Expos' bunt fouls up Cubs in 10th inning

Expos 5 Cubs 4

MONTREAL Last season isn't completely forgotten. Kevin Orie hadit seared into his mind what happens when a third baseman lets a bunthugging the foul line get behind him. You do recall that buntdouble, just another of 1997's many-splendored Cubs catastrophes?

"I'm not going to take a chance again," Orie explained. "That'swhy I went ahead and grabbed it.""It" was DaRond Stovall's bunt single in Saturday's 10th inning.And "it" was the beginning of the end for the Cubs in Montreal's 5-4victory. In your easy chair watching on TV, you can imagine thatball should go foul in another couple bounces. But Orie didn't havethe luxury of pause and ponder with the hard-hit bunt on the line.Orie believes he made a better decision than first-base umpireFrank Pulli, who called Stovall safe. "He was out," Orie said. "Iguess it's a game of inches. Stuff happens."The bunt put Expos at first and second with none out, andVladimir Guerrero's double to center against Terry Adams finished offthe Cubs. They had set themselves up for downfall by repeatedoffensive failures down the stretch."We needed that one extra hit a couple different times and wedidn't get it," Jeff Blauser said.You might ask why manager Jim Riggleman didn't have Blauser buntBrant Brown to second base in the ninth after Brown led with asingle. That would have set up a RBI situation for Mark Grace, whosingled to right. It was only good enough to get Brown to thirdsince Blauser struck out."Two reasons," Riggleman said, explaining why Blauser didn'tbunt. "It's hard to bunt against those hard throwers (relieverUgueth Urbina). And even if he does move him over, Grace might notget much to hit there with a man on second."Sammy Sosa was 3-for-3 with a walk, including a homer, when hecame up in the ninth with one out and runners at first and third.Urbina struck him out on a pitch up and in.In the sixth, with Cubs at second and third and one out, JoseHernandez whiffed on a Carlos Perez changeup. Perez fanned only twoCubs during his six innings, but this one was crucial."I get those two runs home and we're more comfortable," Hernandezsaid of missing a chance for a 5-2 lead. "Perez changes speeds realgood."Mickey Morandini failed to sacrifice in the eighth inning,arguing the second-strike call with home-plate umpire Bruce Dreckman,who claimed that an inside pitch ticked the bat. Morandini thenrolled into a double play."We're disappointed, but we can't be too upset," Blauser said.This was the Expos' first victory over the Cubs in six tries thisyear. When the Cubs' first four batters opened the game with hitsfor a 2-0 lead, it looked as if the Cubs were picking up where theyleft off in Friday's 13-0 rout.But even Henry Rodriguez cooled off. He began the day in rareair - eighth on the NL list of hardest to fan with two strikeouts in31 at-bats. But the former Expos outfielder struck out twice in thisgame."We let it get away from us long before (the 10th)," Rigglemansaid.The Cubs are now 1-8 in their last nine games in Montreal. Theyshould remember that when they start to think how good it feels to be8-3. That'll stop this slip from becoming a slide.