National League Roundup : Expos Win 8th in Row as Martinez Defeats Astros With 5-Hitter

Although no one may be noticing, the Montreal Expos are showing that there’s more to the Eastern Division than the St. Louis Cardinals.

Monday night at Montreal, the Expos won for the eighth straight time as Dennis Martinez pitched a five-hitter and Mitch Webster hit a two-run home run in a 4-1 win over the slumping Houston Astros.

Though they may still be 6 1/2 games behind the idle Cardinals, the Expos are 52-39, a .571 winning percentage.

Martinez (5-1) struck out four and walked two in pitching his second complete game since being recalled June 8 from Indianapolis of the American Assn. Houston starter Jim Deshaies (8-4) went six innings and allowed all four runs as the Astros lost their fourth straight. It was their ninth loss in 11 outings. In eight of those 11 games, they have scored two runs or less.

“When your team is on a winning streak, you don’t want to be the pitcher who ends it,” Martinez said. “Other guys might not admit it, but they’re all thinking about that. You want to go out and keep the team rolling.”

Houston scored first, but the Expos came took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning with consecutive two-out singles by Hubie Brooks, Andres Galarraga, Vance Law and Mike Fitzgerald. The advantage went to 4-1 in the fifth, when Casey Candaele reached first on an infield hit and Webster homered.

Law’s two hits in three at-bats gave him a .541 average (20 for 37) in his last 11 games.

New York 9, Atlanta 2--Len Dykstra doubled and homered for a career-high four RBIs, and Don Schulze won his first National League decision as the Mets won at New York.

Schulze, who had pitched for the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians, worked 6 innings in his first start for the Mets. The right-hander, purchased July 14 from Tidewater of the International League, allowed three hits, and Roger McDowell pitched 2 inning in relief.

“I knew the Mets had an exceptional staff when I was traded from the Cleveland organization, and I wondered if I’d ever get a chance to move up,” said Schulze, whose last victory was June 21, 1986. “The injuries (to Met pitchers Bob Ojeda, Rick Aguilera and David Cone) helped get me here quicker than I expected, and now I want to stay.”

Schulze, hitless in his previous 62 at-bats in the majors, was also credited with the game-winning RBI when he drew a bases-loaded walk from Randy O’Neal (4-2) in the second inning that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. Dykstra followed with his two-run double, and Wally Backman made it 5-1 with a sacrifice fly.

Ozzie Virgil hit his 21st home run for the Braves, who have lost five straight.

Cincinnati 10, Philadelphia 6--The Reds, who scored two runs in the seventh inning and four in the eighth to force the game into extra innings at Philadelphia, won it in the 10th as Kurt Stillwell doubled and Nick Esasky scored from first base on a throwing error.

John Franco (6-3), the Reds’ fifth pitcher of the night, had two innings of hitless relief for the win. Mike Jackson (3-8) took the loss.

The Phillies led at one point, 6-0, after Mike Schmidt’s 21st home run and Chris James’ eighth.

San Diego 7, Chicago 4--Carmelo Martinez knocked in two runs and keyed a four-run seventh inning with an RBI single at San Diego as the Padres spoiled the National League debut of Cub starter Bob Tewksbury, a recent acquisition from the New York Yankees.

Tewksbury (0-1) went six innings, allowing eight hits and five runs, four of them earned. Tewksbury pitched to two batters in the Padres’ four-run seventh before being relieved by Frank DiPino.

Lance McCullers (6-6) got the victory with two hitless innings of relief.

Pittsburgh 7, San Francisco 6--Al Pedrique hit his first major league home run, a three-run shot, and Andy Van Slyke added a three-run homer at San Francisco to drop the Giants four games behind Cincinnati in the West.

Brian Fisher (5-6) allowed four hits over seven innings for the win, while Don Robinson got three outs for his 12th save. Mike LaCoss (7-6) left the game in the fifth with a bruised left knee after being struck by a line drive by Van Slyke and took the loss.