National League East Roundup : One Thing You Can Count On: Cubs Will Accept Victory in Any Form

The Chicago Cubs will take a victory any way they can get it. If the umpires make a mistake, they will take it.

They would like to clinch the National League East before they finish the season with three games in St. Louis.

A throwing error by Pittsburgh second baseman Jose Lind gave the Cubs an opportunity to break a tie in the ninth inning Saturday at Chicago, and they made the most of it for a 3-2 win that reduced their magic number to four.

Manager Jim Leyland of the Pirates protested the game because of a controversial call in the sixth inning. The lapse did not result in a Cub run.

Dwight Smith opened the inning with a walk. Smith stole second base on a low pitch that Mark Grace appeared to swing at. Plate umpire Eric Gregg called it a ball, putting the count at 2 and 1. Grace walked, but Randy Kramer retired the next three batters.

“They told me my appeal was too late since another pitch had been made,” Leyland said. “I told them to get it right and not penalize me.”

Grace acknowledged that he swung at the pitch.

In the ninth against Doug Bair, Curtis Wilkerson reached first base on Lind’s error and was sacrificed to second by Domingo Ramos. Mitch Webster grounded a single to right field, and it wasn’t even close at the plate as Wilkerson scored the winning run.

The Cubs have a four-game lead over the Cardinals with seven remaining. If they beat the Pirates today and sweep three games next week in Montreal, they would have the title wrapped up before they get to St. Louis.

Webster has not played much since going into a slump, and Zimmer started platooning Smith and Lloyd McLendon in left field.

“Sometimes you feel like the forgotten man when you go without playing,” Webster said. “It’s natural to feel that way. There are times you get low, but I never felt I couldn’t play.

“You have to use the guys who are doing well. If I were the manager, I’d do the same thing.”

The game at Wrigley Field was played in a brisk wind. The temperature at game time was 50 degrees.

The wind helped the Pirates take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jay Bell singled and Jeff King doubled for one run. With two out, Gary Redus hit a long drive to center. Marvell Wynne went back on the ball, but a sudden gust held the ball up and it fell in front of Wynne, bouncing away for a triple.

St. Louis 11, Philadelphia 5--The Cardinals seem intent on forcing the Cubs to win the East on their own.

Former Cub Frank DiPino came to the rescue of Cris Carpenter with two on and two out in the fifth inning at St. Louis and improved to 9-0 with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

The Cardinals wrapped up their second consecutive victory over the last-place Phillies with seven hits in the third inning, scoring seven runs.

Carpenter, who began the string, fell one out short of getting the victory.

Milt Thompson hit a three-run double to cap the inning, and Pedro Guerrero, who singled in a run in the second, doubled in two more in the sixth. Guerrero has driven in 114 runs.

“We’re not dead, but we’re still in intensive care,” Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog said. Guerrero has made a believer out of Phillie Manager Nick Leyva.

“We couldn’t get Guerrero (out),” he said. “He’s adjusted his game to this park and he’s a smart hitter.”

Guerrero had the explanation. “I always said I wanted to play for Whitey and now that I am, I have to produce.”

Dickie Thon hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning for the Phillies. His 14 home runs are the most in the league for a shortstop.

New York 13, Montreal 6--While the Mets, with catcher Gary Carter driving in five runs in New York, kept their slim hopes alive, the Expos were eliminated.

The Mets, heavy preseason favorites to win the division title, are 5 1/2 games behind the Cubs. They have eight games left, but none with the two teams ahead of them, the Cubs and the Cardinals.

The Mets, who had to come back from a 4-1 deficit after Hubie Brooks hit a grand slam in the third inning, got 15 hits. Carter had three of them, including two doubles. He hit a two-run single in the fourth, when the Mets scored six unearned runs to chase Mark Langston (12-8). Frank Viola (4-5) was the winner despite giving up eight hits and six runs in five innings.

“I’m not really disappointed about being eliminated, because I expected it,” Manager Bob Rodgers of the Expos said. “Today, I was more like a ringmaster. It was a circus.”

The Mets’ chances aren’t too good, either. They will be eliminated by any combination of New York defeats and Cub victories totaling three.

It was the biggest day of the season for Carter, who spent much of the season on the disabled list. Since becoming healthy, he has complained about playing time.