MONTREAL (CP)--The novelty is starting to wear thin for highly touted
Hartford rookie pitcher Hideki Irabu, who racked up a 23 consecutive
shutout innings at the beginning of the season. On Friday Irabu didn't get
past the 2nd inning, allowing 4 earned runs.
The Royals ended up with a convincing 10-0 win over the Whalers, who are
still in first place. Cormier pitched 7 shutout innings and improved to 3-1
for the year. Bobby Bonilla led the offense with a "grand chalem" in the
5th inning that cost Cunnane's ERA dearly.
On Saturday, Tom Gordon was totaled, letting up 3 runs in 3 innings. Ramon
Martinez didn't fare much better in relief, giving up 5 more runs. The
Hartford Whalers made it close in the last remaining innings, taking
advantage of a rare bad outing by Joe Hetrick, but the Royals won 8-6.
Royals to Get Rest
After a league-wide report stated that playing every day could seriously
hamper a player's long-term career, manager Gary Carter plans to give
players Rusty Greer, Pokey Reese, Bobby Bonilla and Rondell White, who's
been hampered by bad knees in the past.
Don't Wait for Royals to Save the Day
The Royals, as a team, have only 1 save. Their closer, Jose Mesa, has none.
Only one other team has little as 1 save--the Medina Mustangs.
For a save opportunity, the difference in the score between the winning
team and the losing team can't be more than 3 runs. Here's some telling
numbers:
Number of save opportunities for Royals: 3
Number of save opportunities for Royals' opponents: 9
McCoy Notes
-Paul Spoljaric wasn't a happy man after last night's game. Spoljaric made
188 pitches over 12 innings and didn't get the decision. Only 9 innings
later did the Edmonton score the winning run in a 6-5, 21-inning victory,
the longest game ever in the Butterdome. In contrast to the Deadwood
starter, reliever Billy Taylor made only 1 pitch (a ball). Curt Leskanic
then pitched 8 innings, but the 1 run he gave up cost him the game.
Deadwood scored a run in the 13th off Mark Wholers, but Edmonton tied it
again in the bottom of the inning.
Rookie Brad Fullmer didn't do his batting average any good, going hitless
in 8 at-bats. Edmonton shortstop Alex Rodriguez went 5-for-8 with 3 doubles.
A total of 32 men were left on base between the two teams.
-A-Rod: 21 RBIs, 7 home runs, 0 errors at shortstop. Can we name the MVP
already?
-You gotta wonder what place the aged Tim Wakefield has on the Edmonton
pitching staff, a player that is only helping the team lose with a 10.80
ERA.
Canada's Team
W L Pct. GB
Thunder Bay Storm 14 9 .609 --
Edmonton Oil Kings 13 12 .520 2.0
Montreal Royals 10 14 .417 5.5
Calgary Cowboys 8 16 .333 7.5
