Expos Still Bobble Along

The way things are going for the Montreal Expos, contraction might be the most humane solution.

A team without a real home or much of an identity continues to falter with a lineup featuring such unknowns as Endy Chavez and Valentino Pascucci. Mention Valentino Pascucci to someone in Southern California, and chances are he’ll think you’re referring to the swanky Italian restaurant instead of the right fielder for the team with the worst record in baseball.

The Dodgers added to Montreal’s misery Friday by pounding four Expo pitchers during a 13-4 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 54,958 at Dodger Stadium on Eric Gagne bobblehead night.

Dodger reliever Duaner Sanchez punctuated the rout in the eighth inning when he smacked a two-run double to left for his first hit in his second major league at-bat. Dave Roberts followed with a two-run triple to the wall in left-center and scored the fifth run of the inning on Cesar Izturis’ sacrifice fly as the Dodgers had their biggest outburst since scoring 16 runs against San Francisco on April 20, 2003.

“We’re all putting together good at-bats and not trying to do too much,” said Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca, who hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the fourth.

Dodger starter Kazuhisa Ishii (4-1) pitched well one outing after recording his first major league shutout, giving up six hits and two runs in six innings, though he was facing a Montreal lineup devoid of right fielder Carl Everett (shoulder) and first baseman Nick Johnson (back).

Pascucci actually picked up a hit for the Expos, his first in the major leagues, to drive in a run in the fourth, but it wasn’t nearly enough for a team that is off to a franchise-worst 5-19 start. Montreal is also 3-15 during a grueling stretch in which it will play 20 games in as many days.

“We hit rock bottom tonight all the way around,” Expo Manager Frank Robinson said. “Something has to wake us up, and I’m hoping this will make us mad and more determined.”

The Dodgers (14-8), who improved to 7-1 following a loss, are headed in the opposite direction as they continue to receive contributions from their entire lineup. Shawn Green hit his fourth homer of the season, Roberts stole his major league-leading 15th base and the Dodger bullpen pitched three solid innings, giving up two meaningless runs.

Montreal paid for a curious decision to pitch to Juan Encarnacion in the sixth with two men on and two out instead of walking him to get to Jason Grabowski, who was hitting .056. Encarnacion responded by lining a Zach Day pitch to left field for a two-run single that turned a one-run lead into a three-run cushion.

Grabowski followed with a run-scoring single to left, making it 6-2, and eventually scored on Alex Cora’s single to right as the Dodgers kept piling on the runs.

Manager Jim Tracy was encouraged by the two-out hits, which have characteristically eluded the team in recent years.

“It puts you in a very good position at that stage of the game with our bullpen,” he said. “It’s just a big thing for us to be able to do something like that.”

The Dodgers struck for at least one run off each Expo pitcher, with starter Day getting tagged for six runs in 5 2/3 innings and reliever Rocky Biddle getting hammered for five runs in one inning.

Izturis got the Dodgers off to a good start in the first when he tripled down the right-field line and scored on Adrian Beltre’s RBI groundout to shortstop. Green followed with a towering home run to right on a 2-and-1 pitch to make it 2-0.

Montreal broke through in the fourth, when Tony Batista singled to right-center, stole second and scored on Brad Wilkerson’s single to right, sliding home just ahead of right fielder Encarnacion’s strong throw to the plate. One out later, Pascucci lined a single off third baseman Beltre’s glove to bring home Wilkerson and tie the score, 2-2.

But Lo Duca put the Dodgers back on top, 3-2, in the bottom half of the inning with his first homer since July 30, a solo shot just to the left of straightaway center field.