MEL 0, STL 1 F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
MEL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
STL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
W – Springer (1-0) L – Groom (0-1)
This was a pitching duel from the very start and lasted through eight innings, the tenure of both starters in this game. Darren Oliver was very sharp for the Cardinals and improved greatly over his first round performance. Josh Beckett was as steady as ever for Vindaloo’s Marauders, going tit-for-tat and only allowing four hits although he did intentionally walk Larry Walker SS three times. Aside from the pitching there really wasn’t much activity until the bottom of the ninth, where the Cardinals won the game on a Larry Walker 04 single. In his first postgame loss press conference, a rather gloomy Dr. Vindaloo did his best to see things in a positive light. “I’m veddy close to my wits end, my friend. I’m currently in the market to hire a new batting coach since there currently aren’t anymore 2003 edition players for me to sign. But say what you will, my friend, we are one of the best pitching squads in the league. And as long as we maintain that distinction, we will be competitive.” This loss effectively cancels his proposed Tikka Mesala party, but John Kruk has started a petition to go ahead with the party should the Marauders win game 2.
-----------------------------------------------
TEN 6, RED 7 F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
TEN 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0
RED 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
W – Takatsu (2-1) L – Shuey (0-1)
The Aces got to scoring early. Alfonso Soriano kicked things off with a sacrifice fly the scored Tom Goodwin in the first. Keith Ginter homered in another two runs in the second. Soriano struck again with a two run shot in the third, followed by a solo homer by Larry Walker 04. Red Clay Starter Josh Fogg had the Green Sox on lockdown until David Ortiz got his team back into the game by crushing a three run homerun in the fifth. Things quieted down again until the eighth when Ortiz stepped up to the plate again and hit another home run: his second of the game, his league leading fifth, and his double digit cracking tenth RBI of the year. Three batters later, and the game was tied at six after Doug Mientkiewicz homered in the tying run. Definitely an oversight by the Red Clay coaching staff to have kept the starter in so long in a tight game, although it certainly hadn’t felt like that up to this point. Both teams buckled down for extra innings by bringing in their long relievers. Shingo Takatsu worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth, preventing the winning run from coming in. Paul Shuey entered the game for the Green Sox and gave up a leadoff single to Alfonso Soriano. Taking advantage of Green Sox catcher Jorge Posada’s notoriously weak arm, Soriano stole both second and third bases. With one out, the Green Sox elected to walk Jason Giambi and set up the double play with Larry Walker 04. But Walker had other plans, sending a line drive deep into left centerfield which easily brought home Soriano to win the game. Stay tuned for Game 2, which should also prove to be another electric contest.-------------------------------------------------
AXN 0, BOB 3 F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
AXN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BOB 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
W – Halladay (1-0) L – Wood 04 (0-2)
For the first time in history, a rookie pitcher has tossed a 1 hitter in his Showdown debut. After fanning over a dozen batters, walking only a handful, and giving up just one single, Roy Halladay amazed the entire league with an absolutely dazzling performance against the Darkpaws last evening. In an emotional game where the crowd waited with bated breath to see if they were indeed witnessing the fourth 1 hitter in league history, the Bobians emerged with a solid victory over a division rival. The top of the batting order also looked the best it had all year, with Juan Pierre, Luis Aparacio and especially Ichiro Suzuki contributing to the win. Ichiro, who was only a single short of hitting for the cycle, accounted for all of his teams RBI’s in this game after a homerun in the first and a triple in the third. Ronde Barber is certainly establishing himself as a genius of a GM, but he and his coaching staff will be tested even further as the season goes on. Firstly, expectations need to be managed for the young rookie Halladay, who has certainly set the bar very high for himself in his first start. Additionally, the offense still is one of the weakest in the league statistically speaking, as they have failed to score more than three runs in all but one of their games. In any case, the small-ball style clubs tend to do well as the Bobian 4-2 record shows, and they have quite a bit of momentum heading into Game 2 in Alyxia. The Darkpaws, on the other hand, are in a dark place, so to speak. Despite being shaky in the early innings, starter Kerry Wood 04 did his best to keep up with Halladay and blanked the Bobians through seven. Despite his second consecutive good performance, he finds himself with an 0-2 record. Even Ken Griffey Jr. looked particularly hapless against the rookie Spartan, striking out twice. Despite the recent roster changes called by ALLIED_MASTERCOMPUTER, the entire Darkpaw establishment has the general feeling of the season starting to slip away from them.
No comments:
Post a Comment