Close of Series 2

LIN 4, BOB 3       F

                 1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

LIN           0              1              0              1              0              0              0              1              1           

BOB         2              0              0              1              0              0              0              0              0              

W – Karsay (2-0)                   L – Dotel (0-1)

Before the game there was quite a bit of trash talking between the intra-division rivals. The Times of Bobia reported on a series of text messages sent between the two teams owners that highlighted the, shall we say, competitive spirit between the two teams. To add fuel to the fire, Lindsyan LF Manny Ramirez was quoted as calling the Bobians “mostly washed up.” In any case the wily veteran Tom Glavine took to the mound in his first start of Season 6, and certainly dismissed any claim that he is washed up; he pitched seven solid innings only surrendering two runs, a Victor Martinez solo shot and a Manny Ramirez RBI double in the 4th. Glavine’s performance was typical of the Bobian starters thus far: a quality start, but by no means dominating, allowing baserunners nearly every inning. That being said, Glavine’s run support this game came early in the form of an Angel Berroa 2 run shot (which ties him for the team lead in RBIs) and a Charles “Impromptu Party Bus DJ CJ” Johnson solo homer. Lindsyan Esteban Loaiza had a similar performance as Glavine: 7 IP, 3 ER. The game took an interesting turn, however, in the top of the eighth, where Manny Ramirez backed up a lot of his big talk with a lead off homerun off of the typically dominant Bobian reliever Octavio “Shhh!” Dotel. The press took note of the way Ramirez silently glared at the Bobian dugout as he rounded the basepads. Dotel finished the rest of the inning uneventfully, but struggled when he continued in the ninth. Buddy Groom was called in and eventually found himself in a bases loaded 2 out jam. The trash talking Manny Ramirez again stepped to the plate and pointed Babe Ruth style to the back wall. Ramirez did not homer, but instead hit a solid line drive into center, driving home the winning run and his third RBI of the game. Steve Karsay entered the game in the bottom of the ninth for the Lindsyans and notched his league leading second win of the season. A heart breaking loss for the Bobians, especially as it came from Mr. Dotel. It will be interesting to see what happens in between now and the next time these two teams play, towards the end of the season; the stakes will probably be much much higher.

----------------------------------------------------

MEL 1, RED 4       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MEL        0              0              1              0              0              0              0              0              0           

RED        0              0              0              3              0              1              0              0              0              

W – Sheets (1-0)                   L – Redman (0-1)                     Save - Wagner (1)

“We are committed to our strategy of 2003 purity, and that is final,” said Dr. Vindaloo in response to a question after the game about his team’s 0-3 start. But the reporter pressed further: “Well, the pitching situation has worked well for you, no doubt about that. But the offense has been a little flat. Is there any nostalgia on your part for the days of Tori Hunter anchoring the offense, before you traded him to the Zachrians? What about the All Stars Ralph Kiner and Ruben Sierra who you fired despite them having good seasons last year?” Dr. Vindaloo shook his head and smiled contemptuously. “The only thing that I miss, my friend, was the frequent opportunities to say the name “Brrrad Fullllllmerrr.” Indeed, the Melmegetian bats were quiet in this game as well, silenced by the always consistent veteran Ben Sheets. Sheets only had trouble in the third, where he walked in the Melmegetian ninth hitter CF Orlando Palmeiro with the bases loaded; otherwise pitching six strong. Red Clay, on the other hand, rallied for three runs against Mark Redman in the fourth. Redman alternated between strong and shaky for the rest of the game, with his quality start blown by 3B Keith Ginter’s solo homerun in the sixth. The anemic Melmegetian offense had no answer, being shut out by reliever Mike Myers in the seventh and eighth and closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. Red Clay next has an opportunity to continue their victory streak against another winless team, the hapless Darkpaws. The Marauders, on the other hand, have another difficult match up against the Queynos Warriors, a team eager to reassert themselves in Division 1. 

------------------------------------------------------

MMD 7, ZSY  1       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MMD      0              0              0              0              0              0              2              0              5           

ZSY          0              0              0              1              0              0              0              0              0              

W – Rodgers (1-0)                   L – Paterson (0-1)                  

Well this wasn’t expected, although the final score is not really representative of how the game went. Kenny Rodgers manhandled the Z-Slayer offense for eight innings, limiting their scoring to a Jack Wilson RBI triple. One of the big surprises came in the form of the control 2 Zach Day pitching remarkably well for the Z-Slayers, surrendering only 1 run in 6 innings. As a result, most of this game was a tense one run or tie ball game. But the Z-Slayer Achilles heel eventually reared its ugly head in the form of the weak bullpen. Danny Paterson surrendered an RBI single to Gregg Zaun, which gave Meow Meow Dui a precarious lead. Whatever anxiety this created did not last long, as former Marauder Oscar Villareal entered the game and got walloped by a five run Meow Meow rally of walks, singles, and an Aaron Rowand double. This result leaves Meow Meow Dui as the only undefeated team in the league and leader of Division 1. While the Z-Slayers are still well positioned with their 2-1 record, there is just the slightest concern about all the points that they have invested in their offense; far and away thus far their starting pitching staff has unexpectedly been the more valuable segment of the team.  

First Intra Division Matchups

MAX 0, STL 6       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MAX       0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0           

STL          0              0              0              0              2              1              2              1              0              

W – Morris (1-0)                   L – Franklin (0-1)

While it’s still too early to talk about big wins, this one must certainly feel good for the Cardinals. After getting shut out for two straight games, the St. Louis faithful saw their Redbird bats come alive, led by Larry Walker who homered twice (and was also intentionally walked twice). Bite mark covered Matt Morris pitched seven strong against the hapless Bombers, while reliever Russ Springer finished the last two innings almost flawlessly. It’s still too early to seriously be looking at standings, but this gives the Cardinals an early leg up when it comes to gaining tie breaker advantage. Things definitely are not so bright for the Maxions, who have lost two straight and have looked remarkably like their disastrously bad Season Five selves. Although Ryan Franklin’s performance was less than satisfactory, the offense seems to be the main cause of concern moving forward. 2B Jeff Kent in particular has struggled mightily, seeming to either strike out or ground out into a double play in every at bat. Former Cy Young winner Andy Pettite takes the mound next for the Bombers, but he will need some run support to help turn the ship around.

----------------------------------------------------

AXN 3, QEY 4       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

AXN        0              0              0              0              1              2              0              0              0           

QEY        0              0              0              0              2              0              0              2              0              

W – Spooneybarger (1-0)                   L – Garces (0-1)                     Blown save - Garces (1)

This was an exciting one in Queynos. After a scoreless four inning pitching duel between Kerry Wood and Matt Morris, the Darkpaws struck first with an RBI double from Mike Cameron, his first RBI of the year. However the response was immediate; Geoff Jenkins notched his first homer in the bottom side of the inning, good for two RBIs. The lead jerked back to the Darkpaws when Brian Jordan hit a two run homer of his own in the seventh. Kerry Wood held the lead in the sixth and seventh; when the eighth rolled around, the Alyxian manager Gorrister had to decide which reliever to dial up. Komiyama and Hasegawa had looked shaky their last two appearances; Myers and Carter both have low control and wouldn't be ideal against the heart of the Warrior batting order. This was the logic for bringing in the veteran Rich Garces, who proceeded to give up an RBI double to Warrior first baseman Sean Casey. With two outs and the speedy Frank Catalonotto on third, 3B Edgardo Alfonzo stepped up to the plate. Garces delivered a breaking ball that Alfonzo looped out to center field. Despite it not being too deep, the Warriors made the decision to have Catalonotto to test Ken Griffey Jr.'s arm and tag. The throw was a good one, but came just a shade too late, allowing the Warriors to score the winning run. All Star Tim Spooneybarger dominated the Alyxian offense for three innings, not allowing any futher fluctuations in the lead. A good win for the Warriors, which will put them close to the top of Division 1 by the end of Series 2 and, more importantly, get their Division record off to a good start. For the Darkpaws however, you can feel a sense of desperation in the air after three losses and three bullpen meltdowns. Rumor has it that they are starting to look at free agents and potential trades, with the Red Clay Aces mentioned as a possible trade partner. Whatever they decide to do to upgrade the bullpen, it will require several moving pieces to fit perfectly for something to work; they have no wiggle room with their current roster adding up to 5000 points exactly. Points will need to be freed up by cutting from somewhere...

------------------------------------------------------

TEN 6, TYC 1       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

TEN         4              0              0              1              0              0              1              0              0           

TYC         0              0              0              1              0              0              0              0              0              

W – Ishii (1-0)                   L – Trachsel (0-1)                    

Steve Trachsel struggled in his first performance as a Tycoon. He was rocked in the first by homeruns from Green Sox power bats Jorge Posada and David Ortiz. Trachsel had problems for the next five innings he pitched, although he only surrendered one more run in the fourth. Green Sox starter Kazuhisa Ishii, on the other hand, pitched well through seven innings, having trouble only in the fourth and seventh innings. He was aided by a solid defensive performance that was able to convert every double play opportunity that came along. Jorge Posada homered again in the seventh, which was more than enough for reliever Danny Paterson to pitch the last two innings and seal the win. After the game, the Ghost of Mao's reaction was muted (literally), but expressed the same dissatisfaction with his team's performance thus far that he had after their first two wins. The Green Sox, on the other hand, now sit atop Division 2 and have won two straight after losing to the Bobians on opening day. Next matchup will present their number 4 starter going up against the formidable Z Slayer offense.  

Close of Series 1: Shutouts Galore

STL 0, MMD 5       F

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

W - Schilling (1-0)       L - Oliver (0-1)

The Cardinals have not only lost their first two games of the season, but they’ve been entirely shut out both times. This is thanks in large part to excellent Meow Meow starting pitching; reigning Cy Young winner Carl Pavano’s near flawless performance in Game 1 was followed by an equally strong showing by Curt Schilling, who dominated in 8 scoreless innings, although there were a few wasted opportunities for the Cardinals. The same could be said for Meow Meow Dui, except that they had a few opportunities where they were able to capitalize as well. A Greg Zaun two run homer in the fifth kicked off a small rally, in which SS Marco Scutaro notched his 2nd RBI of the game and 3rd of the season, which leads the team. Chris Hammond, the former Z-Slayer, came in to relieve Schilling in the 9th, and ended up working his way into a bases loaded jam. Despite the heart of the Cardinals order coming up to bat with only 1 out, they weren’t able to put any runs on the board. For the Cardinals, the disappointing start to the season can be partially chalked up to the fact that they’ve faced two of the best pitchers in the league; they will try to right the ship with their next series, a single game against their Division 2 rivals the Maxion Bombers. Meow Meow Dui, on the other hand, celebrated the near perfect execution of their strategy, as described by their general manager Checko Checko Taklamente: “The three pillars of our success are quite simple. First, a focus on strong pitching above all else. Secondly, Chinese medicine. Third, NO JAPANESE OR KOREAN PLAYERS!!!” We’ll see how they do with their third and fourth starters take the mound, with specifically Kenny Rodgers facing off against the offense obsessed Z-Slayers. Stay tuned for an epic clash of an all pitching team facing an all hitting team; surely the matchup that everyone will be watching next round.

---------------------------------------------------

RED 7, LIN 0       F

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

W – Fogg (1-0)                   L – Schoenweiss (0-1)

The scoreboard above tells the story pretty well; besides a hell storm in the 4th, there was really not much going on in this game. Both teams racked up a pile of wasted opportunities either by stranding baserunners or by constantly rolling outs on the hitters card. Scott Schoenweiss had pitched well in the first three innings before giving up a leadoff triple to Alfonso Soriano in the fourth; he then proceeded to get the next two batters out before Larry Walker brought Soriano home with an RBI single. But even with two outs, the Aces managed to rally with a series of walks and singles culminating in a Paul Konerko grand slam. Although the other pitchers in the game pitched well (Josh Fogg completed the game for the Aces, while relievers Lance Painter and Braden Looper admirably ate up the next five innings for the Lindsyans) the rest of the game was a pageantry of offensive folly. The JELLY QUEEN DREAM TEAM certainly had opportunities to chip away at the Red Clay lead, but they failed time and time again. It will be interesting to see which versions of the Lindsayns show up for their intra-league matchup when they travel to Bobia this weekend. Red Clay, on the otherhand, will host the Marauders, looking to get back into the saddle of leadership of Division 2.

-------------------------------------------------

ZSY 9, MEL 0       F

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

W – Hernandez (1-0)                   L – Beckett (0-1)

Melmegetian Owner Dr. Vindaloo was so furious in his post-game press conference, that much of what he said was not intelligible in his thick Indian accent. “Tell me; what other explanation could you offer? Runelyvs Hernandez sucked for my team last year! He couldn’t pitch his way out of a curry soaked paper bag! And now you tell me that he shuts out his old team once that he has joined another one that is constantly under suspicion of steroid use? No no no my friend, this is too much for this former professional cricket player to swallow.” Whatever comes of these heavy accusations, the Marauders certainly cannot be happy with their 0-2 start to the season, scoring only 1 run in their first two games against a team that is not exactly considered a pitching powerhouse. Josh Beckett did pitch well for the Marauders, allowing only two runs in six strong innings. One of these runs was only possible due to Carl Crawford stealing his way to third base after a walk, in similar fashion to the Bobian Juan Pierre. Things really fell apart after Beckett left the game. Buddy Groom entered in the seventh and gave up a two run homer to former Marauder Ralph Kiner. 3B Jeff Cirillo homered again in the 8th, while Paul Lo Duca capped off a ninth inning rally with a bases loaded double. On the flip side, also former Marauder Runilyvs Hernandez pitched seven shutout innings for the Z-Slayers, keeping the Marauders scoring chances to a minimum. Although the Z-Slayers must be beaming with pride to see their offense take flight, they must also be very excited about the excellent pitching results from their first two starters, who last year were 3rd and 4th in their respective rotations last year. The real test of this team, however, will come in the next two games when their 3rd and 4th starters take the mound, who together add up to a measly 130 points. When combined with a very thin bullpen, the real test here will be to see if the offense has enough firepower to overcome this. In no better way will this experiment be run than in their next game where the Z-Slayers will battle for first place against the pitching focused Meow Meow Dui. The Marauders, at the other hand, currently dwell in the basement of Division 2, and will have a tough matchup next series against the Red Clay Aces.

TEN & QEY even out their first series; Mao sweeps the Darkpaws

BOB 0, TEN 3                          F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

BOB        0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0

TEN        0              0              0              1              0              2              0              0              0

W- Beckett (1-0)                            L - Maddux (0-1)                            S - Foulke (1)

The Tenbil Town faithful celebrated their first win of the season, witnessing Josh Beckett pitch seven strong innings and rack up strikeout after strikeout against a largely hapless Bobian offense. Greg Maddux, in his first career start, pitched decently although he gave up well more than one hit per inning, of which he completed seven. The runs did allow came in the form of a solo homerun for former MVP J.D. Drew and a mini-rally from the Green Sox offense in the sixth. The top half of the Bobian offense was just as quiet as they were in Game 1, with the only bright spot coming in the form of Juan Pierre, who took the league lead in stolen bases by stealing 4 bases in one game.  Splitting the series, both teams sport a 1-1 record and now watch the rest of the inter-league matchups of Series 1. 

---------------------------------------------------

QEY 6, MAX 4                          F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

QEY        0              0              0              6              0              0              0              0              0

MAX      0              0              0              0              0              2              0              0              2

W- Rodgers (1-0)                            L - Daal (0-1)                            S - Wickman (1)

After the Warriors knocked out Omar Daal in the fourth by piling on six runs, they were largely shut down when long relief specialist Sean Lowe stepped in for the Bombers. On the other side, Kenny Rodgers had the Maxion offense totally bamboozled, to a degree that the score does not accurately portray due to his quality start being wasted when he gave up a homerun in the bottom of the ninth to Bengie "Don't Make Fun of My Speed" Molina. The closer Bob Wickman was brought into the second straight game and nearly blew his second consecutive save. Although both teams start their season with a 1-1 record, both Maxion teams have severe weaknesses that have manifested themselves in both their first two games: an anemic offense for the Bombers and a wobbly bullpen for the Warriors.

------------------------------------------------------

TYC 1, AXN 0                          F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

TYC         0              0              0              0              1              0              0              0              0

AXN        0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0

W- Penny (1-0)                            L - Wood 04 (0-1)                           S - Kolb (1)

The second game of this series was one of those games that you don't want to see either pitcher lose. Newest Darkpaw Kerry Wood 04 pitched 7 dominating innings only getting into trouble in the fifth inning, where he surrendered an RBI single to Fred McGriff. As a side note, that was McGriff's fifth RBI in two games; good enough to currently lead the league. Although Wood's performance was nothing short of dazzling, his rival Brad Penny was just a step ahead, pitching 8 scoreless innings, only having a critical moment with the lead on the line and the bases loaded in the 8th. Rather than go to the bullpen, the Ghost of Mao opted to keep Penny in, who struck out Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Lowell to preserve the lead. Danny Kolb came in in the ninth to secure his first save of the year and the first two game sweep of the year. Although the Darkpaws now find themselves at the bottom of the league with a record of 0-2, its important to note that both of these losses were by only one run. The Ghost of Mao, however, said nothing after the game, merely glaring at the reporter who had woken him up during his nap. 

Series 1, Game 1 Results!

AXN 6, TYC 7       F/10

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9           10

AXN        0              0              0              0              1              0              5              0              0            0

TYC        0              0              0              2              0              2              0              0              2              1

W - Takatsu (1-0)                L - Hasegawa (0-1)                 Blown Save - Hasegawa (1)

Both two time champions squared off in their first game of the season in what was also expected to be a pitching duel between Barry Zito and Randy Johnson. However, neither ace looked particularly sharp, with both giving up two homeruns apiece. Tycoon 1B Fred Mcgriff had two homeruns (both 2 run shots), while the Alyxian Ken Griffey Jr.’s grand slam was shortly followed by Brian Jordan’s solo homerun in the 7th. But the Darkpaw bullpen could not hold on. Shigetoshi Hasegawa blew the save in the ninth by failing to get out of a bases loaded jam, and then proceeded to walk in the winning run for the Tycoons in the tenth.  While the Darkpaws are certainly glad to see Griffey homer once again, they must be totally aghast with their bullpen situation, a nightmare weakness that has now continued for several seasons. Hasegawa struggled dreadfully last season to close games and it was expected that they would use their cap room this offseason to shore up their relievers. Ultimately it was decided to invest these points in new DH Mike Piazza and second starter Kerry Wood, and no changes were made to the bullpen. Although it’s just the first game of the season, the Darkpaws might not have such a long leash for Hasegawa; should he struggle further, they might need to turn to relievers Satoru Komiyama or Rich Garces to actually close games since their other closer, Lance Carter, is only control 2. Since they have no cap room, pulling off a trade would require a perfect coincidence of wants, and probably require more than the Darkpaws would be willing to part with. On the Tycoon side, the team’s owner (the Ghost of Mao) remarked briefly that despite the win, he was not happy with his team’s sloppy performance; after which remarks he proceeded to flick kitty litter at the reporter before scurrying under the dining room table to hide. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LIN - 9, RED - 5       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

LIN          0              0              0              3              1             0              1              4              0            

RED        0              0              2              0              3              0             0              0              0 

W - Karsay (1-0)                    L - Takatsu (0-1)

If you thought that most teams were sending their best pitchers to the mound in the first game of the seasons, it would stand to reason to assume that we'd see some pretty good pitching duels. But that trend clearly has not been the case thus far, perhaps personified best in this game between the JELLY QUEEN DREAM TEAM and the Red Clay Aces, where a whopping grand total of 14 runs were tagged to both teams best pitchers. Neither starters Josh Beckett and Mark Buehrle  were particularly effective, nor was Red Clay reliever Shingo Takatsu who was responsible for the meltdown in the top of the 8th. The only pitcher who didn't give up any runs was the Lindsyan reliever Steve Karsay, who pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win. On the batting side, it was interesting to note the Lindsyans make a game time decision to play 2B Brian Roberts, a defensive specialist, instead of the better hitting 2B Jose Vidro. While they brought in Roberts for his defense, he had a bit game at the plate with 3 doubles, 2 RBI, and a stolen base. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEL - 1, ZSY - 3       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MEL        0              1              0              0              0              0              0              0              0            

ZSY         0              0              0              0              3              0              0              0              0          

W - Wells (1-0)                     L - Moyer (0-1)                       S - Graves (1)

Although Z-Slayer Park has largely been repaired from the bombing it sustained from the Zachrian Air Force during last season's intense playoff round against their archrival Wildhearts, the parking lot outside the stadium is still more or less just a smoking crater with a large cloud of Zachrian gas still hovering around the nearest highway off ramp. But officials insist, "the House that Sid Meier built" is structurally safe and ready for baseball. The few fans that did make it to the game were surely surprised to find that of all games, their superhuman Z-Slayer offense would be participating in the best pitching duel of Series 1 thus far. The former Cy Young winner Jamie Moyer pitched a solid 7 innings, only once making a serious mistake in giving up a 3 run homer to one of the newest Z-Slayer offensive weapons, SS Jack Wilson. On the Z-Slayer side, Kip Wells also put in an excellent performance, dominating the Marauders for seven innings, also only making a single slip up in the for of a solo shot surrendered to MEL DH Frank Thomas. After his seven innings, Wells turned the game over to closer Danny Graves, who secured the save and the Z-Slayers first win of the season. Next game will feature both team's offensive units trying to come alive with a Josh Beckett vs. Runelyvs Hernandez matchup.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MMD - 1, STL - 0       F

                1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9

MMD     0              0              0              0              0              0              0              1              0            

STL         0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0              0  

W - Miceli (1-0)                         L - Simontacchi (0-1)                       S - Foulke (1)

Opening Day in St. Louis saw the reigning Cy Young award winner Carl Pavano take the mount representing his new team. And he looked just as good as he did last year, pitching 7 innings of domination in which a runner had made it into scoring position only one time. The Cardinal starter Bud Smith was able to keep pace for most of the game, although he did have to work out of trouble once or twice. That being said, the Meow Meow offense stranded quite a few number of base runners, one of the principle offenders being left fielder Eric Chavez, who will absolutely need to produce for this offence to perform at a big league level. After a dinky bases loaded single by Marco Scutaro, Meow Meow handed the game over to Dan Miceli and their all star closer Keith Foulke, who picked up the win and the save respectively.  

Opening Night! Queynos takes on the Maxion Bombers, while Bobians vs the Green Sox

TEN – 3, BOB – 4  F

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

W – B. Groom (1-0)          L – J. Piniero (0-1)                            

As Opening Night finally came to Bobia, a packed crowd settled in to see their totally revamped hometown team go up against one of Division 2’s more established teams. Both teams sent out their Seattle Mariner aces to the mound, with high hopes to get the season off on the right foot. The first three innings went off uneventfully before the bats came alive for both teams in the fourth. In the top of the inning, David Ortiz kicked off the scoring by creaming a two run shot, which was followed by a mini rally in which Omar Vizquel notched his first RBI of the season. But the Bobians answered directly, getting two men on base for Marcus Giles to even up the game with one swing of the bat. Joel Piniero settled down in the fifth, but Jamie Moyer continued to struggle with the Green Sox hitters for the next several innings. Although he masterfully worked his way out of trouble with several key strikeouts, he was also helped out greatly by two huge factors that the Bobians had focused on greatly, coming into this season: coaching and defense. With two on and only one out, the Bobians opted to intentionally walk David Ortiz and rather face 2B Willie Harris. The move worked perfectly, as the defense was able to turn the resulting ground ball almost effortlessly into an inning ending double play. At another point, catcher Charles “Trainspottin’ CJ” Johnson was able to apply an amazing tag to keep a Green Sox runner from scoring, which would later prove to save the game. It certainly looked like the game was heading for extra innings, but the bottom of the Bobian batting order, which had been producing all night, had other ideas. Joel Piniero had come out to pitch in the top of the ninth, but was pulled after allowing the first two hitters to reach base. Reliever Paul Shuey entered the game and seemed to be working effectively out of the jam, when Bobian newcomer SS Angel Berroa came to the plate and drove in the winning run with a clutch double. Although the Bobians walk away with a win from this game, the struggle from the top of the order might be some cause for concern. Asked about this in an interview after the game, hitting coach Mike Piazza said “There certainly will be a learning curve for the new players in the league. That’s why we have the veterans like Giles and Lowell to lead the way in time of transition.” The Green Sox, while looking at the smart decisions employed by the Bobian coaches, are certainly kicking themselves for the misguided decisions to have Piniero pitch the ninth and having a runner try to tag home on a shallow fly ball. Game 2 will be in Tenbil Town and will feature the intriguing pitching matchup of Josh Beckett and Greg Maddux.

_____________________________________________________________________________

MAX – 6, QEY – 5  F/10

               1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10
MAX       0              0              0              0              0              0              0              4              1              1
QEY      3              0              0              0              0              0              0              2              0              0

W - U. Urbina (1-0)          L – S. Lowe (0-1)                      Blown Save – J. Lopez (1), B. Wickman (1)

If the first game is indication of how this season will go, buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. The Warriors got off to an excellent start, thanks to a 2 RBI double for 1B Sean Casey in the top of the 1st. Roy Halladay seemed a bit shaken by this and had difficulty with the top of Queynos’s batting order for the rest of the night. Although he was working in and out of danger for the rest of the night, Halladay managed to keep the Warriors off the scoreboard for the next six innings, a feat that his rival Mark Mulder was able to replicate, although with considerably more ease. However the Bomber’s came alive in the top of the eighth; Mulder was pulled after a Derek Jeter double and a Bengie Molina walk, and handed the game over to Javier Lopez, who promptly allowed the Bombers to go on a four run rally, thanks to clutch hits from Richie Ashburn and Edgar Martinez. Closer Bob Wickman was called in to relieve Lopez and finally end the inning. Halladay came out to pitch the bottom of the eighth, but again was torn up by the top of the Queynos order: a Luis Castillo triple was promptly followed by a Ellis Burks two run shot, giving the lead back to the Warriors. But Wickman couldn’t hold the lead in the top of the 9th, and earned the second blown save of the night for the Warrior bullpen. With bases loaded and two outs in the top of the 10th, Richie Ashburn knocked in his second RBI of the game with a walk. Ugueth Urbina pitched a scoreless second inning of relief in the bottom half, earning his and his team’s first win of the season. Although the Maxions surely are glad to have come out on top of this hectic back and forth, neither team looked like they were on their A-game. Of particular note are the disappointing performances from Roy Halladay and the QEY bullpen, both of which will need to perform strongly for both team to succeed in the long run. Man of the Match: MAX CF Richie Ashburn, 3-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, SB