Pete Harnisch's his having a great start to the season. His shutout over the offensively gifted Border Patrol only begins to describe the success the former Royal is having. He has 3 wins along with a 0.47 ERA.
Rheal Cormier, meanwhile, the only French Canadian currently pitching in the majors, earned his second win of the season, with a 8-4 final over the Deadwood Outlaws. Cormier is tied with Mike Grace for the most wins on the team.
Both pitchers were involved in a trade last year that sent Cormier to the Royals and Harnisch, then on the DL, to the Medina Mustangs. Neither team is sorry about the trade.
"Cormier has been fired up ever since spring training," said manager Gary Carter. "The ovations Cormier gets in Montreal... it'll make me deaf if I stay here too long."
Yesterday, starter Jose Rijo stuggled from the first inning. Inconsistency in the pitching continues to plague the Outlaws, who have now fallen to third place in their division.
The Royals profited from another home run barrage. Greer, Bonilla and the hot Juan Samuel each got home runs. Greer went 3-for-3 after returning to the cleanup position. Bobby Bonilla finally broke out of his slump with a 4-RBI game, including a 2-run homer.
"I told you Rusty would be back in the fourth spot eventually," said the skipper whimsically.
Royals GM Stays Put
Every team in the McCoy division has made a trade recently, except the Montreal Royals. General Manager Carbonetto insists he's happy with the team's progress. The Royals have improved to 7-11 since their 0-7 start.
The Royals' GM has always stressed stability and patience in his franchise. "I don't make a move for the the sake of shaking up the team," says Carbonetto. The Royals made only one move during the offseason, and it was made just before the first game in April.
"Whether it improved our team or not, we had to make the move. Center field was a blackhole out there. Ray Lankford, unfortunately, never turned out to be the player we expected. Rondell is already that player and more."
The following players have been playing with the Montreal Royals (and the DC United) since the franchise's beginning:
C Art Maupin
C Darrin Fletcher
1B Hal Morris
2B Rafael Bournigal
LF Rusty Greer
RF Bobby Bonilla
RHP Salomon Torres
RHP Mike Grace
RHP Luis Andujar
RHP Alex Speaker
RHP Santo Skinner
Players who were originally drafted by the Royals, but who no longer play for the team:
3B Tim Naehring
CF Ray Lankford
RHP Ricky Bottalico
RHP Pedro Martinez
RHP Rick Aguilera
