South Dakota (AP)- The Hartford Whalers continued their hot hitting and good luck today, completing a four-game ROAD sweep of divisional rival Deadwood. Hartford edged the Outlaws in the top of the 9th in Game 1, 3-2. Hartford took control late in Game 2 as well, finally prevailing 8-6. With the sweep, Hartford moved 3 games in front of the second-place Outlaws.
Rafael Palmiero's two-run homer in the top of the 9th, driving in Junior, lifted the Whalers to victory in Game 1. Griffey hit a homer of his own in the first, a solo shot. He was 2 for 3 with a couple of walks in the game. Ben McDonald started the game and went 5 strong innings, allowing Deadwood's only 2 earned runs. Jeff McCurry (5-2) picked up the win in relief while Hipolito Pichardo notched his 20th save of the year.
After struggling in Game 1, Hartford exploded offensively in Game 2, winning 8-6. Rafael Palmiero hit his second homer of the day while Ken Griffey Junior shined once more. Junior went 4-5 with a 3B, a run scored and 2 stolen bases. The Whalers stole 4 bases off of Deadwood's aging veteran catcher, Don Slaught, in the second game. Tony Phillips and Randy Velarde each had a stolen base on top of Griffey's. All total, the Whalers stole 9 bases from Deadwood in the four-game series. When commenting if Slaught should've been replaced, Chrabascz commented, "I doubt it would've mattered much. Slaught's backup is Pat Borders. We've had great baserunning success against both of them this season."
