Expos Rock Maddux to Start Off on a Roll

Baseball’s road warriors started with a win, appropriately, on the road.

The Montreal Expos sent Greg Maddux to his first opening-day loss, defeating the Atlanta Braves, 10-2, Monday behind Jeff Liefer’s four RBIs and Orlando Cabrera’s two-run homer.

Tony Armas Jr., in his first opening-day start, gave up one run and five hits in six innings to get the win for the vagabond Expos.

“It’s a good way to start,” Expo Manager Frank Robinson said. “We didn’t have a particularly good road record last year and it’s something we talked about this spring. We have to improve on that.”

Montreal was 34-47 on the road last season and 83-79 overall in its first season under the operation of the commissioner’s office. The Expos were second in the NL East, 19 games behind the Braves.

This year, Montreal will play 22 “home” games in Puerto Rico in an effort to increase revenue.

Maddux, 6-0 with a 1.66 earned-run average in seven previous opening-day starts, gave up four runs in the first inning. The four-time NL Cy Young Award winner went seven innings, giving up five runs -- four earned -- and nine hits.