IMPORTANT WEST BATTLE; LEE ASSISTS FORMER TEAM

July 13: The New England Yankee Stompers, a surprise atop the West Division and BARB standings at 51-33, visited the powerhouse Yuma Firebirds (50-35) for a three-game series while holding just a one-and-a-half game advantage. A Yuma sweep could put them in first, but the Yankee Stompers had a chance to make a huge statement for BARB’s new guard.

The ball was soaring this night at Safeco Field, and the starting pitching matchup didn’t help the issue. Swing man Alfredo Aceves was scheduled for New England, while A.J. Burnett took the hill for the hosts.

After three, the score stood 3-1, Yuma. Each run was scored on a solo shot: Will Middlebrooks for New England in the top of the first, Nick Markakis, Ben Zobrist and Joey Votto for the Firebirds in innings 1-3, respectively. The Yankee Stompers got one back in the fifth on a Carlos Beltran bloop single, but they laid the boom in the sixth.

With one away, Miguel Montero grounded a seeing-eye single up the middle. Yonder Alonso followed with a soft liner to center. Placido Polanco then found the five hole to score Montero and send Burnett to the showers. The new pitcher, Rafael Soriano, got a line out to the shortstop, but that brought Middlebrooks back to the plate. Two pitches in to the at-bat, the rookie third sacker saw what he wanted and broke the tie. A shot 10 rows back in the left field bleachers, Middlebrooks’ second of the game, gave the division leaders a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Aceves allowed another solo homer, this to Ryan Zimmerman, but he made it into the eighth inning for his eighth win against three losses.

GAME 1 FINAL: NEW ENGLAND 6, YUMA 4

Now with an extra cushion in the division, the visitors from the northeast gave the ball to Drew Pomeranz to face one of Yuma’s aces, David Price, in the second game. Again Yuma stormed out to a 3-1 lead, this time after one frame. Pomeranz completed six innings, however, without further damage.

His offense got him off the hook with single runs off more solo homers (Alonso, Corey Hart) in the fifth and sixth innings. The score remained knotted at three apiece into extra innings, but in the bottom of the 10^th the Firebirds quickly sent the home fans happy: Alex Rodriguez lined a 1-2 single up the middle off of new Yankee Stomper Mike Adams, and Buster Posey hit a high, arcing shot just out of reach of Beltran’s outstretched glove and over the fence!

GAME 2 FINAL: YUMA 5, NEW ENGLAND 3

On to the rubber match of the three-game set. A Yuma victory would close the gap to just a half-game and possibly give the perennial playoff squad momentum early in the second half of the season.

This time, the game was scoreless until the third. Before the game, habitual malcontent Mat Latos had signed a baseball with a short line: “I HATE NE”. Montero heard about it and made him pay with a booming triple to lead off the third, and he came home on Alonso’s sacrifice fly.

The game was tied soon thereafter on a Ryan Braun single to knock in Posey, but the Yankee Stompers bounced right back in the fourth on a clutch two-out double down the line from Hart to score Middlebrooks from first.

Alonso (6-for-10, two doubles and three RBI in the series) came up big once again in the sixth: his second home run in the desert soared out to right-center, and New England’s bullpen was handed a two-run lead with three innings to play.

Ramon Ramirez was first out of the ‘pen, and he shut down the Firebirds with two strikeouts in a perfect seventh frame. Adams came on for the eighth and allowed a Posey single before getting two outs, but Braun again scored Posey, this time with a two-out double. Jonathan Papelbon didn’t have success against his first batter, as Votto doubled in Braun to tie the game.

Fast forward to the 11^th inning. Rookie of the Year candidate Middlebrooks continued his hot hitting with a first-pitch single off Matt Thornton to lead off. Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Beltran, however, both struck out. The lefty then left a 1-1 pitch in the zone, and Hart pulled it down the third base line. Again, Middlebrooks motored around the bases and slid across the plate ahead of the relay to give his team a 4-3 lead.

But the contest wasn’t over. Evan Meek, who came on in the 10^th, had to duck to get out of the way of a Zimmerman liner up the middle on the first pitch of the 11^th. Zobrist, up next, laid down and beat out a bunt with a strike already on him. Marco Scutaro sacrificed both runners over a base, and the Firebird crowd rose in anticipation of another walk-off win. Rodriguez worked the count to 2-0. And on the next pitch…the future Hall-of-Famer showed his age. A pop-up to second base. Two away. Up steps Posey. Ball. Foul. Swing-----miss. 1-2. PITCH…SWING…miss.

GAME 3 FINAL: NEW ENGLAND 4, YUMA 3

The dust settled, and New England left Yuma with a two-and-a-half game lead in the fight for their first division championship. Still, just under three months remained in the season. A lot can happen between now and then, including big injuries (for instance, Votto appeared to have hurt his knee on his game-tying double and might be out for a month).

In other BARB action:

CASSELTON 7, WORCESTER 1

WP: Cliff Lee (6-4, 3.74)

LP:  Ian Kennedy (5-7, 5.26)

Lee helped two teams with his complete-game, seven-strikeout effort. His new team, Casselton, remained on top of the Central Division. Also, Lee’s former team (Sin City) didn’t fall any farther behind Worcester, the team Lee dominated on this night. Brian LaHair and Asdrubal Cabrera helped out with two-run shots in the fourth and eighth innings.

RIVERSIDE 16, CENTRAL CA 4

WP: Bud Norris (1-2, 8.53)

LP: C.J. Wilson (6-8, 4.60)

Eight runs in the first two innings set the tone for the cellar-dwelling Rum Runners. David Ortiz and Josh Hamilton smashed two home runs apiece. Mark Trumbo and Yadier Molina joined the longball party as Riverside put a big hurt (no, not Frank Thomas) on host Central California.