PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #10

·         Valdosta Bombers @ Manhattan Gas Hornets

Series Preview

Valdosta Bombers (31-22, 2nd place NLE) at Manhattan Gas Hornets (34-27, 1st place NLE) – National League East showdown. Manhattan currently holds the series lead 4-3 from their previous meeting in Valdosta. Valdosta (3.40 era) is 5th in the NL in pitching, Manhattan 6th (3.45). Manhattan holds the edge in batting (.255 3rd in the league) to Valdosta’s .250 (7th). Valdosta has out homered the Gas Hornets 67 to 60 at this point. Manhattan leads the league in runs scored with 259, Valdosta is 7th with 225.

Game #1:

VAL 4 5 0
MGH 5 9 1
WP Buice (2-2, BS3), LP Franco (2-5)
HRs: V- Walkder (4) Wallach (11), M-Dawson 2 (15, 16), Jacoby (20)
Manhattan takes 4-3 lead into 9th, but Wallach greets Buice with lead-off HR to tie game. Bottom half of the inning, Dawson returns the favor with lead-off, walk-off HR (his 2nd of the game) to win it for the Gas Hornets.

Game #2:

VAL 3 6 1
MGH 7 14 0
WP – Key (8-2), LP Forsch (5-3)
HRs: V-Diaz (7), Snyder (11); M – Durham (4), Jacoby (21), Stanley (2)
5 run Manhattan 4th keyed by 2 run dinger by Jacoby followed by Stanley solo shot, was all Key needed. Snyder 2 run blast in the 7th got the Bombers a bit closer.

Game #3:

VAL 5 5 1
MGH 6 14 0
WP – Righetti (6-2), S Buice (12), LP Franco (2-6, BS 3)
HRs: V-Snyder (12, GS), Svuem (9); M-Joyner (9)
Bombers plate all 5 of their runs in the 2nd including the Snyder Grand Slam. Manhattan chips away with 2 in the 2nd and 1 each in 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th (rbi single by Sax) to nail down the win.

Game #4:

VAL 5 11 4 (10 innings)
MGH 3 8 1
WP – Franco (3-6), LP Reed (1-1)
HR: V-Snyder (13)
Gas Hornets score one in the 9th to tie it up on Griffin high bounding to grounder to Clark at 1st with runners on the corner. Top of the 10th Clark doubles, Wallach doubles him home, Brenly singles, Snyder singles (scoring Wallach)- and then the Gas Hornets get the Bombers out – but 2 runs were in and Franco let no one score in the bottom half. [4 errors didn’t cost them the game!]

Game #5:

VAL 2 4 2
MGH 3 9 0
WP – Alexander (3-2), S Buice (13), LP LaCoss (4-2)
HRs: V-Wallach 2 (12, 13); M-Yount (5), Davis (8)
Tight game as pitchers were sharp, Wallach’s 1st homer tied the game in the 4th, Yount’s HR gave Manhattan a 3-1 lead after 8, Wallach made it tight with a second solo shot in 9th, that brought in Buice for the save.

Game #6:

VAL 1 6 0
MGH 2 6 0
WP – Key (9-2), S Buice (14), LP Hough (5-5)
HR: V-Wallach (15)
All the scoring in the 4th, solo shot by Wallach and 2 run single by Griffin with bases loaded. Wallach has accounted for all 3 Valdosta runs (solo HRs) in the last 2 games!

Series Summary *

Manhattan manages to win 5 of 2, but the 2 Valdosta wins were both extra inning games AND 4 of the 5 Manhattan wins were by 1 RUN! (5 one run games in all and only one game was won by more than 1 run in 9 innings.) Very tight series.
Big bats in the series:
Wallach (Valdosta) – 12 for 29,.414, 7 runs, 5 rbis, 4 doubles, 4 Hrs.
Jacoby (Manhattan) – 12 ofr 26, .462, 6 runs, 5 rbis, 4 doubles, 2 HRs.

·         Mexico City Chihuahuas @ East Pointe Marlins

Series Summary *

Mexico takes the series 4-3

·         Steel City Sluggers @ Winnipeg Goldeyes

Series Preview

It was a total mismatch as first place Steel City was on the road in Winnipeg. Even worse for Winnipeg Steel City Called up 19YZ Perez to start against the last place Goldeyes.
The goal for Winnipeg was to show the fans a good time..

Game #1:

Well Winnipeg did pound Dennis the drunk Martinez and downgraded him in the 3rd. Too Bad Ryan Sandberg crushed Jamie Moyer as he hit two homers and drove in 5 in the 13-5 Steel City win.

Game #2:

Shockingly Bosio shut out Steel City as Winnipeg hammered Hammacker winning 7-0 as Glenn Wilson homered.

Game #3:

Gross did it all homered and pitched a complete game win for Steel City 9-1 win.

Game #4:

Winnipeg hit Perez hard scoring 5 runs and winning 5-4. Inky hit a 3 run homer and Knudson got the win. WPG 5 SC 4

Game #5:

Saberhagen was god like improving to 9-1 as Schmidt and O’Brien homered in the Steel City win

Game #6:

Paciorek hit a pinch grand slam as Steel City wins an easy 11-2 game.

Game #7:

Another Steel City blow out as Gibson and Carter hit big homers in the 13-3 game

Series Summary *

Winnipeg was trilled to be tied 2-2 and even beat the 19YZ in his first start of the year but then Steel City got serious and crushed the Goldeyes the final 3 games.

·         Stockton Wings @ Fort Worth Panthers

Series Preview

On the league leader boards the Wings are 10th in batting average at .246, second in homers with 64, and 3rd in ERA at 4.22. The Panthers are 9th in hitting at .252.

Game #1:

The Panther’s could only manage two singles by Hernandez and Parrish. Dunne throws a complete game 2 hitter punching out 6.
FINAL SCORE: Wings 5, Panthers 0

Game #2:

Heath hits a game winning 3 run homer in the bottom of the 9th as Ft. Worth evens the series at a game a piece.
FINAL SCORE: Panthers 4, Wings 3

Game #3:

Giving a 1 run lead going into the top of the 8th Southpaw Valenzuela started leaving pitches over the middle of the plate as Stockton scores 7 runs.
FINAL SCORE: Wings 12, Panthers 6

Game #4:

New Panther pitcher Wegman scattered 10 hits over 8 innings, but only allowed 1 run. For Ft. Worth Thompson steals 2 bases and drives home two plus homers by Hill and McGriff made it an easy win.
FINAL SCORE: Panthers 5, Wings 1

Game #5:

Niekro had the knuckler working getting 7 strikeouts and floating the ball out of the zone for 4 walks for Ft. Worth, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. The Wings scored runs in the 8th and 9th to take a one run lead, but Lonnie Smith hits a two-run homer to win it for Ft. Worth.
FINAL SCORE: Panthers 6, Wings 5

Game #6:

It was all Stockton in game 6 with 12 hits, 3 homers, and a double.
FINAL SCORE: Wings 11, Panthers 3

Game #7:

Well pitched game by both starters, but Stockton gets to Mike Jackson for 3 9th inning runs to turn the close game into a comfortable win.
FINAL SCORE: Wings 5, Panthers 1

Series Summary *

Two walk offs for Ft. Worth, but Stockton takes the series 4 games to 3.

·         Missouri Black Bears @ Sugar Land Skeeters

Series Preview

Division foes Missouri (25-28) and Sugar Land(24-31) meet in Texas for seven games.

Game #1:

Bill Long (1-5,4.93) vs Bert “I Like to Fart” Blyleven. Bernazard scores the only run of the game (unearned) on a Santiago passed ball as Blyleven goes the distance on a 2-hitter. SLS 1, MBB 0.

Game #2:

Dennis Rasmussen (2-3,2.81) vs. Don Carman (5-3, 2.32)
Missouri takes a 7-3 lead into the ninth (back-to-back HR by Gallaraga and McLemore in the 6th) but Darrell Porter hits a PH grand slam off of Noles to tie it at 7. Quirk singles in Pendleton in the 16th to give Missouri the 8-7 win. Each team uses seven pitchers.

Game #3:

Jack Morris (6-3,2.57) vs. Curt Young (2-4, 6.95). Morris goes 7 innings and allows three hits and one run. Henke shuts the door for the save and a 2-1 MBB win.

Game #4:

Bruce Ruffin (5-2,3.88) vs. Storm Davis (2-0, 2.82) Bosley, who had PH and stayed in on a double-switch, hits a bases loaded single to drive in the winning runs off Noles, who blows his second save in two tries this series. SLS wins 4-3.

Game #5:

Neal Heaton (2-2,3.53) vs. Joe Magrane (1-2,2.55). SLS stings together 4 runs in the 6th to take a 6-2 lead. Greenwell’s 3-run HR ties it up in the 8th. Sierra’s SF in the 10th gives MBB the 7-6 win.

Game #7:

Long vs. Carman in the rubber game of the series.
B1: Porter triples in Young.
T3: Quirk singles, later scores on an error by Bosley.
T6: Pendleton HR.
B6: Oberkfell singles in Kingery.
B7: Young, Davis, and Porter walk with two out, Kingery singles in two.
T8: Sierra doubles in Pendleton, Candaele singles in Gwynn and Sierrra (5-4 MBB) with still no outs. GDP scores one more to make it 6-4.
B9: Noles in to save it and the Skeeters start to drool:-) Davis one-out single but nothing materializes.

Series Summary *

MBB wins the series 4 games to 3. Blyleven wins both starts including the shutout allowing 2 ER in 16 ip.

·         Clovis Cougars @ Long Beach Titans

Series Preview

Clovis comes south to face their division rival Long Beach.

Game #1:

Long Beach broke open a 1-1 game with 3 in the 7th and 10 in the 8th and won 14-1. Mattingly (4 hits) and Steinbach (3 hits and 3 RBI) led the offense. Fraser pitched 7 strong innings and improved to 7-1.

Game #2:

The Titans opened a 5-1 lead in the 4th and coasted to a 11-2 win. Mattingly, Mumphrey and Steinbach each had 3 hits to lead the attack.

Game #3:

Long Beach took advantage of 4 Clovis errors and scored unearned runs in the 7th and 8th and won 3-1. Viola pitched 7 strong innings for the win.

Game #4:

The Titan offense continued their hot streak in the 13-2 win. Mattingly and Dion James each drove in 4 runs. Fletcher scored 4 runs.

Game #5:

Rhoden pitched a 3 hit shutout in the Long Beach 8-0 win. Law led the offense with 5 RBI.

Game #6:

Long Beach jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and held on for a 5-2 win. In the 9th Clovis loaded the bases with no outs but Bedrosian came in and got Hoffman to pop out and Howell hit into a DP to end the game. Fraser pitched into the 8th to pick up his second win of the series.

Game #7:

Berenguer and Robinson combined on a 6 hit shutout in a 7-0 Long Beach win. Ashby and Mumphrey hit 3 run HRs to lead the offense.

Series Summary *

In the Long Beach 7 game sweep they outscored Clovis 61-7.

·         Montana Cutthroats @ California Quakes

Series Preview

Montana travels west to California.

Game #1:

MCT 1 — CAL 3

Game #2:

MCT 1 — CAL 3

Game #3:

MCT 12 — CAL 8

Game #4:

MCT 2 — CAL 11

Game #5:

MCT 5 — CAL 8

Game #6:

MCT 9 — CAL 3

Game #7:

MCT 5 — CAL 6

Series Summary *

California takes 5 of 7 in a series that actually proved to be much closer than the record would suggest.

·         Michigan Marauders @ Germantown Grays

Series Preview

Michigan travels to Germantown for 5 games. The visiting team does the honors for this series.

Game #1:

Frank Tanana takes the hill for Michigan against Tom Hume for the Grays.
Michigan takes the early lead with a Sid Bream RBI single, but Germantown ties it on a DeCinces homer.
But, in the 7th, Cal Ripken erupts from a slump and hits a 3 run homer. Later, Matt Nokes hits another homer.
Michigan 5 Germantown 1
Tanana, W, 4-6
Hume, L, 0-2

Game #2:

Teddy Huguera with the Michigan start versus Mike Morgan for the Grays.
Dick Schofield goes 4 for 4 for Germantown and Mark McGwire hits a homer for Germantown. But, they can not overcome a strong start by Michigan. Both Nokes and Ripken hit homer for the Marauders.
Michigan 6 Germantown 5
Higuera, W, 5-4
Henneman, S, 15
Morgan, L, 4-5

Game #3:

Jim Deshaies starts for Michigan and Jose Guzman is on the hill for Germantown.
Deshaies struggles, but gets enough outs to complete 5 innings. He walks 6 and struggles. But, Michigan gets a big homer from Mel Hall and the Marauders take the early lead and never look back.
Michigan 6 Germantown 1
Deshaies, W, 5-3
Guzman, L, 7-4

Game #4:

Mark Langston starts for Michigan against Mike Flanagan. Two tough leftys square off.
Once again, Michigan gets an early lead. And, Dick Schofield has an amazing game as he goes 4 for 4 with 2 RBI. But, Michigan’s Brunansky gets 4 hts and 2 RBI. The Maraurders bullpen strugglesw, bu hangs onto win.
Michigan 7 Germantown 5
Langston, W, 5-5
Henneman, S, 16
Flanagan, L, 7-2

Game #5:

Walt Terrell goes for the visiting squad and Jerry Reuss takes the hill for the Grays.
Michigan puts 4 homers together and sweeps Germantown. Glenn Davis and Cal Ripken each get 4 hits.
Michigan 7 Germantown 2
Terrell, W, 6-4
Reuss, L, 4-5

Series Summary *

Michigan takes a rare 5 games from Germantown. Michigan generally built leads early and let their bullpen take over.
Michigan 5 Germantown 0

·         Cedar Park Bears @ Old Mill Legends

Series Preview

Cedar Park @ Old Mill

Series Summary *

Old Mill wins 5 of 7.

·         Chicago Demolition @ Detroit Stars

Series Summary *

Chicago beats up on Detroit.