FIREBIRDS GRIND OUT VICTORY

Haren beat his former employer with his arm AND bat

Yuma: Chris Melkonian has never really been known to help out his brother’s team. But with a big ninth-inning rally September 10^th, the Firebirds helped reduce Philadelphia’s magic number in the wild card standings…

The New England-Yuma game September 9, a 5-2 Yankee Stompers victory, was just James Herndon’s team’s first win in their last five games. The four-game losing streak had pushed them a few games off the wild-card pace and reduced Yuma’s magic number for clinching the division to six. But the win was a bit of a reprieve before New England had to face David Price in the final game of the series in Arizona.

Price, however, didn’t intimidate the Yankee Stompers.

Single runs came home in the top of the first on a Corey Hart groundout and a Placido Polanco third-inning single, giving New England an early lead. Two singles and a Shane Victorino sacrifice fly in the fifth put Yuma on the board, but Price made two mistakes on the first three pitches of the sixth: Polanco lined a single to left-center, and Jed Lowrie launched a shot to left to make the lead 4-1.

Tim Stauffer, meanwhile, was dealing. The righty allowed two hits other than the fifth-inning singles, walked one and struck out five. He left after eight strong innings having clearly out-pitched Price.

Terry Francona brought in Jonathon Papelbon from the bullpen, thinking a three-run lead was safe for a normally shut-down reliever. The hard thrower was wild, however. Ryan Zimmerman was hit by a pitch and moved to second base on a wild pitch. Joey Votto walked on four pitches, and Ryan Braun lined a 1-2 single to load the bases. Another pitch got away from Papelbon with Vladimir Guerrero batting, scoring Zimmerman to close the gap to 4-2. Guerrero ended up grounding out to first, but Votto scored and Braun moved up. The Firebirds had the tying run on third base.

It didn’t take long for Braun to come home. The second pitch to Victorino was grounded right back through the box, and the game was tied.

Derek Lowe came on and sandwiched two groundouts around a single, but the damage was done. New England’s hitters seemed shell-shocked after Justin Morneau singled to open the 10^th frame: Corey Hart flied out and both Carlos Beltran and Ryan Raburn K’d against Matt Thornton.

Lowe stayed in for the bottom of the 10^th and immediately allowed a double to Nick Markakis. Zimmerman was walked intentionally to create a force play, and Joey Devine came in to pitch to Votto.

OOPS

It was a move which may be second-guessed for a while. Devine, while nails against left-handed batters, is a righty. Votto eats righties for lunch. This at-bat was more of the usual, as Votto worked the count full before pushing a Devine offering (no pun intended) down the third base line. It was enough to easily score Markakis for the win.

The aftermath? New England fell to 2.5 games behind Philly; Yuma’s magic number to clinch another Western Division title dropped to four. Interestingly, if the current standings hold out, the Firebirds and Rebels would face off in the first round of the playoffs—that should make for some great sibling rivalr Interestingly, if the current standings hold out, the Firebirds and Rebels would face off in the first round of the playoffs—that should make for some great sibling rivalry fun!

In other BARB action:

FROSTBITE FALLS 6, BROOKLYN 4

WP: Sean Marshall (2-2, 3.38)

LP: Daniel Bard (6-9, 3.35)

SV: Bailey (21)

Sean Marshall and Andrew Bailey picked up the slack after an off night for Cole Hamels—5.2 IP, seven hits, four runs allowed—and their work proved vital as Jayson Werth’s seventh-inning homer gave the Flying Squirrels a very rare three-game sweep of the MOABS in Frostbite Falls. The sweep pushed Frostbite’s division lead to a season-high eight games. Evan Longoria also homered in the win, and Ryan Howard and John Buck launched long balls for the visitors.

POTTSYLVANIA 5, ST. FRANCIS 4

WP: Aroldis Chapman (5-2, 1.81)

LP: Rafael Betancourt (1-1, 4.50)

Jeremy Hellickson’s uneven outing (eight walks in 6.2 IP) was erased as the Creepers scored three unearned runs off of Roy Oswalt in the sixth. But while they may not count against his ERA, the runs were mostly Oswalt’s doing: he muffed an easy grounder from the first batter of the inning, walked a batter between a force-out and fly-out, and then left one on a platter for Aramis Ramirez. Those runs only tied the game—Hideki Matsui ended it as the first hitter in the bottom of the ninth with a homer to right.

CENTRAL CA 7, AC/BC 0

WP: Daniel Hudson (14-7, 3.31)

LP: Zack Greinke (5-8, 4.31)

Dan Uggla’s seventh-inning grand slam broke open a 2-0 ballgame as the .45s won their sixth-straight game and stayed 2.5 games behind Philadelphia in the wild card. Daniel Hudson allowed six hits and one walk while striking out five batter over six innings, and Bud Norris was nearly perfect (one hit allowed) to earn a three-inning save.

CASSELTON 4, WORCESTER 1

WP: Brandon McCarthy (4-1, 2.77)

LP: Wandy Rodriguez (7-8, 5.50)

SV: Romo (3)

The host Horned Toads banged out 12 hits, including Casey McGehee and Geovany Soto homers, to keep their squad six games back in the wild card and push the injury-riddled defending champs further away from a playoff spot. Recent free-agent signee Brandon McCarthy hurled another good game, allowing one run on five hits and two walks in 6.1 IP.

LOS ANGELES 6, PHILADELPHIA 1

WP: Dan Haren (13-10, 4.99)

LP: Dustin McGowan (0-1, 6.59)

Dan Haren was outstanding in his chance to gain revenge on the team that traded him at the deadline, allowing just three hits and one run through eight innings. Haren matched his former team in hits at the plate, going 3-for-4, but in an even more astonishing turn of events, all three Haren hits were doubles. Los Angeles’ youngsters showed a glimpse of what is to come, as Eric Hosmer (HR), Chris Davis (HR) and Mike Stanton (three-run 2B) drove in all of the Wolverine runs.