YUMA’S ‘BIG TWO’ TOO MUCH FOR BROOKLYN
YUMA’S ‘BIG TWO’ TOO MUCH FOR BROOKLYN
The Brooklyn Moabs won seven straight to win the Eastern Division, including a one game playoff with Frostbite Falls that featured a clutch outing by Jon Lester (13-10, 3.63) and a big home run from Miguel Cabrera. But all that karma came to a halt in the first game of the playoffs, as Yuma aces Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia came in to play, and dominated.
Halladay (16-7, 2.77) led the league in complete games during the regular season, with 11. Opening on the road in Brooklyn, Yuma’s ace went the distance yet again, taking a shutout into the ninth before giving up a pair of tallies in the Firebirds 11-2 win, getting big flies from Joey Votto and Yuniel Escobar to take the lead in the series. Brooklyn evened things up in the second game despite an outing that saw Sabathia take a 5-3 lead into the sixth, as Cabrera hit his 26th homer of the year off reliever Rafael Soriano after a pair of Firebirds fielding errors, with Francisco Rodriguez saving the day for rookie lefthander Jose Mijares (1-0, 5.40) The Moabs had gained a split with an 8-5 win, and the action would now shift to Yuma.
Back home in Arizona, the Firebirds could only groan at a spectacularly poor outing by the amped-up Jake Peavy (0-1, 18.00) as Braun, Utley and Victorino all had three hits to back a workmanlike outing from Scott Baker (1-0, 4.50), who gave up single runs in each of the first three innings but survived largely due to the non-stop offense: the Moabs would continue to batter Yuma’s pen. Matt Cain and Hong-Chih-Kuo would combine to give up four additional runs in relief, and outside of Joey Votto (who went 3-for-3) could muster no offense after the fifth, as the Moabs went on to win, 10-4, not to mention take a 2-1 lead in the playoffs.
In a do-or-die situation, Yuma again turned to Halladay on short rest, and again their ace delivered a gem, this time in a matchup with one-game playoff hero Jon Lester. Lester (0-1, 6.35) walked three batters in a two-run third inning and could’ve been even more pummeled had he not picked off a napping Denard Span. Yuma led 5-0 by the end of the sixth, with Halladay taking a three-hit shutout into the late innings. In the ninth, Cabrera hit his second home run of the series to finally get the Moabs on the board, but that was too little, too late. Halladay (2-0, 1.50) fanned pinch-hitter Ty Wigginton, then got Chase Utley to chase for his second complete game of the series and 13th route-going effort of the year. Yuma would hold to win, 6-1, evening the series and setting up a fifth and final game.
The series finale returned the contest back to Brooklyn, and featured C.C. Sabathia back on short rest to duel with James Shields, the loser of the opener. No contest, it seems! An error by Ryan Howard prolonged the second inning with one out, and Shields (0-2, 11.81) lost it. The righthander walked Denard Span to load the bases, then hung curveballs that Braun and Votto both turned into a pair of RBI. Yuma would bat around, and then some, with two out, as four players batted twice. When it was all over, the Firebirds had put up an eight spot against Shields and two relievers, and the game was essentially over.
Sabathia (1-0, 3.21) would pitch into the eighth with little flak. Cabrera would collect another RBI with a two-out sac fly in that inning, but with a 10-1 lead, Yuma felt secure enough to hand the ninth-inning reins to Jose Arrendondo. When pinch-hitter Mark Teahen lofted a soft fly out to Span for the final out, the Firebirds roared onto the field, secure in the knowledge that they would have more aces to play against the Creepers!
PLAYOFF SUMMARY:
Yuma outlasted the Moabs in large part due to the outstanding pitching of Roy Halladay (2-0, 1.50), who was named Series MVP.
Yuma 11, Brooklyn 2
WP: Halladay (1-0, 2.00)
LP: Shields (0-1, 14.73)
HR: Votto (1), Escobar (1), McCann (1)
Brooklyn 8, Yuma 5
WP: Mijares (1-0, 5.40)
LP: Soriano (0-1, 40.50)
SV: Rodriguez (1)
HR: Markakis (1), Cabrera (1), Dye (1), Wigginton (1)
Brooklyn 10, Yuma 4
WP: Baker (1-0, 4.50)
LP: Peavy (0-1, 18.00)
HR: Utley (1), Braun (1)
Yuma 6, Brooklyn 1
WP: Halladay (2-0, 1.50)
LP: Lester (0-1, 6.35)
HR: Cabrera (2)
Yuma 10, Brooklyn 1
WP: Sabathia (1-0, 3.21)
LP: Shields (0-2, 11.81)
HR: none
ECHOES OF GAMES PAST
The dominant hurling of Halladay and Sabathia (3-0, 2.25 ERA in 32 innings, including two complete games) was reminiscent of the pair’s fine work in the 2007 post-season. In that campaign, the two Yuma aces had combined to go 4-1 with a 1.49 ERA in five starts, including a complete game from each hurler.
The single loss by the pair in that post-season? A 2-1 thriller in Game Six of the 2007 World Series, where John Smoltz and Trevor Hoffman combined for a three-hitter and just one (unearned) run in forcing a seventh game. In that finale, Sabathia would overcome a two-run first, stick around long enough to outlast Kelvim Escobar, and eventually take a 3-2 lead in the eighth.
The bottom line? Yuma has been here before, and their recipe appears unchanged: ride their two big horses as hard and as long as they can. The matchup with Pottsylania’s corps of starters promises to be a classic! More to come....
Showing posts with label 2009 postseason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009 postseason. Show all posts
2.09.2010
2.08.2010
CREEPERS....SERIES BOUND!
CREEPERS CRUSH FINCHES
CREEPERS CRUSH FINCHES
The Darwin Finches have won more regular-season games in each of the last three seasons than any other BARB club, but once again they found themselves on the short end of the post-season stick, as the Pottsylvania Creepers finished off a three-game sweep of the Western Division champs to advance to the 2009 BARB World Series!
In their season finale, the Darwinians turned to young left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who was just 4-5 in 13 appearances in the regular season, including seven starts, but who had also posted a fine 3.31 ERA in that span. A lot was being asked of him, however. Finches ace Zack Greinke (17-6, 3.10) had pitched well in the opener, but the club had stayed with him two long, giving up six runs in the ninth. #2 starter Josh Johnson (14-6, 3.34), meanwhile, had simply been bombed in his outing, knocked out in the fourth. Darwin could not turn to Gil Meche, their best starter in last year’s playoffs: Meche (9-8, 4.06) was on the disabled list. Chad Billingsley (8-4, 5.10) had pitched himself out of the rotation in the second half and Scott Kazmir (3-8, 5.25) had been similarly unreliable.
Pottsylvania, meanwhile, countered with another youngster: Yovanni Gallardo (11-10, 4.19), opting to go with the hot arm down the stretch rather than veteran Mark Buehrle (14-5, 3.61). As it turns out, Gallardo would make only one mistake in seven-plus innings, a third-inning solo shot to Finches RF Jeff Francouer, and one of only three hits allowed by Gallardo. Kershaw, on the other hand, was wild: Garko and Ankiel both came in to score after drawing walks to lead off the second due to a clutch double by Kelly Shoppach. In the third, Ryan Ludwick hit a fastball that got to much of the plate out of the park, and the Creepers would go on to milk an error, a walk and a wild pitch for two more runs: Pottsylvania led, 5-1, after just three innings.
For all effective purposes, the ballgame was over. As in the previous two games, Darwin scored some late runs against Pottsylvania’s setup corps but less than two earned per contest against their opponent’s starters. A lineup filled with second-tier players (Rowand, Inge, Loney, Francouer) was ill-suited to play catchup, and when Rowand hit a three-run shot in the ninth off Sean West, his club still trailed 8-4! Setup man Carlos Marmol came in to get the last two hitters, a non-save situation, and finished up by fanning Finches SS Cristian Guzman for the final out. Pottsylvania had won, 8-4, and would be headed to the World Series!
PLAYOFF SUMMARY:
Pottsylvania easily beat down Darwin in a three game sweep!
Pottsylvania 8, Darwin 2
WP: Lee (1-0, 1.13)
LP: Greinke (0-1, 6.43)
HR: Huff (1), Ankiel (1), Ortiz (1)
Pottsylvania 7, Darwin 4
WP: Carpenter (1-0, 6.00)
LP: J. Johnson (0-1, 13.50)
HR: Huff (2), Jones (1)
Pottsylvania 8, Darwin 4
WP: Gallardo (1-0, 1.13)
LP: Kershaw (0-1, 9.00)
HR: Rowand (1), Francouer (1), Ludwick (1)
CREEPERS: AT LONG LAST, A SERIES BERTH
GM Jeff Moore clapped his hands in satisfaction at the final out, and pumped his fist. His club had taken a lot of ribbing over the last two seasons, twice finishing dead last in the Central, arguably the weakest division in BARB:
2007 49-153
2008 52-100
But, after years of offensive inconsistency and injury-racked starting rotations, Moore got the most out of two high-priced arms left for dead: Pedro Martinez and Chris Carpenter. The pair of veteran righthanders combined to go 13-5 down the stretch in 28 starts after not even being counted on to make the rotation when the year began. Cliff Lee (15-9, 2.86), Mark Buehrle (14-5, 3.61) and Yovanni Gallardo (11-10, 4.19) rounded out a solid starting five, and the setup corps of Marmol, Jonathan Broxton, Manny Delcarmen and Rafael Betancout had helped take the pressure off inconsistent closer Brian Fuentes, who lost seven games. The result was that by the end of the year Pottsylvania had the most-improved pitching staff, and the hottest in the final two months of the year (click on the fuzzy image to see the details):
As for the offense, the Creepers got big numbers from their OF corps: LF Ryan Ludwick (.307, 38 HR, 101 RBI), CF Matt Kemp (.354, 16 HR, 17 SB), RF Rick Ankiel (.236, 98 RBI). Aubrey Huff was the club’s super sub, filling in at 3B when Aramis Ramirez went down, and also making starts at 1B and the outfield corps while hitting .293 with 27 HR and 91 ribbies. Huff added two more shots against the Finches and was narrowly named the Series MVP over It was more than enough offense to overcome a so-so bench and little production from the middle of the infield and behind the plate. When the dust settled, Pottsylvania had won the reconfigured Central, crushed the club with the best regular-season record, and had (finally) been awarded a Series berth!
FINCHES: A STREAK OF POST-SEASON FUTILITY
The Darwin Finches have reached the BARB post-season four of the last five years, winning division titles in each of the last three seasons and advancing to the World Series in both 2007 and 2008. But, in every case, a team that had a strong regular season filled with promise would see their season end with some piece of the puzzle not quite fitting. Here’s the recent tale of the tape....
2007: The Finches finished the year with a BARB-leading 93-63 mark, just edging out Worcester (92-64) for the Eastern title. David Ortiz, Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones all had 30 or more home runs, and the Darwinians used the league’s best bullpen (49 saves, 24 wins) and a solid rotation (Kelvim Escobar, Scott Kazmir, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz) to post a loop-leading 3.66 team ERA. But by the time the playoffs rolled around, Smoltz and Escobar were on the shelf with season-ending injuries and the Finches were facing Yuma aces C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay. The Firebirds prevailed in seven games to take their first BARB championship after several near-misses!
2008: The Finches again won the East with a BARB-leading 91-61 record, holding off a late charge from eventual Series winner Frostbite Falls. Darwin had built a big lead in the regular season by scoring a league-leading 874 runs. The core of Ortiz, Berkman and Jones was joined by emerging CF Josh Hamilton and a number of productive switch-hitters (Guzman, Polanco, Figgins, Molina and the mercurial Milton Bradley), making the club virtually impossible for opposing managers to get an edge in the late innings. But the formidable offense masked a year of transition in the pitching staff, with Kazmir and venerable Randy Johnson serving up more than one gopher ball to Albert Pujols and company. Frostbite Falls won the Series in six games!
2009: Darwin switched GM’s (Ryne O’Connor) and divisions (moving to the West) as part of realignment, which also led to a shortened (144-game) season and greater parity in the league: the Finches went only 83-61 in the regular season, but that total still led the loop! They did this despite losing both Berkman and Figgins to free agency, Jones and Ortiz beginning to show their age, and while former regulars Jeff Francouer and Khalil Greene being reduced to role players. They plugged the gap with an emerging rotation, led by the improving Zack Greinke, and they played a brand of ‘small ball’ emphasizing defense and matchups that was especially effective against second-division clubs. But, in the final month of the year both Hamilton (injuries) and Bradley (personality disorder) were lost for the season, further reducing their ability to score runs. In the series with Pottsylvania, their ragtag lineup was no match for a Creepers attack that was hitting all cylinders.
So, there you have it: 267 wins the last three seasons, the most in the league, four playoffs in five years, two Series appearances...but no world title, a big payroll, and some serious rebuilding ahead for the disappointing Darwinians.
* (Actually, some games of the Series have been played already, but I'd like to savor the rest of the completed 2009's post-season a bit longer. Your patience is appreciated)
CREEPERS CRUSH FINCHES
The Darwin Finches have won more regular-season games in each of the last three seasons than any other BARB club, but once again they found themselves on the short end of the post-season stick, as the Pottsylvania Creepers finished off a three-game sweep of the Western Division champs to advance to the 2009 BARB World Series!
In their season finale, the Darwinians turned to young left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who was just 4-5 in 13 appearances in the regular season, including seven starts, but who had also posted a fine 3.31 ERA in that span. A lot was being asked of him, however. Finches ace Zack Greinke (17-6, 3.10) had pitched well in the opener, but the club had stayed with him two long, giving up six runs in the ninth. #2 starter Josh Johnson (14-6, 3.34), meanwhile, had simply been bombed in his outing, knocked out in the fourth. Darwin could not turn to Gil Meche, their best starter in last year’s playoffs: Meche (9-8, 4.06) was on the disabled list. Chad Billingsley (8-4, 5.10) had pitched himself out of the rotation in the second half and Scott Kazmir (3-8, 5.25) had been similarly unreliable.
Pottsylvania, meanwhile, countered with another youngster: Yovanni Gallardo (11-10, 4.19), opting to go with the hot arm down the stretch rather than veteran Mark Buehrle (14-5, 3.61). As it turns out, Gallardo would make only one mistake in seven-plus innings, a third-inning solo shot to Finches RF Jeff Francouer, and one of only three hits allowed by Gallardo. Kershaw, on the other hand, was wild: Garko and Ankiel both came in to score after drawing walks to lead off the second due to a clutch double by Kelly Shoppach. In the third, Ryan Ludwick hit a fastball that got to much of the plate out of the park, and the Creepers would go on to milk an error, a walk and a wild pitch for two more runs: Pottsylvania led, 5-1, after just three innings.
For all effective purposes, the ballgame was over. As in the previous two games, Darwin scored some late runs against Pottsylvania’s setup corps but less than two earned per contest against their opponent’s starters. A lineup filled with second-tier players (Rowand, Inge, Loney, Francouer) was ill-suited to play catchup, and when Rowand hit a three-run shot in the ninth off Sean West, his club still trailed 8-4! Setup man Carlos Marmol came in to get the last two hitters, a non-save situation, and finished up by fanning Finches SS Cristian Guzman for the final out. Pottsylvania had won, 8-4, and would be headed to the World Series!
PLAYOFF SUMMARY:
Pottsylvania easily beat down Darwin in a three game sweep!
Pottsylvania 8, Darwin 2
WP: Lee (1-0, 1.13)
LP: Greinke (0-1, 6.43)
HR: Huff (1), Ankiel (1), Ortiz (1)
Pottsylvania 7, Darwin 4
WP: Carpenter (1-0, 6.00)
LP: J. Johnson (0-1, 13.50)
HR: Huff (2), Jones (1)
Pottsylvania 8, Darwin 4
WP: Gallardo (1-0, 1.13)
LP: Kershaw (0-1, 9.00)
HR: Rowand (1), Francouer (1), Ludwick (1)
CREEPERS: AT LONG LAST, A SERIES BERTH
GM Jeff Moore clapped his hands in satisfaction at the final out, and pumped his fist. His club had taken a lot of ribbing over the last two seasons, twice finishing dead last in the Central, arguably the weakest division in BARB:
2007 49-153
2008 52-100
But, after years of offensive inconsistency and injury-racked starting rotations, Moore got the most out of two high-priced arms left for dead: Pedro Martinez and Chris Carpenter. The pair of veteran righthanders combined to go 13-5 down the stretch in 28 starts after not even being counted on to make the rotation when the year began. Cliff Lee (15-9, 2.86), Mark Buehrle (14-5, 3.61) and Yovanni Gallardo (11-10, 4.19) rounded out a solid starting five, and the setup corps of Marmol, Jonathan Broxton, Manny Delcarmen and Rafael Betancout had helped take the pressure off inconsistent closer Brian Fuentes, who lost seven games. The result was that by the end of the year Pottsylvania had the most-improved pitching staff, and the hottest in the final two months of the year (click on the fuzzy image to see the details):
Quite a turnaround!
As for the offense, the Creepers got big numbers from their OF corps: LF Ryan Ludwick (.307, 38 HR, 101 RBI), CF Matt Kemp (.354, 16 HR, 17 SB), RF Rick Ankiel (.236, 98 RBI). Aubrey Huff was the club’s super sub, filling in at 3B when Aramis Ramirez went down, and also making starts at 1B and the outfield corps while hitting .293 with 27 HR and 91 ribbies. Huff added two more shots against the Finches and was narrowly named the Series MVP over It was more than enough offense to overcome a so-so bench and little production from the middle of the infield and behind the plate. When the dust settled, Pottsylvania had won the reconfigured Central, crushed the club with the best regular-season record, and had (finally) been awarded a Series berth!
FINCHES: A STREAK OF POST-SEASON FUTILITY
The Darwin Finches have reached the BARB post-season four of the last five years, winning division titles in each of the last three seasons and advancing to the World Series in both 2007 and 2008. But, in every case, a team that had a strong regular season filled with promise would see their season end with some piece of the puzzle not quite fitting. Here’s the recent tale of the tape....
2007: The Finches finished the year with a BARB-leading 93-63 mark, just edging out Worcester (92-64) for the Eastern title. David Ortiz, Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones all had 30 or more home runs, and the Darwinians used the league’s best bullpen (49 saves, 24 wins) and a solid rotation (Kelvim Escobar, Scott Kazmir, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz) to post a loop-leading 3.66 team ERA. But by the time the playoffs rolled around, Smoltz and Escobar were on the shelf with season-ending injuries and the Finches were facing Yuma aces C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay. The Firebirds prevailed in seven games to take their first BARB championship after several near-misses!
2008: The Finches again won the East with a BARB-leading 91-61 record, holding off a late charge from eventual Series winner Frostbite Falls. Darwin had built a big lead in the regular season by scoring a league-leading 874 runs. The core of Ortiz, Berkman and Jones was joined by emerging CF Josh Hamilton and a number of productive switch-hitters (Guzman, Polanco, Figgins, Molina and the mercurial Milton Bradley), making the club virtually impossible for opposing managers to get an edge in the late innings. But the formidable offense masked a year of transition in the pitching staff, with Kazmir and venerable Randy Johnson serving up more than one gopher ball to Albert Pujols and company. Frostbite Falls won the Series in six games!
2009: Darwin switched GM’s (Ryne O’Connor) and divisions (moving to the West) as part of realignment, which also led to a shortened (144-game) season and greater parity in the league: the Finches went only 83-61 in the regular season, but that total still led the loop! They did this despite losing both Berkman and Figgins to free agency, Jones and Ortiz beginning to show their age, and while former regulars Jeff Francouer and Khalil Greene being reduced to role players. They plugged the gap with an emerging rotation, led by the improving Zack Greinke, and they played a brand of ‘small ball’ emphasizing defense and matchups that was especially effective against second-division clubs. But, in the final month of the year both Hamilton (injuries) and Bradley (personality disorder) were lost for the season, further reducing their ability to score runs. In the series with Pottsylvania, their ragtag lineup was no match for a Creepers attack that was hitting all cylinders.
So, there you have it: 267 wins the last three seasons, the most in the league, four playoffs in five years, two Series appearances...but no world title, a big payroll, and some serious rebuilding ahead for the disappointing Darwinians.
* (Actually, some games of the Series have been played already, but I'd like to savor the rest of the completed 2009's post-season a bit longer. Your patience is appreciated)
12.23.2009
“DR. HOWARD”...FINE ON FINAL DAY?
“DR. HOWARD”...FINE ON FINAL DAY
The 2009 regular season having ended with the red-hot Brooklyn Moabs and the defending world champion Squirrels with identical 81-63 marks in the ultra-competitive East on the final day, while the Worcester Eliminators (having led the East for most of the season) finished one game out.
That meant the Elims, with arguably the league’s most explosive batting lineup, would miss the playoffs by the slimmest of margins while the sibling rival in Brooklyn would have a chance to win the division and a shot at the BARB World Series.
Eric Caskey’s Moabs had finished strong, winning their last six games as part of a final month that saw the club play over .700 baseball to catch, then pass the Eliminators. But to win out, they would need one more win in the loop’s toughest division, against the league’s most storied club, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels.
In 2008, the Squirrels had finished 87-65 and earned a wild card spot, but they had been the hot team. They won a 14-inning thriller over the Lexington Rebels to spark a three-game sweep, and then got four of their eight Series home runs from eventual MVP 1B Albert Pujols agains the Darwin Finches, manhandling their division rivals in six games, the finale an 11-1 laugher, for their fourth league title. Certainly Pujols and Company were geared up to make another run, with the Squirrels 1B among the league leaders in batting (.316), hits (189), 2B (44), HR (32), runs (104) and RBI (116).
But Brooklyn would counter with an underrated pitching staff heavily-buoyed by the promotion of several young arms to key roles in their bullpen, among them Jose Mijares, Justin Masterson and Daniel Bard...and an offense, led by veteran RF Jermaine Dye (.296, 29, 102) and 2B Chase Utley (.273, 29, 91) more than capable of launching the long ball. And, because Brooklyn had won the head-to-head matchup in the regular season, the Moabs would be at home. And Jone Lester, a southpaw who had won 12 games, would be matched against 13-game winner Matt Garza! Who would prevail?
Based on past history, beating the Squirrels would begin with nullifying Pujols, who time and time again has proven to be the difference-maker these last few BARB campaigns, and the one offensive constant in a rotation Frostbite lineup. So, in the top of the first, it was 1B Ryan Howard who set the tone for the early going. With two out and none on, Pujols smacked an 0-1 pitch into the hole. Troy Tulowitzki flagged it, then heaved a desperation peg that was off the bag. But the hulking Howard deftly came off the bag and his sweep tag caught the back of Pujols’s left hip a fraction of a second before his foot touched the bag!
It was a heads-up play, and in the bottom of the frame the Moabs went to work on Garza. Ellsbury worked the count full before popping out to Pujols, but Victorino hit a 1-2 pitch between Evan Longoria and Michael Young for a single. Utley lined the first pitch he saw from Garza to center, a base hit that sent Victorino all the way to third. Howard then came up with a chance to give his club the lead. The owner of a team-high 132 strikeouts, Howard did not chase a put-away slider from Garza, but instead went with the pitch, dunking it over Young’s head for a base hit to score Victorino. A rattled Garza then wild-pitched with Jermaine Dye at the plate to allow Utley to score, and the Moabs had a 2-0 lead!
Brooklyn would add another run in the second on an RBI single by Victorino, but it was Howard who had the key play in that frame, pulling in a poor throw by Utley to turn a double play on Jayson Werth’s ground ball to third, that kept the Squirrels off the scoreboard. With defense like that, Lester (13-10, 3.63) continued to challenge the Squirrels, especially Pujols, who made another ground ball to Tulowitzki to end the third.
But, in the sixth, the defending world champs began to make some noise. Magglio Ordonez beat out a slowly-hit ball that Utley couldn’t get a handle on which was called an infield hit. That brought up speedy (but powerful) CF Carlos Beltran, who SMASHED a ball over the first base bag...
...FLAGGED on one hop, a hot shot, by HOWARD, who wheeled and threw to Tulowitzki....
...back to HOWARD at first, a DOUBLE PLAY!
As it turned out, it was an absolutely key play, because the Squirrels would score twice with two out in the inning after an abortive pickoff play by C Brian McCann put two unearned runs on for Longoria, who delivered a clutch two-run double to narrow Brooklyn’s lead to 3-2. Lester got C Victor Martinez to hit a ball at Tulowitzki for the final out of the inning, but Frostbite Falls had made a game of it.
Howard would reach on a single in the bottom of the frame, however, and Jermaine Dye knocked Garza (13-10, 3.59) out of the game with an RBI single. Lester would depart in the top of the seventh in a play that would lead to a Frostbite run, but against the thick-legged Howard would provide an unexpectedly slick fielding play to quash Frostbite hopes. Jayson Werth led off the frame with a double off Lester, and the Moabs began warming up Justin Masterson. With one down, rookie Adam Lind lined a base hit to Dye, who came up gunning in an attempt to nail the running Werth at the plate. But, as the throw tailed toward the line, an alert Howard jumped to snag Dye’s peg, and then whipped it sidearm to Tulowitzki, who slapped down a tag on the stunned Lind attempting to take second! Two out, and a potentially big inning snuffed! Justin Masterson came on to pitch to Magglio Ordonez with sacks empty, and kept the score 4-3 by getting Ordonez to (what else) hit another ground ball to short....to Howard at first....inning over!
GM Andrew Haynes, in attendance, could be seen visibly slumping at this turn of events. When Miguel Cabrera launched a deep drive off reliever John Grabow to start the bottom of the eighth, that seemed to be the exclamation point. If the Squirrels were to reach their sixth post-season, they would need to do so against Francisco Rodriguez. ‘K-Rod’ gave up a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth to Jayson Werth to make things interesting, but then blew away Michael Young and Adam Lind with rising fastballs they both popped to the infield. It was Rodriguez’s BARB-leading 34th save, the 82nd win of the year, and a division title for the resilient Moabs, who had been 29-29 and eight games back on June 1st but had posted a BARB-high .602 winning percentage since the All-Star Break.
Congratulations to the Moabs, who will join Central and West division winners Pottsylvania and Darwin in the playoffs. Next up for Brooklyn: a five-game series with wild-card winner Yuma, with the winner headed to the BARB World Series!....which, if things go according to Hoyle, we will get to in (sigh) January....
The 2009 regular season having ended with the red-hot Brooklyn Moabs and the defending world champion Squirrels with identical 81-63 marks in the ultra-competitive East on the final day, while the Worcester Eliminators (having led the East for most of the season) finished one game out.
That meant the Elims, with arguably the league’s most explosive batting lineup, would miss the playoffs by the slimmest of margins while the sibling rival in Brooklyn would have a chance to win the division and a shot at the BARB World Series.
Eric Caskey’s Moabs had finished strong, winning their last six games as part of a final month that saw the club play over .700 baseball to catch, then pass the Eliminators. But to win out, they would need one more win in the loop’s toughest division, against the league’s most storied club, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels.
In 2008, the Squirrels had finished 87-65 and earned a wild card spot, but they had been the hot team. They won a 14-inning thriller over the Lexington Rebels to spark a three-game sweep, and then got four of their eight Series home runs from eventual MVP 1B Albert Pujols agains the Darwin Finches, manhandling their division rivals in six games, the finale an 11-1 laugher, for their fourth league title. Certainly Pujols and Company were geared up to make another run, with the Squirrels 1B among the league leaders in batting (.316), hits (189), 2B (44), HR (32), runs (104) and RBI (116).
But Brooklyn would counter with an underrated pitching staff heavily-buoyed by the promotion of several young arms to key roles in their bullpen, among them Jose Mijares, Justin Masterson and Daniel Bard...and an offense, led by veteran RF Jermaine Dye (.296, 29, 102) and 2B Chase Utley (.273, 29, 91) more than capable of launching the long ball. And, because Brooklyn had won the head-to-head matchup in the regular season, the Moabs would be at home. And Jone Lester, a southpaw who had won 12 games, would be matched against 13-game winner Matt Garza! Who would prevail?
Based on past history, beating the Squirrels would begin with nullifying Pujols, who time and time again has proven to be the difference-maker these last few BARB campaigns, and the one offensive constant in a rotation Frostbite lineup. So, in the top of the first, it was 1B Ryan Howard who set the tone for the early going. With two out and none on, Pujols smacked an 0-1 pitch into the hole. Troy Tulowitzki flagged it, then heaved a desperation peg that was off the bag. But the hulking Howard deftly came off the bag and his sweep tag caught the back of Pujols’s left hip a fraction of a second before his foot touched the bag!
It was a heads-up play, and in the bottom of the frame the Moabs went to work on Garza. Ellsbury worked the count full before popping out to Pujols, but Victorino hit a 1-2 pitch between Evan Longoria and Michael Young for a single. Utley lined the first pitch he saw from Garza to center, a base hit that sent Victorino all the way to third. Howard then came up with a chance to give his club the lead. The owner of a team-high 132 strikeouts, Howard did not chase a put-away slider from Garza, but instead went with the pitch, dunking it over Young’s head for a base hit to score Victorino. A rattled Garza then wild-pitched with Jermaine Dye at the plate to allow Utley to score, and the Moabs had a 2-0 lead!
Brooklyn would add another run in the second on an RBI single by Victorino, but it was Howard who had the key play in that frame, pulling in a poor throw by Utley to turn a double play on Jayson Werth’s ground ball to third, that kept the Squirrels off the scoreboard. With defense like that, Lester (13-10, 3.63) continued to challenge the Squirrels, especially Pujols, who made another ground ball to Tulowitzki to end the third.
But, in the sixth, the defending world champs began to make some noise. Magglio Ordonez beat out a slowly-hit ball that Utley couldn’t get a handle on which was called an infield hit. That brought up speedy (but powerful) CF Carlos Beltran, who SMASHED a ball over the first base bag...
...FLAGGED on one hop, a hot shot, by HOWARD, who wheeled and threw to Tulowitzki.......back to HOWARD at first, a DOUBLE PLAY!
As it turned out, it was an absolutely key play, because the Squirrels would score twice with two out in the inning after an abortive pickoff play by C Brian McCann put two unearned runs on for Longoria, who delivered a clutch two-run double to narrow Brooklyn’s lead to 3-2. Lester got C Victor Martinez to hit a ball at Tulowitzki for the final out of the inning, but Frostbite Falls had made a game of it.
Howard would reach on a single in the bottom of the frame, however, and Jermaine Dye knocked Garza (13-10, 3.59) out of the game with an RBI single. Lester would depart in the top of the seventh in a play that would lead to a Frostbite run, but against the thick-legged Howard would provide an unexpectedly slick fielding play to quash Frostbite hopes. Jayson Werth led off the frame with a double off Lester, and the Moabs began warming up Justin Masterson. With one down, rookie Adam Lind lined a base hit to Dye, who came up gunning in an attempt to nail the running Werth at the plate. But, as the throw tailed toward the line, an alert Howard jumped to snag Dye’s peg, and then whipped it sidearm to Tulowitzki, who slapped down a tag on the stunned Lind attempting to take second! Two out, and a potentially big inning snuffed! Justin Masterson came on to pitch to Magglio Ordonez with sacks empty, and kept the score 4-3 by getting Ordonez to (what else) hit another ground ball to short....to Howard at first....inning over!
GM Andrew Haynes, in attendance, could be seen visibly slumping at this turn of events. When Miguel Cabrera launched a deep drive off reliever John Grabow to start the bottom of the eighth, that seemed to be the exclamation point. If the Squirrels were to reach their sixth post-season, they would need to do so against Francisco Rodriguez. ‘K-Rod’ gave up a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth to Jayson Werth to make things interesting, but then blew away Michael Young and Adam Lind with rising fastballs they both popped to the infield. It was Rodriguez’s BARB-leading 34th save, the 82nd win of the year, and a division title for the resilient Moabs, who had been 29-29 and eight games back on June 1st but had posted a BARB-high .602 winning percentage since the All-Star Break.
Congratulations to the Moabs, who will join Central and West division winners Pottsylvania and Darwin in the playoffs. Next up for Brooklyn: a five-game series with wild-card winner Yuma, with the winner headed to the BARB World Series!....which, if things go according to Hoyle, we will get to in (sigh) January....
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