Northern Expos-ure

Phillies 7, Expos 4
Clay Kirby vs Tom Underwood
One again Kirby served himself up as a human punching bag.  Montreal was down 6-0 after 3 innings and Kirby was gone after 4.  In the top of the 5th the "never say die" Expos exploded for 4 runs off of Underwood to make it a ballgame.  Larry Parrish's 2 run homer was followed by a two run double by Bombo Rivera.  Underwood was able to right the ship and blank the 'Spos until he left the game with 1 out in the 8th.  Ron Schueler would take it the rest of the way for the final 5 outs.  The prodigal son, Dick Allen hit a 3 run blast off of Kirby in the 3rd.  The secretary of defense, Garry Maddox hit a 2 run shot in the 1st to pace the Phightin's offense.

Phillies 3, Expos 2
Dan Warthen vs Larry Christenson
Larry Christenson had a 4 hitter heading into the 9th, when he decided to make the game interesting.  A leadoff walk to Pepe Mangual was followed by a clean single up the middle by Jim Lyttle.  After pinch hitter Jerry White struck out looking Mike Jorgensen doubled home Mangual to make it 3-1.  A sac fly by Barry Foote made it 3-2, but Montreal needed hits at this point and was not in a postion to trade outs for runs.  Gene Garber, who replaced Christenson after Lyttle's hit got Foli to ground weakly to short to end the game.

Expos 6, Dodgers 4
Tommy John vs Don Carrithers
Down 4-2 after 5 innings the Dodgers rallied for 2 runs off of Expo starter Don Carrithers to tie the game at 4-4.  Ron Cey's 2 run double with 1 out put Carrithers on the ropes.  After Russell was given and intentional pass Steve Yeager singled to load the bases.  Carrithers had a visit from his manager who told him that Dusty Baker would be the last batter he would face.  Carrithers made the most of his opportunity by getting Baker to ground into a 6-4-3 DP to end the inning.  Montreal rallied to score 2 in the bottom of the inning thanks to a RBI double by Tim Foli and an RBI single by pinch hitter Jim Cox.  Carrithers was done for the day and poised to get the win.  Chip Lang would hand that win to Carrithers by pitching three scoreless innings in relief for his second save of the season.  Montreal's sweep of the Dodgers now has the team only 3 games under .500.

Expos 5, Dodgers 3
Doug Rau vs Don Stanhouse
Montreal spotted overnight sensation Don Stanhouse (6-1, 2.58)  four big runs in the bottom of the second.  Jim Cox's bases clearing triple was the back breaker for Rau, who has had himself a fine season (9-3) to this point.  LA began to chip away, but could not overcome Montreal's lead.  Bombo Rivera would go 3 for 4 to improve his season average to .309.  Barry Foote banged out 2 more hits and is now hitting an incredible .331.  Dale Muray pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his 6th save of the season.  Murray, who had an abysmal start of the season now has his ERA below 4 (3.86).

Expos 3, Dodgers 1
Burt Hooton vs Woodie Fryman
Fryman was caught up again in another tense pitcher's duel.  Montreal was able to spot him 3 runs, which doesn't usually happen when he's on the hill.  Ron Roenicke's sac fly scored Pepe Mangual in the 4th to make it 1-0.  An error by Davey Lopes and a ground out by Pat Scanlon would plate 2 more in the bottom of the 6th.  Fryman would start the 8th and give up a lead off triple to Dodger shortstop Bill Russell.  Russell would score on a ground out and Fryman was done for the day having given up 1 run over 7 innings of work.  Granger, Scherman and Murray, who got Manny Mota to pop out to left to end the game, combined to relieve Fryman and not allow any additional scoring.

Dan Warthen (5 IP) and Steve Dunning (4 IP) combined for a 6 hit shutout of the only team with a more anemic offense than the Expos, the San Diego Padres.  Pete Mackanin's 2 run shot in the 4th broke a scoreless tie.  An RBI single by Jim Dwyer in the 5th and an RBI ground out by Pepe Frias in the 6th rounded out the score as the Expos ended a very successful 6-3 West Coast swing.  Barry Foote went 3 for 4 and improved his season average to .325 as he battles Gary Carter for the #1 catcher slot.

Padres 15, Expos 3
Don Carrithers vs Allan Foster
San Diego's 10 run explosion in the bottom of the second made it 14-2.  Sadly for Allan Foster he was not able to go the requisite 5 inning to notch the win.  That would be the only dark spot on a bright and shiny day for the home team.  Both Johnny Grubb and light hitting Enzo Hernandez posted 4 hit days.  The aging Willie "3-Dog" Davis had 6 RBI's thanks to a Grand Slam and a 2 run shot.  The lone bright spot for the 'Spos was the 4 shutout innings Clay Kirby tossed in relief vs his ex-mates.

Expos 5, Padres 0
Don Stanhouse vs Brent Strom
In a series that featured two teams that were going nowhere fast the Expos fired the opening salvo thanks to Don Stanhouse's 5 hit shutout.  Stanhouse, who has shocked even his greatest supporters with a 5-1 start looked sharp from the beginning.  Tim Foli's RBI single in the 3rd gave Stanhouse a 1-0 lead, which he would nurse until his offense unloaded on reliever Rich Folkers for 4 runs in the 6th.  After Bombo River's lead off single, Foli executed the hit and run to perfection with a run scoring double.  Ron Roenicke's seeing eye single scored Foli to make it 3-0 and Barry Foote put the game out of reach with a 2 run shot to end all the scoring.  Foli's 3 for 4 day would make him the hitting star.  San Diego would not have a runner advance past second all day and only threatened in the 4th when Willie McCovey led off with a double, only to be stranded where he started.

These two teams combined for their 3rd consecutive 1 run game.  Doug Rau would go the distance earning his 9th win with just 2 defeats.  Fryman was once again the hard luck loser as his record fell to 3-4 with a 2.35 ERA.  LA scored their first run in the 4th when the "Penguin" Ron Cey grounded into a 3-6-3 DP.  An error by Jim Cox in the 7th would lead to LA's eventual winning run.  After Cey and Buckner single, Cox booted Ted Sizemore's grounder, which allowed Cey to score.

Dodgers 1, Expos 0
Dan Warthen vs Burt Hooten
Pete Mackanin's 14th error of the season allowed Davey Lopes to reach first with two out.  Lopes would steal second and come home on Bill Russell's RBI single off of Dan Warthen, who was immediately removed from the game.  Burt Hooten would give up just 4 hits in 8 1/3 innings of work and hand off the ball to Mike Marshall for the final 2 outs.  Both starters turned in fantastic performances.

Expos 3, Dodgers 2
Clay Kirby vs Don Sutton
Getting a rare start, pinch hitter extraordinaire Jose Morales clobbered a 3 run homer off of Don Sutton in the top of the first to stake Clay Kirby to all the runs he would need.  LA would get solo runs in the 2nd and 7th, but could not overcome Sutton's first inning generosity.  Chip Lang pitched 3 1/3 innings of solid relief and Granger got the final two outs for his second save of the campaign.

Expos 6, Giants 1
Don Carrithers vs Ed Halicki
Tied at 1 apiece and heading into the 5th Halicki and his defense melted down simultaneously.  Barry Foote doubled home Pete Mackanin, then moved to third on Halicki's wild pitch.  Jerry White would single home Foote to give the Expos a 3-1 lead.  An error by catcher Dave Rader allowed White to take second and then move to third on a steal attempt.  Ron Roenicke's RBI single would make it 4-1.  Andy Thornton's 2 run blast in the 7th put the game away for good and gave the Expos a rare series sweep.  Montreal is beginning to look real smart acquiring Thornton for Steve Renko.  Since coming over from Chicago the young slugger is hitting .305 with 6 homeruns. 

Expos 3, Giants 2
Don Stanhouse vs Jim Barr
Jim Barr carried a 2-1 lead into the top of the 6th, but was victimized by a 2 out 2 run shot by Andy Thornton (his 5th since the trade with Chicago).  Three Expo relievers would come on board to hold down the fort and close the game out for Stanhouse who increased his record to 4-1.  Granger, Scherman and Chuck Taylor combined to get the final 9 outs with Taylor notching his 2nd save since being activated.

Expos 4, Giants 0
Woodie Fryman vs Rob Dressler
Basically Woodie Fryman needs to pitch a shutout just to have a chance of winning.  Montreal's crafty southpaw scattered 7 hits in this complete game effort to even his record at 3-3.  The 'Spos would do all their scoring over the first 3 innings.  Jose Morales singled home Andy Thornton in the first to break the ice.  Fryman would lift a sac fly in the second to score Tim Foli, who reached base on a throwing error by Giant hurler Rob Dressler.  Morales would knock in Ron Roenicke with an RBI single in the third to make it 3-0 and a base loaded walk to Foli would provide the final margin.

Expos 4, Braves 1
Frank LaCorte vs Dan Warthen
Atlanta struck first as 3 of the first 4 batters that Warthen would face would work out walks.  Earl Williams seeing eye single scored Office to make it 1-0.  Wynn was held up at third, so the Braves could play for the big inning that would never come thanks to Tom Paciorek hitting into a tailor made 6-4-3 DP.  LaCorte was baffling the normally challenged Expo offense until the bottom of the 6th when he lost his control and walked Jorgensen with the bases loaded to tie the game.  The contest would stay tied until the bottom of the 8th when the Expos had their expected weekly offensive outburst of 3 runs.  Larry Parrish singled home Gary Carter to break the 1-1 tie.  Mike Jorgensen's double would plate 2 more and give the home team a 4-1 lead.  Chip Lang would be credited with the win thanks to his 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.  Dale Murray would be called on to put out an impending fire as Lang walked Office and Gilbreath with Wynn coming to the plate as the potential tying run.  Wynn hit into a fielder's choice and Ken Henderson kept the bat on his shoulders while looking at a called strike 3 to end it.

Braves 5, Expos 3
Carl Morton vs Clay Kirby
Former Expo Carl Morton would get his first win of the season at the expense of his former teammates.  The Braves staked Morton to a 2-0 lead thanks to some walks, a wild pitch and an RBI single from Morton himself.  Andy Thornton's 4th homer as an Expo tied the game up in the 6th and Larry Parrish's sac fly gave Montreal a short lived 1 run lead.  Larry Parrish's error on Morton's slow grounder in the 7th would prove to be Expo reliever Steve Dunning's undoing.  After fanning Jerry Royster, Dunning got Morton to hit a slow roller up the third base line that Parrish fielded and threw in the dirt past Thornton.  Rolland Office doubled home Morton and after Galbreath struck out looking the "toy cannon" Jimmy Wynn hit a 2 run shot to put the Braves up 5-3.  All 3 runs in the inning were unearned, but they still counted on the scoreboard.  Elias Sosa would pitch 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and Adrian Devine would get his 5th save with a perfect 9th.

Braves 3, Expos 2
Andy Messersmith vs Don Carrithers
A 3 run outburst by the Braves in the top of the first sealed the fate of the offensively challenged Expos.  Successive RBI singles by Ken Henderson and Earl Williams plated two runs and a sac fly by Chaney plated the third.  Carrithers would settle down nicely after that embarrassing first and almost go the distance.  His opposing number Andy Messersmith did go the distance.  Larry Parrish's RBI single in the bottom of the first made it 3-1.  Mike Jorgensen would deliver home Pepe Mangual in the 5th to make it 3-2, but the Expos would not get any closer.  Jorgensen who had 3 successive singles missed a game tying homer in the 7th that ran out of legs as it sliced toward the opposite field foul poll.  Messersmith would improve his record to 3-5 with a 2.72 ERA, so 3 runs must have seemed like a lot to him.

Attendance:  11,085
Record Tracker:
Real Life (17-26) & Replay (17-26)

Pirates 11, Expos 5
Jim Rooker vs Don Stanhouse
This one was a cakewalk for the visitors, who had an 11-1 lead   after 6 1/2 innings of play.  The Expos managed to score some "window dressing" runs just to make the final score respectable, but they were never really in it.  Don Stanhouse, who came into the game with a 3-0 record was hammered for 10 runs (7 earned) in 6 2/3 innings.  Al Oliver had 4 RBI's for the Bucs, including his 4th homer of the season.  Willie Stargell went 3 for 5 with an RBI.  Andy Thornton has been red hot since arriving from Chicago.  He's now hitting .295 thanks to a 2-4 day and his 3rd homer as an Expo.  Barry Foote went 3 for 4 to increase his average to .325 and put pressure on Carter (.220) for the rights to the starting catcher spot.

Pirates 7, Expos 5
Jerry Reuss vs Woodie Fryman
For the first time all year Fryman didn't have anything.  The "Lumber Company" torched him for 5 runs in just an inning and a third of work.  Montreal didn't roll over an die.  In fact they rallied back with 3 in the 7th thanks to a two run shot by Pete Mackanin and a solo shot by Ellis Valentine.  Jim Lyttle's pinch hit RBI single in the 8th made it a 1 run ball game until the top of the 9th when Rennie Stennett's pinch hit RBI single pretty much put it away.  Dale Murray once again gave up a ill timed run in relief.  With Kent Tekulve on in relief the bottom of the 9th went easy.  After two ground outs to second Mike Jorgensen single and Gary Carter came to the plate as the tying run, but grounded weakly to thrid to end it.  Making a rare spot start at second base for the Bucs, Tommy Helms made the most of it with a 2 for 3 day, which included a homer and 3 RBI.  Larry Parrish had a 3 hit day for Montreal, but his season average is still below the Mendoza line.  Editor's note:  Mendoza made an appearance in the 8th for defense for the Bucs.