DRUG STORY HAS MORE BUZZ THAN EXPOS' WIN OVER METS

Expos 6 Mets 1; Guerrero brothers gang up on opponents

Hard-hit balls off the bats of Expos players were smoking the Shea Stadium
grass yesterday, although that wasn't the grass being most talked about.

And peanut butter was being discussed not in terms of what kind of jam it
best accompanies, but as a device to help smuggle pot into a big-league
clubhouse.

On a day when a basically meaningless game between teams in a division long
decided was played and won 6-1 by the Expos, the New York Mets were toking
the headlines after an expose in yesterday's edition of Newsday revealed
"rampant" marijuana use by seven Mets players.

Anything to try to explain why a team with a $108 million U.S. payroll
can't catch the ball.

The layout featured a three-year-old photograph of Mets pitcher Grant
Roberts wearing a lumberjack shirt, baseball cap on backwards, taking a
healthy toke on a marijuana bong.

The Expos ended up with a great buzz in the aftermath. Vladimir Guerrero
stole three bases, his 37th, 38th and 39th of the season, off Mets catcher
Mike Piazza, and the youngsters once again made things happen.

"We're going to have to wait and see," Guerrero said of his imminent
membership in the 40-40 club. "The stolen bases are pretty much there, but
the home runs are not there yet. I'm working hard to accomplish that."

Jamey Carroll had three hits and scored twice. Endy Chavez had two hits and
scored twice.

It was the Expos' seventh straight win, fourth on the current road trip,
and bumped them two games above .500 for the first time since July 17.

Mets fans showered the Expos' bullpen with copies of the incriminating
Roberts photograph during the game.

But long before the first pitch, the drama already had played out in a
press conference beneath the stands at Shea.

Roberts stood at a podium, voice cracking, apologizing for a mistake made
many years ago and describing a blackmail plot by a woman from Binghamton,
N.Y., site of the Mets' Double-A affiliate.

Mets manager Bobby Valentine did nothing but spark the flames. Valentine
pantomimed how he thought a player would look if he faced a 95-mph fastball
under the influence. "I guarantee you no one was in uniform and smoking
marijuana, unless they were running around with a whole lot of Visine in
their eyes," he said.

Built around the photo was a shaky case against seven Mets players made by
anonymous sources in the Mets organizations, alleged friends of players,
and unnamed former prospects.

Only three players were named: Roberts, Tony Tarasco and the since-traded
Mark Corey. The latter two were involved in an incident June 26 after both
smoked a joint in the parking lot of a hotel near Shea Stadium, and Corey
ended up in the hospital with seizure-like symptoms.

Mets general manager Steve Phillips denied several accusations made in the
report, including that the Mets gave advance warning to top minor-league
prospects before random drug testing.

The entire affair was news to most of the Expos as they arrived at the ball
park. Most met it with incredulity, although there were a few snickers.

"It's nobody's business," left-hander Joey Eischen said.

Lefty Scott Stewart, who was Roberts's roommate for three years in the
Mets' system, defended him. "I think he's done something he's ashamed of. I
just hope people and the press don't eat this up and make a bigger deal
than it really is. He's an outstanding individual."