NATIONAL LEAGUE Well-traveled Expos end 25-day road trip with win over Pirates

The Pirates stranded eight runners in the game's first six innings.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Montreal Expos haven't been part of anything like it, nor do they want to go through it again. The road trip seemingly without end is finally over, and all they could do was sigh in relief.
Brad Wilkerson and Edwards Guzman drove in runs in an infrequent multirun inning for Montreal, and the Expos finished a demanding 3 1/2-week trip by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Thursday.
The Expos stopped a season's-worst six-game losing streak, winning for only the eighth time on a 22-game trip that covered 11,310 miles, 25 days and ranged from Seattle to San Juan, Puerto Rico, their part-time home. They play in Montreal today for the first time since May 25.
"Nothing has been like this," said Expos manager Frank Robinson, who has been in the majors as a player, manager or executive since the 1950s. "There's been nothing with this much travel."
No place to call home
For most of the trip, the Expos' biggest problem was simply getting from third to home -- a problem they finally solved in the seventh. Wilkerson had a sacrifice fly and Guzman added an RBI single in a go-ahead, two-run inning against Pittsburgh's bullpen, only their second multirun inning in 70 innings, or nearly eight games.
"We had some key at-bats in that inning," Robinson said. "I wasn't surprised by it, but we haven't been doing that."
Ron Calloway added a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the ninth off reliever Brian Boehringer.
Tomo Ohka (5-7) got the victory, limiting the Pirates to one run and six hits over six innings to win for the second time in seven starts. It was the first time in 10 starts he didn't allow a homer.
The Expos went from two games out to seven games out in the NL East during a trip that took them to Miami, Philadelphia, San Juan, Seattle, Oakland and Pittsburgh. Still, Wilkerson said it could have been worse.
"We didn't get buried," he said. "Now we can get back home, get in a routine, play some good baseball. We're still right there. It's going to be a relief to get back home."
Wilkerson called the trip "mentally and physically exhausting. It was an experience I hope I don't have to do again."
Failing to capitalize
The Pirates don't want to go through this again, either. They stranded eight runners in the first six innings and 11 overall to halt a four-game winning streak. They swept a doubleheader Wednesday night -- their first such sweep of the Expos in 21 years -- to assure themselves of their first series victory at home this season.
"I'm sure we would have taken two of three when the series started but, when you've got a chance to sweep, it would have been nice to capitalize on it," Pirates starter Kip Wells said.
The Expos also left eight runners on in the first six innings before finally breaking through in the seventh.
Salomon Torres (4-2), the third Pirates pitcher, got into trouble as Orlando Cabrera and Jose Vidro singled and Wil Cordero walked to load the bases with one out. Left-hander Joe Beimel came in to face the left handed-hitting Wilkerson and Guzman, but Wilkerson lofted a sacrifice fly and Guzman lined a single to right.
Randall Simon's run-scoring single against rookie reliever Julio Manon cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, but Luis Ayala got Adam Hyzdu to ground into an inning-ending force out with the bases loaded.
Not like Wednesday
"We actually played pretty well, but it all came down to getting big hits," the Pirates' Brian Giles said. "They got them and we didn't."
Ayala stayed on for a scoreless eighth before Rocky Biddle pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 21 opportunities. He bounced back after allowing pinch-hitter Jason Kendall's game-winning, two-run double in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader.
Wells was lifted after giving up one run and seven hits, constantly working out of trouble while throwing 100 pitches in five innings. It was the eighth time in his 13 starts Wells hasn't figured in the decision.