National League Roundup : Mets Sweep Back Into Race, 2-1, in 14 Innings

When the weekend began the New York Mets figured the only way to get back into the race in the National League East was to sweep their three-game series with the Montreal Expos.

The Mets completed the sweep Sunday at New York when Kevin McReynolds opened the bottom of the 14th with his 12th home run to give the Mets a 2-1 victory.

With the Chicago Cubs losing an 18-inning marathon at Pittsburgh, the Mets, seven games out of first place Friday afternoon, are only four games out of the lead and feeling confident.

The Mets play 14 of their next 17 games at home, the only road games are in nearby Philadelphia starting tonight. While they are playing the lowly Phillies, the Exposand Cubs, tied for first, will be playing at Chicago.

“I wasn’t thinking about a sweep,” Mets’ Manager Davey Johnson said. “I was thinking we were ready to play well. It started in St. Louis. I felt all along this division would be a dogfight. We’re in gear now.”

The Expos had all sorts of chances to win and pull six games ahead of the Mets. Most of the time they needed a hit from Tim Wallach. The third baseman left 12 runners stranded, going hitless in six at-bats.

Jeff Musselman, who escaped jams in the 13th and 14th, gained his first victory as a Met.

In the 14th, the Expos had speedy Otis Nixon on third with one out. But Tim Raines popped out and Wallach grounded out.

Sid Fernandez’ wildness enabled the Expos to score in the fourth when a hit and two walks loaded the bases and Wallach hit a sacrifice fly.

Darryl Strawberry, struggling to get out of a deep slump, tied the score with his 23rd home run in the seventh.

Strange baserunning by Dave Magadan kept the Mets from getting a run in the second inning. With McReynolds on second, Magadan singled to center. While McReynolds was being cut down at the plate, Magadan watched and forgot to go to second. Then, on a pop fly that fell safe in short center with two out in the inning, Magadan made it only to second. Then he only reached third on the next single and the Mets didn’t score.

Pittsburgh 5, Chicago 4--It was another lead-off home run by the home team that won the 18-inning game.

Scott Sanderson had pitched eight scoreless innings for the Cubs when Jeff King came up in the 18th and the rookie first baseman hit his third major-league home run.

The Cubs started off with a problem. Scheduled starter Paul Kilgus was attending the birth of his child and Jeff Pico came out of the bullpen to start.

Still, the Cubs had a 4-3 lead in the ninth when the Pirates tied it without getting a hit. Bullpen ace Mitch Williams, felled by a line drive to the ear Saturday, got the last two outs in the ninth, but the first was Barry Bonds’ sacrifice fly that tied it.

Andre Dawson, mired in a one-for-32 slump, hit his 11th home run in the second inning for the Cubs.

Houston 3, San Francisco 2--It would have been tough to handle, losing to Bob Knepper, who pitched ineffectively for the Astros this season and was released nine days ago.

The Astros, trailing, 2-1, when Will Clark hit his 18th home run in the fifth inning at San Francisco, were in danger of falling four games behind in the West.

In the sixth Billy Hatcher singled home the tying run and in the eighth, rookie second baseman Eric Yelding singled in the winning run.

Knepper gave up seven hits and two runs in six innings in a sparkling return to the Giants.

The Astros had scored only one earned run in the previous 41 innings at Candlestick before getting the three. By salvaging one game in the three-game series, the Astros are two games behind.

St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 4--Joe Magrane has 13 victories as a pitcher. By keeping his bat on his shoulder, he gave the Cardinals a victory as a hitter.

With the Cardinals out of pinch-hitters and the bases loaded and two out in the 10th at St. Louis, Manager Whitey Herzog sent Magrane up to bat.

Reliever Jeff Parrett had just walked Denny Walling intentionally before the .158-hitting Magrane came to the plate. He walked on a 3-and-2 pitch, “a sinker that twisted away from me.”

The Cardinals, who have not played well against the Phillies this season, needed a home run by Terry Pendleton with two out in the ninth to reach extra innings. Before the home run, Roger McDowell had a string of 25 1/3 scoreless innings in relief since being traded by the Mets.

In the top of the 10th, the Phillies jumped on the Cardinals’ best reliever, Todd Worrell for three runs and seemingly their eighth win in 12 games with the Cardinals. But Pedro Guerrero, Tom Brunansky and Jose Oquendo singled home runs to tie it again.

Cincinnati 3, Atlanta 2--Eric Davis hit a two-run home run with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth at Cincinnati to give the Reds their second win in three days over Braves’ bullpen ace Joe Boever.

Friday night Mariano Duncan hit his first home run of the season in the 10th inning to beat Boever.