MONTREAL -- Instead of getting the go-ahead hit, Vladimir Guerrero put the Montreal Expos in front by getting hit.
Guerrero was plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning as Montreal rallied to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 Saturday.
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| Vladimir Guerrero takes one for the team as the Expos edge the Dodgers. (AP) |
Fred McGriff hit his 483rd career home run for the Dodgers, who had won three in a row.
"Obviously, it's not the way you'd like to lose a ballgame, especially when you're in the position we were in," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said.
The Expos trailed 5-2 when Michael Barrett's RBI single with one out in the seventh chased Dodgers starter Darren Dreifort.
Reliever Tom Martin (0-1), who failed to retire any of the four batters he faced Friday as the Dodgers' bullpen blew a four-run lead, allowed an RBI single to pinch-hitter Jeff Liefer that made it 5-4.
Paul Quantrill came in and got Jose Macias to fly out before allowing Orlando Cabrera's tying single.
Shortstop Cesar Izturis misplayed Jose Vidro's grounder for an error that loaded the bases, and Quantrill's first pitch to Guerrero grazed the Montreal slugger's arm.
"It looked like we were going to let that one get away," Robinson said. "Dreifort looked like he was in full control and we couldn't do much with him, but we found a way and we just got enough."
Luis Ayala (2-1) got Daryle Ward -- the only batter he faced -- to ground into an inning-ending double play in the seventh after Brian Jordan's RBI single chased Javier Vazquez.
Rocky Biddle pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine opportunities.
"The great thing about today is that we came back and we held onto it," Barrett said.
Vidro's two-run single put Montreal up 2-0 in the fourth as the Expos got four hits in the inning.
Dreifort held the Expos hitless in the other five of his first six innings before running into trouble in the seventh.
McGriff, who hit a key homer in the eighth in Friday's 9-5 win, led off the fifth with his fifth homer of the season to draw the Dodgers to within 2-1.
Paul Lo Duca tied it with a broken-bat RBI single in the fifth. Los Angeles took a 4-2 lead in the sixth on Alex Cora's run-scoring single and Izturis' sacrifice fly.
Dreifort needed just nine pitches to strike out Guerrero in each of his first three at-bats. Dreifort struck out nine in all, allowing seven hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Vazquez struggled for the second consecutive start, allowing 11 hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Notes
- Dodgers right fielder Shawn Green didn't start for the first time this season. Green, who has just four homers this season, struck out three times while going 0-for-5 on Friday. He drew a walk while pinch-hitting in the ninth.
- Dreifort leaped to avoid being hit by Barrett's bat after the Montreal catcher lost his grip and sent it flying past the mound while striking out in the fifth.
- Expos third baseman Fernando Tatis was a last-minute scratch because of a virus.
The Associated Press News Service
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