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NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Dykstra’s Streak Ends at 23 Games; Phillies Drop Two to the Expos

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From Associated Press

Len Dykstra’s 23-game hitting streak ended Monday night, just the way Kevin Gross predicted.

“I said before the game he wasn’t going to get a hit off me. I really wanted to stop him,” Gross said after he shut down Dykstra and the Phillies in the Montreal Expos’ 5-0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader at Philadelphia.

The Expos rallied in the second game to win, 3-2, and complete the sweep.

Dykstra struck out, walked, flied out and grounded out in the first game, ending the longest hitting streak this season. He was 0-5 in the nightcap.

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“I’m not even too sure Lenny cares about the streak,” Manager Nick Leyva said. “I really don’t think there was that much pressure on him. He just wanted to come to the park and get hits.”

But Gross was determined to stop him.

“I knew he had a streak going. It gave me something to go for,” said Gross, who threw a four-hitter. “But I’ve always pitched him tough.”

Dykstra batted .429 (42-for-98) during the stretch. Three times he had needed a hit in his final at-bat and got it, but not Monday night.

Dykstra, batting in the eighth inning, hit a routine grounder to first baseman Andres Galarraga in his last at-bat, and received a standing ovation on his way back to the dugout. He was three batters away from getting up again when the game ended.

Dykstra finished tied for the fourth-longest hitting streak in Phillies’ history. Chuck Klein set the mark of 30 in 1930.

Gross (8-4) gave up four singles, struck out nine and walked four in his first shutout of the season.

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Mike Fitzgerald, elevated in the third spot in the batting order, homered and drove in three runs.

Dennis Cook (5-2), winless in his last five starts, got the loss. In the second game the Expos broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning on a wild pitch by Jeff Parrett (2-5).

Andres Galarraga led off with a single, pinch-runner Otis Nixon took third on Parrett’s wild pickoff and scored as ball four to Mike Aldrete bounced to the backstop.

Drew Hall (4-6) was the winning pitcher and Dave Schmidt earned his fifth save.

San Francisco 8, Atlanta 3--The Giants won for the ninth time in 10 games as Brett Butler’s run-scoring double snapped a seventh-inning tie at Atlanta. The resurgent Giants won three of four from the Braves, scoring 43 runs in the series, to move within two games of the .500 mark.

Robby Thompson singled with one out in the seventh and Butler doubled with two outs to put the Giants ahead 4-3.

Scott Garrelts (3-6) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings to improve his lifetime record against the Braves to 10-4. Jeff Brantley got two outs in the seventh and Steve Bedrosian finished.

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The Giants pulled away with three runs in the eighth on Matt Williams’ RBI single and a two-run single by Mike Kingery. Kingery is 7-for-15 with seven RBIs since being recalled from Phoenix on May 29.

The Braves tied the score 3-3 in the sixth inning when Oddibe McDowell led off with his fifth homer.

Chicago 8, New York 5--Ryne Sandberg had four hits, including a home run, and Mark Grace added three hits to lead the Cubs to their MMondfourth straight win at Chicago.

In his last 11 games, Grace has reached base safely 22 times in 39 plate appearances (16 hits and six walks) to raise his average from .258 to .292.

The Mets, who had their three-game winning streak snapped, fell to 7-15 on the road. They have three more games with the Cubs at Wrigley Field before going to Pittsburgh for four games.

Reliever Alejandro Pena (1-2) walked Dwight Smith leading off the seventh and one out later Sandberg singled Smith to third. Grace, who has hit in 14 straight games, put the Cubs ahead 5-4 with a grounder to third. Following two walks, Curtis Wilkerson’s two-run single made it 7-4.

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After Mike Marshall’s RBI single in the eighth moved the Mets within two, Sandberg’s third single of the game put the Cubs ahead 8-5. Sandberg has 25 hits in his last 51 at-bats and is now hitting .342.

Greg Maddux had retired 15 in a row entering the seventh when the Mets rallied for three runs to tie the score at 4-4. Marshall, Mackey Sasser and pinch-hitter Dave Magadan had RBI singles. After Magadan’s single, Mitch Williams (1-5) relieved and the Mets loaded the bases with two outs.

Williams went to a 3-0 count on Howard Johnson but came back to get a strikeout. Paul Assenmacher pitched two innings for his second save.

Pittsburgh 8, St. Louis 7--Doug Drabek failed to protect a six-run lead, but Jeff King snapped an eighth-inning tie with a run-scoring single as the Pirates broke a three-game losing streak at St. Louis.

Jose Lind doubled leading off the eighth against reliever Tom Niedenfuer (0-1) and advanced on a groundout before King drove him in with his third hit of the game to make it 7-6. Jay Bell followed with his second RBI triple of the night as the Pirates sent St. Louis to its fourth loss in five games.

Pedro Guerrero got his 200th career homer and had three RBIs for the Cardinals, who fell into last place in the National League East, 10 1/2 games behind the division-leading Pirates. Guerrero’s seventh homer was his first since May 1.

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Stan Belinda (2-1), the third Pittsburgh pitcher, was the winner despite giving up a game-tying RBI double to Todd Zeile in the seventh. Bill Landrum finished for his ninth save.

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