Baseball Roundup : Cubs Lose, 7-1, Clinch Last Place in the NL East

The Chicago Cubs, who lost to the Expos, 7-1, Friday night at Montreal, clinched last place in the National League East and might have deprived Andre Dawson of the Most Valuable Player award.

Dawson has 48 home runs and 134 runs batted in this season, but a player on a last-place team has never won an MVP award.

Expo pitcher Neal Heaton (13-10) gave up three hits in six innings for his first win since July 30. Heaton had lost 6 in a row and was winless in his last 10 starts.

St. Louis 3, New York 2--John Tudor (10-2) went five innings at St. Louis for his seventh in a row.

Doug DeCinces, making his Cardinal debut after being released by the Angels, singled in the winning run in the third inning.

Atlanta 6, San Francisco 4--Rookie right-hander Kevin Coffman (2-3) yielded one run in six innings, and rookie shortstop Jeff Blauser had three singles and two RBIs at San Francisco.

Pinch-hitter Francisco Melendez led off the sixth with a homer. It was the Giants’ 11th pinch homer, one shy of the major league record held by the Cincinnati Reds in 1957 and the New York Mets in 1983.

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 4--Third baseman Darnell Coles made amends for two errors by hitting a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning at Pittsburgh to assure the Pirates of finishing no worse than fifth in the NL East.

Cincinnati 12, Houston 7--Dave Collins scored five runs and Tracy Jones drove in five at Houston. Red reliever Rob Murphy tied a major league record for left-handers by appearing in his 86th game. Wilbur Wood appeared in 86 for the Chicago White Sox in 1968.

New York 3, Baltimore 1--Tommy John, 44, pitched a seven-hitter at New York for his 277th career victory and improved his record to 13-6.

Kansas City 6, Minnesota 3--Danny Tartabull hit a grand slam on a 3-and-0 pitch in the fifth inning at Kansas City as the Royals beat the American League West champion Twins.

Bret Saberhagen (18-10) pitched his 15th complete game.

Boston 3, Milwaukee 2--The Brewers tried to get Teddy Higuera (18-10) his 19th victory, but Spike Owen ruined the bid by hitting his second home run of the season in the 12th inning at Boston.

Oakland 4, Chicago 3--Mark McGwire failed to hit his 50th home run, but his run-scoring double in the 11th inning at Chicago gave the Athletics their fourth victory in a row and ended the White Sox’s seven-game winning streak.

Seattle 5, Texas 4--Relief pitcher Steve Howe walked pinch-hitter Gary Matthews with the bases loaded in the eighth at Arlington, Tex., to give the Mariners the win.