Games of Wednesday, May 28

                              W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            21     15       .583    ---
Houston               21     16       .568    0.5
Atlanta                 17     14       .548    1.5
St. Louis              18     17       .514    2.5
Chicago               19     19       .500    3
Pittsburgh            16     19       .457    4.5
Montreal              15    19       .441    5
Philadelphia         12    19       .487    6.5

Thursday's games
Philadelphia (Twitchell) at Atlanta (Niekro)
Pittsburgh  (Kison) at Chicago (Hooton)

New York 4, Montreal 3 (10 innings): Ed Kranepool's sac fly plated Rusty Staub with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Jerry Koosman carried a 2-1 lead -- built on solo homers by Staub and Don Hahn -- into the eighth inning. But the lefty walked three of the four men he faced in that inning, and by the time Buzz Capra got out of the inning, two of them had scored to give the Expos a 3-2 lead. The Mets promptly tied it, with Staub leading off the bottom of the inning with a single and scoring on John Milner's triple. Tug McGraw pitched a scoreless top of the 10th for the win; Pat Jarvis took the loss.

Montreal 8, New York 7: The Expos erupted for five runs in the top of the ninth off Tug McGraw to overtake the Mets and get a split of the doubleheader. McGraw followed a perfect eighth inning with a wild ninth -- a hit batter, four walks and three singles. Pepe Frias drove in three runs for the Expos, two on a fourth inning double off Jon Matlack, and another with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth. Mike Marshall got the win, and Bill Stoneman got the final out in the ninth with two men on for the save.

Houston 9, St. Louis 5: The bottom half of the Astros order put together a big eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and give Larry Dierker the win in his first start of the season. Roger Metzger scored three runs and drove in one with a triple.. Lee May hit a three-run homer in the third inning off St. Louis starter Rich Folkers. Orlando Pena took the loss.

Houston 10, St. Louis 5: Cesar Cedeno's sixth-inning grand slam reversed a two-run deficit for Houston. Dave Roberts staggered through the first six innings, allowing five runs on 14 hits, but then retired the final 10 Cardinals hitters for the complete game win. Bob Watson hit a two-run homer in the first for the Astros off loser Scipio Spinks, and Johnny Edwards tripled, drove in two runs and scored a pair.

Pittsburgh 4, Chicago 1: Bob Johnson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the Pirates, and Bob Robertson supplied the punch with a homer and two doubles. Robertson scored a pair of runs. Jose Cardenal broke up Johnson's no-hit bid and shutout with a homer; after a single and walk, Johnson departed, and a parade of Pirate relievers shut down the Cubs. Dave Giusti worked the ninth and got the save. Dale Maxvill was injured and taken off the active roster; his injury ends June 2, his eligibility to return is June 7.

Atlanta 9, Philadelphia 5: Henry Aaron hit a pair of two-run homers off Ken Brett. The Braves battered the lefty for 18 hits in 7.1 innings; they also drew four walks. Pat Dobson staggered through seven innings for the win; he allowed four runs on eight hits.