ZSY - 1 MAX - 2 F
W - Rivera (1-0) L - Rincon (1-1)
MAX: Daal: 6 IP, ER, QS (2)
ZSY: Hernandez: 7 IP, ER, QS (5)
MAX: Martinez: 4-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI (15)
MAX: Ashburn: 3-4, BB, 2 2B, SB (13)
ZSY: Kiner: 2-4, BB, HR (7), RBI (21)
Is Maxion artillery guided by God? It is really starting to look like it, especially after this game. This looked to be an interesting one, with Richie Ashburn leading off the game with a double and then stealing third. Yet with nobody out, Runelvys Hernandez managed to get out of the jam unscathed. His opponent Omar Daal had a similar first inning, with Carl Crawford leading off with a walk, and then being thrown out trying to run to third on a Juan Pierre single. So it went through the early innings, with both teams threatening, but neither side capitalizing. That is, until Edgar Martinez popped an RBI double in the fourth that brought home Benjie "Don't Make Fun of My Speed" Molina, putting the Bombers on the board first. Other than that, Hernandez was as solid as always and didn't surrender any other runs. His seven innings of effort were good enough to secure his league leading fifth quality start of the year. As for Omar Daal, this clearly was his best start of the year and shut out the potent Z-Slayer offense through six quality innings. He came out to pitch the seventh, but immediately surrendered a solo homerun to MVP candidate Ralph Kiner, which tied the game 1-1. This seemed to rattle Daal's cage, as he walked the next two batters. With nobody out and two men on, the Bombers went to the bullpen and brought in reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Hasegawa struck out catcher Jason Larue and then got Carl Crawford to ground out into a double play, with some help from an amazing play by Bombers second baseman Jeff Kent. With the game tied at 1-1, both teams went to the bullpen. Z-Slayer long reliever Ricardo Rincon took the mound in the top of the ninth, where he ran into some trouble. With a runner on second two outs, Rincon intentionally walked Richie Ashburn in order to face Corey Koskie. But Koskie also walked and brought Edgar Martinez to the plate, who managed to single in the go ahead run and give the Bombers a 2-1 lead. Rincon struck out the next batter to stop the bleeding there. In the bottom of the ninth, the Bombers brought in closer Mariano Rivera, who intentionally walked Ralph Kiner to start the inning. This gamble paid off, as the next batter grounded out into the double play. Rivera then struck out the next batter with his signature cutter fastball to end the game and finish off the amazing and improbable win for the Bombers. Who would have thought that it would be the Maxions to break the Z-Slayers record win streak? And a record it shall be, but one shared with the Spartans. With almost every other Pee Wee League team losing this round, the Bombers suddenly find themselves only one game out of a playoff spot and only two (or three) games out of first place.
---------------------------------------------------------------
TYC - 1 LIN - 3 F
W - Schoenweiss (2-2) L - Wood (0-1) S - Nen (3)
LIN: Schoenweiss: 6 IP, ER, QS (4)
TYC: Wood: 7 IP, 3 ER, QS (2)
LIN: Stewart: 3-3, 2 BB, RBI (6)
LIN: Mientkiewicz: 1-4, RBI (6)
TYC: Ja. Giambi: 2-4, 2B, HR (3), RBI (8)
Both teams came into this game in the thick of a playoff battle, and both teams could really use a win here. Former Darkpaw Kerry Wood made his second start as a Tycoon, and definitely looked shaky early on. A real nasty jam in the second inning only resulted in one run for the JELLY QUEEN, thanks to a big double play as well as an excellent throw from right fielder Ryan Freel to throw out Shannon Stewart trying to score from second. Wood settled down after that, but still surrendered another run in the fifth and was tagged with another run for a man that he left on base in the eighth. As for the JELLY QUEEN, Scott Schoenweiss was a little better but was by no means dominant himself and got help at a few points from his defense. The Tycoons managed to score only once off of him, and that came in the form of a Jason Giambi solo shot in the sixth. Despite a lead off double in the eighth, the Tycoons could not bring any runs home. They had another golden opportunity in the ninth, there Lindsyan closer Robb Nen started off the inning by walking the first two batters he faced. But Nen recovered, and ended the inning without giving up any runs. Game Two of the series is sure to be interesting, as both teams are rapidly approaching do-or-die territory.
--------------------------------------------------------------
BOB - 7 RED - 3 F
W - Halladay (4-0) L - Fogg (1-1)
BOB: Halladay: CG (4), 3 ER, QS (4)
RED: Fogg: 6 IP, 7 ER
BOB: Lowell: 3-5, HR (3), 2B, 3 RBI (10)
BOB: Aparicio: 1-4, 2 SB (21 - breaks season record), RBI (5)
RED: Tejada: 3-4, 2 2B, BB, RBI (14)
Finally, we arrived to the matchup that Spartan GM Ronde Barber said that he was most looking forward to. The Red Clay offense seemed to do a bit better than their peers against Cy Young contender Roy Halladay, who worked in and out of trouble throughout the early innings. The Aces scored first thanks to a Keith Ginter solo shot, with the Bobian response coming immediately in the form of a Mike Lowell solo blast of his own. Halladay surrendered another run in the fifth, but managed to get out of several jams unscathed. His counterpart Josh Fogg had a similar performance, but was victimized by a Luis Aparicio special in which the speedy shortstop knocked in a run and then rounded the bases thanks to two stolen bases and an RBI single from Travis Hafner. Those two stolen bases, by the way, put Aparicio as the sole record holder for most stolen bases in a season. Josh Fogg was severely burned by a meltdown in the seventh inning, which was kicked off by a bases loaded double off the bat of Mike Lowell, snagging his ninth and tenth RBI's of the year. After a very slow start to the season, Lowell has really turned it around down the stretch, posting an astounding eight RBIs in the last four games. After Lowell's big hit, the end of the Bobian lineup rallied for another two runs. The Aces however didn't go down without putting together an opportunity to win it. In the bottom of the ninth, Roy Halladay worked himself into a bases loaded jam with only one out. With the tying run at the plate and a seventeen quality start streak on the line, Coach Maddux left all his relievers inactive and left the fate of the game squarely in the hands of Halladay. Halladay first struck out Keith Ginter, who had homered earlier in the contest, and then got out the Aces ninth hitter, Jose Cruz, on a harmless ground ball to second. Although not his best performance of the year, Halladay earned his fourth win of the season, all of which were quality starts and complete games. With this win, the Spartans move into sole possession of first place of Division 1. With this loss, Division 2 once again has no team with a record above .500.
No comments:
Post a Comment