Adam Ulrey's Montreal Expos Diary

September 29, 2002 - Game 162

No one can say that the Expos didn't go out with a bang. They won their fourth in a row and their 11th of their last 14 to end the season with a terrific 83-79 record, after sweeping the Reds by the score of 7-2. Tim Drew who would get his first win as an Expo, went 5 2/3 giving up just four hits and two runs. He also struck out six, while walking just one. He had help as Zach Day and Joey Eischen came on to pitch the final 3 1/3 with only giving up one hit.

The third largest crowd of 25,178 came out to watch perhaps the last game in Montreal. Vladimir Guererro lead off for the first time in his career so he could have as many chances as possible to get that 40th homer, but it wasn't meant to be. He would go just 1-for-5 to end the year with a team record 205 hits and a sterling batting average of .336. Where ever the Expos end up next year, they bring back a pretty solid team. They have good pitching and with the late additions of Endy Chavez, Jamey Carroll and Matt Cepicky, they will be team to reckon with.

September 28, 2002 - Game 161

The Cliff Floyd trade is already paying big dividends. Sun-Woo Kim who came over as part of the trade pitched a masterpiece, going 8 1/3 innings of shutout ball to pick up his first win as an Expo. He gave up just six hits and two walks, while striking out five. He was simply overpowering and showed the Expos brass that he could be a vital part of next year's rotation.

Vladimir Guerrero might not have hit his 40th homer, but he still went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to help give the Expos the 6-0 victory. With his three RBIs he now has 111 on the year, but still needs one homer to join the elusive 40-40 club. Guerrero did get his 204th of the year to tie Al Oliver's team record for hits.

It's just another case of how well manager Frank Robinson has done with this young team. I really don't believe that any other manager could have gotten more out of this team than what Robinson has done. No one and I mean no one had this team anywhere near .500 come the end of the year yet alone in second place behind the Braves. He should get strong consideration for Manager of the Year. The win gives the Expos a three game winning streak and leaves their record at 82-79.

September 27, 2002 - Game 160

The Expos want to finish on a high note and thanks to the Reds catcher Kelly Stinnett's throwing error in the eleventh to give the Expos the 4-3 victory. With the win the Expos avoid a losing season for the first time in six years. Javier Vazquez didn't get the victory, but pitched well. He is finally pitching like he feels he should, going eight strong innings giving up just three runs, while striking out nine. He lowered his ERA to 3.91.

Joey Eischen, one of the pleasant surprises for manager Frank Robinson's team, got his sixth win of the year and lowered his team leading ERA down to 1.39. Orlando Cabrera and Brad Wilkerson each hit homers to lead a balance attack as the Expos had 10 hits for the game. Wilkerson now has 20 homers and 57 RBIs for the year and is making a late push for rookie of the year honors. The homer also broke the Montreal rookie home run record by the great Andre Dawson and Larry Walker who both had 19. The Expos now stand at 81-79 and have a modest two-game winning streak.

September 26, 2002 - Game 159

Finally the Expos found a way to beat their nemesis the Florida Marlins in their last meeting of the year 4-3, behind a late single by Jamey Carroll to score to score pinch hitter Wil Cordero with the winning run. The Expos reached 80 wins for the first time since 1996, when they were 88-74 to finish in second place. With this win the Expos also moved back into second place in the Eastern Division.

"They responded very nicely to that number and it's quite an accomplishment for this team, but we're not through yet," Expos manager Frank Robinson said. Tony Armas Jr. pitched another good game, going six innings giving up just three runs on seven hits to even his record at 12-12 for the year. He lowered his ERA to 4.44, not bad considering that for most of the season it hovered around 5.00.

Young Zach Day pitched the final three innings to earn his first save of his career without giving up a hit, while striking out five. Tim Raines, who started in left field for the Marlins, and will retire after the season said he would cherish this day as he enjoyed his time as an Expos. Endy Chavez singled to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Expos now stand at 80-79 for the season and now will end the season at home facing the Cincinnati Reds for the final three games of the season.

September 25, 2002 - Game 158

Derek Lee went 3-for-3 and Ramon Castro homered as Florida took advantage of six Montreal errors to beat the Expos 10-2. "They kind of fell apart defensively tonight," Lee said. "We just didn't play baseball tonight in any phase of the game," Expos manager Frank Robinson said.

Bartolo Colon didn't pitch well, going only five innings giving up five hits, four walks and four runs. The Expos pounded out 11 hits, but could only manage two runs and left nine men on base. The top of the order did their job with lead-off hitter Endy Chavez getting three hits and Jamey Carroll getting two, but neither would score as the middle of the lineup was nowhere to be found.

Josh Beckett and company pitched out of trouble all night and did a terrific job. It would be Beckett's sixth win of the year against seven losses and lowered his ERA to 4.13. With the loss the Expos now sit at .500 79-79 with just four games to go.

September 24, 2002 - Game 157

The Marlins late in the season just seem to have the Expos number. They beat them again 9-6 behind the bats of Mike Lowell and Juan Encarnacion, who combined for all nine RBIs. Encarnacion hit two homers and drove in five, while Lowell added two homers himself and the other four RBIs. The Expos were forced to use Britt Reames as their starter and that went over real well with the Marlins, who hammered him for five hits and four runs in just three innings. Five other pitchers for Montreal followed, but it didn't really matter. Vladimir Guerrero hit his 39th homer to come within just one homer of becoming just the fifth player to join the elusive 40-40 club.