BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Expos Remain Stalled Despite 11-2 Victory

The Montreal Expos are attempting to create a real race in the NL East, but the Pittsburgh Pirates are refusing to cooperate.

Tim Wallach hit a two-run home run and also had a run-scoring double as the Expos extended their winning streak to five games with an 11-2 victory over the Braves on Thursday night at Atlanta.

The Expos, however, remained three games behind Pittsburgh, which completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco.

“We’ve been sending a message for a long time, but we’re still behind,” Expo Manager Felipe Alou said.

Montreal’s Brian Barnes (5-5) gave up four hits, walked three and struck out two before leaving with none out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. The Braves produced only one run during the inning, when Brian Hunter hit a sacrifice fly to center field against reliever Kent Bottenfield, who finished for his first save.

Atlanta left-hander Charlie Leibrandt (11-6) gave up six runs and seven hits in the first three innings.

Pittsburgh 9, San Francisco 3--Orlando Merced drove in five runs at Pittsburgh as the Pirates won their fifth game in a row.

The Giants have a nine-game losing streak, their longest since they lost 10 in a row from June 10-20, 1985. The Giants are 8-17 since announcing their planned move to St. Petersburg, Fla., next season.

Doug Drabek (11-10) gave up six hits in 6 1/3 innings, only the second time in his last 13 starts he has not pitched at least eight innings.

Cincinnati 4, New York 3--The Reds ended a seven-game losing streak and moved to within 6 1/2 games of Atlanta in the NL West when the Mets failed to turn a ninth-inning double play at Cincinnati.

The Mets had won 116 consecutive games when they took a lead into the ninth.

Paul O’Neill drove in the tying run with a double against Anthony Young (2-10) during the ninth. O’Neill scored the winning run on a ground ball hit by Jeff Branson that the Mets were unable to convert into a double play.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Chicago 7, Kansas City 3--Jack McDowell gave up 10 hits in 7 2/3 innings and earned his 19th victory in a game at Kansas City.

McDowell (19-7) is tied with Atlanta’s Tom Glavine for the major league victory lead. He struck out three and walked none.

Lance Johnson drove in three runs for the White Sox.