hit .235 with eight home runs and 49 RBI at Double-A Harrisburg. Back in the Eastern League to start the season, Wilkerson tore up the league, hitting .336 with six home runs, 44 RBI and 36 doubles in 66 games. He was on pace to break the Eastern League record for doubles in a season before he was promoted to Triple-A Ottawa, of the International League. For the season, Wilkerson played in 129 games combined between Harrisburg and Ottawa, batting .295 with 18 home runs, 79 RBIs, and 47 doubles in 441 at-bats. While coming up through the minors, Wilkerson was a member of the gold medal-winning USA baseball team in the Sydney Olympics. In one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history, Team USA defeated Cuba 4–0 in the Gold Medal Game. Major Leagues Wilkerson debuted with Montreal on July 12, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, finishing the game 0-for-3 with a walk. He recorded his first major league hit off Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox on July 17, 2001, and his first major league home run off Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Marquis on July 26, 2001. From –, Wilkerson delivered almost identical seasons with a .266 average, 20 home runs and 59 RBI in 2002, and a .268 average, 19 home runs, and 77 RBI in 2003. In 2002, Wilkerson's 20 home runs set an Expos rookie record, and he was named Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News. His most productive season came in , when he posted career-highs in homers (32), hits (146), doubles (39), runs (112), walks (106), slugging percentage (.498) and OPS (.872), and hitting .255 with 67 RBI. He hit for the cycle on June 24, 2003, against Pittsburgh (with the Expos). In that first instance, Wilkerson became the first player since to have the minimum four plate appearances and hit for a natural cycle. In 2004, he hit the last home run in Montreal Expos franchise history. He appeared once more in an Expos uniform during the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series shortly after the 2004 regular season. The Expos were to become the Washington Nationals for the season, prompting some to refer to Wilkerson as "The Last Expo." Wilkerson opened the 2005 season as the regular center fielder and leadoff hitter after the Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals. He hit for the cycle