Series Recap
(1-1) Montreal Expos @ Chicago Cubs (2-1)
April 3
The first game of the series was a battle of rookies Javier Vazquez and Kerry Wood, at least it was supposed to be until Kerry Wood went down early in the first and Kurt Miller came in relief. Wood is now day-to-day with neck stiffness.
Vazquez struggled in his MLB debut putting in 4 1/3 innings and giving up seven runs. In the third inning, both Sammy Sosa and Mark Grace got their first homers of the year off him. Grace would finish 2-4 with the home run and two RBIs.
The Expos relief pitchers Mike Johnson and Marc Valdes wouldn't allow a single run, but it wasn't enough as the Expos offense couldn't get anything going.
April 4
Carl Pavano pitched slightly better than Vazquez in his MLB debut but it wasn't enough. Pavano pitched 5 2/3 innings with four runs given up. It would be Telford who would take the loss giving up two runs in 1/3 of an inning. Steve Kline wouldn't complete a single out and give up three runs.
Mark Grace and Sammy Sosa would continue torturing the Expos pitchers with 2-4 and 3-5 days at the plate, respectively. But it would be Cubs left fielder Brant Brown hitting a grand slam off Kline in the bottom of the 7th that would break the 4-4 tie and send Cubs fans home happy.
April 5
Montreal falls to 1-4 after a back and forth battle with the Cubs. Both starting pitchers would pitch okay and go deep into the game. Trey Moore pitched 6 and 1/3 innings with four runs (three earned), six strikeouts, and four walks. On the other side, Mark Clark would continue his great start to the year with an 8 inning performance with four earned runs and five strikeouts.
Leadoff man Mickey Morandini would have a day for the Cubs going 2-4 with a home run, an RBI triple, a walk, and a stolen base. The middle of the Cubs lineup however (Grace, Sosa, Rodriguez, Hernandez/Franklin, and Brown) would go a combined 1-18.
The Cubs had to survive a determined Vladimir Guerrero who would finish the game 4-5 with a home run, a double, and two singles, with four RBIs. But it wasn't enough as the Expos would fall short 6-5.
April 6
The Expos escaped the sweep with a 7-4 victory behind Dustin Hermanson's great performance on the mound. Hermanson would go 7 innings with nine strikeouts and only one earned run. Ugueth Urbina would also pick up his first save of the year.
Sosa would hit a two-run double in the 5th to tie up the game, but a three run shot in the top of the seventh by Rondell White would be the difference maker for the Expos.
One of the stranger happenings in this game would be the Cubs bullpen management late in the game as they would have five pitchers from the 7th to the 9th and none would pitch more than 2/3 of an inning. Lefty Bob Patterson would come in only to face one batter, give up a hit and then be taken out in favor of Kurt Miller.
The Expos move up I-94 to Milwaukee for a three game series before returning to Montreal to take on the Cubs a second time.