Adam Ulrey's Montreal Expos Diary

The Expos wasted another good pitching outing from their ace Javier Vazquez, who left after eight innings with a 1-0 lead. The bullpen and the defense blew the game in the bottom of the ninth to deny Vazquez a win. Vazquez only has four decisions in his nine starts thanks in part to his bullpen blowing leads. He has an ERA of 2.67 and yet is only 2-2 on the year. In eight innings he only allowed three hits and struck out seven on the evening. "That was a tough game to lose, especially with the way we had been going," Robinson said. "Vazquez pitched a tremendous ballgame for us and gave us exactly what we needed. All we had to do is get three more outs."

It took Ryan Klesko seven at bats to finally contribute for the San Diego Padres, but he was able to come through with an RBI single in the 14th inning to give the Padres their fourth win in a row and a sweep of the Expos. The game lasted 4 hours, 19 minutes. "It drove in a run to help us win, that's all," Klesko said. "We didn't do our jobs with men in scoring position. The pitching on both sides did a great job in pressure situations." The Padres stranded 15 runners, leaving the bases loaded in the ninth and 11th innings. The game included an error by the Expos' Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera that allowed the Padres to tie the game in the ninth. Robinson even employed a five-man infield to prevent the winning run from scoring in the 11th inning, but in the end it wasn't enough as the bullpen allowed the Padres to tie and win the game. Matt Herges blew his second straight game as he loaded the bases and watched the tying run come home on an error. Joey Eischen took the loss his first of the year and Padres Alan Embree picked up his third win of the year in two scoreless innings of relief. Vidro extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Padres rookie pitcher Dennis Tankersley, making only his second start, took a two-hit shutout into the seventh, but Jose Vidro hit a leadoff double and scored on Cabrera's two-out double. He allowed four hits and one-run in 6 2/3 innings. He also struck out six and lowered his ERA to 2.19. The Expos again are finding every way possible to lose games; they have now dropped three in a row after taking two of three from the Giants at home. They now head into a four-game series with the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Tomo Ohka who has pitched brilliantly over his last two starts will face the Dodgers' best in Kevin Brown tonight.