Expos, Smith Mows Down BoSox

Dan Smith sure didn't pitch like he was nervous about making his first start.

Smith retired 20 straight batters at one point in his major league debut and pitched the Montreal Expos to a 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.

"Once I got out there I was all right but the two hours before the game, it was on my mind," Smith said. "I wanted to try and prepare as much as I could like I have every start in my career. I didn't want to change anything."

"It's a dream come true, what can I say?" Smith said.

Smith, called up from Triple-A Ottawa on Monday, struck out nine

the most by an Expos starter this season to tie a team record for strikeouts in a major league debut. He struck out six of seven batters at one point.

"I'll enjoy it tonight and start over tomorrow and get ready for my next start," Smith said. "It feels great. I don't have any other words for it."

Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Tim Wakefield (3-6) as Montreal sent the Red Sox to their season-high fourth straight loss.

"You hope it's not enough to beat us but it did tonight," Wakefield said. "We've got to sweep this one under the rug and go get them tomorrow."

Jose Offerman singled to left to lead off the game and advanced to third one out later on Brian Daubach's double. Garciaparra then singled home Offerman on a soft liner to center to give Boston a 1-0 lead as Daubach advanced to third.

Smith got Troy O'Leary to line to short and Jason Varitek flied to left to end the Boston threat.

Smith then pitched six perfect innings before leaving the game. He got Wakefield swinging for his first strikeout to end the second, struck out the side in the third and fanned O'Leary and Varitek to end the fourth after Garciaparra grounded to short.

"He used his offspeed pitches down in the counand kept us all off balance," Varitek said.

Guerrero followed Rondell White's leadoff walk in the sixth with his 13th homer on a 1-1 pitch from Wakefield to put the Expos ahead 2-1.

Chris Widger, who caught the game, hit a bases-loaded two-run single off Jim Corsi in the eighth.

"(Smith) did a great job," Widger said. "He was aggressive. That's what we talked about doing, going after people. Once he got them swinging he could use his other pitches and he got them out in front and fooled them a bit. He did everything that we asked him to do."

Wakefield, who struck out nine, one short of his career high, held the Expos to five hits in seven innings. He walked three.

"Wake did a good job," Varitek said. "He kept us in the game. We just weren't able to get our bats going."

Notes: Wakefield hadn't faced the Expos since June 28, 1993 when he got the win with two innings of one-hit relief in a 9-5 Pittsburgh win. ... Orlando Merced, who is 5-for-12 (.417) in his career against Wakefield, is the only player on either team who had previously faced the opposing starter. ... Brian Barnes set the Expos' team record for strikeouts in a major league debut with nine in seven innings on Sept. 14, 1990. Barnes allowed two runs and four hits as the Expos beat Philadelphia 4-2. ... Ugueth Urbina struck out the side in the ninth for the Expos, who had a season-high 13 strikeouts.

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