Expos Pitching and Defence Not Up To The Task as Richmond Ambushes Vancouver

The Expos got absolutely ambushed in the first inning of this contest, Vancouver's ace wasn't on his game nor was the defence behind him. Before the boys from East Van could swing the bat they were staring at a 11-0 deficit and half of Richmond's lineup had already recorded 2 plate appearances. It was yet another game to forget against the Chuckers.

Richmond 15 EXPOS 5 (5 innings)

Richmond got their first look at Vancouver's ace (Hutchings) and knowing that a win against the Expos would clinch a provincial berth they were set out to do damage right from the get-go. The Chuckers made Hutchings pay for his mistakes up in the zone with 4 hits to lead off the inning, it was quickly a 3-nothing hole for the home town Expos but it wouldn't end there... With a runner on 1st, Hutchings caught Moscovitz leaning but a botched rundown had Moscovitz standing on 2nd with none out and the ambush attack by the Chuckers continued. Hutchings only lasted a third of an inning before giving way to Howse who didn't fare much better against the relentless Chuckers attack as 6 more hits, 2 errors, a pass ball and a hit by pitch rounded out the inning; Richmond recorded 10 of their 14 hits in the first inning and before Richmond's starter (Suessenbacher-Fu) could throw a pitch he had an 11 run lead.

The Expos would score 4 in the 2nd inning thanks to a couple Richmond errors, an infield single, 2 walks and big 2 RBI single by Howse. Not much more to talk about in this one as Richmond would continue to put up runs in the 4th (3 runs) and 5th (1 run) against Vancouver's depth pitchers (Fukuda, Yamamoto and Ellis) to have this game end in a mercy 15-5.

The Expos just could not halt the offensive attack from Richmond's top 4 batters (McElwain, Broderick, Uyeyama and Moscovitz) as the four veterans combined for 11 of the Chuckers' 14 hits.

Hopefully, the upcoming U.S tournament down in Puyallup, WA will give Vancouver the confidence they need heading into a pivotal double header matchup against Victoria Black on July 6th. Clinching 8th (1st seed in the wild card) is a huge advantage for the wild card tournament, and the Expos understand that anything below 8th is not an option.