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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MONTREAL (AP) -- Jose Vidro finds it much easier to hit doubles
than explain how he hits them.
Vidro hit his second straight RBI double -- his major
league-leading 31st of the season -- with two outs in the seventh
inning Friday night, sending the Montreal Expos on to a 10-5 win
over the Toronto Blue Jays.
| | Expos second baseman Jose Vidro gets the ball as Toronto's Jose Cruz slides in with a stolen base in the sixth inning Friday. |
"I don't know, I just keep swinging the bat and most of the
time I hit the ball, it's in the gap," the All-Star second baseman
said. "For some reason, I hit the ball in the gaps a lot."
Montreal has won three straight and four of five. Toronto is
11-6 overall against the Expos in interleague play.
Tied at 5, Terry Jones hit a one-out single off Paul Quantrill
(0-5) in the seventh. Reliever Pedro Borbon retired Wilton Guerrero
on a fly ball before Vidro hit a one-hop double off the left-field wall.
"It was a slider and I think he missed his location," Vidro
said. "I was ready to swing the bat there, I didn't want to go out
there and take a pitch. I went up there, stayed aggressive, got a
good pitch to hit and didn't miss it."
Raul Mondesi hit a two-run homer in the Toronto first off Julio
Santana and had an RBI grounder in the seventh that tied it.
Felipe Lira (2-0) entered the game with runners on second and
third and two outs in the seventh and walked Darrin Fletcher
intentionally to load the bases. Lira got Jose Cruz to fly out to
end the Blue Jays' threat.
After Mondesi's 21st homer put Toronto ahead 2-0 in the first,
the Blue Jays added a third run in the third on Tony Batista's RBI
single.
Mike Mordecai's RBI grounder in the fifth cut the lead to 3-1.
Fletcher connected for his 10th homer in the sixth, a solo shot
which restored Toronto's three-run margin.
Trailing 4-1, the Expos rallied with four runs in the bottom
half as the first six batters reached safely.
Jones, who went 3-for-3, had a pinch-hit single and stole second
and Peter Bergeron walked. Vidro hit an RBI double to cut Toronto's
lead to 4-2.
Rondell White's RBI single drew Montreal to within one and
Vladimir Guerrero's run-scoring single tied the game at 4 and
chased Kelvim Escobar.
Lee Stevens hit an RBI single to center off reliever Lance
Painter to put the Expos ahead 5-4 while Guerrero was thrown out by
Cruz while trying to advance to third.
White left the game following the sixth with a strained right hamstring.
With the bases loaded with one out in the eighth, Orlando
Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly to Cruz in center. Cruz dropped the
ball for his third error of the season and shortstop Chris Woodward
dropped Cruz's relay, allowing two more runners to score.
"I hit it hard," Cabrera said. "I think it was the hardest
I've hit a ball this season. Somebody said it was like a
knuckleball when the ball got out to Jose and that's probably why
he lost it, because I hit it pretty hard."
Cabrera advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jones'
RBI single.
"We gave them a lot of runs defensively," Blue Jays manager
Jim Fregosi said. "We can't do that. We missed some balls in the
infield and we missed some in the outfield."
Game notes Toronto is 4-2 overall at Olympic Stadium. The Blue Jays
won two of three in Montreal last season. ... Blue Jays SS Alex
Gonzalez did not start after reinjuring his strained right groin in
Thursday's 9-6 win in Cleveland. Gonzalez, who is day-to-day,
missed nine straight games from June 25-July 4 due to the injury.
... The Expos are 21-9 against AL opponents at Olympic Stadium
since interleague play began in 1997, including 5-2 this season.
... Stevens, who hasn't homered since June 28 against Atlanta's Tom
Glavine, remains one homer short of 100 for his career. ... Actor
Stephen Baldwin watched the game from the second row of the owner's
field-level box along the first-base line.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Montreal Clubhouse
RECAPS
Chi. White Sox 4 Chicago Cubs 2
Atlanta 5 Boston 3
Tampa Bay 8 Florida 3
Montreal 10 Toronto 5
Pittsburgh 8 Minnesota 6
NY Yankees 2 NY Mets 1
Cincinnati 2 Cleveland 1
Baltimore 2 Philadelphia 1
Houston 9 Kansas City 5
Milwaukee 4 Detroit 3
Texas 5 San Diego 4
Anaheim 12 Colorado 4
Oakland 5 Arizona 4
Los Angeles 3 Seattle 2
San Francisco 4 St. Louis 2
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