NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cubs Dump Mets; Essian Unbeaten

Doug Dascenzo’s two-strike squeeze scored Shawon Dunston in the ninth, lifting the Cubs to a 4-3 victory over the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

The Cubs have won their first two games under new Manager Jim Essian, who replaced Don Zimmer Wednesday.

The play was the whacky kind of one that Zimmer loved to use, and he was often blamed when things like a squeeze with two strikes didn’t work. A lot went wrong for Zimmer this season.

“It wasn’t a Don Zimmer play,” Dunston said. “It was a Cubs play.”

Les Lancaster (1-1) pitched two innings for the victory and Paul Assenmacher got his fourth save.

The Mets took a 3-2 lead on Hubie Brooks’ run-scoring double in the sixth, but Ron Darling walked Luis Salazar with two out in the seventh and Dunston tripled to tie the score.

St. Louis 8, Pittsburgh 2--Jose DeLeon won for only the third time in 27 starts as Felix Jose and Todd Zeile each had three hits for the Cardinals in a victory over the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

The victory was the first for DeLeon (2-3) since April 20.

DeLeon was 7-19 last year, the second 19-loss season of his career. He pitched 51/3 innings, allowing five hits--including Jay Bell’s fifth home run to start the sixth--struck out one and walked three.

Cincinnati 6, San Francisco 2--Jack Armstrong pitched a four-hitter and Paul O’Neill hit a three-run homer in a five-run first inning as the Reds downed the Giants at Cincinnati.

San Francisco has lost six consecutive games, including three in a row to the Reds.

The Giants, who have not led in any game during the streak, had not been swept at Riverfront Stadium since 1985.