Cubs Claim Tie For Futility Record
National League
The Chicago Cubs tied the modern N.L. record for season-opening ineptitude Sunday, losing their 10th straight game. Shadowing their 6-4 home loss to the Atlanta Braves was an injury to Ryne Sandberg.
Sandberg, hit by a line drive while in the dugout, was taken to a hospital for tests and received stitches for a cut on his right ear.
“Whatever can go wrong has gone bad,” said center fielder Brian McRae.
“It’s kind of the way things are. It’s up to us to change things,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “You can’t ignore what your record is when it’s this poor. We can’t do any worse than 0-10, that’s as bad as you can get after 10 games obviously. We just got to do a little more, play a little better.”
The Cubs tied the mark set by Atlanta in 1988. They can match the all-time N.L. mark of 0-11, set by the Detroit Wolverines in 1884, when they play Colorado on Tuesday. The major league record is 0-21 by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.
Chicago committed three more errors Sunday - the Cubs have 17 in 10 games - and Atlanta scored two unearned runs in the top of the eighth.
Expos 8, Rockies 3
Denver
Henry Rodriguez had the second four-hit game of his career and pitcher Carlos Perez homered as Montreal snapped Colorado’s seven-game winning streak.
The victory ended the Expos’ losing streak at five games.
Giants 5-7, Mets 1-6
New York
The New York Mets became the final team in the major leagues to play a home game, and they were just as bad as they were on the road.
Ex-Met Jeff Kent drove in three runs in the opener, then left with sprained neck when he slid head first into third base, trying to stretch a double into a triple.
Reds 6, Marlins 4
Cincinnati
Pokey Reese hit a pivotal three-run homer, one day after he won a game with his first major league hit, and Cincinnati held on in the cold for a victory over Florida.
Reese’s first major league homer off Al Leiter (2-1) in the fourth inning completed a stellar weekend for the 23-year-old shortstop, called up Saturday to fill in for hobbled Barry Larkin.
Dodgers 14, Pirates 5
Pittsburgh
Todd Hollandsworth homered and drove in four runs in Los Angeles’ nine-run third inning, and the Dodgers ignored wind chills in the teens, as well as rain and even snow flurries, to beat Pittsburgh.
Padres 3, Phillies 1
Philadelphia
Ken Caminiti’s RBI double in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 1-1 tie as San Diego continued its domination of Philadelphia.
By winning, the Padres swept the rain-abbreviated two-game set to make it seven straight series victories over the Phillies.
Cardinals 6, Astros 2
St. Louis
Alan Benes allowed two hits in seven innings and the St. Louis Cardinals tied a league record with four consecutive doubles.
Clearing the bases
Jose Vizcaino - dealt by the Mets to Cleveland last July - homered for the first time in 516 at-bats since April 22, 1996… . Just 21,981 fans showed up at Shea Stadium, the smallest crowd for a Mets home opener in 17 years… . Pittsburgh’s Dave Wainhouse, a former Washington State University right-hander, saw his ERA climb to 21.60 after allowing five runs in the third inning… . Padres reliever Trevor Hoffman picked up the 100th save of his career.