It would be the fourth trip to the Fall Classic for owner and league founder Scott Hatfield, who despite fielding some pretty good clubs in the last decade (se ven playoff spots, four divisional titles and three times leading the league in wins) has yet to taste a world championship with any of his three BARB franchises. "It's enough to drive an obsessed, middle-aged science teacher to consider voodoo," Hatfield remarked humorlessly. "At least once, I know that I had the better club, but in a short series, anything can happen....which is why I can sympathize with Worcester. A great club, with 114 wins in the regular season. And...we beat them."
The pathway to this unlikely outcome lay in a little-used starting pitcher, lefty Travis Wood. In a move reminiscent of the Squirrels starting journeyman Paul Maholm in the 2008 Series, Wood was summoned after Worcester had made mincemeat of the St. Francis bullpen and forced the Friars to use both Bronson Arroyo and R.A. Dickey in long relief. But Wood, unlikely hero, was equal to the task: the southpaw mixed in an effective breaking ball and changeup and kept the Eliminators off-balance for six innings of four-hit ball. St. Francis, meanwhile, had scored three in the top of the third against fireballing Max Scherzer. The mid-season trade acquisition had overpowered St. Francis the first time they faced, and he would strike out ten in this game. But Friars SS J.J. Hardy jumped on a 2-2 fastball leading off the frame and hit it out to left-center, a no-doubter. One out later, Shin-Soo Choo managed to pull an 0-1 fastball between third and short for the second hit of the inning. Choo stole second on the first pitch to Aaron Hill, who then took a slider and a borderline change to strike out.
Incensed, Hill protested the call and was promptly tossed by plate umpire Louie Braille.
Yikes! Hill, a pretty solid hitter, was no longer available in a critical game, and former starting SS Alexei Ramirez, a free-swinger, would be asked to fill his role for the rest of the series. No matter: 1B Chris Davis then worked the count to 3-1, and Scherzer had no choice but to again come in with a fastball. For the third time in the inning, the Worcester righty's heater yielded a hit, this a booming double over the head of Justin Heyward in center field. Choo scored the second run! That brought up veteran Carlos Beltran, who would lead all batters in the series with a .368 clip.
Beltran, protecting with two strikes, hit a 2-2 fastball up the middle that Scherzer couldn't flag, the fourth hit of the inning, and Davis easily scored when Beltran elected to take second. Worcester's defenders seized on the gamble, nailing Beltran ‘caught stealing', but the third run was in the books:
ST. FRANCIS 3, WORCESTER 0!
Wood, given the lead, continued to deal, and even struck out the side in the bottom of the Worcester sixth to leave a pair of runners on. But, in the next frame, Worcester finally solved Wood after 65 pitches. Hanley Ramirez doubled off a 1-1 curveball, and Jonathan Lucroy hit an 0-2 changeup a country mile, several rows back behind the left-field wall. Scott Downs relieved Wood with tying run at the plate, and nobody down. Downs walked the left-handed hitting Brandon Moss (owch), but Justin Heyward struck out and Martin Prado grounded sharply at Ramirez, who used his shortstop's arm to turn an unassisted double play ‘thing of beauty' to end the threat:
ST. FRANCIS 3, WORCESTER 2!
The Friars would threaten again, putting two on in the bottom of the seventh, but Greg Holland got pinch-hitter Todd Frazier to fly to the warning track in right. In the eighth and ninth, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel let loose with the triple digits, retiring the final four Friars hitters and giving Worcester one more shot with the bottom of their lineup against Mariano Rivera. The 43-year-old legend had bailed out Derek Holland in the eighth after St. Francis's uneven southpaw had hit Robinson Cano to put the go-ahead run on base...but now, in the top of the ninth, the oldest player in BARB seemed gassed, walking a hitless Chase Headley. St. Francis had one more ace, though: unheralded mid-season pickup Koji Uehara, the hottest pitcher in the final month of the season. Uehara popped up Hanley Ramirez on an 0-1 change, dismissed Jonathan Lucroy with a sick 0-2 slider, then, on a full count...blew a slider past Brandon Moss! A save for Uehara, a win for Wood, and a playoff series victory for the Friars!!
What, what, what, WHAT???
PEREZ, BELTRAN NAMED CO-MVP'S
Veteran Carlos Beltran, who switched to RF mid-summer after Jose Bautista was lost to injury, led all hitters in the series with a .360 clip and drove in four runs, while youthful Salvador Perez hit .350, completely shut down Worcester on the basepaths and smoothly coaxed fabulous long relief stints from R.A. Dickey and Bronson Arroyo as well as nurturing the little-used Travis Wood in the final game.
No comments:
Post a Comment