UMGLAUBLICH

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BROOKLYN 7, WORCESTER 3

WP: James Shields (11-10, 3.75)
LP: Adam Wainwright (8-8, 4.68)

Jason Bay tied the ballgame up in top of the 4th with his BARB-leading 40th home run of the year, but the host Moabs broke the game open in the bottom half of the frame, scoring three runs and loading the bases to knock out Adam Wainwright. Mark Lowe ended the long inning by getting Brian McCann to fly out softly to left, but the damage was done: the Moabs led, 5-2! GM Eric Caskey’s club added a pair of runs with one out in the bottom of the seventh, with the big blow being an RBI triple by Ryan Howard. Phil Hughes came on to stop the bleeding, but Brooklyn now led 7-2!

The Eliminators would not go quietly, however. Mark Teixeira tripled to start the top of the ninth, and Jason Bay added to his team-leading RBI total with a sharp single to make the game 7-3! While not a save situation per se, the Moabs brought on ace closer Francisco Rodriguez to finish things off for James Shields. Brad Hawpe grounded sharply to Ryan Howard, who scooped it just fair, then started a 3-6-3 double play. Jorge Cantu drew a walk, but with two down Robinson Cano lunged at a Rodriguez fastball, smacking a one-hopper to short. Tulowitzki’s flip to second not only nipped Cantu, but ended the ballgame!

There were high-fives all around for the Moabs, given up for dead four games back two weeks ago but the winners of five straight and 12 of their last 17, tops in BARB in the final stretch. With the win, Brooklyn found themselves in a three-way tie (80-63) with Frostbite Falls and Worcester for the final playoff spot. For the sibling rivals which are Eric and Matt Caskey, the season comes down to one game: win, they play again; lose, and miss the playoffs by just one game!

FRESNO 4, FROSTBITE FALLS 1

WP: Josh Beckett (11-10, 4.15)
LP: Cole Hamels (11-10, 4.00)
SV: Street (10)

The defending world champs missed a chance to take sole possession of first in the penultimate game of the season, dropping a tough one to the already-eliminated Fresno Regulators, who stretched out Josh Beckett (8 IP, 9 H, just 1 ER) and got a tie-breaking two-run homer in the fifth from Bobby Abreu, the veteran RF’s 16th tater of the campaign.

Frostbite Falls looked like they might blow the game wide open with three singles to start the first, but the hot-hitting J.J. Hardy rolled snake eyes, lining the ball back to the pitcher Beckett, who started an easy double play with the runners going, and so the Squirrels would get only one run after a promising start.

IF Marco Scutaro continued his surprising season as a starting infielder by singling home the tying run in the 3rd for the Regulators, but the big story was Beckett, who allowed just four hits over the next seven innings, bobbing and weaving to keep his club close. Eventually, Abreu gave Beckett and the Regulators the lead, and Huston Street worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the ninth for his tenth save, getting Evan Longoria to smoke a liner into the glove of Brandon Philips for the game’s final out.

For the Squirrels, their season finale (Game Day 144) thus becomes a ‘do-or-die’ situation. Win, and they are in----but that will also bring up another ‘must-win’ scenario in that they would have to prevail over the winner of the Brookyn/Worcester series to win the division. Two Eastern clubs with a lot of talent will miss the post-season after many assumed that the wild-card team would come from the East. As it turns out...not so.

TEXAS 7, DARWIN 0

WP: Mat Latos (1-8, 5.62)
LP: Scott Kazmir (3-8, 5.25)

Previously-winless rookie Mat Latos had his best outing of the year, combining with rookie Martin Perez on a five-hit shutout of the reeling Darwin Finches, who were once again shut out without an ailing Chipper Jones in the lineup. Veteran Miguel Tejada, given a start at 1B against the lefty Scott Kazmir, did much of the damage, lining an RBI single and chipping in with his fourth home run of the year. Rookie catcher Mat Wieters also slashed a pair of RBI doubles and by the ninth it was definitely no save situation. A win by the Finches would’ve clinched the Western Division, but they will now have to send out Zack Grienke on short rest and hope for the best.


LOS ANGELES 10, YUMA 7

WP: Leo Nunez (2-0, 0.00)
LP: Rafael Soriano (4-4, 4.24)
SV: Dotel (5)

The Firebirds, given an opportunity to move back into a tie for the division lead, instead lost their next-to-the-last game of the season and remain one game back after squandering a go-ahead rally in the seventh. Leading 7-5 after Russell Martin’s two-run single off Cory Wade, the Firebirds gave the ball to Rafael Soriano as a seventh-inning ‘bridge’ to Francisco Cordero....but that bridge was never crossed!

Jim Thome smacked his 28th boundary belt of the year, a solo shot, to narrow the Firebirds lead to one run with one out in the seventh. Ryan Sweeney and Howie Kendrick walked and the Yuma pen began to work, but not before Mark Reynolds had slashed a two-run double for an 8-7 PF Flyers lead. Los Angeles added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth on a two-run, ‘excuse me’ swing from Mike Lowell.

And that was pretty much it. Pinch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-out single to bring the tying run to the plate against Octavio Dotel, but Martin flied out to left for the game’s final out, and the club with the loop’s worst record (51-92) had played the role of spoiler to the hilt.

For Yuma, having already clinched a playoff spot, one wonders if the urgency is there to catch the Darwinians. As always, if they want to have a chance of doing that, they need to win their final game. The next post in this league blog will reveal the final day of league play, and who’s in, who’s out....(gulp)