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Fremont @ Pittsburgh
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Bizarre opening series for Pittsburgh. The good: Pittsburgh takes the first 6 games from Fremont, before losing the final game. In game #3, Anibal Sanchez pitches arguably the best game in MWBL history... his stat line: 12 IP, 0 Hits, 4 BB, 9 K. Yes, ZERO hits in twelve innings - a near Harvey Haddix-like performance! Unfortunately the Pittsburgh bats could not get a run home for him so I had to yank him from a no-hitter in the 13th inning. Hanrahan promptly gave up a hit to ruin the no-hitter, but Chase Headley knocked home Lucroy in the 14th to finally seal the 1-0 shutout win. Needless to say, I wanted that no-no for Sanchez badly!! Newly drafted SP Josh Collmenter goes 8 shutout innings in his MWBL debut. The bad: In his first at-bat in his first MWBL game, Jerry Sands swats a 2 run HR, which provides all the offense in the 2-1 opening day victory... but then promptly gets hurt for 19 games. The ugly: In game 5 of the series, C Jonathan Lucroy goes down for 5 games. Then, in game 6, C J.P. Arencibia goes down for 6! So in game 7, Pedro Alvarez is forced to make his MWBL catching debut. Probably not a coincidence that it was the only game Pittsburgh lost - Alvarez allowed 2 SB and had 3 passed balls behind the dish. Ironically, he did knock in the only Lumber Company run in the 10-1 loss. |
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| Southbend @ Bethesda - Bethesda ensures themselves of not more than 160 losses this season after they take the first two of this series, but drop the rest to those crazy Script Saving South Benders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Virginia @
Coconut Creek
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The CCC pitching staff saves the Crushers from opening the season
with a losing series. The offense was very sporadic. There were 3
big outbursts that resulted in victories. There were also 4 mediocre
efforts that produced 3 losses and 1 lucky victory. In that lucky victory poor John Danks took a no-hitter into the 9th against us, only to lose it and the game in the 9th. Cahill won twice for Virginia. Garcia threw a CG 3-Hit Shutout for VIR. O'Flaherty won twice in relief for CCC. Guerrero hit .417 with 5 2B for VIR. Moreland hit .353 with 3 HR and 7 RBI for CCC. Gentry hit .667 with a .700 OBP and 5 SB in part time duty for CCC. Coconut Creek steals a 4-3 opening series win versus Virginia. |
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| Hollywood @ Severn - Hollywood takes the series 4 games to 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yonge Street @ Detroit - Detroit comes back to win the last 3 games and wins the series 4-3 over Yonge Street. James BIG GAME Shields starts off 0-2 for the season. Madison Bumgarner throws a 1 hitter and starts off 2-0. Lots of hitting in this series from both sides; Peralta hits 4 HRs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chicago @
Tijuana
- Chicago went south of the border with plenty of fresh water
and condoms (They usually get screwed down there). Head to Head
Match up. Game #1 – King Felix took the hill for the Mobsters and went 6 solid allowing only 1 earned run. Chicago pen went the last 3 allowing only 1 earned run as well. Aroldis Chapman got Prince Fielder on a called 3rd strike out in the 8th for a big out when needed. Neil Walker went 3 for 4 with two doubles. Jose Valverde picked up a save for his 1st on the season, and dedicated the ball to Mobsters long time closer Billy Wagner who made the trip with the team. Ian Kennedy gave up 3 earned in 7 innings and took the loss. Final Score: Chicago 3 – Tijuana 2 Game #2 – Chris Carpenter was masterful, spinning a 2 hit gem for the Bottle rockets. Ben Zobrist hit a solo shot, and Billy Butler has a sac fly for the 2nd run for Tijuana. C.C. Sabathia had one too many bowls of fruit loops and had some stomach issues and was taken out of the game, and held out the rest of the series with 5 day diarrhea. Aroldis Chapman struck out Prince Fielder in the 7th for the second time in two games. Final Score: Tijuana 2 - Chicago 0 Game #3 – Josh Beckett went 6 innings and picked up the win. Chicago used five relievers to finish it out. Alex Avila hit a 2 run shot in the 6th off Alfredo Aceves. Aroldis Chapman got Prince Fielder on a fly out for a big out in the 7th. Alex Ogando didn’t look sharp, but the quick hook of Dave Meyers was questioned by the starter. Final Score: Chicago 6 – Tijuana 2 Game #4 – Tijuana bounced back with 3 solo runs in the 1st, 3rd and 4th and Zach Grenkie was gold glove like in the field and Cy Young like on the mound. Justin Upton was 3 for 4 with a run scored. Aroldis Chapman got Prince Fielder to ground out, the 4th time he faced Fielder in 4 games. Sergio Romo picked up his 2nd save on the year for the Bottle Rockets. Final Score: Tijuana 3 - Chicago 2 Game #5 – Felix Hernandez started on 3 days rest and pitched a very solid 7 innings allowing only 1 earned run. Teddy Lilly pitched solid, but Alfredo Aceves let up a 2 run Home Run to Delmon Young in the 5th that put Chicago out in front 3 to 1. Chapman faced fielder in the 8th and got the big man for the 5th time in 5 games. Final Score: Chicago 6 – Tijuana 1 Game #6 – Was disastrous for the Mobsters in the fact that Chipper Jones and Alex Avila both got hurt chasing a foul ball. Jones was listed as out 5 games and Avila 2. However the Mobsters brought out their running game and swiped 6 bags of Humberto Quintero. Desmond Jennings was 3 for 5 with two doubles and two stolen bases. Aroldis Chapman struck out Prince Fielder in the 7th getting him for the 6th time in 6 games. Egulio De La Cruz picked up with win and Valverde his 2nd save on the year. He kept the ball this time. Final Score: Chicago 5 – Tijuana 4 Game #7 – in another one run game the Mobsters only managed 5 hits off Chris Carpenter who went the distance for the Bottle Rockets. But Josh Beckett was solid in his second start of the year as well going 7 and a 1/3 innings. Aroldis Chapman struck out Prince Fielder in the 7th getting him for the 7th time in 7 games four times with strikeouts. Final Score: Chicago 2 – Tijuana 1 |
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| Dallas @ Elyria - Elyria sweeps Dallas in Elyria. A good start to the season. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Manhattan
@
Motor City
- Manhattan Project journeys to the Motor City and takes 5 of
7, making it well worth the trip. Game 1: 5-2 MAN; Dexter Fowler is the star with 4 RBI on two HRs (3-R and solo) WP--WOrley LP--Karstens Game 2: 4-3 MCM; C. Young hit a two run shot, and Giovatella hit an RBI 1B in the bottom of the ninth for Motor City. WP--Below LP--Ramirez Game 3: 8-1 MAN; Jackson is the hitting star, while Simon shuts down the MCM offense. WP--Simon LP--Sanchez Game 4: 2-1 MAN; a hearbreaker for MCM, as Morton takes a no-hitter into the 6th, only to see it broken up with a solid single by Jackson. Schumaker solo HR and Freeman scores on E1 in top of 12th. Rosales SF cuts the lead in half, but Flores is cut down at home with the tying run in the bottom of the inning and MCM falls just short. WP--Bergesen LP--Herndon Game 5: 9-3 MAN; Schumaker, Fowler and Jackson again stand out for Manhattan. Wallace's 3-R HR the only offense for MCM, Bergesen tried to let MCM back in it, but their offense did not accept the gift . WP--Duffy LP--Batista Game 6: 2-1 MAN; Worley squeeze bunt RBI is the difference in a well-pitched game. WP--Worley LP--Karstens Game 7: 5-0 MCM; Wallace, Trout, and Figgins shine for MCM in the finale.Leake pitches well for second time in series. WP--Leake LP--Blackburn |
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| Iron City @ Jersey - Rough start for the Nor'easters as they lose 5 of 7 to Iron City | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bay State @ Valdosta - The Minutemen take 4 of 7 in Valdosta in a battle of rebuilding teams. Tony Gwynn, Jr. looked like his old man as hit .407 with a pair of HR's and 7 RBI's. Craig Kimbrell saved all 3 Snappers wins. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Long Beach @
Clovis
- Dirt Bags come to town for
a quick little seven gamer to open the season. Game 1 Chris Heisey does his impression of a Baltimore special with a 4 run bomb to break up a 1-1 pitchers duel between Jimenez and Gonzalez. Clovis takes the opener 4-1. Game 2 Reyes doubles in a pair and Bard and Bourjos chip in with big flies to lead Clovis to a 4-2 win. Bailey never lost touch with the strike zone and set down 9 via the K over 6.2 innings while Wilson picked up his second save. Game 3 Bourjos ripped a 2 out double in the bottom of the eighth that plated Ryan Theriot and break a three all tie. Samardzija picked up the win and Wilson notched his third save for the Wheat Kings. Game 4 Wheat King manager outsmarts himself when Brent Morel rips a three run blast off Wilson with two outs in the ninth to send the game into extra frames. Clovis had foolishly burned through the entire bullpen by that point necessitating leaving Wilson on the mound for 4.2 innings before he ran out of gas completely. Espinosa and Coughlan put the final nails in the coffin with a couple of 13th inning rbi's to give Long Beach their first win of the young season. Game 5 Dirt Bags come back for their second in a row blasting the Wheat Kings 6-1. Overbay put one into the cheap seats in the first and Long Beach never looked back behind the arm of Brett Anderson who looked sharp through 6. Ramirez chipped in with 3 ribbies on a couple of hits. Game 6 Gonzalez was solid again as Clovis put one in the win column 4-2 over the Dirt Bags. Bard led a 10 hit attack with his second homer of the season for the Kings. Game 7 Wheat Kings bring home the bacon and cap a successful first week with a 7-6 to take the series 5 games to two. Belt ripped a three run shot to pace the home team, McDonald blasted a 3 run shot of his own in the 8th to make it interesting before Samardzija shut the door in the ninth when Wilson couldn't answer the bell. Next week Long Beach heads east to Valdosta while the Wheat Kings take the charter bus up the 99 to Roseville for 7 games. |
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Camarillo @ Sacramento
- Division rivals Sacramento and Camarillo face each other to
launch the 2012 season. Over the 7-game set, Sacramento outscored Camarillo 15-11 … four games decided by one run and every game a pitcher’s duel. The difference in the series: Game 3, Bautista injured for 4 games—the rest of the series. Sacramento took the series 5-2 with a 1.13 ERA,.181 BA and 5 HR, while Daniel Murphy heads to the DL. Camarillo finished with a 2.11 ERA, .147 BA and 3 HR. Bautista, the potential successor to Pujols as MVP, was held to 7 AB for the series. |
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Owensboro @
Roseville
- Roseville opens the season at home vs Owensboro Hamels pitches a gem in game 1 and Owensboro wins 1-0. Games 2 - 4 see the Owensboro bats unload on Roseville for 10, 9, and 8 runs, while taking a 4-0 series lead. Roseville shows a bit of pride and wins the last two. Visiting Owensboro takes the series 4 games to 2. |
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West Coast @ Tempe
- Pitching dominated the West Coast and Tempe series as each team
hit below .220. G1 - TEM 2-1 Aces Josh Johnson and Matt Cain pitched to a 1-1 draw with Tempe finally winning it in the bottom of the 9th. Tempe lost its best pinch hitter when Duda was hit in the head . He'll keep his MWBL career 1.000 avg (2011) for another 16 days (DL). G2 - TEM 4-0 McCarthy went 6 scoreless innings and the bullpen sealed the shutout. G3 - TEM 5-2 Stauffer limped through five innings and the pen preserved the win G4 - TEM 6-2 Tempe scored six in the first three innings off Tomlin and then coasted behind Chacin G5 - WCS 4-3 Back and forth game with the Swing taking the lead in the 4th, 8th, and finally in the 9th. The run in the 9th coming on a walk and two stolen bases by Bogusevic. Jasper Nelson had the Swing running and stole 10 bases during the series. Repko was injured for 12 games. G6 - WCS 4-0 Josh Johnson took a no-hitter in the 7th and Trumbo slugged a two run HR in the 8th to put the game out of reach. G7 - TEM 8-5 in 12 Innings. Awesome finish to a very competitive series. West Coast jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st but Granderson tied it in the bottom of the 1st with a two run HR. Tempe went on top 3-2 in the 2nd on pinch hit single by Gillespie, but the swing tied it on a Cuddyer double and Zimmerman single in the 3rd. In the 7th, Victorino walked with the bases loaded, but the Swing weren't able to score any more. Tempe tied it in the bottom of the 8th on a solo hr by Pence. The Swing went back on top in the 11th with a Jasper Nelson suicide squeeze. But Tempe was able to tie it in the bottom of the 11th and then get a walk off three run homerun by Granderson in the 12th. Granderson only had four hits in the series but they were all home runs and he drove in eight RBI. MVP of the series was Hunter Pence - .474 avg, 567 OBP 875 SLG with 2 HR, 4 2B, and 8 runs. Josh Johnson and Matt Cain each pitched 12 innings with a .75 era. |
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Elyria's -
Pablo Sandoval
Chicago's -
Josh Beckett
Baystate's -
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Sacramento's -
Colby Lewis