Riverside---Needing a single win to clinch their third Central title, Jeff Moore’s Creepers lost an extra-inning affair on the road against the Rum Runners to keep their “magic number” at one.
The host Rum Runners got a great start from rookie Bud Norris, who put up seven frames of shutout ball in his final start of the season to run his ERA below 6.00 in what has been an up-and-down year. Norris departed with a 2-0 lead courtesy of back-to-back solo shots off the bats of Josh Hamilton and Mark Trumbo, who punished the only two mistakes made by rookie Stephen Strasburg in the sixth. But reliever Hisanori Takahashi couldn’t hold things down, and blew his sixth save opportunity of the season by giving up a game-tying solo shot in the ninth to pinch-hitter Andruw Jones.
In extra frames, the remarkable Aroldis Chapman continued his amazing streak, not being touched for any runs, while retiring four of the five batters he neutralized by way of the strikeout. In 48 appearances this year, Chapman has seven wins without a loss and is 18-for-18 in save situations and could become just the second BARB closer to post a “perfect” season.
All good things must come to an end, however, and when Santiago Casilla (9-4, 2.89) came out for his third inning of work things fell apart. Josh Hamilton singled to begin the frame, and the power-hitting Mark Trumbo surprised the Creepers by laying down a picture-perfect sac bunt that got Hamilton to second. Kendry Morales then doubled sharply over a leaping Allan Craig (playing, um, second base) and Hamilton easily scored: RIVERSIDE 3, POTTSYLVANIA 2!
The loss meant that Casselton, whose season has ended with 83-69 mark, was still mathematically alive, one game back in the standings. Still, for the slumping Horned Toads to get in, they would need the Creepers to drop two more on the road to Riverside, which would force a one-game playoff. STAY TUNED! Stranger things have happened!
YUMA, SIN CITY KEEP PRESSURE ON
Two clubs still in the wild card hunt came through in “must-win” games on Game Day 150, keeping themselves alive, while division leaders in the West (New England) and the East (Brooklyn) dropped a game that could’ve clinched a title, to keep things interesting in both divisions:
ST. FRANCIS 4, NEW ENGLAND 2
Carlos Quentin his a three-run bomb in the fifth, his 25th of the year, and inconsistent (some say flaky) lefty Derek Holland evened his record at 10-10, 3.89 in his final start of 2012 as the Friars won their fifth straight in the season’s final week to “improve” to 67-83, holding on to best the host Yankee Stompers on the road in New England. The home crowd saw LHP Ricky Romero (15-9, 3.08) give up the big blow to Quentin, then watched pinch-hitter Jhonny Peralta make things interesting with a pinch-run homer, but veteran Rafael Betancourt came on to collect his 15th save of the year, preventing the Yankee Stompers from clinching at home.
YUMA 4, ARIZONA 2
Buster Posey hit a tie-breaking two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, and Tommy Hanson (9-9, 3.76) worked six credible frames to hook up with the league’s most unheralded bullpen, as the Firebirds improved to 87-63 at the expense of their sibling rivals, the visiting Arizona Rattlesnakes. Posey connected off Snakes journeyman starter Chris Young (3-4, 4.69) and Matt Thornton, Johnny Venters and Drew Storen dealt blanks the rest of the way to drop Arizona down into fourth place in the competitive Central.
SIN CITY 6, BROOKLYN 2
Anibal Sanchez (15-8, 3.45) took a shutout into the ninth and surprising rookie Lucas Duda doubled and homered to lead the Aces offense as the home team ground out a “must win” against the visiting Moabs, who at 86-64 still have a two-game lead with two to play in the East and are heavily favored to not only win, but advance in the post-season. Justin Masterson (13-12, 3.58) took the loss in his final start of the year, and former starter Jon Lester’s long season got a bit longer as the former staff ace coughed up some runs in relief to seal the deal.
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