National League Roundup : Carter’s Homer in 9th Gets Mets Closer to Title

Gary Carter hit a home run with one out in the ninth inning Monday night to give the New York Mets a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at New York and reduce the Mets’ magic number for clinching the National League East title to 10.

Jeff Robinson (9-5) relieved Doug Drabek to start the ninth, and after Howard Johnson fouled to third base, Carter hit his 11th homer of the season, the 302nd of his career.

“It’s nice to start off the (10-game) home stand in dramatic style like this,” Carter said. “These are not Gary Carter numbers that I have this season.

“Hopefully, I can finish off strong in the regular season and carry this into the playoffs and World Series.”

Carter had a long home-run drought in the middle of the season when he was trying for his 300th homer, and he has driven in only 46 runs.

“Maybe it was the stigma of having to wait so long for my 300th home run, or maybe it was a flaw in my batting style that I wasn’t able to pick up,” Carter said.

Rookie Gregg Jefferies went 4 for 4 for New York. He is 24 for 52 (.462) since being called up from triple-A Tidewater.

It was the Mets’ fifth consecutive victory and their 15th in 19 games as they moved 11 games ahead of second-place Pittsburgh. The win also moved the Mets to 30 games above .500 at 86-56.

Randy Myers (6-3) got the last out in the ninth inning for the victory.

Ron Darling pitched 8 innings for New York and allowed two runs and seven hits. Darling walked five and struck out six.

Met first baseman Keith Hernandez left the game in the second inning with tightness in his right hamstring. Hernandez spent two months on the disabled list with a pulled hamstring, and the Mets said he was taken out of Monday’s game for precautionary reasons.

Philadelphia 5, Chicago 1--Bob Dernier’s run-scoring single snapped a seventh-inning tie and rookie Ron Jones drove in three runs at Philadelphia as the Phillies handed the Cubs their fifth consecutive loss.

Don Carman (10-11) allowed four hits in seven innings to break a personal six-game losing streak, and Kent Tekulve finished for his fourth save.

Montreal 14, St. Louis 2--Nelson Santovenia drove in five runs as the Expos broke the Cardinals’ seven-game winning streak at Montreal.

Tim Wallach had three singles and Rex Hudler drove in three runs to pace a 13-hit attack as the Expos set a season high for runs. They broke out of a weekend scoring drought in which they went 22 innings without a run and were shut out twice in three games by New York.

Bryn Smith (11-9) went six innings for the victory, and Joe Magrane (4-9) took the loss.

Magrane, who started the game leading the National League with a 2.03 earned-run average, allowed five runs (four earned) in 2 innings.

The Cardinals lost third baseman Terry Pendleton, who caught his spikes in the turf making a fielding play in the third inning and had to be taken from the field on a stretcher. Preliminary reports indicated that Pendleton may have suffered cartilage damage to his left knee.

San Francisco 4, San Diego 2--Dennis Cook allowed two hits and no runs in 5 innings in his major league debut as the Giants beat the Padres at San Diego.

Cook, just recalled from triple-A Phoenix, combined with Craig Lefferts, Roger Samuels, Scott Garrelts and Joe Price for the victory.

The Giants, who moved back into a fourth-place tie with the Padres in the National League West, beat Andy Hawkins (14-11).