Expos Sweep Padres, Extend Win Streak to 4

  The 1994 Montreal Expos swept the San Diego Padres in a two-game mini series played at Jack Murphy Stadium, pounding out 32 hits over the pair of games in defeating the Padres 16-2 and 11-1.


  In the first game of the set, Moises Alou hit a three-run home run, and Larry Walker added a two-run shot in leading Butch Henry to his first win of the season.  Will Cordero went 5-5 in the second contest and drove in 5 runs, and Pedro Martinez fanned 9 over 7 winnings to pick up his first victory.

   The 94 Padres did not have a lot going for them outside of Tony Gwynn.  They finished the abbreviated season at 47-70, six games below their Pythagorean, and finished last in National League attendance.  Gwynn did have some protection in the lineup in the form of Derek Bell, who hit .311/.354/.454 for the last place Padres.  Bell's career had more than its share of controversy, and its end was summed up beautifully by Pittsburgh columnist Mark Madden.


  The 94 Expos now head up the coast for a three game set with Los Angeles before flying home to host return engagements with the three west coast teams.

Gwynn's basic card:

 Game 2 scoresheet:

Expos Sweep the Giants!

   I'm re-creating the 1994 Montreal Expos season using Strat-O-Matic baseball - the board game version.

   Thanks to all for your comments and page views.  I had no idea that this project would be as popular as it has become.

    The 94 Expos moved to 8-6 on the season by starting their west coast road trip with a two game sweep of the Giants.

   Game 1 was a low-scoring affair that lasted 15 innings, with the Expos scoring a pair in the top of the 15th to win 3-1:

     Game two saw Kirk Rueter make his first start of the year, and held the Giants scoreless for 6 innings.  Jeff Shaw pitched a pair of scoreless innings, and John Wetteland struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the shutout, as the Expos topped the Giants 5-0.  Barry Bonds and Matt Williams were held to a combined 2-19 for the series.  I held my breath every time they came up.

    The 94 Giants finished at 55-60, three games under their Pythagorean.  They had decent pitching, as well as Williams and Bonds in the middle of the order, but they also had a barely above replacement level supporting cast of every day players like Kurt Manwaring, Todd Benzinger, and Darren Lewis.  

   The Expos pitching is beginning to emerge as the club's strong suit.  In addition to the excellent starting rotation anchored by Martinez, Hill, and Fassero, the bullpen of Shaw, Scott, Wetteland, and Rojas is emerging as this team's strength.

   The 94 Expos headed into San Francisco on a three game losing streak, and won the final game of the series to stop a four game slide, and improve their record to 5-9.  Their 9-7 re-creation record has them sitting 4.5 games back of the Braves, who won 13 of their first 15.  

   

Two Weeks In

 Yes, I'm already falling behind.
  Playing Strat every day is enjoyable, but a grind.
  Ok, if you do the math, I haven't been playing every day, but you get the idea.
 

  I'm re-creating the 1994 Montreal Expos season using the classic board game Strat-O-Matic Baseball.  I've played a dozen games so far, and the Expos are an even 6-6 after losing 2 of 3 to Colorado.  Former Expo Andres Galaragga hit a walk-off three run homer to lead the Rockies to victory in the middle game of the series.
   The Expos road trip continues with two games in San Francisco, a pair with the Padres, and three in Los Angeles before Montreal returns home to return the favour with the west coast teams.

  I've adjusted the batting order, abandoning my earlier principles somewhat.  I had Will Cordero hit lead off over Marquis Grissom because of his superior OBP, but I've junked that for a lineup that Manager Felipe Alou used frequently in 1994:

Lansing 2b
Cordero ss
Grissom cf
Walker rf
Alou  lf
Floyd 1b
Berry 3b
Webster C

(Regular C Darrin Fletcher rolled a 20 on an injury roll in the second series, and is still out for 9 games)

  A couple of concerns have emerged already:
-the Expos have had trouble controlling the opposition running game
-defence has been a concern - the Expos have committed 21 errors already
-the bullpen has been inconsistent.
-the starters have lasted beyond the 6th inning only twice

  This team is simply too good for this small sample trend to continue, however, and I have no doubt the law of averages will win out in the end.

  I will post stats in another post, but due to a number of reader requests, here are a few players cards from that 94 set:

Larry Walker

Pedro Martinez

Andres Galaragga