Montreal (AP)- The Hartford Whalers took two games from the Montreal Royals in Montreal today and moved 2 1/2 games ahead of second-place Deadwood. Hartford won Game 1, 6-4 and Game 2, 3-0. Kevin Brown (8-8) picked up his second win in only his third start as a member of the Whalers. Brown went 7 1/3 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits while striking out 5. Of the game, Brown said, "I felt really good today. Stamina-wise I could've pitched through but I was losing my control." Indeed, Brown was pulled in the bottom of the 8th after walking the first two batters he faced. Hipolito Pichardo needed only one out in the bottom of the 9th to record his 12th save but it didn't come easy. Pichardo allowed a walk and a hit before knotching the save. Of getting his second win as a Whaler since coming over from Tucson, Brown said, "It feels great. I wanted to be with a contender and I'm with a contender. Tucson was going nowhere and I'm in my prime and won't be around forever. The no-decision in my first start was frustrating here, since I pitched well, but pulling back to .500 on the year feels great." Hector Villanueva finally showed some life since coming over in a trade with Larimer, going 2-4 with a homer and 4 RBI. Ken Griffey Jr. had another big game, going 1-3 with a homer and two walks. The game wasn't even as close as the score would indicate. Kevin Brown hurt his own cause with TWO throwing errors and THREE of Montreal's 4 runs were unearned as Randy Velarde also botched a critical play. Of his team's defensive woes, Manager Jeremy Chrabascz simply said, "Gotta work on that."
Hartford took the second game of the double-dip as Montreal could get nothing going against Ben McDonald (6-4) who won, 3-0. McDonald pitched 7 shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. McDonald opposed Roger "Rocket" Clemens whose team couldn't give him the run support he needed as he 'fell' to 12-5 on the season. Clemens remains only a win behind Greg Maddux in the EL, although Maddux has only lost 2 games and has a lower ERA. There was little offense to speak of in Game 2 as the pitchers dueled.
Montreal fell 14 back in the standings while Hartford pulled 2 1/2 up on Deadwood. John Burke and Tony Saunders go tomorrow against Montreal.
