Expos Can Only Watch as They Get Eliminated

Losing to Atlanta didn’t eliminate the Montreal Expos from playoff contention. It simply added to their disappointment.

A few hours after Montreal was eliminated from the postseason race, Jermaine Dye and Mike Mordecai homered in a four-run fifth inning and the Atlanta beat the Expos, 4-0, Saturday night at Montreal.

Montreal, hoping to force a tie for the wild-card spot, was knocked out when the Padres beat the Dodgers just before the Expos took the field at Olympic Stadium.

“I watched that game the whole time, from the first inning to the last,” Expo outfielder Henry Rodriguez said. “Knowing that San Diego won that game was hard, because now you’re competing for nothing.”

Atlanta, the NL East champion, opens the playoffs Wednesday at the loser of today’s Dodger-Padre game. The winner of that game plays St. Louis, the NL Central champion.

“I don’t care,” Brave Manager Bobby Cox said. “We’re going West, at least we know that much. You don’t care who you play. If you’re hot, you win. If you’re not, you go home. Simple as that.”

OTHER GAMES

Ozzie Smith got an RBI single after the Cardinals retired his No. 1 jersey as the Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2, at St. Louis. . . . Second baseman Tony Womack atoned for a ninth-inning error with a two-out RBI single in the 10th as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-7, at Chicago. . . . Kim Batiste hit a two-run homer at Denver as the San Francisco Giants extended their winning streak over the Colorado Rockies to six with an 8-5 victory. Ellis Burks hit his 40th home run for the Rockies. He joined Hank Aaron was the only major leaguer to hit 40 homers, steal 30 bases and get 200 hits in a season. The Rockies became the first team in big league history to hit 200 home runs and steal 200 bases when Burks stole second base in the third inning.

Robert Person scattered five hits in eight innings and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, at New York to end a three-game losing streak. . . . Orlando Miller hit his 15th homer and drove in two runs at Houston as the Astros ended the Florida Marlins’ seven-game winning streak with a 5-1 loss.