11.19.2011

REBELS "STUBBS" TOE IN OPENER


The Central-winning Rebels took a tough loss in the opening game of their playoff series with the Eastern champion Squirrels, watching all-but-untouchable ace Cliff Lee give up a pair of shocking long bombs!

It was all the more shocking due to the fact that the Rebels had been the hottest team down the stretch, and none hotter than Lee, who had rattled off seven straight wins in as many starts to emerge as the only 20-game winner in BARB.


The madness began in the bottom of the second. Albert Pujols led off with a sharp single, and RF Jeff Francouer (getting a start against the lefty in the postseason!) followed with a ground ball up the middle for a second safety. Victor Martinez then walked to load the bases, but with two free-swingers and the pitcher to follow, Rebels fans could've been forgiven for thinking that their crafty southpaw could work his way out of the mess.

Lee did get Jayson Werth to pop up on a 1-0 pitch for the first out, but then fell behind CF Drew Stubbs. A 3-1 fastball was driven DEEP by Stubbs, who had hit just .232 in the regular season, but had also flashed occasional power. In the biggest hit of his BARB career, Stubbs' big fly stayed inside the left-field foul pole, a GRAND SLAM to give the Squirrels (92-64 in the regular season) the first lead of this playoff series:

FROSTBITE FALLS 4, PHILADELPHIA 0!


But the Rebels (91-65, and the Central champs) were not going to lie down and die with their ace still on the mound...and at the plate? Yes, indeed. For, Lee settled in to finish the frame, and in the top of the third, worked a walk on a 3-1 pitch from Felix Hernandez, who (with Matt Wieters already on first) committed the cardinal sin of walking the pitcher to put a runner into scoring position. Ichiro Suzuki flew out, but Mike Aviles singled to score Wieters. Adrian Gonzalez hit a slow roller to second that scored Lee, but with two out the table was clear for Hernandez to get out of the mess. But "King Felix" was anything but royal: "A-Rod" punched a single through to left, Andre Ethier walked and Torri Hunter followed with a bases-clearing, throat-catching, mind -numbing double:

PHILADELPHIA 5, FROSTBITE FALLS 4!

Shockingly, back-to-back explosions had seen the lead sea-saw in spectacular fashion, and the Squirrels now found themselves down by one after blowing a four-run lead. A lesser team would've been demoralized by this turn of events, but the four-time champions escaped without further damage, and Hernandez, walking off the mound, shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, "We got you, you got us....now we go on."

And so it was that both Hernandez and Lee settled down, and neither team would smell any offense in the next inning. Lee came out to start the top of the fifth having thrown 63 pitches, a bit high but hardly ominous. Ricky Weeks singled on a 1-1 pitch, but Jose Reyes popped out on a bunt attempt for the first out. Just 66 pitches in the books, but now Lee had to get Squirrels 3B Evan Longoria, who had struggled through a disappointing (.236, 14 HR, 76 RBI) regular season marred by injuries.

Lee left a 1-0 breaking ball UP for Longoria, who.....MASHED it, deep to left, and GONE!

Also gone: Cliff Lee, who was lifted after allowing six runs on 70 offerings in favor of reliever Scott Linebrink. Linebrink would get the next two outs, and over the rest of the ballgame his bullpen mates would continue that trend, but for the moment, that still left this score:

FROSTBITE FALLS 6, PHILADELPHIA 5!


That left a one-run lead to defend for the better part of three innings, and the Squirrels were up to the task: Joel Hanrahan allowed a scratch single to Mike Aviles, and Chris Perez walked "A-Rod" leading off the seventh, but other than that, the relief corps was flawless. Andrew Bailey, the fourth reliever of the game, earned the save in the ninth by quietly retiring Wieters, Logan Morrison and (with a strikeout to punctuate things), Ichiro Suzuki to end the ballgame. The Squirrels had gotten the better of Lee and the Rebels, and now led their playoff series 1-0!

That left a one-run lead to defend for the better part of three innings, and the Squirrels were up to the task: Joel Hanrahan allowed a scratch single to Mike Aviles, and Chris Perez walked "A-Rod" leading off the seventh, but other than that, the relief corps was flawless. Andrew Bailey, the fourth reliever of the game, earned the save in the ninth by quietly retiring Wieters, Logan Morrison and (with a strikeout to punctuate things), Ichiro Suzuki to end the ballgame. The Squirrels had gotten the better of Lee and the Rebels, and now led their playoff series 1-0!

Lee (0-1, 12.46) had taken the loss, allowing seven hits, two of them big flies, while not making it out of the seventh. Felix Hernandez, despite a horrible third inning, would get the win (1-0, 7.11), by working into the seventh on 110 pitches.

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