The #1 seed San Francisco Giants played the #4 seed Montreal Expos in a league
semifinal playoff series. The winner of the best-of-seven series advances to the
World Series where they will face the Colorado Rockies. The first two games were
to be played in San Francisco, while games 3-5 would be in Montreal, if necessary.
If needed, games 6 and 7, would shift back to San Francisco.
GAME 1
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
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Montreal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 4 7 1
San Francisco 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0
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Starting Pitchers: Montreal - Bartolo Colon
San Francisco - Pedro Martinez
WP - Javier Vazquez (1-0) LP - Johnstone (0-1) S - Hoffman (1)
E: Montreal - Alfonzo (1)
San Francisco - None
HR: Montreal - Edgardo Alfonzo (1), Jason Giambi (1)
San Francisco - None
INJURIES: Montreal - None
San Francisco - Rios (4 days)
Highlights: The Expos rallied from a 3-0 8th inning deficit against San Francisco ace
Pedro Martinez to tie the game at 3-3 through 9. The Giants had grabbed an
early 2-0 lead in the 2nd on an RBI double by Durazo and a sacrifice fly by
Matt Williams. With 1 down in the 8th, Edgardo Alfonzo slugged a solo HR to
make it 3-1, Giants. The Giants stayed with their ace going into the 9th and
Lofton opened the inning with a single. With 1 down, Jason Giambi stroked a
2-run HR to tie the game at 3. The Expos loaded the bases against Giants
reliever Johnstone in the 11th with no outs and the meat of the order coming
up. Johnstone was pulled and Kline got the call to face the lefty swinging
Giambi. Kline overpowered Giambi, getting him to pop to first. Next up was
Mark McGwire. Big Mac grounded out to short but Alex Gonzalez scored, giving
the Expos a 4-3 lead. Kline struck out Lankford to end the threat. Expos
closer Trevor Hoffman started the 11th and, with 1 down, Floyd lined a single
to put the tying run on base. Hoffman then struck out Rios on pure heat. Rios
swung violently, trying to end the game with a heroic HR, but ended up with
a strained back. The prognosis for Rios was that he would be on the shelf for
4 days. Hoffman got PHer Albert Belle to pop to 3rd to end the game, staking
the Expos to a 1-0 series lead. Javier Vazquez pitched 5 innings of 1 hit
ball for the win. Hoffman notched the save. Giants pinch hitters combined
to go 1 for 7.
GAME 2
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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Montreal 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 0 0 13 15 1
San Francisco 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 11 1
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Starting Pitchers: Montreal - Kevin Brown
San Francisco - Tim Hudson
WP - Kevin Brown (1-0) LP - Tim Hudson (0-1)
E: Montreal - Brown
San Francisco - Villone
HR: Montreal - Vladimir Guerrero 2 (2), Edgardo Alfonzo 1 (2), Mike Lieberthal (1)
San Francisco - Tom Lampkin (1)
INJURIES: Montreal - None
San Francisco - Alex Rodriguez (4 days)
Highlights: The Expos scored early and often off an ineffective Tim Hudson and Ron Villone
in easily topping the San Francisco Giants 13-4, taking a 2-0 series lead with
the series shifting to Montreal. Kevin Brown improved his playoff record to 3-0
with his 3rd straight complete game victory. Vladimir Guerrero lead the Expos
attack with 2 HRs and 4 RBI. Edgardo Alfonzo went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and Mike
Lieberthal went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI as the Expos handed the Giants a crushing
defeat, putting the Giants in an 2-0 series deficit. Hudson was lit up for 8
hits, 7 runs, and 2 HRs, in just 3.2 innings. The Giants were also dealt a devasting
blow when star shortstop Alex Rodriguez was struck in the elbow by a Kevin Brown
fastball in the 3rd inning. Rodriguez left the game for x-rays and the prognosis
for the Giant superstar was that he would be out for 4 days. For the Giants this
was a particularly crushing blow - ARod was the only shortstop on their playoff
roster. Velarde finished the game at short and fielded the position flawlessly.
GAME 3
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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San Francisco 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 0
Montreal 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 - 6 9 1
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Starting Pitchers: San Francisco - Omar Daal
Montreal - Rick Helling
WP - Rick Helling (1-0) LP - Omar Daal (0-1)
E: San Francisco - None
Montreal - Rick Helling
HR: San Francisco - Randy Velarde (1)
Montreal - Fernando Tatis (1)
INJURIES: San Francisco - None
Montreal - None
Highlights: The Expos jumped to quick 4-0 lead in the 1st courtesy of a 3-run homer of the bat
of 3rd baseman Fernando Tatis. Tatis added a 2-run double in the 5th, accounting for
5 RBI in the game. Rick Helling, who tied Pedro Martinez for the league lead with 14
wins, pitched a complete game and allowed more than 1 baserunner in only 2 different innings -
once due to an error of his own that allowed an unearned run to score in the 9th.
Mike Stanley made his first career start at shortstop for the Giants, subbing for the
injured Alex Rodriguez. Stanley made all the plays, accounting for 4 putouts and 2
assists, including an acrobatic double play in the 6th inning. The Giants now face
the tough task of overcoming a 3-0 deficit against the hot Montreal Expos. The Expos
have won 5-in-a-row, including 2 straight to overcome a 2-1 deficit against the Braves
in the 1st round of the playoffs.
GAME 4
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Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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San Francisco 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0
Montreal 1 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 - 6 6 1
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Starting Pitchers: San Francisco - Tim Hudson
Montreal - Bartolo Colon
WP - Bartolo Colon (1-0) LP - Tim Hudson (0-2)
E: San Francisco - None
Montreal - Vladimir Guerrero (1)
HR: San Francisco - None
Montreal - None
INJURIES: San Francisco - None
Montreal - None
Highlights: The Expos jumped to a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st on an RBI ground out by Giambi.
The Giants tied it at 1-1 on a Mike Stanley sacrifice fly in the 2nd. Stanley
made his 2nd career start, both in this series, at shortstop. He handled both
chances he had, accounting for 2 assists. The Giants took a 2-1 lead in the 4th
when, with 2 down, Vladimir Guerrero mishandled a routine fly off the bat of Mike
Stanley, playing the ball into a 2 base error. The Expos came right back in the
bottom half of the inning to tie it at 2-2 thanks to an RBI double by Mike Lieberthal,
scoring Guerrero who had led off the inning with a double. The Expos took a 4-2 lead
in the 5th on an RBI single by Guerrero and an RBI double by Edgardo Alfonzo.
Guerrero was cut down at the plate on a perfect peg by Steve Finley, ending the
inning and keeping the Giants within 2. The Expos extended their lead to 6-2 in
the 7th after Hudson walked Giambi and McGwire with 1 down. After getting Lankford
to ground out, which advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd, Guerrero lined a 2-out
single that scored both baserunners, giving the Expos a 6-2 lead entering the 8th.
Alan Embree pitched 2 perfect innings before giving way to Trevor Hoffman who closed
out the series and the Giants season, as the Expos completed the sweep with the 6-2
victory.
Series Highlights: Bartolo Colon pitched 11 innings in his 2 starts, allowing just 6 hits. Vladimir
Guerrero went 9 for 14 with 2 HRs, 1 triple, 1 double, 5 runs scored, and 8 RBI.
Tim Hudson pitched 10.1 innings, allowing 14 hits, 13 runs, 5 doubles, and 2 HRs while
suffering 2 losses. Giants lead off hitter Luis Polonia went 2 for 15, Matt Williams
went 1 for 15, Steve Finley went 1 for 13, as the entire Giant offense struggled the
throughout the series, accounting for just 27 hits over the 4 games with 11 of those
hits coming against Kevin Brown in the game 2 13-4 Expos blow out.