Series 3 continues, part 2

TEN 6, ZSY 5       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

TEN         0              0              0              0              6              0              0              0              0           

ZSY          0              1              1              0              0              1              0              0              2   

W Thomson (1-0)                  L - D'Amico (0-1)                   S- Foulke (2)

Albert Pujols came alive for the Z-Slayers in this one, batting in three of the Z-Slayer runs this evening, his first of the season. Thanks to his solo homer in the second and RBI double in the third, Jeff D'Amico worked to maintain a lead for five innings, before the Green Sox struck. Third basemen Adrian Beltre shifted the lead to the Green Sox's favor with a three run homer. D'Amico struggled further in the inning, eventually giving up another 3 run shot to Steve Finley, also his first of the season.  Keeping this lead was a joint effort from the Green Sox pitching staff, using four pitchers in total; John Thomson pitched six innings, only giving up another solo shot to Jason Larue; Paul Shuey worked out of a seventh inning jam, while Danny Graves dominated the 8th in a 1-2-3 fashion. Closer Keith Foulke was brought in to close the game, but the Z-Slayers mounted a come back in the form of two solo homeruns, one from Jack Wilson and the second of the game from Pujols. But the comeback stalled one run short, and Foulke was able to collect his second save of the year.

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AXN 3, RED 6       F/10

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9           10

AXN         3              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0            0

RED         0              0              1              0              2              0              0              0              0            3

W - Takatsu (1-1)                   L - Komiyama (0-1)

Red Clay starter Ramon Ortiz certainly looked rattled after Darkpaw DH Mike Piazza belted a 3 run homer in the top of the first. But gotta give him credit, he settled down beautifully after that, not allowing another run in six innings. The Aces offense was equally persistent, chipping away at the Darkpaw lead by manufacturing runs with clutch hits from the middle of their lineup. Ortiz and Darkpaw starter Matt Morris both earned the quality start, handing over a tie to their respective bullpens; you could see the Darkpaw management biting their fingernails once it dawned on them that this would be a battle of bullpens. Travis Harper navigated a scoreless seventh and eight for the Aces, while Mike Myers did the same for the Darkpaws. Two Japanese relievers took over in the ninth and attempted to pitch two innings. Takatsu kept the Darkpaws after a bit of trouble, striking out Mike Piazza with the bases loaded. Satoru Komiyama seemed to be doing comparatively better, cruising through the ninth and getting the first two outs straight away in the tenth. But after a Jose Cruz walk and a Tom Goodwin single, Miguel Tejada stepped up to the plate and smacked the game winning three run homer. Chalk up another Darkpaw loss coming from the bullpen; it's been said that roster changes are imminent. Who will be sacrificed to free up cap to improve the bullpen? Stay tuned.

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MMD 1, TYC 1       F/12

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9           10          11          12

MMD      0              0              0              0              1              0              0              0              0            0             0            0

TYC          0              1              0              0              0              0              0              0              0            0             0            1

W - Kolb (1-0)                         L- Foulke (0-1)

Although its the fourth starter slot, this match up certainly pits the two most pitching oriented teams against each other. In his first career start, Russ Ortiz pitched very well across seven innings, only getting into trouble in the second, where he gave up and RBI single to Chuck Knoblauch. His Tycoon counterpart, the aging veteran Albie Lopez, showed that he certainly has something left in the tank, going six strong innings giving up only 2 hits and 1 walk. Unfortunately for Meow Meow, one of those hits was a solo home run surrendered to RF Eric Chavez. The rest of the game was a magnificent display of pitching: Shingo Takatsu relieved Albie Lopez and pitched an excellent four scoreless innings of relief. Kevin Gregg took over for Ortiz and brought the game into extras. Both teams closers then entered the game, and both pitched two dominating innings. Coach Taklamente had a difficult decision to make in the bottom of the twelfth, but eventually opted to have Foulke attempt a third inning. With two outs and the speedy Chuck Knoblauch on second, reigning MVP Jeremy Giambi notched his first RBI of the season by driving home Knoblauch with a double. This hands Meow Meow Dui their first loss of the season, despite the all around excellent pitching performance for every one of their pitchers that has taken the mound. All eyes will be on the second game of this series, as the intriguing pitching match up of Carl Pavano vs. Randy Johnson takes center stage.