The Eyes Have It: Expos Win, 3-2, Over Dodgers

All those youngsters among the crowd of 44,953 at Dodger Stadium Monday night were provided with a vivid example of why their Little League coaches continually stress the importance of keeping their eyes on the ball.

Andres Galarraga kept his eyes on the ball and turned a potential two-run double by Mike Scioscia into an inning-ending out.

Eddie Murray didn’t and turned what probably would have been an inning-ending double play into the game-winning hit.

And so, the Montreal Expos beat the Dodgers, 3-2, on a ninth-inning single by Galarraga. His line drive caromed off the glove of Murray, the Dodgers’ first baseman, and trickled into right field, allowing pinch-runner Rex Hudler to break a 2-2 tie and score the winning run from second base.

“When I hit the ball, I think, ‘Line drive to right field,’ but he was playing (right where I hit it),” Galarraga said. “When I saw the ball go into right field, I thought, ‘Wow.’ I was so happy.”

Murray, whose sixth-inning single pulled the Dodgers even, was not happy. Nor was he eager to talk about it afterward, turning his back on reporters who questioned him about the play and mumbling into his locker.

It was a tough play, he said.

The official scorer agreed, giving Galarraga a single.

It would not have been so important, though, if Galarraga hadn’t made the play on Scioscia’s wicked sixth-inning grounder, gloving the ball deep behind the bag at first base, about a foot inside the foul line.

He flipped to starting pitcher Kevin Gross, who might have been through for the night if the ball had gone through, since both of the Dodgers’ runners, Murray on second and Mike Marshall on first, probably would have scored.

It took a crazy hop, too.

Right into Galarraga’s hands.

“I kept my eyes on the ball,” he said. “The ball bounced a little bit high and right into my glove.”

As it was, though, Gross was through for the night anyway.

But the Expos weren’t.

On came reliever Pascual Perez, who shut down the Dodgers for two innings, thanks in part to another strong defensive play by Galarraga. He turned a sharp grounder by Kirk Gibson into a double play in the eighth.

Wallace Johnson batted for Perez to lead off the ninth and, after singling through the middle, barely under the outstretched glove of shortstop Alfredo Griffin, was lifted for a pinch-runner, Hudler.

Hudler was sacrificed to second. Then, after Tom Foley walked, Dodger starter Tim Leary was replaced by Alejandro Pena, who promptly gave up the game-winning hit to Galarraga.

Galarraga’s hit made a winner of Perez, who hadn’t won since last Sept. 24, when he pitched a rain-shortened, five-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.

He was 0-6 this season before his demotion to the bullpen, then lost his first decision as a reliever, too, 10 days ago against the Dodgers.

The victory--Tim Burke worked the ninth inning for his 10th save--improved Perez’s record to 1-7.

The loss, meanwhile, dropped the Dodgers to 24-23.

In the first game of a three-game series, the Dodgers spotted the Expos a 2-0 lead in the second inning, when Spike Owen bounced a single through the right side and Gross lined a single to right field with two out.

Dave Martinez then lined a two-run triple into the right field corner, ending a long drought for the Expos against Leary, who in his only two starts against the Expos last season shut them out.

Jeff Hamilton homered for the Dodgers in the third, sending a pitch over the 385-foot sign in left-center field.

In the sixth, Gibson lined a single to center with two out and stole second, then scored on a single by Murray, whose blooper to center gave him his 30th run batted in and pulled the Dodgers even at 2-2.

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers hadn’t lost a one-run decision in almost a month, winning seven straight since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, April 30 at St. Louis. . . . After grounding into a double play in the eighth inning, Kirk Gibson stopped before entering the dugout and turned to yell at pitcher Pascual Perez of the Expos. What did Gibson say? “That’s my business,” he told reporters afterward. “I’m not going to pop off in the paper about him. I’m not going to let you guys run with it.” Said Perez: “I thought he was trying to distract me so I waved (as if to say), ‘Go away.’ ”