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  Tuesday, Jun. 6 7:05pm ET
Grimsley goes five strong for victory
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

MONTREAL (AP) -- Jason Grimsley has earned a day off.

Grimsley, pressed into an emergency start Tuesday night, pitched five strong innings and Bernie Williams homered and drove in four runs to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-1 victory over Montreal, ending the Expos' season-high six-game winning streak.

Jason Grimsley
Jason Grimsley stepped into the starting lineup, and stopped the Expos' win streak.

Grimsley (2-1), who relieved in Atlanta both Saturday and Sunday, allowed three hits and one run in his third start of the season, throwing 77 pitches after David Cone moved up a day to fill in for the injured Ramiro Mendoza on Monday.

"I know I don't have a chance to play tomorrow," Grimsley said. "I think I'd go stir crazy if I had to start again, but I don't mind it once every two or three weeks."

Williams hit a solo homer in the second and a three-run double during a six-run eighth to the delight of numerous Yankees fans among the crowd of 24,453, the Expos' second-largest home crowd of the season.

Mike Stanton, who relieved Grimsley, struck out the first four batters he faced and retired eight in a row before issuing a two-out walk to Mike Mordecai in the eighth. Todd Erdos got the last four outs.

"Batman and Robin, Grimsley and Stanton," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "What a great job. Pitching Saturday and Sunday, and then coming in here and pitching the way he did tonight. Mike also, he's durable but he's taken it to the next level for us."

Stanton also singled in the eighth, improving his average to .500 in 14 career at-bats.

His secret is simple: "I choke up on my bat, shorten up the swing, and just try and make contact," Stanton explained. "I've got lucky a few times."

Scott Brosius went 4-for-5 for the Yankees, who have won three of five interleague games this year.

"He's swinging the bat really well and Bernie's big in the middle of the order," Torre said. "That's a big help for us."

Montreal lost for the second time in its last 12 home games. The Expos had won seven straight at Olympic Stadium and their 22-10 home record is the best in the majors.

After Williams homered off Javier Vazquez (6-2) to give New York an early lead, Mordecai tied it at 1 with his third homer leading off the third. The only other hits for Montreal were by Vazquez who went 2-for-2, including a leadoff double in the fifth.

Ricky Ledee, batting leadoff for the second straight game in place of the injured Chuck Knoblauch, hit a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Vazquez, who threw 120 pitches, and just 64 strikes, in six innings, allowed two runs on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked four.

"I felt like I was rushing a little bit," Vazquez said. "But other than that, everything feels good."

The Yankees put the game away with six runs in the eighth, including Tino Martinez's sixth homer off reliever Guillermo Mota.

"Grimsley threw a really good game for five innings, he had a really good sinker," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. "Vazquez didn't have it tonight but he managed to keep us in the game for six innings. We had a game, but in the eighth inning they broke it wide open."

Game notes
The crowd was Montreal's third over 20,000 this season, including 51,249 for the home opener April 3 and 20,111 for an 8-3 win over Houston May 21. ... Knoblauch missed his second straight start with a sore left forearm and is day-to-day. ... Orlando Hernandez will start Wednesday's series finale in Montreal as originally scheduled. ... Expos 2B Jose Vidro missed his fourth straight start with a strained ligament in his right middle finger. Originally expected to return to the lineup Tuesday, Alou elected to give Vidro one more day off. ... Expos reliever Matt Skrmetta, who made his major league debut in the eighth, walked both batters he faced, and both eventually scored.

 


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