Expos Get the Drop Against Brewers

The Montreal Expos found yet another way to win Wednesday night.

Milwaukee rookie center fielder Alex Sanchez dropped Jose Vidro’s two-out liner in the bottom of the 15th inning to allow the winning run to score, giving the Expos a 5-4 victory.

“He catches that ball 99 times out of 100,” Brewer right fielder Jeffrey Hammonds said. “Tonight was that one.”

The Expos won their fifth in a row and opened a two-game lead in the NL East.

“I feel good and I didn’t do anything tonight,” Expo Manager Frank Robinson said.

After each team scored in the 12th, Mike Mordecai led off the Montreal 15th with a double against Jose Cabrera (1-3). Brad Wilkerson bunted Mordecai to third and pinch-hitter Michael Barrett was walked intentionally.

Barrett took second on defensive indifference before Peter Bergeron struck out for the second out.

Vidro followed with a liner, and Sanchez ran in to make the catch, but the ball glanced off his glove and dropped behind him for an error as Mordecai crossed the plate.

“It’s almost a shame to see the game end the way it did, on an error,” Mordecai said. “You’d like it to be a clean hit. But you know what, we’ll take it any way we can get it.”

T.J. Tucker (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings for the victory.

The Expos’ winning streak is their longest since they took six in a row in 2000. The game drew an announced 5,295, only the fifth crowd over 5,000 in 12 games at Olympic Stadium this season.