QEY 2, BOB 4 F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
QEY 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BOB 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
W – Halladay (2-0) L - Lowe (1-3)
With multiple streaks on the line, Roy Halladay took the mound in his second career performance, having also to live up to his one hitter debut against the Darkpaws. He stumbled a bit out of the gate, getting out of a jam thanks to a very clutch double play turned by the always reliable glove of Luis Aparicio. But that also couldn't help Halladay escape from Edgardo Alfonzo taking him deep for two scores in the top of the second. Travis Hafner, a hot hitter of late, responded immediately in the bottom of the inning with a two run homer of his own. After that, Halladay and Rodgers both were in top form, not really running into any danger whatsoever. Rodgers was excellent through seven, before giving way to long reliever Sean Lowe in the eighth. Halladay, clearly upset at allowing the first runs for the Bobians in four games, was powered by rage to still hit top speeds on his fastball in the ninth inning, and looked ready to pitch even more, if it weren't for the Spartan bats coming alive in the bottom of the ninth. Marcus Giles has struggled mightily throughout the season, but has always seemed to come up with clutch hits. In the same style in which he helped his team win their first game of the season with a three run shot, he helped his team walk off with a two run homer off Lowe. With this win, the Spartans extend their win and quality start streak to record levels, and pad their division lead further. A rough loss for the fifth place Warriors, who are trying to turn around their season. It was a good effort by Rodgers, but the offense will need to be a bit more potent if they want to walk away with a split series in Game 2.---------------------------------------
STL 3, RED 4 F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
STL 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
RED 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
W – Quantril (1-0) L - Springer (1-1) Blown Save - Springer (1) Save - Wagner (3)
The Zachrian Redbirds got off to an excellent start, with firstbaseman Orlando Cepeda hitting his second home run of the year off Red Clay starter Josh Fogg. Fogg settled down after that, only surrendering another run in the fifth, when Edgar Rentaria doubled in second baseman Fernando Vina. Interesting to note that that was Renteria's 8th RBI of the season, which ties him for the team lead with Larry Walker. For the Cardinals, Darren Oliver put up an excellent effort, only getting into serious trouble in the second, but bailed out by a crucial double play by a team that has three golden gloves in the infield. He stumbled in the seventh when the Aces finally put together a rally, but the bleeding was stopped quickly after one run when reliever Russ Springer entered the game. Reliever Paul Quantril entered the game for the Aces in the 8th, and just barely made it through the inning without surrendering a run. In the bottom side, Springer allowed the tying run in the form of a Paul Konerko two run shot. Things went from bad to worse two batters later when Jason Giambi crushed a solo homerun over the right field wall, giving the Aces a one run lead. Both these hitters had been very cool before the inning, but I'm sure Ishmael von Corrin will take the power surge in the eighth inning all the same. Closer Billy Wager struggled uncharacteristically in the ninth, but managed to strike out Mark Grudzielanek with the bases loaded to end the game and earn his third save of the year. The come from behind win puts the Aces off to a good start in the series, bringing their overall record to an impressive 7-3. A tough loss for the Cardinals who will try to get a piece of the Aces in series two when they send Matt Morris to the mound to take on Ben Sheets.
W - Beckett (1-1) L - Penny (1-1)
How ill is the Tycoon offense? Try three straight games without scoring a single run! A key factor in extending this streak was the performance of Josh Beckett, who only gave up four hits in 7 and 1/3 innings of work. In this shutout effort, he becomes the first pitcher in Division 2 to reach three quality starts. The closest the Tycoons came to scoring was when Jason Giambi was originally awarded a homerun, but was called back when video evidence showed that the ball had sliced just foul over the pole. The Marauders offense put out an equally impressive effort, striking first with a Miguel Olivo solo homerun in the first, a Fred Mcgriff bases loaded walk in the fifth, and the real death blow coming when Brandon Larson hit his second homer of the season in the sixth. Tycoon starter Brad Penny had kept his pitch count low throughout the evening, which enabled him to make it all the way to the ninth, but was kicked ungracefully out of the game when Orlando Palmeiro knocked in two more runs to rub a little more salt in the wound. A big win for the Vindaloo's squad, who have definitely improved after a bad start to the season. Also highly encouraging is another great performance from Josh Beckett. With this win, Melmegetia is now in a dead heat for third place with the Cardinals and could pull to within one game back of 2nd place in the division with a win over the Tycoons next game. That about says it also for the Tycoons...if the Ghost Mao is panicked there were little signs of it during his press conference during which he leered silently at reporters before going to sleep on the podium. Hey Mao, anything to those rumors that you are scouting Edgar Martinez?
The Zachrian Redbirds got off to an excellent start, with firstbaseman Orlando Cepeda hitting his second home run of the year off Red Clay starter Josh Fogg. Fogg settled down after that, only surrendering another run in the fifth, when Edgar Rentaria doubled in second baseman Fernando Vina. Interesting to note that that was Renteria's 8th RBI of the season, which ties him for the team lead with Larry Walker. For the Cardinals, Darren Oliver put up an excellent effort, only getting into serious trouble in the second, but bailed out by a crucial double play by a team that has three golden gloves in the infield. He stumbled in the seventh when the Aces finally put together a rally, but the bleeding was stopped quickly after one run when reliever Russ Springer entered the game. Reliever Paul Quantril entered the game for the Aces in the 8th, and just barely made it through the inning without surrendering a run. In the bottom side, Springer allowed the tying run in the form of a Paul Konerko two run shot. Things went from bad to worse two batters later when Jason Giambi crushed a solo homerun over the right field wall, giving the Aces a one run lead. Both these hitters had been very cool before the inning, but I'm sure Ishmael von Corrin will take the power surge in the eighth inning all the same. Closer Billy Wager struggled uncharacteristically in the ninth, but managed to strike out Mark Grudzielanek with the bases loaded to end the game and earn his third save of the year. The come from behind win puts the Aces off to a good start in the series, bringing their overall record to an impressive 7-3. A tough loss for the Cardinals who will try to get a piece of the Aces in series two when they send Matt Morris to the mound to take on Ben Sheets.
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MEL 7, TYC 0 F
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
MEL 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 2
TYC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 W - Beckett (1-1) L - Penny (1-1)
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