PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #20

A battle of first and second place teams in the NL West.

4-3 SCS. John Tudor outduels Randy Tomlin as Tudor goes 12-1 on the season.

3-1 SCS. New addition Ken Griffey Sr. hits a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 9th to break the 1-1 tie and give the Sluggers the victory.

7-3 LBT. Sluggers lead 2-1 into the 8th, but the wheels come off as the bullpen falters.

2-0 SCS. Bruce Hurst goes down for 5 games in the 3rd, but the bullpen atones for their terrible performance in the previous game and posts zeroes the rest of the way.

4-3 SCS. Long Beach jumps out to an early 3-1 lead, but Steel City chips away and ultimately wins in the 9th.

3-1 SCS. Tudor again bests Tomlin, winning his 13th game to match a 2.18 ERA on the season.

4-1 Dennis Martinez outduels Frank Viola. Martinez goes the distance, only allowing 4 hits and loses the shutout bid in the 8th.

All games were extremely close, except the sole game Long Beach won. Tough series!

The Traverse City Tigers head down the Lake Michigan shore line and heads into the Windy City of Chicago to take on the Demolition in a five game set.

Dave Stewart (15-7 2.28) only goes 5 Innings, but picks up the win & quickly lines himself for a second start this week on short rest. George Brett is 4 for 4 with 3 Doubles, 3 Runs Scored & 5 RBI’s.
Final Score: Chicago 13 – Traverse City 0

Doug Drabek (11-10 3.90) goes 6.1 innings, Kal Daniels hits a solo Home Run in the 4th & that is all Chicago needs.
Final Score: Chicago 1 – Traverse City 0

Dave Stieb (14-9 3.14) allows 2 Earned Run in 6.1 Innings. Bill Doran is 3 for 5 with 3 Doubles, 3 Run Scored & 4 RBI’s.
Final Score: Chicago 12 – Traverse City 2

Dave Stewart (16-7 2.20) goes 7 Innings, Jay Howell goes the last 2 Innings. Kal Daniels is 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.
Final Score: Chicago 5 – Traverse City 0

Roger Clemens (19-4 1.95) goes the distance & with the score tied at 1 Run apiece Chicago picks up 1 in the bottom of the 9th on a Carlos Quintana single scoring George Brett.
Final Score: Chicago 1 – Traverse City 0

Chicago takes the series in a sweep. Traverse City has many players tired & bushed.

Three extra inning affairs, including an 18-inning game, as Sugar Land manages to win three of seven.

Mexico City takes 5 of 8 at home against Cedar Park.

Montana @ Stockton in a 7-game series

STO 9 – MCT 1

WP: Milacki (CG)
LP: D. Cook

HR: Walker

MCT 5 – STO 2

WP: Krueger
LP: Combs
SV: Assenmacher

HR: Sorrento

MCT 8 – STO 0

WP: Grimsley (CG)
LP: Kiecker

HR: A. Davis, Harper, Stubbs

MCT 9 – STO 1

WP: Rijo
LP: Navarro
SV: Thurmond

HR: A. Davis

MCT 5 – STO 4

WP: Assenmacher
LP: Schooler

HR: Hrbek, Lankford

STO 4 – MCT 3

WP: Cadaret
LP: Krueger
SV: Nelson

HR: none

MCT 5 – STO 0

WP: D. Cook (CG)
LP: D. Johnson

HR: Burks

MCT takes the series 5 games to 2

Winnipeg comes to Michigan for a 5 game series. Michigan is fighting for a wild card.

Stottlymyre vs. Gullickson

Gullickson is shaky early, but settles down to a throw a complete game. Brunansky hits his 18th homer for Michigan. Winnipeg gets a homer from McGwire, its his 27th homer. Gullickson goes to 14-9.

Michigan 4 Winnipeg 2

Glavine vs. Higuera

Higura pitches well early, then struggles in the 6th inning, and gets pulled. Michigan gets 2 runs in the 9th inning. Rick Dempsey is the star going 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Bedrosian picks up the win in relief.

Michigan 5 Winnipeg 4

Moyer vs. Deshaies

Deshaies struggles in this start. Gaetti hits a homer for Michigan. Big hit is a Juan Samuel pinch hit double to win the game in the 9th. Ted Power drops to 1-7. Guetterman is now 5-2.

Michigan 5 Winnipeg 4

Benes vs. Tanana

After 1 day off, the Mauraders bats cool off as Winnipeg wins this game easily. McGwire hits another dinger for Winnipeg. Ripken with a solo blast for Michigan. Benes goes to 8-8.

Winnipeg 4 Michigan 1

Guthrie vs. Langston

Winnipeg explodes in the 6th – 8th innings as Langston gets roughed up. McGwire, Javier, and Roberts hit homers. Winnipeg with 15 hits. Bo Jackson with a wasted 2 homers for Michigan. Guthrie goes to 9-4 while Langston drops to 13-5.

Winnipeg 13 Michigan 8

Michigan wins the series 3 games to 2, but after 1 day off Winnipeg wins the last 2 games easily.

Bingo Long brings his Germantown Grays out west for a barnstorming stop in Clovis for a friendly 7 gamer against the third place Cougars.

Clovis 5 Germantown 4 (11 innings)
Clovis ties it with a rn in the bottom of the ninth when Gantner pinch runs for Murray following a base hit, steals second, and scores on a Jesse Barfield single. The strategy worked so well for the Cougars that they tried it again in the 11th when Barfield walked, Gladden pinch ran and stole second, an intentional walk to pinch hitter Hamilton and seldom used Jerry Goff hit a pinch hit single to bring Gladden home with the game winner.

Cougars 7 Grays 6
Cougars jump out to a 7-0 lead and then hold on for dear life as the Grays mounted a spirited comeback only to fall one run short. Harris knocked in 4 for Clovis while Parker drove home a pair for the Cougars. Smoltz took the loss and Black earned the win although both were long gone by the time the game got interesting.

GER 6 CLC 1
Grays slowly built up a 3-1 lead over Smiley before tacking on a 3 spot in the ninth to seal the victory. Appier was the winner while every starting position player had at least one hit for the Grays.

CLC 2 GER 0
David Wells is spectacular twirling a 2 hit shutout with 6 strikeouts and no walks. Murray and Pena both had three base hits for Clovis. Mike Morgan pitched very well but took the hard luck loss for Germantown.

CLC 7 GER 5
Grays build a 5-4 lead into the 8th on the strength of homers off the bats of Alomar and Mack but Clovis would pull it out with 3 in the bottom of the frame. Cougars loaded the bases of the normally steady Aguilera and scored the tying run on failed fielders choice at the plate. Gladden followed with a pinch hit two run single for the final margin of victory.

Germantown 3 Clovis 2
Garry Templeton hit a ball that just curled inside the foul pole for a two run homer in the seventh to give the Grays all they would need. Finley picked up the win, his 11th, while Montgomery shut the door in the ninth for his 22nd save.

Clovis takes 5 of 7 from Germantown in an altogether thoroughly entertaining series.

Always a good series when Manhattan (80-42) and Missouri (55-67) match up….

Missouri 4, Manhattan 3
Williams, 2B, BB, 2 RBI
Galarraga H, BB, 2 RBI
Dawson PH 2-run HR in the loss
Injury: MGH – C. James (5 days)

Manhattan 7, Missouri 3
Yount 3 hits, 2 HR, BB, 2 RS, 3 RBI
Dawson HR, BB, 2 RS, RBI
Jacoby 2 hits, solo HR
Sax solo HR
Welch (W 21-2!) 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K

Missouri 3, Manhattan 0
Galarraga 2 hits, 2 HR, 2 RS, 3 RBI
Bielecki CG, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
G. Harris 7 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Manhattan 10, Missouri 9 – 11 Innings
Bears blow 8-1 lead, 7-run 5th for the Hornets
Yount 3B, RS, 3 RBI
Dawsom 3 hits, BB, RS
Reed 3 hits, 2 2B, RS, RBI

Missouri 6, Manhattan 2
Sierra 2B, BB, RS, 3 RBI
Newman 2 hits, BB, 2 rS
Melvin 2 hits, 2B, RS, 2 RBI
Morris 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

Missouri 2, Manhattan 0
Williams & Carter 2 hits, BB, RBI each
Burkett 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K

Missouri 3, Manhattan 1
Bonds 2 solo HR, BB
Sierra 2 hits, 2B, solo HR
Leibrandt 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Bears somehow take 5 of 7 from the Gas Hornets.

Eight game set between the Stars and the Juggernauts.

Game one goes to Detroit, scoring three runs in the first and cruising to a 6-2 win.

Three errors cost the Juggernauts as the Stars win game two 5-3.

Harkey goes 7.1 in a quality start as Detroit takes game three 6-3.

Detroit gets another quality start and wins game four 4-1.

Errors plague the Juggernauts and they lose game five of the series 8-2.

Detroit rolls in game six 10-0 and Neidlinger wins his fifth game of the season, going 8 shutout innings.

Janesville almost puts together a good game in game seven but loses it 4-3. In game eight, it was never a contest as the Stars sweep the Juggernauts winning game eight 9-4.

Detroit rolls in Janesville, while the Juggernauts look forward to next year. Up next for Detroit is the Cedar Park Bears at home while Janesville hits the road against the Montana Cutthroats.

Fort Worth heads west to take on 2nd Place California. It is the second of four post all-star break series the two teams will face off.

California’s offense comes alive to beat Fort Worth 5 games to 2.