Giants Sweep Past the Expos

The Montreal Expos’ offensive freeze had lasted since the opening of spring training, but then there appeared to be a thaw in its victory over the San Francisco Giants in the first game of their series.

Just as quickly, the Expos’ bats froze up again.

Shawn Estes pitched six strong innings in a 6-1 San Francisco victory, and Danny Darwin followed with eight innings of four-hit ball in a 2-0 victory of the Giants’ doubleheader sweep Thursday.

The Expos were held to one run and 10 hits in the doubleheader, a day after reaching season highs in hits (15) and runs in a 9-5 win over the Giants.

“We scored one run on a double play and then get shut out. That’s not a whole lot of offense,” Montreal Manager Felipe Alou said.

The Expos also had to deal with the loss of Dustin Hermanson, knocked out of the first game because of a back strain after pitching one inning.

“It affected everything,” Hermanson said. “I was just hoping it wouldn’t get any worse but when I got back to the dugout, I could feel it when I was breathing.”

Hermanson is expected to miss at least one start.

“It could have been a circus here, when you’re starter leaves in the first inning in the first game of a doubleheader,” Alou said. “But [Trey] Moore pitched a good game and kept us from having to go too deep into the bullpen [in the second game]. Now we have some time to decide what to do with Hermanson.”

San Francisco’s Bill Mueller doubled in the first game to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, then was shut out in four at-bats in the second game.

Darwin (4-2) won his third start in a row. He retired 10 consecutive batters at one point, and finished with four strikeouts and a walk. Robb Nen pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save.

In the opener, Hermanson (3-4) gave up three first-inning runs, including Barry Bonds’ two-run homer into the upper deck.