ZSY 3 QEY 0 F
W - Hernandez (3-0) L - Rodgers (1-2) S - Graves (3)
ZSY: Hernandez: 7 IP, 0ER, QS (4)
ZSY: Pujols: 1-3, HR(8), RBI(22), 2 BB
ZSY: Harvey: 4-5, RBI
QEY: Rodgers: 7 IP, 3 ER, QS(3)
Things looked like they were going to be ugly early; the powerful Z-Slayer offense managed to load the bases in each of the first three innings, but the veteran Queynos starter managed to escape surrendering only one run. The Z-Slayers kept Rodgers on his toes throughout the entire evening, but he did reasonably well to keep them off the board. He only faltered in the fifth, where he surrendered a solo homerun to Albert Pujols, and in the seventh, where he surrendered an RBI single to second baseman Ken Harvey, who is making a push to be mentioned in the contentious Division 1 All Star discussion. Maybe just another word about Pujols, as he is the hottest player in the league right now; he has gone three straight games with a homerun, racking up 5 homers and ten RBIs during that streak. As for the Z-Slayer pitching, Runelvys Hernandez had another smashing performance, handling the Warriors with relative ease for seven innings strong. This very standard control 3, 17 and up pitcher has surprised the entire league to become the first in the league to nab four quality starts. ZSY closer Danny Graves entered the game in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings to close the game and earn the save, his third of the year. While neither team was fully satisfied with their performance, you can really feel the pressure from the Queynos side, as they try to keep pace with the "big boys" of Division 1 and try to prove that they are playoff material.
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STL 2 TEN 7 F
W - Beckett (3-0) L - Oliver (0-2)
TEN: Beckett: 8 IP, 2 ER
STL: Oliver: 7 IP, 7 ER
TEN: Hammonds: 1-4, 3R HR
TEN: Ortiz: 1-4, 3R HR
TEN: Edgar Martinez Jr.: 1-4, 1B
Sometimes a game can be boiled down to just a few swings of the bat. So it went for last nights game between these two Pee Wee league rivals. A win for the Cardinals would actually move them into second place, while a win for the Green Sox would put them into an effective tie for third. Both starters were decent through the early innings, but Cardinals Darren Oliver made one mistake in the second, surrendering a three run shot to Jeffrey Hammonds, in his first at bat as a member of the Green Sox. Things then moved briskly through the middle innings with both starters looking sharp. But Oliver made yet another mistake in the seventh, serving up a solo homerun to Magglio Ordonez. Another mistake came a few batters later when David Ortiz took him deep for another three scores. David Ortiz started off the season on fire, but has been rather bad through the middle of the season; these are his first RBIs in three series. Tenbil Town starter Josh Beckett then went on to make a mistake of his own in the top of the eighth, becoming the victim of a Larry Walker two run blast. So when the game was all said and done, nine runs had been score but only four swings of the bad had really mattered. The Green Sox are a team that lives and dies by the homerun, which they are trying to change with the addition of Edgar Martinez Jr. In his first career game he was a non-factor, going 1-4 with a single. The winner of Game 2 of this series will find themselves in sole possession of third place, and possibly second depending on a Tycoon loss.
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MMD 0 BOB 4 F
W - Halladay (3-0) L - Schilling (3-1)
BOB: Halladay: CG, QS, only 3 hits allowed, 0 ER
MMD: Schilling: 7 IP, 4 ER
BOB: Mondesi: 2 2B, RBI
BOB: Aparicio: 2-5, 2 SB
In one of perhaps the best pitching match-ups of the year, two Division 1 rivals met for a showdown at Dulcolax Stadium, with the Spartans in the strange situation of trying to avoid a losing streak. Ronde Barber's lineup shakeup yielded fruits in the top of the first. Luis Aparicio picked up two stolen bases and was brought home thanks to an Ichiro sacrifice fly. Then followed several difficult innings for Schilling, who seemed to struggle for most of the night. He surrendered key hits to Marcus Giles, Raul Mondesi and Edgar Martinez, all of whom knocked in a run to build on the Bobian lead. As for Halladay, he was in top form, never even allowing a runner to reach second base the entire evening. He struck out 7 batters along the way, completing the game surrendering only 3 hits. This was the second best pitching performance of the year, bettered only by his one hitter debut. After the game, Ronde Barber expressed approval with his offenses performance, saying that initial results look good, but that the lineup shifts will go on anyway so that it can be experimented against several different kinds of pitchers. Game 2 features yet another amazing matchup as Tom Glavine SS goes up against Kenny Rodgers. Both stand undefeated with records of 2-0.
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