FINCHES TAKE THE EAST!

FINCHES TAKE THE EAST!
Down Under---Tim Lincecum (6 IP, 2 hits) outpitched Scott Kazmir. Albert Pujols reached base four times and scored three runs. In the ninth, the visiting Squirrels handed a three-run lead to their closer, the superb Joe Nathan. Vintage Frostbite Falls, and textbook managing…but it all ended up in a shocking 5-4 loss, as the Unnatural Selections pulled a rabbit out of their hat, coming from behind to win their eighth straight game and in the process clinched the Eastern crown.

Early on, things went Frostbite’s way. Pujols doubled to lead off the second and scored the game’s first run on a double-play ball. Darwin got a home run ball in the fourth with a runner on from Lance Berkman (#22), but Kazmir drilled Michael Young to start the sixth. Pujols and Magglio Ordonez walked to load the bases with one out, and Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run double to give the Squirrels a 3-2 lead (and knock out Kazmir!). Frostbite Falls added an insurance run in the eighth when Encarnacion singled home Pujols and took a 4-2 into the ninth.

Joe Nathan, owner of 27 saves, was brought in to pitch the ninth, but it was a strange situation. The Squirrels, losers of five of their previous eight games, had not been able to place Nathan in a save situation for more than a week, and had strained their bullpen considerably with a 15-inning loss to Worcester the previous day, a game that had seen each team combine to use thirteen pitchers…including Nathan, who had fanned four over 2.2 innings without earning a decision in the 7-4 setback. So perhaps Nathan was simply not his usual self. Or maybe the Finches just had the rabbit’s foot going that day.


Whatever the reason, here’s how it went down: Berkman fanned on a 1-2 pitch, but DH David Ortiz reached when RF Corey Hart uncharacteristically lost a ball in the lights and ‘Big Papi’ ended up on second, a two-base error. Cristian Guzman pinch-ran for Ortiz. Chipper Jones, unable to start at 3B due to various nagging injuries, came off the bench to pinch-hit for Ty Wiggington. Jones worked a 3-0 count and then was ‘unintentionally’ walked rather than serve up a cripple pitch. Pinch-hitter Milton Bradley grounded slowly to Renteria, who threw to Young to force Jones. Then, with runners at the corners, another pinch-hitter (Ryan Doumit) singled home Guzman with two out. Yadier Molina singled home Bradley and when the throw went home in a vain attempt to prevent the tying run, Doumit was able to chug into third. Chone Figgins then lined an 0-1 pitch between Renteria and Encarnacion to score Doumit…

…AND THE PANDEMONIUM WAS ON!

The home dugout erupted, and the scoreboard emitted fireworks in the shape of a vast ‘Tree of Life’ all the while flashing the fact that the other Eastern contender (Worcester) had just dropped a close 3-2 decision to Brooklyn. With their 90th win, Darwin had clinched the Eastern division at the expense of visiting Frostbite Falls (84-64). The slumping Squirrels limped off the field, knowing that they would now need to win out to have any hope of edging Worcester (85-63) for the last remaining playoff spot.


In the clubhouse, a maniacal P.Z. Myers was heard to cackle, ‘How about them godless liberals?” without eliciting any apparent agreement from wildly-celebrating Finches. “I want to thank God for my teammates,” said injured RHP John Smoltz, who has spent most of the season on the DL but had joined the club for the final weekend as a show of support for Darwin’s pennant run. Smoltz and some other veterans have clashed with Myers, or at least the perception of Myers as speaking for the beliefs of ballplayers.

In other BARB action:

BROOKLYN 3, WORCESTER 2

WP: Roy Oswalt (8-10, 4.66)
LP: Jesse Litsch (9-6, 3.97)
SV: Rodriguez (31)

Chase Utley hit a two-run home run, his 26th of the year, to run his BARB-leading RBI total to 130, and ace Roy Oswalt and closer Francisco Rodriguez combined on a four-hitter to edge sibling rival Worcester. In the process, Brooklyn (75-73) played the ‘spoiler’ role to the hilt, as this win coupled with Darwin’s victory of Frostbite Falls denied Worcester the division title. Rodriguez’s 1-2-3 ninth gave him a BARB-leading 31 saves with four games left in the season, and almost certain Fireman of the Year honors.

CASSSELTON 4, OAKEYLAND 3

WP: John Lackey (9-9, 4.73)
LP: Matt Garza (3-10, 5.10)
SV: Benoit (2)

John Lackey won his first game in nearly a month with seven solid innings, and the much-mocked Horned Toads got a clutch homer from rookie Geovanny Soto (his 23rd of the year) to stop the visiting Ballers (73-75) winning streak at seven games and keep the club 1.5 games off the pace in the Central. The loss lowers Las Vegas’s ‘magic number’ for clinching the division to three with just four games to play.

LEXINGTON 6, S-MART 1

WP: Brandon Webb (15-10, 3.32)
LP: Hideki Kiroda (3-7, 7.21)

Brandon Webb won for the first time in nearly a month by going all the way, as the Rebels make the big push for the Western Division crown. Lexington (85-64) has won six straight, but with three games left in the regular season its’ lead over sibling rival Yuma is still but one game. In this contest, it was 3B David Wright who had the big blow, smacking a three-run bomb, his 26th HR of the season, and raising his BARB-leading total of runs scored to 116…