End of Series Seven: Multiple Upsets and History is Made

QEY 9, RED 6 F

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
QEY	2	0	2	0	0	5	0	0	0
RED	0	1	3	0	0	0	2	0	0

W – Mulder (2-1)            L - Buehrle (0-3)                 S - Spooneybarger (1)

A tale of two teams in this one: the struggling Aces on a three game losing skid going up against the very hungry Queynos Warrior team making an uphill playoff push. The Warriors offense kicked things off right away with a Cliff Floyd two run shot in the first; the very hot hitting third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo followed up with his own two run homer in the third. Warrior ace Mark Mulder had problems of his own early in this game, especially having problems with the bottom of the Red Clay order, surrendering a run in the second and a three run rally in the third. Aces catcher A.J. Pierzynski certainly had Mulders number, going 4-5 on the day with a homerun and three RBIs. Both pitchers appeared the settle down in the middle innings, until Mark Buehrle had an absolute meltdown in the sixth. After walking Michael Barrett, he surrendered a triple to Luis Castillo, who was brought home next at bat by an Ellis Burks homerun. Cliff Floyed then stepped to the plate and then belted his second homerun of the day. To really put some salt in the wound, the next batter, Frank Catalonotto, also homered. That ended Buerhle's day, and possibly his tenure with the Aces . Mulder continued to have problems, surrendering another two runs before being pulled in the seventh. Old reliable Tim Spooneybarger entered the game for the Warriors in the eighth and slammed the door on the Aces offense, going two strong innings to earn his first save of the year. Definitely a coup for the ascendant Warriors, who have recovered nicely after having been swept by their Bobian division rivals. The reigning Division 1 champs face a very uphill battle to climb back up into the playoffs, but they could not have begun their ascent in any better way. We'll see if they can keep their momentum next week, as they face an incredibly difficult and high stakes matchup against the Z-Slayers. New head coach Kalaby Jaby has already labeled it as a "do-or-die" series. As for the Aces...well yuck. With an unimpressive 7-6 record, they still sit atop Division 2, or the Pee Wee League as some have begun to call it. Very nervously they are looking back over their shoulders and seeing that they are only 4 games ahead of the last place team in the league. With 9 games left in the season, this Division is still entirely up for grabs. Next up is an equally crucial matchup against Mao's Tycoons. Will the team be able to assert themselves as the Division Leaders, or will this ship continue to spiral downwards? Very interesting questions that do not have an answer as of yet.

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ZSY 9, TYC 0 F

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
ZSY	0	2	0	2	1	0	1	0	3
TYC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

W – Wells (4-0)            L - Johnson (1-2)

The Tycoons headed back home looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Z-Slayers as well as turn around the ship after a string of particularly bad games. Things did not get off to a good start for starter Randy Johnson - and they never really got any better. Ralph Kiner knocked in a run with a triple in the second, and was brought home on the next pitch thanks to a Paul Lo Duca single. The Z-Slayers rallied again in the fourth, bringing home another two runs off the bat of a Ralph Kiner double and a Ken Harvey single. Smart base running from leadoff man Carl Crawford and a clutch double by Juan Pierre helped the Z-Slayers manufacture yet another run in the fifth. Meanwhile on the other side of things, Kip Wells continued his career year, knocking down Tycoon batters without really ever getting into danger. Albert Pujols belted a solo shot for the Z-Slayers in the top of the seventh; folks, that's his fourth homer and ninth RBI in two games. Pujols also flashed some leather in the bottom of that inning, providing the +1 fielding that was needed to turn a double play. To make the night all the more memorable, Ralph Kiner stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth, a home run away from being the first player in league history to hit for the cycle. While many others have gotten to within one at bat of achieving this, Kiner swung for the fences and succeeded where so many others had failed, knocking a B.J. Ryan fastball just over the right field wall. This three run shot put Kiner at 5 RBIs on the night and 14 total for the season. The cherry on top of this massive cake was Kip Wells going the distance, completing the game after throwing nine innings of shutout baseball and earning his league leading fourth win of the season. Full spectrum dominance from the Z-Slayers in this one, as this team is firing on all cylinders at the moment. Not so much for the hapless Tycoons, who have been shut out four of their last six games (yes, you read that correctly). The Ghost of Mao has come under intense criticism from the press for not addressing the worst offense in the league and instead only making changes with the pitching staff. They have a very difficult matchup with the Aces next series, a series in which the world hopes someone will show up to take the lead in Division 2. For now, the Pee Wee League is just a complete mess.
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BOB 2, STL 3 F

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
BOB	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
STL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

W – Isringhausen (1-0)            L - Seaver (1-1)        Blown Save - Isringhausen (1)

One way or another, a streak was coming to an end tonight. Early on, It looked like the Super Saiyan version of the Cardinals showed up; Edgar Renteria kicked off scoring in the bottom of the first, taking the Tom Seaver deep for a two run shot. But Seaver very quickly recovered from that, giving up only another three hits over the next eight innings while racking up 11 strikeouts. Cardinals ace Bud Smith had his best performance of the year, being fairly in control for six shutout innings against a confused looking Bobians offense. So it went up until the ninth with not much going on offensively on either side. Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen was going for a two inning save when he surrendered a two run shot to Travis Hafner, which tied the game at two runs apiece. Hafner has easily been not only the hottest Spartan hitter of late, but also the most clutch with a few instances of late innings heroics. But in a twist of fate, Seaver stumbled in the bottom of the ninth when Larry Walker 04 lofted a 3-2 fastball into the right field corner, bringing home the winning run and ending the Spartans winning streak at nine. Although this win doesn't change anything in the standings, Spartans GM Ronde Barber was apparently furious with his team's offensive performance and reportedly threatened to fire several players. During his press conference however, he very calmly explained that he would consider tuning the batting order as a result of the loss. They have a big matchup next week against Division 1 rival Meow Meow Dui. As for the Cardinals, add this game to the pile of evidence that this team is capable of anything. They will attempt to cement their place in the standings next week when they take on the Melmegetian Marauders, who are hot on their heels.