Whalers climbing back into the race, take series against Frogs August 1, 1998
St. Louis, MO (AP)- The Hartford Whalers, dare we say, have a win streak.
With today's 4-2 win over New Diggens, Hartford has won 2 in a row and has
taken advantage of Edmonton's struggles with Motor City to climb to within 8
games of the division lead. The McCoy Division of the EL continues to be the
most hotly contested battle in PVBL.
Ken Hill (9-9) took the mound for Hartford and pitched 6 strong, allowing 2
earned runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. Hill picked up a no-decision as the game
was knotted at 2 going into the 7th when Hill was relieved by Jeff McCurry
(2-1). McCurry pitched 2 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits for the win. A
day after getting a win, Roy Hoffman came on to record his second save of the
season with a near-perfect 9th inning performance. Hartford Manager Jeremy
Chrabascz's shuffling of the batting order has apparently paid off as the
Whalers have won their first two games with it. Brian McRae, Mark Whiten and
Julio Franco, all of whom had just moved up in the batting order, led the
charge late in the game. McRae finished 3 for 3 with 2 doubles and a sac fly
in the 8th while Whiten and Franco each had 2 hits and an RBI. Whiten blasted
a towering insurance run off of New Diggens reliever Mike (?) Trombley (4-2) in
the top of the 9th. Whiten moved ahead of 3B Matt Williams for the team RIB
lead with 55 (Williams has 54). "We're starting to click with this new order
now. Hopefully it'll keep up. I'm finally starting to be glad to be back in
Hartford. I think things'll be good here next year," said Whiten after the
game. McRae, who was perfect today, simply said,"One series down. Now it's
time to pound Thunder Bay. We've got 8 games to make up in a hurry." Hartford
heads to Thunder Bay for a 3-game set tomorrow. The Whalers are likely to face
former ace Hartford hurler, Kevin Brown, during the series.
Tradewinds:
None.
Transactions:
RHP Jeff McCurry was sent down to AAA Glastonbury.
2B Tilson Brito was recalled from AAA Glastonbury.
RHP John Burke was designated as a setup man.
