HUFF BLOWS DOWN FINCHES IN OWN HOUSE

GULP

FINCHES HANGING BY THREAD

Down Under (Australia)---The Eastern champion Darwin Finches entered the playoffs with the league’s best record and a Cy Young candidate in Zack Greinke, but the Central Division-winning Creepers roared to a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series with the Unnatural Selections by torching Greinke late and No. 2 starter Josh Johnson early, taking it to the home team.

In the playoff opener, Greinke (0-1, 6.48) was strong for eight innings, allowing only two runs during that time, with Creepers CF Matt Kemp tripling with one out in the first (scoring on a fly by Ryan Ludwick), and dangerous RF Rick Ankiel hitting a one-out solo shot in the fifth.

Not a bad performance, but Creepers lefty Cliff Lee (1-0, 1.13) went one better in a brilliant outing against Darwin’s less-than-stellar lineup. Lee allowed only one run on three hits, a solo home run by David Ortiz leading off the third. Lee would cough up a single after Ortiz’s blast, but then he retired the next (get this) 17hitters before issuing a two-out walk to James Loney.

In the meantime, Ankiel’s shot gave Lee and the Creepers a 2-1 lead in the fifth, which is where the score stayed until the ninth. Greinke was sent out in the top of the frame having thrown only 93 pitches, but he never had it. Ludwick doubled, Aramis Ramirez singled to put runners at the corners, and Greinke was allowed to pitch to the left-handed Aubrey Huff, who had delivered 27 boundary belts during the regular season . . .



Huff won the matchup! The Creepers DH smacked a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right for a 5-1 Creepers lead, and, essentially, the ballgame. Pottsylvania would go on to add three more runs off the Darwin pen, and while the Finches loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame against Rafael Betancourt, they were unable to wring so much as a single hit off the wild setup man. The final score: POTTSYLVANIA 8, DARWIN 2!

Well, much closer than the score would suggest, you might say. True, but in the second game things went bad very early for the Finches, who got a two-run home run from Chipper Jones, then proceeded to leave one baserunner after another. A wild Josh Johnson loaded the bases for Kelly Shoppach in the first, but avoided a huge inning when Shoppach was thrown out in a misguided attempt to turn a single into a double, saving two runs. But nothing could save Johnson (0-1, 13.50) from pitching (again) to Huff. After putting two on in the fourth, Johnson faced Huff, and again Huff came up with the big blow, his second three-run homer in as many games, and a 5-2 Creepers lead.

Owch! The Finches would make the game interesting for a few frames when they took advantage of some free passes from Chris Carpenter (1-0, 6.00) in the sixth. Yadier Molina cashed in one baserunner with a single from the bottom of the lineup, and Jones picked up his third RBI of the contest with a bases-loaded walk. But Carpenter settled down, the bullpen of Manny DelCarmen and Jonathan Broxton was strong, and another leadoff triple by Matt Kemp helped the Creepers get both of those runs back. In the ninth, Broxton overpowered the not-exactly-scintillating trio of Adam LaRoche, Aaron Rowand and Brandon Inge. 1-2-3, earning the save, and preserving a Creepers victory: POTTSYLVANIA 7, DARWIN 4!

FINCHES LINEUP STILL WEAK

The continued decline of run production by the Finches has got to have them scratching their heads. They were third in the league in run scoring overall in the regular season, and had three hitters finish at .300 or higher. But, in the final month, the club was forced to suspend RF Milton Bradley, and immediately they stopped scoring runs. The volative Bradley had made himself unwelcome, but he had been a catalyst at the top of the order. At the same time, it became clear that CF Josh Hamilton, dogged by injuries and personal issues, was not going to be able to regain the MVP form of 2008, and both David Ortiz and Jones were also running out of gas. Thus, a regular post-season ‘heart of the order’ with players like Inge, Rowand, LaRoche and Jeff Francouer. All decent, but not great players, and certainly not able to strike fear into opposing pitching staffs. Unless the stitched-together Finches lineup can find a few runs, it won’t matter how the rest of their hurlers do.

MORE PLAYOFF ACTION TO COME

I want to apologize to FL owners for the slowness of the playoffs. In my defense, all I can say is that for technical reasons I don't want to move the league simulation off my school computer, and my school site is COLD. Frickin' Unified School District has pulled the plug on the heat, and my fingers are turning a gray color as I type.