Early on, it was all Josh Beckett, 10-7 with a 3.19 ERA in 26 regular-season starts. Beckett worked the minimum through nine, allowing an infield single to DH Carlos Pena that was instantly erased when Edgar Renteria hit into a double play. In the meantime, Squirrels phenom Tim Lincecum (10-9, 3.37) was similarly stingy, fanning three batters and getting a double-play ball from Benji Molina to erase his lone base runner. But Lincecum stumbled in the fourth: Curtis Granderson led off the inning with a single, and after J.J. Hardy flew out to left, B.J. Upton singled under Renteria’s glove to move Granderson to second. Lincecum’s foshball eluded catcher Victor Martinez, moving both runners up a base. With two out, David Wright walked on a 3-2 pitch to load them up for DH Carlos Delgado.The veteran then DRILLED a shot with the runners going over the head of Carlos Beltran in the right-center gap, and the Rebels were off to the races! Granderson walked in from third, Upton trotted from second and the athletic Wright, running on the play, scored all the way from first base. Delgado, meanwhile, had a standup, bases-clearing double. Lincecum would get Peralta to ground out, and with Beckett dealing, the Rebels appeared to have the upper hand and able to force a fourth game: through five innings, the Lexington ace had a one-hit shutout in play, REBELS 3, SQUIRRELS 0!
But the sixth inning went downhill in a hurry. Encarnacion singled sharply to start the frame, and whack! thwack! Pena and Renteria hit back-to-back doubles to plate a pair and put the tying run at second....with nobody out! Gulp! Beckett got a ray of hope by fanning Michael Young, but Brad Hawpe (who had hit the game-winning homer in the ninth of the series opener) extended the inning, pulling a ball under the diving stab of Gonzalez to put runners at the corners. That brought up Frostbite’s shining star, Albert Pujols. The Rebels tried to pitch away from the Top Squirrel, but ‘Prince Albert’ went with the pitch, singling to left to score Renteria.
THE GAME WAS TIED, 3-3!
Beckett, slumping, handed the ball over to his manager, who went with the ‘hot hand’ with the go-ahead run on third and one out. In this case, the ‘hot hand’ meant Danny Haren, who had given up runs in both Game 1 and 2 of the series but had somehow inspired GM Ronald Melkonian’s confidence. Haren did his job this time, stranding Hawpe on third, by fanning Carlos Beltran and inducing a harmless fly ball to Granderson. Good work, but for the third straight game Lexington had blown a lead after five innings.
Lincecum, meanwhile, had settled in after his tough fourth, scattering three hits over the next four frames and getting an assist from C Victor Martinez, who finally threw out a Rebels baserunner after allowing seven swipes in the series.
The righthander pitched so effectively that he was allowed to start the ninth having thrown 98 pitches. But, with both Upton and Gonzalez working the count deep, he departed with two down in the ninth in favor of Joakim Soria, who walked a batter before getting a ground ball to end the threat. Despite not going nine, it was an impressive outing for Lincecum, perhaps the best showing of any starter in the post-season.
The Rebels, meanwhile, stuck with Haren. Never mind that he had worked two innings in each of the first two games, four frames totaling 61 pitches or that he had already worked four innings when, in the tenth, he was sent out to preserve a 3-3 tie.
As the Leader of the Rebellion proclaimed, the Lexington club was going with the guy they thought had the ‘hot hand’.Victor Martinez popped up a 3-2 pitch to the infield. One down.
Evan Longoria, 0-for-3 in the series, pinch-hit for Encarnacion. Haren got a strike over, then calmly palmed the comebacker Longoria sent his way on the next pitch. Two down.
That brought up Carlos Pena, 2-for-3 in the game with a run scored in the sixth-inning rally. Haren got a strike over, nibbled twice, then threw a slider on a 2-1 count......
That didn’t break!....Pena RIPPED it, a line drive, down the line....JUST inside the foul pole, over the wall!
Home run!
FROSTBITE FALLS 4, LEXINGTON 3!
Game...over! Series....over!
Frostbite Falls had pulled out a win in their final at-bat for the third straight time, sweeping the bewildered Rebels. GM Ronald Melkonian shook his head, clearly deflated, while the GM of the league’s most-storied franchise, Andrew Haynes nodded with satisfaction: another season, another playoff appearance, another day at the office for the three-time world champs.
SERIES ANALYSIS
Was the Lexington club seen in the playoffs the same group that played in the regular season, or did they underperform? It’s hard to say: on the one hand, the Rebels were a mere 28-36 against division rival Yuma and the high-powered Eastern Division clubs. On the other hand, their starting pitching had been the class of the league the entire season, compiling a 3.39 ERA, nearly half a run better than any other club, and their 24 complete games led all contenders as well. But in the playoffs, no Rebels starter could make it past the sixth, and this put a huge burden on a bullpen already known for its inconsistency.
The Squirrels, meanwhile, got superior work from their bullpen (two wins for Carlos Marmol, one for Joakim Soria, and not one earned run in 12.2 frames) and in one obvious category (home run balls) they lapped the field, getting five blasts (Beltran, Hart, Hawpe, Ordonez and Pena) to Lexington’s one (Benji Molina), and two of them were game-winners in extra innings. For his efforts, Marmol (2-0, 0.00, 4 IP, 6 K) was a close call for Series MVP over OF Hawpe, who won the opener with a big blast and made several good plays in the outfield. Next up for Frostbite Falls: the winner of the Darwin/Vegas series!
REBELS: BURNED BY ‘HOT HAND’ ?
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