Bats Heat Up; Expos Defeat Aldergrove in 9 Inning Good Friday Affair

It was a nooner at Aldergrove on a beautiful Good Friday, the Expos came out swinging and rode the backs of strong pitching to stake themselves a 9-0 lead after 5 innings. Horino (SP, W), days after hopping off a plane from Japan didn't disappoint and threw well, Domingo followed; both pitchers didn't allow a hit in the couple innings they were tasked with. Fukuda was given 3 innings to work with and for the second straight outing didn't have his best stuff but this time showed much better mechanics and ability to command his fastball. Ellis and Howse each got an inning to get some work in, both had defence fail them at times but finished strong.

The Expos jumped out of the gate ready to play and took it to the Dodgers, Vancouver pitchers took advantage of undisciplined swings by the Aldergrove batters, while the Vancouver batters racked up 12 hits and also took full advantage of the errors in the field given to them by Aldergrove. Horino had 3 hits in the contest accompanied by a couple stolen bags, but the standout batter today was Ellis who had 2 extra-base hits including a clutch 2-out bases clearing double in the 4th that really blew open the score. Vancouver pitchers for the most part allowed their defence to do the work, as the defence turned a stellar 5-4-3 double play to end a potential big 4th inning.

That being said, after the 5th inning the Expos sat back and let Aldergrove back in the game with defensive miscues and poor approaches at the plate. Vancouver was lucky that an early 9-0 lead made up for the back half of the game (outscored 6-1 by the Dodgers). 

It was a good showing by the Expos but the boys know a lot of work has to be done to train themselves physically but more importantly, mentally for the upcoming season. Practices lined up everyday this week until Thurday where Burnaby will revisit Nanaimo Park but this time for an exhibition game.