Pottsylvania----Two teams with four-game winning streaks in the Central collided on Game Day 70, as the Creepers (just off a pitching-dominated series against St. Francis) and the Tornadoes (who had won a series of slugfests with Casselton) matched up in Pottsylvania. Creepers pitching vs. Tornadoes hitting…..and it was Texas that remained unbeaten, with great pitching of their own!
The hero for the Tornadoes? None other than long-sidelined Hideki Kuroda, who had made only three prior appearances for Texas before a lengthy DL stint. Just activated the previous day, spot starter Kiroda (1-0, 5.40), made his first action in months truly memorable, going the distance and for the most part controlling the game with 117 pitches.
Still, Kuroda and the Tornandoes trailed 2-0 going into the seventh against Cliff Lee (6-5, 3.26), and it was Texas’s bench that made him a winner. Jeremy Hermida singled with one out, and pinch-hitter Delmon Young singled to put runners at the corners. Rookie Chris Davis followed with a game-tying double, and scored one batter later when pinch-hitter Miguel Tejada delivered a go-ahead sac fly. Texas would add a solo run in the eighth on a sac fly from Hermida, and (with Kuroda in charge), held on to win, 4-2!
With the win, Texas has won a season-high five straight contests and they are finally threatening to escape the league’s cellar. Since reactivating Alex Rodriguez on Game Day 33, the Tornadoes are a .500 ball club (20-20), and they have won eight of their last ten.
CURRENT STANDINGS:
In other news:
YUMA 4, MADTOWN 2
WP: C.C. Sabathia (6-5, 4.15)
LP: Ian Snell (2-9, 8.23)
Ryan Braun drove in three runs, including a tie-breaking two-run shot (#14) in the sixth, and C.C. Sabathia went all the way for his fourth complete game of the year as the Firebirds (42-30) won their third straight game. Freddie Sanchez came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in his first plate appearance as a Murloc and grounded out to second.
WORCESTER 7, ST. FRANCIS 5
WP: Jeremy Guthrie (5-5, 4.74)
LP: Kyle Davies (2-6, 8.13)
SV: Bell (8)
Jason Bay hit his BARB-leading 27th (!) home run, and recently-reactivated CF Grady Sizemore and All-World SS Hanley Ramirez also added circuit shots as the Eliminators won another game by bludgeoning their opposition.
BROOKLYN 3, CASSELTON 2 (10 innings)
WP: Francisco Rodriguez (2-1, 1.39)
LP: Steven Shell (1-2, 2.64)
Ryan Howard’s team-leading 25th HR snapped a 2-2 tie in the top of the tenth, and the Moabs would go on to win, improving to 38-36, six games out in the competitive East. Starters James Shields and Joe Saunders both allowed two runs in the third, then traded zeroes into the eighth in this pitcher’s duel.
BLACK MESA 5, DARWIN 4
WP: Wandy Rodriguez (4-10, 6.40)
LP: John Smoltz (0-1, 7.71)
SV: Papelbon (19)
The Darwin Finches reactivated John Smoltz on Game Day 70, but Smoltz looked nothing like the dominant pitcher who has been out of baseball for nearly a year, giving up a monster shot to Adam Dunn in the first and getting only one strikeout. Rafael Furcal led the Anomalies attack with three hits, two runs and a stolen base.
TORNADOES WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT
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