PVBL: Hartford Whalers
Hartford takes two, extends division lead
September 15, 1997

Montreal (AP)- The Hartford Whalers won two on the road in Montreal today to extend their slim divisional lead over second-place Deadwood to 3.5 games. Hartford plays three in Edmonton before facing Deadwood in two pivotal series to finish out the regular season (could you ask for a better finish/showdown).

In Game 1, Ben McDonald (9-5) pitched 7 strong innings as Hartford defeated Montreal, 8-6. McDonald allowed 2 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 8 before giving way to Aaron Sele who notched his first save of the season in relief. Randy Velarde, Scott Brosius and Kurt Abbott combined to go 7-11 on the afternoon. Velarde had a 3-run homer and 2 runs scored while Brosius had a couple of doubles and Abbott also homered (2 RBI).

In Game 2, Hartford won its 13th extra-inning affair of the season, 5-3 in the 12th. Hartford scored 2 in the top of the 12th inning to make the Whalers 13-9 on the season in extra innings games (an astounding 15% of their games have gone into extra frames). Hipolito Pichardo (7-5) picked up the win in relief in the bottom of the 12th. Pichardo came in to take record two outs and did so perfectly. Rookie John Burke received the no decision despite allowing a respectable 3 earned runs in 5 and 2/3. But Burke had control problems, allowing 7 hits in those 5 innings and 4 walks. RF Mark Whiten was Hartford's hero, going 3-5 with 3 RBI (a sac fly). Rafael Palmiero seemed to intimidate the Royals pitching staff, going 1-3 with a double and 3 free passes. Leadoff man, Tony Phillips, broke out of his recent slump going 3-5 with a 2B and 2 runs scored.

Hartford travels across the Great White North from Montreal to Edmonton for a 3-game set with the Oil Kings. Cal Eldred opens the road series with aces Greg Maddux and Kevin Brown to follow.

SHOWDOWN: As PR man, Dan Shapiro pointed out there are 2 pivotal series coming up between Hartford and Deadwood, one at each venue. Here's how things shape up at the moment...
TEAM              OVERALL  PCT.  GB   L10  STRK  HOME          in DIV
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Hartford Whalers  83-61   .576   ---  6-4   W2   48-24 (.666)  55-39 (.585)
Deadwood Outlaws  79-64   .552   3.5  5-5   L4   37-34 (.521)  40-43 (.482)

Although everyone has praised and touted this rivalry as being the PVBL's best, even he at times, Manager Jeremy Chrabascz felt others deserved notice, "Yeah, I think we've got a great little thing going here. But you know, no one seems to mention the fact that Vero Beach and Binghamton are only separated by a game right now. That rivalry has see-sawed as much as ours. In fact, Vero Beach just lost 2 while Binghamton has won 2. I think a single game separation is certainly as significant as our three-game one." But Chrabascz didn't thwart his opportunity to promote his own division, "We're a better division though, right guys?"

FREE AGENT PLAN: Hartford just posted it's statement on the plan, after the fact, on the board. For the record, the Whalers support the plan. Chrabascz stated that being neither in the Top nor the Bottom 5 teams certainly helped ease his decision to support the move.

OFFSEASON: It is rumored that many changes are planned in Hartford, especially with a number of players being placed on the trading blocks. It certainly should be an exciting offseason. Chrabascz has said that people's performances in the postseason will help or hurt their job security.

--written by Jeremy Chrabascz