francisco took over sole possession of first place in the National League West.

Maldonado advanced to third base on Will Clark’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chili Davis to break the 6-6 tie.

Winning pitcher Scott Garrelts doubled in a run and scored another in the 10th-inning rally against Met bullpen ace Roger McDowell.

The Mets, with Darryl Strawberry also hitting his 30th home run, built a 5-1 lead but couldn’t hold it.

The Mets missed a chance to win in nine innings when Garrelts struck out Kevin McReynolds and Johnson with runners on first and third.

Previously, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs had asked to have Johnson’s bat checked for cork.

“I want Johnson to autograph the bat for me,” said Craig, smiling. “Seriously, I know him from my days with Detroit and I realize he has the potential to do what he’s doing. However, when he hits the ball off the scoreboard 480 feet away, I’m not about to take any chances.

“I knew one of these days I would wake up and discover us in first place.”

Pittsburgh 10, Cincinnati 9--Manager Pete Rose chastised the Reds for a miserable performance in a 7-4 loss to the Pirates Tuesday night, but this didn’t lead to the desired results Wednesday night.

Pitcher Brad Gideon singled in two runs in a five-run eighth inning that enabled the Pirates to outlast the Reds and knock them out of first place in the West.

All the runs in the rally were unearned and they were just enough to hold off the Reds, who scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Houston 2, St. Louis 1--Joe Magrane held the Astros to one hit for six innings at Houston, but they were still able to beat the slumping Cardinals.

The win was Houston’s sixth in a row, all at home.

Rookie Ken Caminiti hit a two-out, two-run double in the seventh to hand the Cardinals, who had only four hits, their fourth loss in a row.

Manager Whitey Herzog thought right fielder Jim Lindeman should have caught Caminiti’s drive.

Houston’s Bob Knepper (6-13) and Larry Andersen combined on the four-hitter.

Tommy Herr, returning after missing two games with a pain in his side, drove in the Cardinals’ run with a grounder in the first inning.

Philadelphia 6, San Diego 5--Mike Schmidt hit his 521st home run to join a couple of outstanding sluggers in ninth place on the all-time list, but the Phillies almost blew a 6-0 lead at Philadelphia.

Schmidt tied Ted Williams and Willie McCovey on the home run list. It was his 482nd as a third baseman and ties him with the all-time leader among third basemen, Eddie Mathews.

Bruce Ruffin, who got the victory, left in the eighth after allowing four earned runs.

Jeff Calhoun gave up the final run in the ninth on a double by Luis Salazar but managed to get his first save.

Chicago 9, Atlanta 1--Scott Sanderson gave up just 4 hits in 7 innings at Atlanta, and Luis Quinones singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh.

Charley Puleo (5-6) had retired 13 batters in a row in a 1-1 game when Keith Moreland doubled, Quinones singled and Jody Davis doubled to set up Sanderson’s victory.

Rafael Plameiro hit a three-run home run in a six-run ninth inning.