Baseball Roundup : Cubs Push Mets Closer to Brink

Luis Salazar hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run fifth inning that wiped out a three-run deficit and started the Chicago Cubs on their way to a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets Monday night at Chicago.

The loss was the third consecutive for the third-place Mets, and while it didn’t eliminate them from the National Leage East race, it left them with little hope. The Mets are 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Cubs.

While the Cubs pushed the Mets another length back, they remained only five games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Montreal Expos, 3-2.

The magic number is eight. Any combination of victories and St. Louis losses totaling eight will give the Cubs the title. The Cubs, Cardinals and Expos have 12 games remaining; the Mets 13.

Chicago reliever Mitch Williams, of all people, delivered the big blow for the Cubs, a three-run homer in a four-run eighth. It was Williams’ first major league hit.

Williams, who picked up his 34th save, almost turned out to be a better hitter than pitcher. He retired the first two batters in the ninth but gave up a double to Kevin Elster, a walk, RBI singles to Gregg Jefferies and Juan Samuel and hit Howard Johnson.

With two runs in and the bases loaded, up came Darryl Strawberry, whose homer in the third landed on Sheffield Avenue.

This time, Williams struck out Strawberry to end the game.

St. Louis 3, Montreal 2--Jose DeLeon allowed just two hits but walked five before leaving in the eighth, and Milt Thompson hit a two-run double at Montreal for the Cardinals, who won for only the fourth time in 12 games.

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 2--Bobby Bonilla had three hits and three RBIs at Pittsburgh as the Pirates won for the eighth time in nine games.

Boston 6, Toronto 3--The Boston Red Sox, who have lost 15 a row to Toronto in Boston, dating back to 1987, beat the Blue Jays in Toronto for the fourth time in five games before a record SkyDome crowd of 49,579 .

Toronto had its three-game winning streak stopped and its lead in the American League East cut to two games over Baltimore. The Red Sox won their fourth in a row and pulled to 8 1/2 back.

Texas 5, Seattle 2--Nolan Ryan struck out only two Seattle batters, his lowest total since Aug. 15, 1988, but the Rangers still beat the Mariners at Arlington, Tex.

Ryan wound up with no-decision, giving up two runs on three hits in 7 1/3 innings. The Rangers won on Fred Manrique’s tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth.