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Sunday, Apr. 23 1:35pm ET
Vlad doesn't beat Brewers, or does he? | |||||
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GAME LOG
MONTREAL (AP) -- Vladimir Guerrero has earned a lot of respect as a dangerous hitter. Guerrero went 2-for-3 with two RBI and was walked intentionally with first base occupied during Montreal's four-run fourth as the Expos beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4 Sunday. "Guerrero came through again -- a couple of times," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. Javier Vazquez (2-0) pitched seven innings, allowing four hits including a three-run homer to Geoff Jenkins, who homered for the third straight game. Guerrero hit an RBI single in the first and added his 100th career double in the third for his 25th RBI of the season. He raised his average to .439 (29-for-66). Trailing 3-2 following Jenkins' homer, Montreal rallied for four runs with two outs in the bottom half. Alou felt the key to the rally was when Guerrero was walked intentionally with runners on first and third, after Rondell White singled in the go-ahead run off Jaime Navarro (0-4) to make it 4-3. "I think, and I thought, and I still think, and I will think, it's the right thing to do, even though that was the difference in the ballgame, right there," Alou said. "Somebody swinging the bat like that -- a great hitter who's really hot, I would have done the same thing." Left-hander Matt Williams replaced Navarro and issued back-to-back walks to Lee Stevens and Trace Coquillette to increase Montreal's lead to 6-3. Acquired from Texas on March 16 to bat fifth and offer protection for Guerrero in the lineup, Stevens wasn't surprised that the Brewers chose to load the bases to face him. "It makes sense, with what Vlady does," Stevens said. "It was nice that I got the walk and came through in that situation. That's what I'm here for. Hopefully, it can help eliminate them pitching around him so much." Brewers manager Davey Lopes felt that he had to walk Guerrero because of Navarro's performance. "We didn't have any choice," Lopes said. "Was I going to let Jaime pitch to Guerrero? Or pitch to Stevens? He didn't show me he had enough for either one of those guys. If he did, the situation wouldn't have been what it was." Ugueth Urbina came on with runners at first and third and two outs in the eighth and allowed an RBI single to Kevin Barker. Urbina struck out the final four batters for his fifth save in seven opportunities. Leading 2-0 on Guerrero's two RBI hits, Vazquez gave up a leadoff double to Mark Loretta in the fourth for the Brewers first hit. Jeromy Burnitz, who had walked in the first, was hit by a pitch and Jenkins put Milwaukee ahead 3-2 as he launched a high drive into the right-field stands for his seventh homer of the season. The lead was short-lived as the Expos rallied for four in the bottom half, keyed by Jose Vidro's two-out RBI single to tie the game at 3. "Every time you get RBIs with two outs, it kills the momentum for the other team," Vidro said. "We got four big RBIs today after two outs, and that set the game up." Navarro allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings to see his ERA go from 10.66 to 11.57. He walked four, including two intentional walks. "It's frustrating," Jenkins said. "We've had our chances to score some runs but we haven't gotten that big hit to propel us. We did it in yesterday's ballgame, but we have to continue to do it every day."
Game notes | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Milwaukee Clubhouse Montreal Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 0 Boston 0
Cleveland 0
Montreal 6
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