SHL Two–Expos Sailing Away

The Expos are winning with better pitching and greater depth than their rivals in SHL Two.  The shuttle bus to Ottawa is the only thing that may run out of gas as Montreal pitchers are staying fresh with teams headed into the July-August crucible before the home stretch.

The Race: The Expos (45-43) clawed their way back to .500 over the July 4th weekend as Steve Rogers won his second game after his recall from Ottawa. He got his third straight win with a great 2-1 victory on July 10th over the Cubbies. Rogers has justified GM Keri’s confidence (and this writer’s) and gives the Expos four starters with an ERA under 4.00.

Dennis Martinez had a great 5-4 win against the Giants and Christy Mathewson on July 7th. Mel Ott and Frankie Frisch had homers but Montreal was able to bunch six hits and walk away with a win. An interesting note was Keri getting Guerrero into the lineup in a most imaginative way, bringing him in late in the game–ostensibly as a defensive replacement–at shortstop. More on the success of that concept later.

The starting rotation has established itself as one of the leaders in the Expansion Division with a 4.32 ERA that is 11th best in the SHL. Rusty Staub is the rock on which the team is built but with Guerrero playing shortstop, the offense may finally come alive. The perplexing thing about the Expos is how consistently they win on the road. The team has played two-thirds of their games on the road and D-I-V-O-R-C-E is the song many wives are singing when players call home because there is no relief in sight.

Second Place Padres: The Padres (43-45) have slipped off the pace as pitching leader Bruce Hurst continues to struggle. The offense continues to lead the league in several categores, but other teams are feasting on San Diego hurlers. Jake Peavy had a great performance July 1 shutting out the Pirates on four hits. But he has been completely inconsistent and the failure of the Padres to find a reliable starter is undercutting a great offense.

Tony Gwynn is leading the league in batting average at .378. The have several others among league leaders, including Gene Richards whose 38 steals puts him near the lead. Tony Fernandez, Robbie Alomar, Steve Finley and Ryan Klesko all are hitting above .300 and the team batting average of .297 is the best in SHL and amazing to contemplate. But the power has fallen off and run production is down to a paltry 5.8 per game.

Kansas City Rockets into Third: The real comers in the league may be the Royals (35-53). Two weeks ago the team was barely able to plate 4 runs per game and it was debatable whether the Brewers or the Royals had the worst lineup in SHL. But they have lifted the worst offense off the ocean floor, plating 4.3 runs per game now. George Brett and Carlos Beltran in the three- and four-hole cannot compete with teams whose lineups include Mantle, Ruth and Gehrig. But they are pushing Willie Wilson all the way around the diamond more frequently now.  And Johnny Damon had a good night last night going 3-for-5 in a 9-4 win that moved the Royals into third place.

If Damon heats up, then the Royals offense might make big strides in the second half.  Carlos Beltran has hit four homers in the last ten games with 10 RBI and when the team has been beaten in the past two weeks, it was not the offense that let the team down. The pitching has been spotty. Bret Saberhagen shut down another of those tough lineups–the Giants–on July 1 for a 2-0 win over hard luck pitcher of the year, Christy Mathewson. He shut down Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Met Ott while Barry Bonds managed only two singles.

GM Sam Mellinger still has Hal McRae available if he wants another bat to shore up the offense. They still need some punch and McRae continues to tear it up in Omaha, hitting .327 and leading the team in every offensive category. He sits by the phone, but is getting no love from the big club.

Milwaukee Falling Flat (34-54): It is hard to believe this team was in first place early in the season. Box Car Bosio and Teddy Higera have had nice runs as have Yount, Molitor and company. The bullpen that was carrying the team has proven itself human. Although they are still second in the league in ERA, they are responsible for several recent losses. Rollie Fingers ERA has blown up to 5.68 and twice in the last ten games he blew up with the game on the line. The Royals and Brewers will be fighting itself out for last spot in the SHL Two unless the Royals can find another bat for the middle of the order.