Today in 1996 - Montreal Expos vs San Francisco Giants

August 24, 1996 – Today in 1996, the Montreal Expos took on the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California.

The Expos got on the board first with RBIs by David Segui and F.P. Santangelo.  Expos led 2-0. 

Giants pitcher Shawn Estes settled down and pitched shutout baseball until he was relieved in the 9^th by Rich Deluca.  However, he was replaced by Jim Poole, because the two batters he faced, Mark Grudzielanek and Mike Lansing hit singles.  Segui comes to bad and both runners steal base.  Then Segui grounded out to third and Grudzielanek scored.  Mark Dewey replaced Poole on the mound and got Rondell White to ground out to shortstop.

The Giants were up and desperate for a rally.  Pedro Martinez, who pitched a 2 hitter through 8 innings, walked Jay Canizaro.  Martinez was relieved by Mel Rojas.  He faced Marvin Bernard, who flied out to center field.  Barry Bonds pinch hit for Bill Mueller and was out on a fly ball to left field.  Rojas walked Glenallen Hill and there was hope for the Giants with two men on.  Rick Wilkins, who represented the tying run, hit the ball into center field…and…out 3.  Game over.  The Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants 3-0.

Pedro Martinez went to 11-8 with the win.  He struck out 10 and batted 0-4.  Mel Rojas got his 25^th save.  Shawn Estes went to 2-4 with the loss.  He struck out 8 and had 2 sacrifice hits, so officially, he’s 0-0.

The Montreal Expos went to 70-58 with the win.  They were 2^nd in the NL East, 11 games behind the Atlanta Braves.  The San Francisco Giants fell to 54-73 with the loss.  They were 4^th in the NL West, 15 games behind the division leading San Diego Padres.

Notables

• Rick Wilkins accounted for the only two hits the Giants had. 
• Mark Grudzielanek was the only Expos player to get more than one hit.  The others had one hit or none.  He went 3-5 and had a stolen base.
• This was Dusty Baker’s 4^th year managing the Giants.  He would manage the team until 2002, when he led the Giants to a World Series loss to the Anaheim Angels.  He was replaced in 2003 by Felipe Alou.
  
• This was Alou’s 5^th season managing the Expos.  He would manage the team until 2001.
  
• Alou played for the Giants from 1958-63.  Baker played for the Giants in 1984.
  
• Dusty Baker and Felipe Alou were teammates with the Atlanta Braves from 1968-69.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at Montreal Expos vs San Francisco Giants - August 24, 1996