WESTERN SHOWDOWN

For Immediate Release
June 14th, 2003

The 1st place Tijuana Bottle Rockets came to Virginia to battle the 2nd place Sluggers.

Gm.1

TIJ 3 – 4 – 1 L- Lieber (2-1)
VIR 7 – 10 – 0 W- Colon (6-4)

HR- Tij: Tejada (8), M.Williams (6)
Vir: Bradley (2)

RBI hits by Garciaparra and Thome put VIR up  2-0 in the 1st. Tejada closes the gap with a solo shot for TIJ but Abreu and Guerrero add RBI’s to put VIR up 4-1 in 2nd. Three more runs highlighted by Bradley’s solo dinger account for the Sluggers 7 and Williams’ 2-run homer for the Bottle Rockets makes final 7-3.

Gm.2

TIJ 0 – 3 – 1 L- Maddux (8-2)
VIR 6 -10- 0 W- Vazquez (6-2)

HR- Tij: none
Vir: Guerrero (17), Helton (13)

Vazquez’ game all the way. 9 k’s, no walks, and only 3 hits by the Bottle Rockets. You can’t ask for much more. Guerrero and Helton go deep and Flaherty plates 2 with a double in the 8th.

Gm.3

TIJ 7 – 14 – 0 L- Burnett (6-4)
VIR 8 – 11 – 0 W- Garcia (5-2)

HR- Tij: Klesko 2 (5,6)
Vir: Helton (14)

Ryan Klesko did all he could do to end Virginia’s 2 game streak, but fell short. TIJ jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd, only to see VIR come right back in the bottom half of the inning to go ahead 3-2 on Cardona’s 2 RBI double. Klesko broke out the BIG stick and countered with a 2-run jack to put TIJ up 4-3. VIR tied it in the 3rd on Spiezio’s hit and took the lead on Guerrero’s triple and Helton’s 2-run blast in the 5th. Garciaparra’s double made it 8-4 in the 7th and it looked good for the Sluggers. Enter Klesko. After Tejada’s RBI double in the 8th, Klesko, once again, lofted one to the deepest part of the stadium for 2 more Bottle Rocket runs and an 8-7 ball game. Alan Embree got the call in the 9th for VIR and k’d the first 2 batters. But he hit Prince and got tossed, bringing on Crudale who got the save with a K. Virginia wins the first 3, assuring them of no less than a split.

Gm.4

TIJ 14 – 14 – 0 W- Jensen (5-3)
VIR 4 – 10- 0 L- Pettitte (6-2)

HR- Tij: Berkman 3 (19), Miller (3), Drew (6)
Vir: none

Talk about breaking out! The Bottle exploded and the Rockets took off! TIJ scored in every inning except the 1st and 5th. Lance Berkman wakes up, going 4-5 with 3 homers and 6 RBI’s. Homers by Berkman and Drew put TIJ ahead 4-1 by the 4th. Then in the 6th, Drew’s next AB after his homer, Pettitte nails him,…but it’s not on purpose, …we all know that. Yet, Pettitte gets tossed. What’s up with that??? Down 4-1 the bulpen takes over…and collapses. Berkman rocks a 2-run shot, Miller follows with a 3-run blast and Berkman adds one more 2-run rocket. By the time the smoke clears, TIJ is sitting with a 14-4 win.

Gm. 5 (10 innings)

TIJ 4 – 7 – 2 L- Benitez (1-1)
VIR 5 – 8 – 3 W- Vizcaino (2-1)

HR-None

The second of three one run games. RBI single by Thome and a triple by Bradley give VIR a 3-0 lead in the 1st. An error by Bradley gives TIJ a run in the 2nd, 3-1. Then in the 6th, Koskie scores on a FC by Klesko and Berkman’s SF in the 8th ties it at 3. The Rockets get a break in the 10th. Berkman walks and Klesko’s single gets by Bradley allowing Berkman to score. With Benitez coming in, it looked too good for TIJ. But Abreu rips one to the gap to lead off with a double. Nomar pops up. Guerrero then launches one to the gap in left-center driving home Abreu with the tying run. The Bottle Rockets call on De Los Santos to bail them out. He faces Thome and gets the K. 2 away! An intentional walk to Helton brings up Bradley with runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out. And Bradley walks! Bases juiced. Spiezio pinch hits for Ramirez and “drives one down the left field line…base hit…Guerrero scores.” A great come from behind win for the Sluggers.

Gm.6

TIJ 2 – 7 – 2 W- De Los Santos (3-0)
VIR 1 – 9 – 0 L- D. Smith (2-3)

HR- Tij: none
Vir: Guerrero (17)

Lieber goes 7 for TIJ and holds VIR to 1 run. The Bottle Rockets bullpen gets a reprieve and does the job as Santos, Benitez and Julio nail down the victory. Guerrero gave VIR the early lead 1-0, but Glover walked in a run to tie it up. Then in the 9th, Durham laced a one out RBI single to account for the final score, 2-1.

A good series for the Sluggers as they come out ahead 4-2 and close the gap on the Bottle Rockets to 3 games.

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