National League Roundup : Reinforcements Keep Cubs on Top of Hill, 3-2

The Chicago Cubs have made several late-season changes in an attempt to stay on top in the National League East.

They received dividends from two of the deals Saturday in Chicago and staved off the St. Louis Cardinals’ bid to unseat them.

Luis Salazar, a much-traveled utility player, singled home the tying run in the eighth inning and doubled home the winning run in the 10th to give the Cubs a 3-2 victory. The Cubs increased their lead over the Cardinals to 1 1/2 games.

The absence of ailing bullpen star Todd Worrell contributed to the failure of the Cardinals to take over first place, but the run that made the score 2-2 was unearned.

Jose DeLeon, seeking his 16th victory, went into the eighth with a 2-1 lead. Dwight Smith opened with a single, the fifth Cub hit. Right fielder Tom Brunansky held the ball, seeming to dare Smith to try for second. Smith took the dare, and Brunansky’s throw was high for an error.

Then began the Cardinals’ relief by committee. Left-hander Frank DiPino came in to strike out Mark Grace. Right-hander Dan Quisenberry came in and got Andre Dawson on a grounder. But Salazar tied the score with his single.

Ken Dayley was pitching in the 10th. With one out, he walked Dawson. Salazar then lashed an outside pitch down the right-field line, and Dawson scored easily.

“I’ve had a lot of thrills with Detroit in 1987 and San Diego in 1984,” said Salazar, whom the Cubs obtained in a trade with San Diego last month. “But nothing like this. I jumped up and down like it was the World Series.”

The Cub bullpen, which had been hammered recently, retired the last eight Cardinals. Paul Assenmacher, recently obtained from Atlanta, pitched the 10th for the victory.

The Cardinals’ strategy is to try to get runners on base for Pedro Guerrero. Most of the time it works. Not this time. In the first inning, with runners on first and third and one out, Rick Sutcliffe got him on a foul ball to first base.

After Ozzie Smith tripled in the third, Guerrero bounced out to end the threat. He singled and scored in the sixth to start a two-run rally.

Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog said it was the first mental mistake Brunansky had made in two seasons with the club.

Pittsburgh 8, New York 5--Ordinarily, a team in the stretch run with five games remaining against a club that is 17 games below .500, would be delighted.

In no way are the Mets happy to be playing the Pirates five more times.

When Bobby Bonilla hit his second home run of the game with one out in the 12th in New York and the Pirates added two more unearned runs, it marked the eighth time in 13 meetings that they had beaten the Mets.

The loss dropped the Mets, a heavy preseason favorite to win the East, 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs.

“There isn’t a rivalry against the Mets,” Bonilla said after hitting his 22nd home run of the season. “We try and play tough against everybody.”

The Mets fought back to tie after trailing, 5-1, when Howard Johnson hit a two-run home run, his 36th homer, in the eighth inning.

But in the 10th with Johnson on third and none out, the Mets couldn’t get him home with the potential winning run.

Atlanta 2, Cincinnati 1--Tom Glavine lost his bid for his fifth shutout by walking the leadoff batter in the ninth inning at Cincinnati, but he improved to 13-8.

Dwayne Henry, who replaced Glavine, made a wild pitch and gave up a run-scoring single to Luis Quinones but managed to get the save.

Houston 4, San Francisco 1--The Astros have made sure that the Giants didn’t make the West race a runaway at their expense.

With Mike Scott pitching a four-hitter to become the league’s first 19-game winner, Houston made it two in a row over the first-place Giants, whose lead over the Astros and the San Diego Padres was cut to five games.

Scott, again accused of scuffing the ball by Giant Manager Roger Craig, didn’t allow a hit until Will Clark tripled with one out in the fourth, and had a shutout until the ninth at Houston.

Kevin Mitchell’s two-out single scored Brett Butler with the Giants’ run. It was Mitchell’s major league-leading 116th run batted in.

Kevin Bass and Glenn Wilson drove in runs in the first inning to give Scott all the support he needed.

It was Scott’s second try for his 19th. Monday, the Dodgers hit him for six runs in seven innings.

Montreal 6, Philadelphia 5--Tim Burke is proof that you don’t always have to pitch well to win.

Burke came along in the ninth inning at Montreal, trying to save a 5-2 victory for Dennis Martinez. Instead, Dickie Thon tagged Burke for a three-run home run to tie it.

When the Expos scored after two were out in the bottom of the ninth, Burke improved his record to 8-3 and kept the Expos three games behind the Cubs.

Martinez, trying to get his 16th victory, left with a 5-1 lead in the seventh inning.

Former Expo Jeff Parrett (12-5) struck out the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth. Andres Galarraga then doubled and scored on Hubie Brooks’ single to win it.