Exposed !!!

GAME 1 (Astrodome): 88-MON (7), 74-HOU (2)

Houston's ace, Larry Dierker had a bittersweet day. He fanned 13 Expo batters in 7 innings worth of work, but he gave up 4 runs and was out pitched by Montreal's John Dopson who went the distance and only yielded 2 runs. With the score tied at 2-2 the 7th inning was Dierker's undoing. Andres Galaraga, who had a 4 RBI day, doubled home Mitch Webster and Tom Foley. Two innings later, "El Ghatto" hit a 2 run homer to seal the game.

GAME 2 (Astrodome): 88-MON (5), 74-HOU (2)

The Expos battered around lefty Dave Roberts to the tune of 5 runs in 7 innings of work. El Presidente, Dennis Martinez notched his third win in three tries by going 8 and only giving up 2. Tim Burke pitched a scoreless and uneventful 9th for his second save of the season. Tim "Eli" Wallach and Andres Galarraga both had 3 hit days. The Expos broke it open in the 4th with 3 big runs. Wallach led off with a double down the left field line off of Roberts. Galaraga singled so hard to left, Bob Watson was able to relay the ball back to the infield and hold the runners at the corners. With the count 2-2, Hubie Brooks hit a shot into the left center gap to score Wallach and move Galarraga to third. The next hitter, Tracy Jones, fell into a 1-2 hole but Roberts was not able to punch him out. Jones lined a shot past Astros secondbaseman Tommy Helms to score 2. Catcher Mike Fitzgerald wasn't as lucky as he popped to Lee May at first for the first out of the inning. Shortsop Luis Rivera, who was hitting .107 finally hit a ball hard. Unfortunately for him it was right at SS Roger Metzger, who easily turned two to end Montreal's threat. The following inning Montreal manufactured an insurance run with 2 outs as Rex Hudler singled and stole second as Roberts was napping. The RBI man, Tim Wallach singled him in and just like that Houston was virtually done. Two runs in the 7th made the score seem respectable. In a losing cause Roger Metzger was stellar in the field and at the plate with 3 consecutive hits.

GAME 3 (Olympic Stadium): 88-MON (5), 74-HOU (4)

The closest game of the series saw the Expos jump out to a 4-0 lead. This time the Astros made more than a token effort to get back into the game. The Expos scored 2 in the bottom of the 3rd as Galarraga doubled home Dave Martinez and Tom Foley. The following inning Martinez doubled home Hubie Brooks and Nelson Santovenia to make it 4-0. Have no fear Astro fans, Neal Heaton was on the mound for the Expos. Heaton is not one of the more skilled hurlers on the Expos staff, but he did deserve a shot since Montreal's other starters were fatigued. Heaton didn't allow a run for the first 4 innings, but the pessimistic Quebecois fans seemed poised for disaster. In the top of the 5th it struck as the Astros tagged him for 3 runs all with 2 outs. Doug Rader walked and light hitting Wilbur Howard homered to score 2. The second guessers and Monday Morning Quarterbacks were all questioning Montreal's strategy of pitching to Howard while the Astro pitcher, Don Wilson, was on deck. When Wilson singled crisply up the middle a few pitches later, no one continued to question the Expos strategy. Lead off hitter, Bob Watson, then doubled hard off the wall to scroe the third run and cut the deficit to 1. In the 6th Expo catcher Nelson Santovenia doubled with 2 out and pinch hitter Jeff Huson singled him home to increase the lead to 2. It stayed that way until the top of the 9th when Cesar Cedeno led off with a walk and promptly stole second. Larry Milbourne singled to center. Houston third base coach, Paul Johnson, waved Cedeno home, but he was out in a very close play at the plate. Tim Raines made a strong throw to Mike Fitzgerald who blocked the plate perfectly. While this was occurring Milbourne snuck into second. The "Red Rooster", Doug Rader singled home Milbourne off of Expo closer Tim Burke. With Rader on 1st and down by a run Wilbur Howard, who homered in the 5th, stepped to the plate. With a 1-1 count Rader, who must have misread the sign, attempted to steal second, but was pegged by Fitzgerald by at least 2 strides to end the game. Tim Burke notched the save in an unorthodox manner to seal the series sweep.