World Series Game 3: 88-MON 3, 72-KC 2

GAME 3 (Stade' Oympique): (88)Expos 3, (72)Royals 2

Roger Nelson and Bryn Smith faced each other in this pitching dominated matchup. Smith went 7 innings, which was by far his longest outing of the season, yet he left of the losing side of the ledger at that point. Nelson was locked in for 8 innings of 1 run ball, but the 9th inning was unkind to him and the Royals cause. Montreal drew first blood and had Nelson on the ropes in the opening stanza. Speedy Mitch Webster led off with a double and then advanced to third on Tom Foley's infield dribbler. The Rock, Tim Raines lifted a sac fly to cent to score Webster for the first run of the game. The Expos seemed to be poised for a big inning, but Nelson would have none of that as he jammed Galarraga into hitting a weak roller to third and fanned Hubie Brooks. KC tied it up in the 3rd when Patek bunted his way on and moved to second on Nelson's sacrifice bunt. Smith struck out Otis for the second out of the inning, but Cookie Rojas came through with a clutch opposite field double to tie it. It stayed tied until the top of the 6th when the Royals began to produce another run. Otis led off with a single and went all the way over to third when Rojas dropped a parachute into short right field. The combination of Otis' speed and Brooks' weak arm landed Famous Amos on 3rd with nobody out. Sweet Lou Piniella, for one of the few times in his career did not come up big. Looking to at least hit a deep fly ball to bring Otis home, Lou lined to Foley at second. In defense of Piniella the ball was scorched and if it went a foot to either Foley's right or left it would have been a clean single. As good teammates do, John Mayberry picked up his mate by slamming an RBI single off the wall. Mayberry hit it so hard the ball caromed right back to Brooks who held Big John to a single. Bryn Smith was now on the ropes. Getting past the 6th inning has been a chore for him this season. With Andy McGaffigan warming up in the pen Smith new he had one more batter to face if he could not record an out. Smith fooled Scheinblum with a cutter that the lefty fisted to Raines, who was hard charging and able to throw a strike to third while on the run. This prevented the runners from advancing and put the pressure squarely on the shoulders of Ed Kirkpatrick who lined one right back to Smith for the final out of the inning. All the while Nelson was making the right pitch at the right time and not allowing Montreal to get that big hit to score a run. Nelson started the 9th and got Tim Wallach to fly weakly to Scheinblum in right for the first out. Mike Fitzgerald came on to pinch hit for Santovenia and promptly sent a hump backed liner into right center for a clean single. Luis Rivera then struck out on 3 pitches and all Nelson needed to do was record 1 more out and KC would have their first win of the series. Wallace Johnson (hero) was then tapped to pinch hit for Joe Hesketh, who pitched beautifully in relief. Montreal's team strength is their bench, specifically their pinch hitters like Johnson and Tracy Jones. Johnson loves these pressure packed spots and on a 2-2 pitch he delivered a low liner to right that moved Fitzgerald over to third, since with 2 outs he was in motion. KC manager had enough and went to his pen to bring in his ace closer Ted Abernathy (goat) to face Expo lead off man Mitch Webster, who ran the count to 3-2 and then walked to load the bases. You could now cut the tension with a machete. Montreal's "other" pinch hitting star Tracy Jones came up to bat for Foley and he too worked out a walk to force in the tying run and bring up Raines. It became apparent to all that the normally reliable Abernathy did not have any control. Raines being the patient hitter ran the count to 3-0 before he saw a strike, a borderline one at that. Raines looked into the dugout for the sign, but it was obvious to most in Stade Olympiqu that he was not going to help Abbernathy out and swing wildly. Abernathy's 3-1 offering wasn't even remotely close and just like that the Mike Fitzgerald scored the winning run scored thanks to 3 successive bases on balls. The Expos now had a commanding three games to none lead over the Royals. KC hung tight, but 3 close losses still put them on the brink of elimination.