Expos Walk To Victory

May 6, 1998 / 1:01 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Ryan McGuire wouldn't have been willing to trade places with Stan Belinda.

Belinda forced in the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded walk to McGuire in the ninth inning as the Montreal Expos beat Cincinnati 3-2 Tuesday night, halting the Reds' three-game winning streak.

"There's more pressure on him than there is on me," McGuire said. "He's got to throw a strike. All I have to do is try to put the bat on the ball.

"It was nice that it wasn't a borderline pitch or anything like that. In that situation you definitely either want it right down the middle or a pretty obvious ball and fortunately it was down and in."

Vladimir Guerrero hit a one-out double in the ninth and advanced to third as center-fielder Reggie Sanders bobbled the ball. After two intentional walks by Belinda (1-4), pinch-hitter Jose Vidro grounded to first baseman Sean Casey, who forced Guerrero at home.

McGuire then worked the count full before Belinda, who struck out the side in the eighth, threw ball four inside. On Saturday, McGuire came up in the same situation in the 12th inning against Arizona and delivered a game-winning RBI single.

"It's nice to be in it at the end of the game," McGuire said. "I think it's an indication that we're starting to play a little bit better baseball. We're starting to click. Winning those close games is always an indication that you're on a winning team. We seem to have a little confidence now."

Cincinnati tied the game 2-2 in the eighth when Casey hit a one-out RBI double off Ugueth Urbina (2-1). Urbina had relieved Marc Valdes, who allowed a leadoff single to Brett Boone and a groundout to Barry Larkin that advanced Boone to second.

Casey, recalled from a rehab stint at Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day, went 3-for-4. Boone went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.

"It felt good to get in there and feel like I was part of the team and contribute," Casey said. "It's good to be out there driving in runs and making some plays."

Cincinnati scored a run in the first on Ed Taubensee's RBI single, but Montreal tied it in the bottom half on Derrick May's sacrifice fly.

Montreal took a 2-1 lead in the third when F.P. Santangelo scored from third as May grounded into a double play.

Montreal starter Miguel Batista allowed one run over 6 2-3 innings in his second start since being inserted into Montreal's starting rotation. Batista allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out three.

"All I was thinking was, `Let them hit the ball, don't try to be too fine,"' Batista said. "I wanted to stay away from the walks in crucial situations."

Reds starter Pete Harnisch went seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits.

Notes: Santangelo led off he first with a double, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. ... Cincinnati has scored first in each of its last nine games and they are 6-3 in those games. ... Larkin went 0-for-5 and is in a 2-for-40 slump. ... Montreal pitching coach Bobby Cuellar returned home to Alice, Texas, on Monday following the death of his younger brother, Adolf. Jim Benedict, Montreal's minor league pitching coordinator, will fill in until Cuellar returns on Thursday. ... The Reds turned three double plays in the first four innings.

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