A (historic?) collapse, a nail-biter in the ninth, and a last-day elimination: just "business as usual" for a slate of teams that (with one exception) has "been there, done that."
HORNED TOADS "BACK IN", CREEPERS COLLAPSE!
Riverside---On the road against the Rum Runners, and needing just one win in their final three games to clinch the Central Division outright, the stumbling Pottsylvania Creepers were swept out of first place, allowing Casselton (which had finished its regular season a week ago) to match them in the final Central standings, setting up a one-game playoff!
The "bottom line" proved a revolting development for Creepers GM Jeff Moore and both of his fans! For, in the early going, highly-paid lefty C.C. Sabathia (10-12, 4.49) gave up two-run bombs to both Josh Hamilton (#34) and rookie Mark Trumbo (#19). That's about $1.4 million per win for the embattled southpaw, projected to be the club's ace this season. Meanwhile, another 2012 underachiever, RHP Erwin Santana (12-10, 5.00) continued his pointless stretch drive surge with gooseegg after gooseegg. As his teammates poured it on against Sabathia and reliever Jaime Perez (2.2 IP, 5 ER), it became apparent that Santana would be left in to finish the game. Santana would go on to pitch his second shutout and third complete game of the year in his final start of the season for host Riverside, who will no doubt have to decide whether the inconsistent righty fits into their 2013 plans.
As for the Creepers, the heart of their order (Matt Kemp, Paul Konerko and Aramis Ramirez) went 0-for-13 and the only Pottsylvania batter to even reach second base was Erick Aybar, who hit a two-out double in the eighth. Santana mowed down the Creepers in the ninth: RIVERSIDE 11, POTTSYLVANIA 0! Given three chances to clinch a division title, the Creepers had come up short and would now host Casselton in a one-game playoff! The winner would essentially take the Central by a half-game, while the loser would go home and wonder what could've been, when they could've been facing....but I'm getting ahead of myself....
MOABS FINISH STRONG, TAKE EAST AGAIN
South City----On the road against the Aces, the Eastern champion Brooklyn Moabs tuned up for the playoffs, building a 5-1 lead to support rookie Ross Detwiler and using in-season acquisition Chris Perez's BARB-leading 36th save performance to nail down their 87th win of the now-concluded season!
Detwiler (6-2, 3.09), making only his fourth start in 49 appearances this year, made a strong bid to be added to the Moabs' playoff roster with seven strong innings, fanning seven South City hitters and allowing just one run on a first-inning RBI single by Aces 3B David Wright. Opposite number Jake Peavy saw his record fall to 10-10, 3.96 after Andrew McCutcheon and Adrian Beltre both drove in a pair of runs to give the visiting Moabs an early lead.
At 85-67, the host Aces would finish with the best mark of any club not to play a 153rd game (more on that in a moment). They nearly won an 86th game, as Ian Kinsler had a two-run bomb in the ninth against Perez to make it a one-run game. In his 68th appearance of the year, Perez appeared to have little stuff and the next hitter (C J.P. Arencibia) doubled sharply over a leaping Chase Utley to put the tying run at second with two out. But, fortunately for the Moabs, SS Ian Desmond popped up on the first pitch from Perez for a "can of corn" and an easy final out to end the season: BROOKLYN 5, SOUTH CITY 4! One can only wonder what Sin City might've done had their pitching depth emerged a month earlier in the 2012 season.
STREAKING FRIARS PLAY THE SPOILER
New England----The visiting St. Francis Friars finished their season on a high note, while an error from a former Friars nemesis betrayed a great outing by ace Roy Halladay, as the Yankee Stompers lost their final game of the year, and in the process the Western Division title.
Halladay (12-6, 2.90) has had an up-and-down year with injuries, but it wasn't the great pitcher's fault that New England fell short: Halladay struck out the side in the first, but found himself in a bases-loaded mess in the second after a perfectly-executed hit-and-run by Chris Young and a walk by Aaron Hill. Halladay smartly induced a soft fly to left with the pitcher scheduled to bat next, but LF Andre Ethier inexplicably dropped the sac fly, then threw wildly to the infield. When the dust settled, both Justin Morneau and Young had scored to give St. Francis a 2-0 lead.
New England never recovered, because Clayton Richard (5-9, 3.83) was on his game, settling down nicely after a first-inning wild pitch led to a run, pitching into the seventh without further incident. The Friars, meanwhile, tacked on another run in the third on a Morneau sac fly, and in the top of the ninth added an insurance run on rookie Todd Frazier's second double of the game. New England made things interesting in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double by Corey Hart, and when an error by reliever Jason Motte allowed Dustin Pedroia to reach, the go-ahead run was at the plate.....in the form of....Latroy Hawkins? Yes, indeedy, because the club used its last pinch-hitter to start the ninth being three runs down, and so Hawkins had no choice but to face Motte. St. Francis's closer fanned Hawkins to end the game, collecting his 16th save of the year: ST. FRANCIS 4, NEW ENGLAND 2!
Ironically, it had been Ethier (formerly with Arizona) who had single-handedly hurt the Friars so much last year, riding an amazing hot streak with the bat that allowed the Snakes to catch St. Francis in the final week of the 2011 season. This time, Ethier (.310, 10 HR, 50 RBI) would reach the post-season again, but with the aura of a goat. Meanwhile, the win was St. Francis's seventh straight to end the season and meant they would finish above their rivals in Arizona. New England, meanwhile, was playoff-bound but would not sport any advantages, because....
YUMA WINS OUT, SPANKING THE SNAKES
Yuma---In a fitting season finale, the perennial Western contenders hosted their sibling (and in-state) rival Arizona Rattlesnakes, and with a clutch outing from David Price and a home run from (who else?) slugging 1B Joey Votto, collected their BARB-leading 89th win of the year and....gosh...what, their eighth Western crown? As the saying goes, 'Back to the Future'!
Price's overall numbers this season aren't as impressive as former teammate Matt Cain, now with Brooklyn. But Price (12-10, 3.49) showed why he is still Yuma's ace, while Gavin Floyd (8-8, 3.91) showed why a .500 pitcher was probably the best hurler in Arizona's rotation. The Firebirds didn't crush Floyd by any means, but scored early thanks to Votto's 19th blast of the season. Price's sole run was unearned and came on a sac fly, and he entered the sixth with a 3-1 lead. The unheralded-but-always-efficient Yuma pen then did what it does best: get lots of hitless relief from middle relievers like Johnny Vetters and Tyler Clippard, and not even allowing the Snakes to even put their closers into a save situation. After a single by Elvis Andrus in the sixth, Yuma pitchers retired the last twelve Rattlesnake hitters in a row: YUMA 5, ARIZONA 1!
The upshot of all this derring-do was, really, kind of ho-hum for Chris Melkonian's Firebirds, who rarely miss a post-season and have only failed to win the West on a handful of occasions. The club, now back at full strength for the post-season, high-fived after the win, but was all business otherwise: the Firebirds, with the league's best record, must now wait to see who wins the one-game playoff in the Central and joins them, Brooklyn and New England in the post-season:
For those of you keeping count at home, Yuma will likely face the winner of the Central playoff, while New England is expected to go on the road to start a series with the Moabs. Congratulations to all of those who made the playoffs, and a tip of the hat to every owner who worked hard to improve their club and make an impact on the 2012 season....!
No comments:
Post a Comment