Outlaws Must Sweep Royals To Stay Alive October 1, 1997
Deadwood (AP)--On Monday, the capacity crowd at Hitchcock Stadium in Deadwood, North Dakota cheered as Al Martin hit another home run, leading the Outlaws to a 8-3 win over the Montreal Royals. No Royals pitcher escaped unscathed. Mike Grace, Nealy Becker and Dick Collins were all shelled for at least 2 runs. Becker pitched a solid 5 innings after relieving the starter, Grace, from a horrendous start, but still gave up 3 runs--two in the 5th inning and one in the 9th inning before being replaced by Collins.
Yesterday Montreal exploded for 11 hits but Deadwood pitcher Jeff Fassero managed to limit batters to only 2 runs and the team cruised to another home victory, the final score 4-2.
Still, the Deadwood fans left home little better than the started off, knowing that the 4 game lead Hartford holds over their second-place rivals, the Deadwood Outlaws, has not shrinked due to Hartford's two wins in Edmonton. Now, Deadwood can only hope to get a tie for first place... assuming that Hartford loses their last four games and Deadwood transversely wins them all. In other words, the Outlaws will have to extend their winning streak to 11 games. While that is probable, Hartford losing four games in a row is highly unlikely--considering that they will have to face the worst of the McCoy teams. Yes, that's right, the Montreal Royals. Only a three-game sweep of the Hartford Whalers at home in Conneticut could keep the Outlaws alive.
But all this is irrelevant unless Deadwood first sweeps the Royals in the final game of the series today. Only, what makes this game all the more interesting is that Roger Clemens will be facing his former teammates for the second time this year, and similarily Pete Harnisch will be deciding his former team's fate. Still, Clemens doesn't have the moral dilemma faced by Harnisch.
"For us," said Royals pitcher Pete Harnisch, "it's just another road game. For Deadwood, this could mean the end of the season for them. All I can say is that I won't let their emotions affect my game. It's not my problem. It's their's." That seems like cold words for a player that may be taking away his good friends' last chance to make the playoffs.
Since being traded to the Royals, Harnisch has become the winningest pitcher on the staff, surpassing Mike Grace as the team ace. Harnisch's record now stands at 15-10 and has a chance to make it 16 wins for the season. That would mean he would tie with Roger Clemens, who is currently 16-9.
1-2-3 Batters Hit Up a Storm
No one would believe it from their batting averages, but three Montreal Royals batters have been quietly racking up hits. Currently, Rusty Greer, Roberto Alomar and Bobby Bonilla all stand in the top ten in hits in the EL. Greer and Alomar have already surpassed the 200-hit mark, and Bobby Bonilla is sure to reach the mark with 198 so far for the season. Surprisingly, none of the three Royals batters are in the top ten for batting average. The key has been day-in-day-out work ethic. Any diehard fan, or even a reporter as myself, would be hardpressed to find a game without the names Greer, Alomar or Bonilla on the list. For most of the year, Greer, Alomar, Bonilla have been first, second and third in the batting order. By no small measure did Alomar's and Greer's 417 hits contribute to Bonilla's 100-plus RBIs.
Will Montreal fans see the three-player winning combination next season? "Rusty, Bobby and Robby, to us, are three incredible players," said the Royals' GM. "They are strong in every aspect of the game, offensively, defensively, in speed and in power. Any move we make with these players would have to be an awfully good one."
