Expos steal 2 of 3 from Cubbies

8/3-8/5 - Stade Olympique
GAME 1 - MON 6, CUB 4 (11 inn)
Fergie Jenkins vs Steve Rogers
For 6 sharp innings Steve Rogers bested HOF'er Ferguson Jenkins.  The Cubs rallied for 3 run in the 7th to get the Jenkins, a Canadian native off the losing side of the ledger and is doing so ended Rogers day on the hill.  Jenkins himself knocked in the 3rd run of the inning with a sac fly to right.  Chicago's 1 run lead would be erased thanks to the happy feet of Tim Raines.  "The Rock would gain passage via a walk and easily pilfer second during Delino DeShields' at bat.  DeShields hit one to the warning track and Raines easily moved over to third, but there were two outs.  Warren Cromartie, who already had a single, a double and a triple to his credit lined a bullet off the wall in right to score Raines.  Cromartie's shot was so hard that he wasn't even able to get to second.  The game was now tied at 4-4 and in the hands of each team's respective pens.  Bruce Sutter would come on to toss two perfect innings in relief of Jenkins, who fanned 10 on day where he was destined to get a no decision.  Montreal countered with David Palmer for a scoreless 8th.  Palmer would not be so fortunate in the 9th as the Cubs proceeded to load the bases up with nobody out.  Jody Davis led off with a single and pinch hitter Bill Buckner doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Lead off man Ryne Sandberg was given an un-intentional / intentional walk to load the bases.  Palmer was done.  Some guys do well in the anonymity of the 8th inning but fold up like a cheap suit under the spot light of the 9th.  Palmer seems to be such a guy.  In his relief came righty Tim Burke, who went straight after Ernie Banks to strike out "Mr. Cub" on 4 pitches.  Next up was lefty Billy Williams, so out came lefty Joe Hesketh from the pen.  Hesketh duplicated Burke's results by putting down Williams on a called strike 3.  With Ron Santo due up Jeff Reardon, a righty, was brought in to get the final out.  All Reardon needed to do was get Santo out to end the  inning.  A 3 pitch strikeout served only as eye candy for Expo fans who were pumped beyond belief.  Neither team threatened in the 10th.  Charlie Lea came on for the Expos and pitched a scoreless 11th.  Lee Smith came on in relief of Sutter to start the home half of th 11th and served up a line shot single to Larry Parrish.  Before fans could even get revved up for a big inning Hubie Brooks cranked the first pitch that Smith offered and deposited into the bullpen in left for a walk off 2 run shot.
Editor's Note:  Cromartie barely missed the cycle when he hit a shot to the warning track to lead off the 10th.  Cromartie needed just a homer to finish off the elusive cycle a feat accomplished only 4 times in KOD's storied history.

GAME 2 - MON 7, CUB 6 (11 inn)
Greg Maddux vs Dennis Martinez
For the second day in a row these two evenly matched teams would need 11 innings to get a clear cut winner.  On the heels of a huge 3 run 8th inning the Expos headed to the 9th needing just 3 outs to protect a 6-3 lead.  Jeff Reardon, who came through in the clutch yesterday looked to be the goat as he gave up a 3 run shot to pinch hitter Hank Sauer, who tied the game up a 6.  You could virtually hear a pin drop in Olympic Stadium.  Montreal threatened in the 9th, but Bruce Sutter was able to get 2 key strikeouts to douse the fire with water.  David Palmer was called on for the second day in a row and almost melted down in the 10th inning.  With one on (Mark Grace) and 2 out he grooved a 3-1 fastball to pinch hitter Keith Moreland that Raines had to make a leaping catch at the wall on to save the day.  The 11th inning would go smoother for Palmer, who would give up a lone single to pinch hitter Glenn Beckert.  Two batter later Beckert would be erased on a neat 4-6-3 DP to end the inning.  Scott Sanderson would relieve Sutter in the 11th and immediately get himself into deep trouble.  Tim "Eli" Wallach led off the with a single, then went  to third on a perfectly executed hit and run by Tim Foli.  Pinch hitter Ellis Valentine was give an intentional pass to load the bases and create a force everywhere.  Chicago was forced to bring the infield in and Tim Raines lined a single past the flailing arms of Moreland at first to score Wallach for Montreal's second walk off win in a row.  Montreal would record 14 hits on the day and Chicago would post 12.  DeShields would lead all hitters with a 3 for 5 day that included 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.  The Expos were now officially leading the league in walk off wins and Tim's.

GAME 3 - CUB 4, MON 0
Bill Hands vs Bill Guillickson
After 2 days of excitement the fans north of the border were treated to a slow moving pitcher's duel.  The "battle of the Bill's" remained scoreless until the top of the 5th when Andre "the Hawk" Dawson paid back his old club (the Expos) with a solo shot.  He would double down and pay them back once more in the 7th with his second homer of the day to make it 2-0.  Those two gopher balls would turn out to be the only mistakes Gullickson would make on a day where he'd fan 8 and walk just one in 8 stellar innings of work.  That performance would not be good enough since his opposite number, Bill Hands, was tossing a shutout.  Hands would cruise to 8 shutout innings, but was not  given the chance to finish out the game since his team had already dropped the first two games and a win was much needed.  Bob Rush would pitch a perfect 9th, but would not earn a save because the Cubs scored 2 key insurance runs off of reliever Dan Schatzeder in the top of the 9th.  A two out triple by Buckner scored Santo and a double by Rick Monday easily plated Buckner.  DeShields, in a losing effort, still managed 2 hits to boost his season average to .462 after 3 games.