Adam Ulrey's Montreal Expos Diary

August 27, 2002 - Game 131
The Phillies win their sixth straight game 4-2 over the Expos

Joe Roa was supposed to be this kind of pitcher years ago for the Giants, but the Phillies don't mind being the recipients of his success. Roa pitched six strong innings and went 2-for-2 with his first two career RBIs as the Phillies beat the Expos 4-2 Tuesday night for their sixth straight win. The Phillies have been on a roll lately, winning 10 of the their last 13 games to reach .500 for the first time since they were 5-5 on April 11. With the win the Phillies also moved ahead of the Expos into second place in the NL East, but they are still 18 games behind the Braves.

Roa, now 3-1, allowed just two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four to win his third straight game. The 30-year-old right-hander was 14-0 at Triple-A Scranton before joining the Phillies last month. The Expos just couldn't get anything going against Roa except for solo homers by Andres Galarraga and Fernando Tatis. Tatis hit his 14th on the year and the old man Galarraga launched his 7th, but besides that the Expos bats were quiet for most of the game. The left eight men on base, so when they did have men on base they weren't able to cash in.

Masato Yoshii didn't pitch too bad, going 5 1/3 giving up eight hits, but only two earned runs. He saw his record drop to 4-6 on the year. Doug Glanville got the scoring going in the first inning with his fifth homer of the year. Pat Burrell drove in the other run his 98th on the year with his double in the seventh. The Phillies had 11 hits, but left 9 men on base themselves. Roa hadn't allowed a walk in any of his five starts, spanning 29 innings before walking Jose Vidro in the first. Jose Mesa recorded his 37th save in 45 chances. Vladimir Guerrero extended has hitting streak to 10 games with a bloop single in the first inning. With the loss the Expos dropped under .500 to 65-66.