MONTREAL (AP)--With another loss to the rejuvinated Whalers (in both senses of the word), the Royals are now 2 games behind the second place Whalers and Outlaws and 8 games behind the division-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. The 8-4 home loss to the Whalers put them 6 games under .500. The Montreal Royals are 7-12 this season against Hartford.
But the biggest setback to the Royals was another slew of injuries. In last night's loss, Darrin Fletcher bruised his hip trying to block the runner at home plate, Pokey Reese hurt his jaw when he made an awkward dive back to first base and was nicked on his face by the throw.
These injuries are in addition to those still nagging Randy Johnson and reliever Alex Speaker. Of course, the Royal's most reliable middle reliever, southpaw Steve Cooke, is still on the 15-day DL and Solomon Torres, may not face any more action for the entire season.
"I was practicing the day before my start," said Torres, "and hard toss was all it took to blow out my arm. The doctors said that the only option for me was to take surgery as soon as possible."
Torres, 4-8 with a 2.48 ERA before injuring his elbow, suffered a similar injury in the minors only 2 years ago. He will be undergoing reconstructive surgery on his elbow in mid-July, and then will be on a rehab assignment in the Royal's training facility in Jupiter, Florida.
"This is a serious setback," commented manager Gary Carter, "not only to the team, but to his development. Without a doubt, he will turn out to be one hell of a dominating pitcher, but a serious injury like this will only set back his progress."
Luis Andujar, a late bloomer in the 1997 season, got his first start this season after replacing Torres in the order. Andujar got his first win of the season the other day, improving his record to 1-3 and his ERA to 4.42.
"Right now, pitching isn't a concern," said Carter. "Even though we lost two integral players on our pitching staff in Steve Cooke and Solomon Torres, Terry Mulholland and Luis Andujar have filled in tremendously well."
"We need our power hitters to step up to the bill and perform up to our expectations if we are going to get back into the race."
Tim Raines Continues to Provide Leadership
Old reliable, Tim "Rock" Raines, at age 35 is still a leader in the clubhouse, and still one of the best leadoff men in the game. While he doesn't have the starting spot over Rusty Greer, he has been putting up tremendous numbers when getting the job.
In 34 games, Tim Raines is batting .378 with a .684 slugging percentage. That's 200 points better than his closest team competitor, Hal Morris.
"Me and the skip know that I'll continue to play on the bench, no matter what my numbers are, because he wants to give the younger players, especially Rusty, a chance to play every day," said Raines. "
Trade Rumours
"Neither Orlando Palmeiro or Curtis Goodwin have panned out to be everyday centerfielders, so we really have a hole there," said GM Carbonetto. "What are we looking for? Power, power and power. There's a reason why we're worst or second worst in offense. We don't have any big sluggers."
"Unfortunately, with Torres injured, we don't have much to offer too, so we may just have to sit tight and hope for the best."
