The opening game was a matchup between Worcester ace Adam Wainwright (13-8, 4.13 ERA, team-leading 204 IP in the regular season) and Casselton youngster John Danks (12-6, 3.31 in 31 starts). Danks would not have been the expected pick for opening a post-season series, but the Toads had lost ace Johann Santana two-thirds of the way into the season and had seen veteran hurlers John Lackey (gopher balls) and Carlos Zambrano (anger management issues) decline in effectiveness.
Wainwright and Danks both delivered the goods, matching zero for zero in a classic pitcher's duel for seven innings. Wainwright twice got into jams, one with two singles in the fifth and the other in the seventh due to a fielding error by a very busy Derek Jeter, who had ten chances at the hot corner in this contest. In each case, Wainwright neutralized the threat by fanning C Mike Napoli in the eighth spot and forcing Danks to hit. For his part, Danks allowed a leadoff double to Jeter in the third and runners at the corner with one down in the sixth, but stranded runners.
So it was that in the top of the eighth, Casselton blinked with their young lefty having thrown 93 pitches. Pinch-hitter Reid Brignac sliced a double over a leaping Robinson Cano to lead off the frame. SS J.J. Hardy (.246 in 102 BARB games this year) moved Brignac to third with a ground ball, and then Jose Lopez got another clutch hit, singling sharply for the game's first run. With his pitch count over a hundred and trailing 1-0, Wainwright gave up a two-out single to Justin Upton and management had seen enough.
In came Heath Bell, who had fanned an amazing 104 opponents in the regular BARB season as Mariano Rivera's primary setup man. With two on, Bell was summoned to pitch to late-season sensation Carlos Gonzalez, who had hit a team-leading .354 with 17 HR in just 69 games after being promoted to the parent club. 'Car-Go' delivered big time, booming a big fly over the head of Carl Crawford. When the dust had cleared, Gonzalez had a two-run triple and Worcester trailed, 3-0!
Not a catastrophe for a team like Worcester, which could boast a lineup of eight .300hitters much of the year. Casselton's greatest weakness was its ragtag bullpen, as the Horned Toads had lost Bobby Jenks late in the year. Unheralded setup man Dennis O'Day (2.63 ERA in 102 appearances), however, worked two scoreless innings. When Hardy singled in Mike Napoli with a ninth-inning insurance run, the handwriting was on the wall. Joe Mauer fouled strike two into Napoli's mitt to end the game, and clinch the surprising opening result: Danks (1-0, 0.00) had outdueled Wainwright (0-1, 3.52).
CASSELTON 4, WORCESTER 0!
The Eliminators, ready to turn the page, jumped all over John Lackey (9-9, 4.33) to begin Game 2 of the series, collecting six singles in the second to take a 3-0 lead, the key blow coming off the bat of Elims starter Phil Hughes (8-4, 3.21 in 57 appearances, including 13 starts). Hughes would later double to start the fourth, and would take a 4-2 lead into the seventh.
But, things went south for the Elims in the most unlikely way. CF Torii Hunter (.314, 29 HR, 97 RBI in the regular season) hit a ground ball that Robinson Cano kicked. Casey McGeehee and Mike Napoli both flew out harmlessly, two out. On came the Casselton bench, with 1B Derek Lee pinch-hitting for reliever Brad Ziegler. Lee lined a double to score Hunter, narrowing Worcester's lead to 4-3. The Worcester bullpen got hot, but not fast enough. Both Jay Bruce and Jose Lopez attacked the first fastball they saw, lining singles to tie the game.
Heath Bell was again summoned to stop the bleeding, and again Bell failed to deliver. Garrett Jones singled and Justin Upton tripled over the head of rookie Nolan Reimold to plate three more runs. Brad Ziegler (1-0, 0.00) earned a cheap win by being the pitcher of record before the sixth, but the real hero was reliever Mike Adams, who worked three scoreless innings to nail down the save. Despite allowing only two earned runs and collecting a pair of hits himself, Hughes (0-1, 2.70) would go to take the loss, with Carlos Gonzalez adding an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI triple:
CASSELTON 8, WORCESTER 4!
Dramatic, but for veterans of the BARB postseason, in line with an unfortunate trend in which the home team often loses (regardless of who is doing the managing). The best-of-five series now shifts back to Casselton. The Eliminators will need to take two on the road from the upstart Toads to force a fifth game, and of course whoever wins the playoff will advance to the long-overdue BARB World Series!
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