WASHINGTON -- Twenty years later on this darkest of baseball anniversaries, the Montreal Expos franchise is once again basking in the sunshine of first place. Cheap Shoes China Free Shipping . A powerhouse ballclub had its record frozen in time Sept. 14, 1994, stuck forever at 74 wins, 40 losses. Thats the day the strike-shortened major-league season was officially cancelled. The star-studded team would be blown apart by the time a big-league umpire again shouted, "Play ball." The good news now for the franchise is that, barring some unmitigated, unanticipated 1994-style disaster, its going to the playoffs. With basically a nine-game division lead and barely two weeks left, this bitter anniversary season will seemingly be washed down in sweet champagne. Of course theres that other, bad news which Montreal baseball fans probably dont need to be reminded of on this, or any other, occasion: the playoffs are happening in Washington, D.C. Its been a decade since the franchise moved away, leaving mascot Youppi temporarily unemployed. He soon found a new job with the Montreal Canadiens. But local baseball fans havent been quite as lucky in getting a replacement. If any feel like cheering for the Washington Nationals this fall, and living vicariously through the offspring of Nos Amours, theyll find a few familiar faces milling about the ballpark just east of the U.S. Capitol. The teams colour commentator is former Expos infielder F.P. Santangelo. Star shortstop Ian Desmond was drafted by the Expos. Coaches Tony Tarasco, Bob Henley, Randy Knorr and Rick Schu all played for the Expos. PR man John Dever, equipment manager Mike Wallace, and visiting-clubhouse manager Matt Rosenthal all worked for the team in Montreal. "Do we talk about the Expos days? Of course. All the time," Dever says. "The Blue Jays-Mets series (of exhibition games in Montreal) back in late March really got the juices flowing. Watching the game, seeing Stade Olympique, seeing the fans, some familiar faces. It looked like a heck of a baseball party. We were happy for everyone up there." For Washington, the baseball party is just starting. After a so-so start, dragged down by early injuries, the team caught fire. It went on a 10-game win streak, with some thrilling final-inning victories. The streak only ended when starter Doug Fister tried pitching a couple of days after surgery to remove skin cancer -- although he insisted the scars didnt affect him. The key to its success is depth. The Nationals have one hitter in the top-10 in batting average, and one in the top 10 in homers in the National League. Theyre centre-fielder Denard Span at .301, and Adam LaRoche with 24 home runs. No pitcher has over 13 wins. But everyones pulling their weight: Four starters have an earned-run average under 3.50. The staff may even break a record for the best strikeout-walk ratio in major-league history. And their lineup would probably include three hitters with more than 20 homers, if young slugger Bryce Harper hadnt missed nearly half the season with a thumb injury. Santangelo can pinpoint the exact moment the team took flight. In early August they were down 7-0 to their nemesis and tormentor, which coincidentally was also the Expos closest rival in 1994: the Atlanta Braves. They scored six runs, and started to believe they could claw back from anything. "A big lightbulb went off in my head -- ding! -- these guys are good now," Santangelo says. "The team kind of clicked." For most of their history, the Washington Nationals had actually been a lot like the Expos: they lost more than they won. Their historical winning percentage is even slightly worse than Montreals -- since 2005, its .474. But they dwarf the Expos in two areas that count. Theyre on the verge of their second division title. It took a while, but the team finally cracked .500 three seasons ago and hasnt looked back. As for financial viability, its been no contest. Theyre drawing triple what the Expos did toward the end, and are in fact getting even bigger crowds than in the best years of the late 1970s-early 80s. Attendance is slightly better-than-average for a major-league team -- at nearly 32,000 a game. Santangelo saw plenty of empty seats as a player; he was called up in 1995, after the team had been stripped in a firesale. He doesnt blame Montreal fans for staying away. He says even the players on the team understood that a short Canadian summer combined with an enclosed concrete stadium, the distance from downtown and annually losing popular players wasnt exactly a formula for success. "We didnt harbour any ill-will toward Expos fans. We understood," Santangelo says. "Summers very short. And to spend four hours of your short summer, indoors -- a lot of people didnt want to do it. And a lot of people were fed up that Pedro (Martinez) was a Red Sock, and John Wetteland was a Yankee. Just go down the list of everybody that left there -- thats gotta get old after a while... I cant blame Expos fans for not coming out in big numbers." What he always tells people is Montrealers loved baseball: "Everywhere you went around town they knew your batting average, they knew your record, they knew what your record was in the last 10 games. They followed the team." He says he was thrilled to see the crowded stadium for exhibition games earlier this year in Montreal, which he calls one of his favourite cities in the world. In a way, Santangelo is a bit like the people in that crowd: somewhat of a baseball orphan. He watches other teams enjoy reunion nights where former players get together and tease each other about their weight and dwindling hairlines as part of a regular bonding experience. "I dont have that privilege," he says. "I spent the majority of my major-league career in Montreal, and theres no team there anymore. "So we dont have the reunions and its sad, because even though you become great friends with your teammates everybody goes their own way once you retire, once you move on... And that part saddens me." There are faint physical reminders of the old team in the new Nationals Park, a nouveau-traditionalist beauty that opened its doors in 2008. For starters, there are always a few Expos caps and jerseys in the crowd. And in the ring between the upper and lower decks, above the first-base line, there are plaques to Hall of Famers Gary Carter and Andre Dawson. Theyre grouped with plaques dedicated to the superstars of the old Homestead Grays from the Negro Leagues, and the former Washington Senators. When Dawson was honoured in a pre-game ceremony in 2010, the Washington Post wrote about the awkward relationship between the franchise and its own history. Even the emcee of the Dawson celebration, a broadcaster and local baseball historian, said the team had no responsibility to honour the Expos. He said it made more sense to honour Whitey Herzog, the Hall of Fame manager who played for the original Washington Senators a half-century ago. Yes, Washington knows what it feels like to lose a team -- it happened twice. But things are so good now that nobodys even noticed the old Washington Senators are doing terribly. Actually, theyre in last place in not just one division, but two -- as the bottom-dwelling Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers, who are a combined 55 games out of first. This town is too busy loving the new team to think much about Montreal, either, Santangelo says. "I dont think the fans even remotely care about anything that has to do with Montreal, to be quite frank," he says. "Washington wants their own identity -- and I think thats healthy. "You want to establish that youre the Washington Nationals, and not the Montreal franchise. And I think thats how it should be. I think it would be weird if they paid tribute to the Montreal Expos on a regular basis." He does notice the old tri-coloured logo in the stands, "And I love it." But for most people, he says, the attitude is, "You move on." Discount Shoes Online Free Shipping . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. Cheap China Shoes Free Shipping Worldwide . "For the past several weeks, Logan has been dealing and playing with an upper body injury," said general manager Doug Wilson in a statement. "Despite his efforts to play through it, the injury has not responded as we had hoped and Logan has made the decision to undergo a surgical procedure to repair the problem. http://www.cheapshoeschinafreeshipping.com/ . -- Falcons running back Steven Jackson, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, is expected to practice on Wednesday.HOUSTON -- When Chris Carter stepped up to the plate with the game tied in the 10th inning, Houston manager Bo Porter wasnt thinking about his sub-.200 batting average and the fact that he had struck out twice Thursday night. The only thing on Porters mind was Carters penchant for changing a game with one swing. "He has the ability that when he steps into the batters box hes in scoring position," Porter said. Carter homered leading off the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Astros a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Carter, who homered twice on Wednesday, hit his 13th homer of the season into the Crawford Boxes in left field off J.J. Putz (1-1). "We found out again tonight why we keep running him out there," Porter said of Carter, who has had an up-and-down year and is hitting just .199. There was no doubt about the second game-ending homer of his career. "As soon as I hit it I knew it was going to be out and started celebrating almost in the box," he said. Putz lamented the pitch he threw to Carter. "He put a pretty good swing on it," Putz said. "Theres nothing else to say. I just didnt make the right pitch, I guess." Miguel Montero tied it at 4-4 in the ninth with a home run to left field on the first pitch from closer Chad Qualls. It was a game that last years Houston team would have almost certainly lost. But players and staff alike agree that things are finally starting to turn around for this team that has lost 100-plus games in three straight seasons. "Its been real exciting compared to last year, its like night and day," Carter said. "Last year we lost a bunch of games and guys were down on themselves and it just kind of seemed like there was a really bad vibe and this year everyones excited, jumping around, having fun." Carlos Corporan had a two-run home run and Jon Singleton homered and drove in two runs for the Astros (31-37), who have won six of their last eight games. Tony Sipp (1-0) struck out one in a scoreless 10th for the win. Singleton drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and broke a 1-all tiie with his solo shot to right field in the third. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping. Corporan extended Houstons lead to 4-1 with his home run to left field in the fourth. Chris Owings hit a solo homer to get Arizona within 4-3 in the seventh inning. Houston second baseman Jose Altuve was hit on the right hand by a pitch in the seventh inning. X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day. David Peralta singled for Arizonas first hit with one out in the third inning. Ender Inciarte reached on an error by Altuve that left Peralta at third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Didi Gregorius to tie it at 1-1. Enciarte was shaken up in that inning when he took a knee to the head from Jonathan Villar while stealing second base. He remained in the game but was replaced by Cody Ross in the bottom of the sixth as a precaution. Springer had two nifty defensive plays. The first one came when he sprinted from right field to centre and dived to make the catch on a ball hit by Owings for the first out of the fifth. Springer made another excellent diving catch on a fly ball by Martin Prado to start a double play to end the eighth. Paul Goldschimdt was on second and had almost reached home when Springer caught it, allowing Villar to step on second base to end the inning. The Astros celebrated "Drake Day" on Thursday with the Grammy Award-winning rapper attending the game and talking to students from the Astros Urban Youth Academy before the game. Each player came up to bat to music by the rapper and Singleton chose the tune "All Me." Seconds after the music trailed off with one out in the third inning, Singleton caught all of a 90 mph fastball from Wade Miley and launched a towering homer into the second deck in right field to give Houston a 2-1 lead. NOTES: The Diamondbacks acquired INF/C Jordan Pacheco from the Rockies and designated INF/OF Nick Evans for assignment before the game. ... Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said he doesnt expect OF Mark Trumbo, who has been out since April 22 with a stress fracture in his left foot, to return to full baseball activities for at least three more weeks. ' ' '