Montreal--48,000 fans turned out to see the Montreal Royals on a Sunday
afternoon. It was the largest attendance of the year for the Montreal
Royals, all the Labatt Stadium could hold. Fans game to see their team
sweep their division rivals, the Deadwood Outlaws, in a 3-game series. Mike
Grace showed up for the broom wielders as he pitched a gem, 7 innings,
letting up only one run. Alex Speaker and Mark Acre combined for almost two
innings of work to close up the game and signal the fireworks. The final
score was 2-1.
The only 2 runs for the Royals came in the first inning, when they profited
off a shaky start from Mark Portugal. Lankford got the first hit of the
inning and then Roberto Alomar belted his 12th of the year. That was the
only run support Mark Grace would get, and all he would need. He let up 1
run in the 6th inning off a solo home run by Julio Franco. Alex Speaker
took over in the next inning. He threw only 4 pitches to get the last two
batters out in the inning. The skipper decided that 2/3 of an inning was
enough for Speaker, who had been getting a lot of work as of late, and put
in Mark Acre to make a rare save, his second of the year.
Alomar was interviewed after the game: "Portugal gave me what I wanted and
I let the bat fly. It was simple as that. At the time, I never would have
imagined it was the winning run."
"The fans in Montreal have not been a dissapointment," said Bonilla after
the final match in the series. "I don't think we could ask for anything
more from them. We love it here and we try so hard because we are returning
the great support they give."
Almost 95% percent of the attendance was from on-the-spot ticket sales,
making it the biggest walkup crowd in the history of the PVBL. 38,000 fans
bought tickets that day or the day before. The large warkup crowd is mostly
due to the fact that the Royals came to Montreal in midseason, meaning that
very few baseball fans were willing to buy season tickets. Still,
yesterday's crowd that they don't shy away from their hometown team.
PITCHING THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Montreal--There is no question that the pitchers have been showing up for
the big games. They've made the close games close. Clemens is leading the
rotation with an astounding 2.35 ERA, but all the others behind him have
been following his example as well. Mike Grace is down to and ERA of 4.19,
Skinner„3.30 and Torres 5.14.
But the pitching coach is quick to point out one thing: The players have
found it easier to field on the better maintained grass and the corners in
the outfield are easier to play. In general, this has caused improved
performance defensively, and has helped tremendously to back up the
pitching department.
Meanwhile, there may be another factor affecting the batters' ability. Both
the Outlaws and the Oilers players have complained about the upper-level
lighting, saying that it affected their vision of the field.
"This is a great stadium, and great playing conditions, but this hasn't
been adapted properly to baseball condition," commented Outlaw firstbaseman
Tino Martinez. (The Montreal Alouettes of the CFL host their games at
Labatt Stadium.) "There is something about the lights that I've never seen
in any other stadium. I don't no what it is, but it hurts your eyes if you
are up at bat for too long."
Whatever the reason may be, the Royals are not looking back. Their 9-game
margin between the first place Outlaws is the narrowest it's been in more
than a month.
