National League Roundup : Mets Score 99th Victory, Upending Cardinals, 9-1

Ray Knight, Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry hit solo home runs and Bob Ojeda and Jesse Orosco combined on a four-hitter Tuesday, leading the New York Mets to a 9-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at New York.

The win gave the Mets 99 for the season, the second-most in their history and bettering last year’s 98-64 record. New York’s best record was the 1969 World Series-winning club with a 100-62 mark.

“Everything seems to be coming together at the right time,” said Lee Mazzilli, who drove in three runs with a double and a single. “Guys were stale before we clinched, then we did it and everybody got some time off. Everybody’s jelling, especially Strawberry. He’s swinging the bat real well. We’ve got to have him going in the playoffs because he’s going to be a key.”

Ojeda (17-5) earned his fifth victory in six decisions, allowing three hits, striking out five and walking none over six innings. Orosco got his 19th save with three innings of one-hit relief.

Montreal 10, Chicago 5--Dennis Martinez and Jim Wohlford each hit two-run doubles, and Andres Galarraga and Andre Dawson added two-run singles as part of the Expos’ 18-hit attack at Chicago.

Tim Raines, fighting for the NL batting title, went 3 for 4, Dawson had three hits and drove home two runs and Galarraga had two singles and two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

Cincinnati 6, San Francisco 5--Kurt Stillwell’s two-out single in the seventh inning scored Ron Oester with the tie-breaking run as the Reds beat the Giants at Cincinnati.

The Reds’ victory left the clubs in a tie for second place in the NL West.

Stillwell had scored the tying run an inning earlier when he was hit by a pitch by starter Kelly Downs and eventually scored on Tony Perez’s two-out single.

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 5--Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run ninth inning as the Pirates beat the Phillies at Pittsburgh.

Mike Schmidt knocked in his league-leading 118th run for the Phillies.

San Diego 5, Atlanta 2--Pinch-hitter Terry Kennedy drove in two runs with a single with two out in the seventh, and reliever Craig Lefferts set a club record by appearing in his 79th game as the Padres beat the Braves at Atlanta.