Hartford (AP)- The Hartford Whalers extended their ever-so-slim first-place
lead in the McCoy Division today by taking two from the Deadwood Outlaws at
home, 6-1 and 3-1. With the victories, the Whalers now maintain a 1.5 game
lead over second-place Edmonton.
In Game 1, Hartford's newest acquisitions were the story as Socks Byrne, Joe
Carter and Matt Williams combined to go 5 for 11 with 3 runs scored, 3 RBI, a
stolen base and a double. Meanwhile, Kevin Brown (2-0) was magnificent yet
again. Brown pitched 8 strong innings allowing 1 earned run on only 4 hits and
struck out 5. Another recent acquisition, Mike Mimbs, pitched a near perfect
9th inning to hold.
Game 2 was another nailbiter for Hartford, who seems to enjoy close ballgames.
There was little offense to speak of as Tony Saunders (2-0) was the story,
going 7 1/3 innings while allowing only a single earned run on 6 hits while
striking out 4. "I had much better stuff tonight," said Saunders who had
walked 4 batters in his last outing. 3B Matt Williams recorded Hartford's only
RBI as Hartford scored 2 unearned runs as a result of Deadwood's 3 fielding
errors. Hipolito Pichardo picked up his 3rd save in as many attempts in this
young season, striking out 2 of the 5 batters he faced.
The defending World Champions have gotten an unexpectedly solid start coming
out of the blocks and currently stand at 6-2. The Whalers have already played
4 close, 1-run affairs and have won all of them.
Hartford has one more game left in the Deadwood series before going back on the
road to face Montreal. Carlos Castillo and Bob Ardell (respectively) will take
the mound tomorrow. Castillo got shelled in his first start (0-1) but is
reportedly being given another opportunity to prove himself at the #4 spot
before getting the boot from Manager Chrabascz. Ardell won but struggled in
his first outing and hopes to pull it together. Cal Eldred, Will Cunanne, John
Burke and Kevin Millwood wait in the wings as potential replacements in the
starting rotation.
