clarinews@clarinet.com (POHLA SMITH, UPI Sports Writer) (09/22/89)
PITTSBURGH (UPI) -- Mike Fitzgerald smacked a grand slam, Hubie Brooks added a two-run homer, and Andres Galarraga went 3 for 5 and scored twice Thursday night to lead the Montreal Expos to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Montreal snapped a three-game losing streak and stayed seven games behind the National League East-leading Chicago Cubs, who defeated the Philadelphia Phillies Thursday afternoon. Montreal, which snapped Pittsburgh's five-game winning streak, has nine games left to play. Relievers Zane Smith and Tim Burke shut out Pittsburgh over 2 2-3 innings to preserve the victory for Dennis Martinez, 16-6. Burke came on in the ninth with runners at first and third and none out and held the Pirates scoreless to notch his 27th save. John Smiley, 12-8, gave up eight hits and six runs, walked two and struck out two in 4 2-3 innings, breaking his personal three-game winning streak. Martinez gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out two over 6 1-3 innings in reaching the 16-game victory mark for the third time in his 12-year career. The right-hander was 16-11 in 1978 and 16-12 in 1982 at Baltimore. Fitzgerald slammed his third career grand slam in the first to give Montreal a 4-0 lead. Tim Raines, who stole a team record-tying four bases during the game, led off with a single and took second on a single by Galarraga. Brooks walked, and Fitzgerald slammed Smiley's first pitch off the wall supporting the left-field bleachers for his seventh homer of the year. Pittsburgh pulled to within 4-1 in the fourth when Andy Van Slyke singled, stole second and scored on Bobby Bonilla's single. Brooks followed Galarraga's fifth-inning leadoff single with his 12th homer of the year to increase Montreal's lead to 6-1. After Jay Bell's RBI single in the sixth, Mike LaValliere countered with a three-run home run -- his first homer since Aug. 1, 1988 -- in the seventh to pull Pittsburgh within 6-5. The blast to right off Martinez scored R.J. Reynolds, who tripled with one out, and Gary Redus, who walked and stole second.
clarinews@clarinet.com (POHLA SMITH, UPI Sports Writer) (09/22/89)
PITTSBURGH (UPI) -- Tim Burke, called in with runners at the corners and none out in the ninth inning, struck out Gary Redus and got Mike LaValliere to hit into a double play Thursday night to preserve the Montreal Expos' 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The triumph, just the Expos' fourth in 14 games, snapped their three-game losing streak and the Pirates' five-game winning skein. Montreal remained in fourth place in the National League East, seven games behind first-place Chicago, with nine games left. Mike Fitzgerald led the Montreal offense with a first-inning grand slam off John Smiley, 12-8, and Hubie Brooks added a two-run shot in the fifth. Zane Smith also helped preserve the victory for starter Dennis Martinez, who finally reached the 16-game win mark in his fourth try. Smith came in after Martinez gave up a three-run homer to LaValliere with one out in the seventh, enabling the Pirates to pull within 6-5. The left-handed reliever shut out Pittsburgh the rest of the seventh and the eighth, but then gave up back-to-back leadoff singles to Bobby Bonilla and R.J. Reynolds in the ninth. ``In the ninth, I was thinking, `what's going to go wrong tonight?''' said Martinez, 16-6, who had two losses and a no decision in his last three starts. ``But Burke was able to come in and held then. Sometimes you've got to realize it's a team game.'' Martinez, who gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out two over 6 1-3 innings, felt lucky that his teammates staked him to a big lead. ``I had to stay with my fastball all night because the changeup and breaking ball weren't working,'' he said. LaValliere's home run -- his first since Aug. 1, 1988 -- came on a 2-1 fastball. ``I really feel sorry for our pitchers,'' Fitzgerald said. ``They've thrown well in the second half, but have nothing to show for it. ``We just haven't scored any runs the past two months. Really, we haven't been able to get key runs in since the All-Star break. This has been one of my most frustrating seasons, and I've got to believe a lot of the guys feel the same way.'' Smiley gave up eight hits, including the two homers, walked two and struck out two in 4 2-3 innings. ``He didn't have anything,'' said Pittsburgh manager Jim Leyland. ``He says he's fine, but I'm concerned because he looks bad right now.'' The loss was just Pittsburgh's second in 12 games. The Pirates, below .500 all year, have gone 13-7 in September. Pittsburgh pulled to within 4-1 in the fourth on an RBI single by Bobby Bonilla, who was 3-for-4. Jay Bell singled in the Pirates' second run in the sixth. Andres Galarrage went 3 for 5 and scored twice for Montreal, and Tim Raines stole a team record-tying four bases.