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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
TORONTO (AP) -- Felipe Alou couldn't have picked a more difficult
time to give David Moraga his major league debut.
| | Toronto's David Wells settled for a no-decision Sunday. | Carlos Delgado hit a tiebreaking RBI single off Moraga in the
eighth inning and Tony Batista hit a grand slam as the Toronto Blue
Jays defeated the Montreal Expos 8-3 Sunday.
With the score tied at 3, reliever Guillermo Mota (0-1) walked
Homer Bush and allowed a single to Raul Mondesi.
Alou then brought in Moraga, who was promoted from Double-A
Harrisburg on Saturday. The lefty gave up a sharp single to the
left-handed Delgado on a 3-2 pitch.
"There is no easy spots in the big leagues. It's like jumping
in the ocean. There are sharks everywhere," Alou said. "The big
leagues are dotted with Delgados and Griffeys. That's why they call
it the big leagues."
Moraga then walked Brad Fullmer before Felipe Lira relieved.
Tony Batista hit the first pitch for the grand slam, giving the
Blue Jays an 8-3 lead.
"I thought I'd be more nervous, but I wasn't," Moraga said.
"The guys in the 'pen said once you get up here be prepared to
pitch right away."
Delgado, who is hitting .349, hit his AL-leading 24th homer, a
solo shot in the second.
Instead of using left-handed closer Steve Kline, Alou decided to
use Moraga.
"I don't question the skipper because I don't want to be in his
office getting yelled at," Kline said. "He took a chance on the
kid. I've been in that situation before. Sammy Sosa once greeted me
well."
Delgado said he didn't know Moraga was making his debut.
"He's never seen me, I've never seen him. You just try to make
him come to your strengths."
Billy Koch (4-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
The Blue Jays took two of three from the Expos and improved to
11-5 against their Canadian rival.
Gary Jones' two-run double gave Montreal a 2-0 lead in the
second.
The Blue Jays rallied for three runs in the bottom half on
Delgado's homer, Batista's RBI double and Alberto Castillo's
run-scoring double.
Wilton Guerrero's RBI single tied it at 3 in the fourth.
David Wells, going for his 11th win, struck out a season-high
11. He gave up three runs and 12 hits in seven innings.
Game
notes
Delgado has an RBI in each of his last eight games, that
ties a club record previously done by Delgado in April of this year
and by Willie Upshaw in 1983. ... Wells' scoreless inning streak
ended at 14. ... Fullmer accidentally threw his bat into the stands
in the seventh inning. A fan caught it with one hand, he returned
the bat and received another one after the inning ended. ... The 11
strikeouts were Wells' high with the Blue Jays. His career high is
16. ... Batista has two grand slams in his career. ... The Blue
Jays have six slams this season. ... Moraga, 24, was Montreal's
32nd-round pick in the 1993 draft.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cincinnati 7 Cleveland 5
St. Louis 7 Detroit 3
Toronto 8 Montreal 3
Boston 5 Atlanta 3
Tampa Bay 7 Florida 6
Baltimore 7 Philadelphia 2
Chicago Cubs 6 Chi. White Sox 5
Pittsburgh 10 Kansas City 6
Milwaukee 5 Minnesota 3
Colorado 9 Texas 8
Seattle 9 San Francisco 2
Oakland 6 Los Angeles 0
Arizona 3 Anaheim 2
NY Mets 0 NY Yankees 0
San Diego 4 Houston 1
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