Baseball Guru
04-04-2002, 06:18 AM
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
April 3, 2002, 10:17 PM EST
MONTREAL -- A.J. Burnett took a shutout into the eighth inning and Derrek Lee hit a grand slam for Florida as baseball returned to normal in Montreal on Wednesday night with a tiny crowd and a 6-5 Expos' loss to the Marlins.
One night after 34,351 fans came out and loudly cheered an Expos' comeback win, only 4,779 were on hand for the second game of the year, which almost featured another dramatic rally.
The top half of the lower deck and the entire upper deck were empty. Olympic Stadium was so quiet at times that when the music played as the pitching coach visited the mound, it actually had a purpose -- preventing the batter from hearing the conversation from the strategy session on the mound.
Between all the foul balls and the T-shirts shot into the stands, it seemed like nearly every fan got to go home with a free souvenir.
Nights like these are why baseball tried to eliminate the Expos during the offseason and why the sport will probably leave Montreal after this year. The Expos drew 642,748 fans last year -- including 17 crowds smaller than the 4,779 that came Wednesday -- for their fourth straight season under 1 million.
Few people saw the loss anywhere -- the game wasn't on television in either market. They missed another late Montreal rally.
The Expos trailed 6-1 in the eighth inning of the opener before winning it on Orlando Cabrera's RBI single in the ninth. Down 6-1 in the ninth Wednesday, Montreal rallied for four runs.
Michael Barrett hit a solo homer with one out off Kevin Olsen. Pinch-hitter Andres Galarraga and Peter Bergeron followed with singles. After Jose Vidro flied out, Vladimir Guerrero homered to make it 6-5.
Braden Looper, who lost Tuesday's game, then walked Cabrera. Michael Tejera then got Lee Stevens to line out to center for his first career save.
Florida beat Tony Armas for the seventh time in seven career starts. The Marlins picked up where they left off last season when they beat Armas five times.
Florida loaded the bases with two outs in the first. Lee then hit a shot over the left-field fence for his second homer in two games and Florida's second grand slam. Wilson hit one in the opener.
Cliff Floyd added a two-run homer in the ninth off Graeme Lloyd that proved to be the difference.
Burnett looked like he would make Lee's homer stand up, as he breezed through the first four innings with just 43 pitches.
His control was not quite as good as the game went on, walking four batters in his final 3 2-3 innings. But he held Montreal scoreless until Cabrera's two-out RBI single in the eighth.
Burnett allowed one run in five hits in 7 2-3 innings, striking out nine.
The animosity toward Jeffrey Loria, who sold the Expos and bought the Marlins on Feb. 12, was evident in the local papers as the big front-page headline in le Journal de Montreal read: "Expos 1, Loria 0." The venom wasn't back in the stands as there weren't enough people to create an angry mob like in the opener.
There were a few scattered chants and signs but nothing like the previous night when the large number negative signs and insults reminded Expos general manager Omar Minaya of a European soccer match.
Notes:@ Lee's four career grand slams are a Marlins' record. ... Armas is 0-7 with a 7.24 ERA in his career against Florida.... Last year, the attendance went from 45,183 for the opener in Montreal to 15,317 for the second game against the Mets. ... Guerrero swung at nine straight pitches during a span of three at-bats.
AP Sports Writer
April 3, 2002, 10:17 PM EST
MONTREAL -- A.J. Burnett took a shutout into the eighth inning and Derrek Lee hit a grand slam for Florida as baseball returned to normal in Montreal on Wednesday night with a tiny crowd and a 6-5 Expos' loss to the Marlins.
One night after 34,351 fans came out and loudly cheered an Expos' comeback win, only 4,779 were on hand for the second game of the year, which almost featured another dramatic rally.
The top half of the lower deck and the entire upper deck were empty. Olympic Stadium was so quiet at times that when the music played as the pitching coach visited the mound, it actually had a purpose -- preventing the batter from hearing the conversation from the strategy session on the mound.
Between all the foul balls and the T-shirts shot into the stands, it seemed like nearly every fan got to go home with a free souvenir.
Nights like these are why baseball tried to eliminate the Expos during the offseason and why the sport will probably leave Montreal after this year. The Expos drew 642,748 fans last year -- including 17 crowds smaller than the 4,779 that came Wednesday -- for their fourth straight season under 1 million.
Few people saw the loss anywhere -- the game wasn't on television in either market. They missed another late Montreal rally.
The Expos trailed 6-1 in the eighth inning of the opener before winning it on Orlando Cabrera's RBI single in the ninth. Down 6-1 in the ninth Wednesday, Montreal rallied for four runs.
Michael Barrett hit a solo homer with one out off Kevin Olsen. Pinch-hitter Andres Galarraga and Peter Bergeron followed with singles. After Jose Vidro flied out, Vladimir Guerrero homered to make it 6-5.
Braden Looper, who lost Tuesday's game, then walked Cabrera. Michael Tejera then got Lee Stevens to line out to center for his first career save.
Florida beat Tony Armas for the seventh time in seven career starts. The Marlins picked up where they left off last season when they beat Armas five times.
Florida loaded the bases with two outs in the first. Lee then hit a shot over the left-field fence for his second homer in two games and Florida's second grand slam. Wilson hit one in the opener.
Cliff Floyd added a two-run homer in the ninth off Graeme Lloyd that proved to be the difference.
Burnett looked like he would make Lee's homer stand up, as he breezed through the first four innings with just 43 pitches.
His control was not quite as good as the game went on, walking four batters in his final 3 2-3 innings. But he held Montreal scoreless until Cabrera's two-out RBI single in the eighth.
Burnett allowed one run in five hits in 7 2-3 innings, striking out nine.
The animosity toward Jeffrey Loria, who sold the Expos and bought the Marlins on Feb. 12, was evident in the local papers as the big front-page headline in le Journal de Montreal read: "Expos 1, Loria 0." The venom wasn't back in the stands as there weren't enough people to create an angry mob like in the opener.
There were a few scattered chants and signs but nothing like the previous night when the large number negative signs and insults reminded Expos general manager Omar Minaya of a European soccer match.
Notes:@ Lee's four career grand slams are a Marlins' record. ... Armas is 0-7 with a 7.24 ERA in his career against Florida.... Last year, the attendance went from 45,183 for the opener in Montreal to 15,317 for the second game against the Mets. ... Guerrero swung at nine straight pitches during a span of three at-bats.