NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cubs Stuck Behind Eight Ball

The Chicago Cubs can’t get out of their hole in the National League East.

Chicago lost its eighth consecutive game Saturday as Robby Thompson hit a two-run homer in a four-run first inning to help the San Francisco Giants beat the Cubs, 6-3.

“The pressure to get out of this skid is on everybody because we’re all pressing,” losing pitcher Shawn Boskie said.

Ryne Sandberg hit a solo home run, his 11th, in the first inning for Chicago, which had not lost eight in a row since dropping a club-record 13 in a row in June 1985. The Cubs are 31-37 and trail first-place Pittsburgh by 10 1/2 games.

The losing streak ties the major league high this season, also done by Detroit, Milwaukee and Texas, but the Cubs are trying to keep their spirits up.

“You just have to keep playing,” Chicago shortstop Shawon Dunston said. “Just like we lost eight straight, we can win eight straight.”

Trevor Wilson (3-6) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings for the victory. Francisco Oliveras pitched 1 1/3 innings for his third save.

The Giants had scored 18 runs and batted .218 over their previous six games.

Montreal 7, Cincinnati 4--Larry Walker and Tim Wallach hit two-run homers off Jack Armstrong, powering the Expos to a victory in Cincinnati.

Oil Can Boyd (4-6) was in trouble for four of the five innings he pitched, but got the victory as Montreal won for the eighth time in nine games. Boyd twice pitched out of bases-loaded threats without giving up a run.

Armstrong (4-6) lost his fourth consecutive start by giving up two homers to a team that is hitting them infrequently. Montreal had only two homers in its previous eight games, both by Ivan Calderon.

New York 7, Atlanta 2--Ron Darling gave up two runs in eight innings and Howard Johnson drove in two runs to gain a share of the National League RBI lead as the Mets won before the largest crowd of the season in Atlanta, 43,349.

Darling (4-4), who improved to 13-3 lifetime against Atlanta, had a one-hit shutout until the seventh when Jeff Treadway doubled and Lonnie Smith homered.

Johnson led the Mets’ 12-hit attack with a sacrifice fly and run-scoring single. He has 51 RBIs to tie David Justice of the Braves.

San Diego 4, St. Louis 3--Fred McGriff drove in three runs with a single and a double as the Padres won at St. Louis, snapping a four-game winning streak for the Cardinals.

Tony Gwynn, who leads the majors in batting (.371) and hits (103), was two for four with one RBI for the Padres.

Rookie Jose Melendez (3-2) gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings for the victory. Craig Lefferts pitched 1 2/3 innings for his 14th save.

Houston 4, Philadelphia 3--The Astros ended a five-game losing streak on Casey Candaele’s run-scoring grounder in the 10th inning at Philadelphia.

With one out in the 10th, Jeff Bagwell doubled off reliever Roger McDowell (3-4). Two walks loaded the bases. Second baseman Wally Backman then made a diving stop of Candaele’s grounder and flipped to shortstop Dickie Thon for a force. But Thon’s throw to first was high as Bagwell scored the go-ahead run.