NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Grissom Serves Up Punch in Expos’ Win

The Montreal Expos had nothing to lose in their two-game showdown series with the Pittsburgh Pirates--except maybe the National League East championship. Marquis Grissom kept that from happening sooner than it might have.

Grissom homered, tripled, threw out a runner at home plate and alertly scored the first run on a pop fly as Montreal closed to within three games of the Pirates with a 6-3 victory Wednesday night at Pittsburgh.

Grissom and the Expos’ bullpen were the difference. Mel Rojas, Jeff Fassero and John Wetteland combined to strand eight Pirate runners from the sixth through the eighth inning. Pittsburgh stranded 10 runners and left the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth.

“This is definitely what we wanted--we didn’t want to come in here and get swept,” Wetteland said.

Grissom, batting .344 against the Pirates this season, tripled and scored in the fifth and hit a solo homer--his 14th--in the seventh.

Pittsburgh shortstop Jay Bell, meanwhile, went two for three to extend his hitting streak to a league-high 21 games, the NL’s longest since Brett Butler’s 23-game streak last season.

“This series is fun. They’re first, we’re second, and we’re ready to play,” Grissom said. “Last year at this time we were 20 games out trying to finish the season. This is fun.”

Not for the Pirates. The division leaders all but 10 days this season, they are 25-11 at home against the NL East, but only 3-5 against the Expos. Montreal (five) and Chicago (three) are the only teams in the division with more than one victory at Pittsburgh.

The Expos, 17-5 on the road since the all-star break, can close within two games for the first time since Aug. 17 by winning tonight.

“We’re in a good situation now,” Grissom said. “We have a positive outlook on trying to get to the pennant. This game was a big one for us. I hope they feel pressured because we’ve been playing this way for weeks now.”

Chicago 14, Philadelphia 9--Andre Dawson went four for five, including a two-run home run and an RBI single in an eight-run seventh inning at Chicago.

The inning was the biggest for the Cubs since they scored 10 against Montreal on June 11, 1990.

Dawson, who also went four for five on Monday, had a first-inning RBI double to go with his big seventh inning. He is batting .434 (46 for 106) in his last 26 games.

Greg Maddux, 18-11 overall and 8-3 since the all-star break, survived a four-run third inning by Philadelphia to get the victory. He gave up seven hits and four runs in six innings, striking out nine but hitting three batters.

Atlanta 3, Cincinnati 2--Jeff Blauser’s two-run homer in the eighth inning powered the Braves to their first victory this season at Cincinnati.

The Braves broke their seven-game losing streak at Cincinnati and reduced their number to clinch the National League West to eight. The Reds are their closest pursuers, trailing by 10 1/2 games.

Loser Scott Ruskin failed to hold a 2-1 lead in the eighth. He relieved Greg Swindell, who allowed just three hits in seven innings, and gave up a leadoff single to Otis Nixon. Blauser, the Braves’ hottest hitter, pulled a 1-2 pitch over the left-field wall for his 13th homer.

Blauser is 16 for 36 (.444) with three homers his last 10 games.

Houston 3, San Francisco 1--Darryl Kile pitched six strong innings as the Astros completed the three-game sweep at Houston.

The Astros will finish 12-6 against the Giants, a noticeable difference as Houston has a six-game advantage over San Francisco for fourth place in the NL West.

The Giants have lost 17 of their last 22 games.

St. Louis 10, New York 4--Ray Lankford’s three-run home run off relief pitcher Lee Gutterman highlighted a five-run eighth inning for the Cardinals at New York.

Joe Magrane, in only his second start since Sept. 9, 1990, after undergoing surgery on his left elbow, pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. Magrane also hit a home run in the sixth.

Cris Carpenter (5-4) pitched one-third of an inning for the victory.