National League Roundup : Padres Beat Cubs in Error-Filled (11) Game, 5-4

San Diego Manager Jack McKeon said the only thing he liked about Saturday night’s game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field was the final score.

It read: San Diego Padres 5, Chicago Cubs 4.

The highlight? Eleven errors: Padres six, Cubs five.

“We weren’t proud of that, but who cares when you win,� McKeon said. “No, I’ve never seen that many errors in a game, even in the minor leagues.�

Bullpen ace Mark Davis stopped a seventh-inning rally to earn his 11th save in 11 opportunities, but he needed a two-run homer in the eighth inning by John Kruk.

Davis gave up solo home runs to Mark Grace in the eighth inning and to Curtis Wilkerson in the ninth. “It was the worst game I’ve ever seen,� said Cub Manager Don Zimmer. The tough part of it is they capitalized on our errors and we didn’t (on San Diego’s). In one inning they made two errors and we didn’t get a thing.�

The six errors tied a San Diego club record accomplished four times, the last coming July 31, 1977, against the New York Mets.

The last time the Cubs committed five errors in a game was April 28, 1986, against San Diego.

The two-team major league record for errors in a game is 15 set by the Cubs and Boston in 1904. Boston had 10 errors in that game.

The second basemen had most of the problems. Roberto Alomar made three of the Padre errors and Ryne Sandberg, a six-time gold glove winner, made two for the Cubs.

“The field was terrible,� Sandberg said. “They didn’t water it all they. I don’t know. Maybe they expected rain. You could see by the infielders’ reactions that the ball was eating them up.�

Winning pitcher Walt Terrell (3-2) left in the seventh inning after the Cubs had scored a run on Alomar’s third error of the game and successive singles by Phil Stephenson and Wilkerson.

Philadelphia 8, Cincinnati 0--Chris James hit a grand slam and Mike Maddux allowed just two hits as the Phillies beat Danny Jackson at Cincinnati in a game halted by rain in the fifth inning.

The start of the game was delayed 2 1/2 hours by rain. It was stopped in the bottom of the fifth after another delay of 1:32.

Maddux (1-0) struck out four and walked one in his first start of the season. Jackson (1-5), who lost his fifth consecutive decision, was 4-0 with a 1.35 earned-run average against the Phillies last season.

James’ second career grand slam came during a six-run fourth inning. Steve Lake drew a leadoff walk and, one out later, Jackson fielded a bunt by Maddux but threw late to second base for a force play.

Mike Schmidt had two runs batted in to give him a career total of 1,585, moving him past Al Kaline and Harmon Killebrew into 17th place on the all-time list.

Montreal 9, Atlanta 7--Tim Raines singled twice and hit two sacrifice flies to drive in four runs at Montreal as the Expos dealt the Braves their fifth consecutive loss.

Raines, who tied his career-high for RBIs in a game, has driven in 10 runs in his last three games and has 17 RBIs. He has driven in 15 runs in 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position. He’s batting .428 in that situation.

The Expos overcame a 6-5 deficit by scoring four runs in the seventh inning. Hubie Brooks drew a leadoff walk from Charlie Puleo and Tim Wallach singled off reliever Jim Acker. Damaso Garcia’s run-scoring single tied the score, pinch-hitter Wallace Johnson had an RBI single and reliever Paul Assenmacher walked Spike Owen, loading the bases. Nelson Santovenia singled home a run and Raines hit a sacrifice fly.

San Francisco 4, Pittsburgh 3--Kevin Mitchell and Terry Kennedy hit solo home runs in the ninth inning to give the Giants the win at Pittsburgh.

The Pirates scored in the eighth for a 3-2 lead before the Giants rallied. Mitchell hit reliever Jeff Robinson’s first pitch of the ninth for his sixth home run and Kennedy connected with two outs for his second homer.

Entering the game, the Giants had been held scoreless in 25 of their last 27 innings. They left 14 runners on base Saturday.

The Giants scored in the first when Butler walked with the bases loaded, ending a streak of 17 innings without a run.

Mike Krukow pitched five innings in his first start of the season for the Giants. He had been on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right shoulder.

New York 5, Houston 1--Ron Darling won his first game of the season with a two-hitter over seven innings and Howard Johnson had four hits, including his fourth homer, as the Mets extended their winning streak to six games.

Darling got help from Don Aase and Randy Myers as they combined on a four-hitter at Houston. Myers pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his fifth save.

The Mets took a 2-1 lead on consecutive singles by Johnson, Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry.