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SECOND ROUND October 19-21, 2004 |
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The Orange Crush struck first in Game 1, as Milton Bradley, Corey Koskie and Geoff Jenkins led off the top 3rd with consecutive singles off Ismael Valdes. Jose Cruz Jr. (who replaced Bradley on the basepaths after a hammy tweak that had Milton out for the remainder of the series) scored on Jenkins' single, and Koskie came home on a Jorge Posada grounder to give the Crush a 2-0 lead. Cruz added a single in the top 4th that saw Melvin Mora score from second when Bulldogs catcher Mike DiFelice dropped the throw to the plate to make it 3-0. The Bulldogs closed the gap in the bottom 4th when Manny Ramirez and Chris Woodward led off with back-to-back doubles off Matt Riley and Woodward later scored on a Terrence Long single to cut the lead to 3-2. The Bulldogs' Ronnie Belliard hit a leadoff homer in the bottom 5th to tie the game at 3-3. The Crush retook the lead in the top 6th on an RBI single by Jenkins off Mark Malaska, but DiFelice atoned for his earlier error in the bottom 6th with a two-run double to give Chicago their first lead of the game at 5-4. The Crush tied the game again in the top 8th when Posada delivered a two-out RBI double off Chad Fox to score Koskie. The game went to the 12th inning, where the Crush jumped on the Bulldogs' pen in the top frame. Frank Thomas hit a leadoff double off Steve Sparks and moved to third on a Victor Martinez single. Jayson Stark took over on the hill and proceeded to give up an RBI single to Cruz and RBI double to Koskie, and the Crush had a 7-5 lead. Stark walked Jenkins to load the bases with nobody out, and Rheal Cormier surrendered a single to Posada that scored two more. Danys Baez pitched a 1-2-3 bottom 12, and the Crush had a 9-5 victory. Game 2 was another tight contest, though it didn't start out that way. The Crush pounded Salomon Torres for four runs in the bottom 1st, as Posada hit an RBI single and Hank Blalock followed with a three-run homer. The Bulldogs got solo homers from Casey Blake in the top 2nd and Derrek Lee in the top 6th off Joel Pineiro to cut the lead to 4-2. In the top 7th, Belliard led off and reached first on a Koskie error, and Ramon Hernandez jerked a two-run shot to left to tie the game and chase Pineiro. Two outs later, Blake hit his second homer of the game, this time off Octavio Dotel, and the Bulldogs had a 5-4 lead. The Crush tied the game in the bottom 7th on a leadoff homer by J.D. Drew that ended Torres' day, and two outs later, Posada went deep to right-center off Sparks to put the Crush back on top at 6-5. But in the top 8th, Matt Franco hit a two-out pinch-double off Baez, and Hernandez crushed a 3-2 pitch deep down the left-field line for his second two-run homer of the day to give Chicago a 7-6 lead. The Crush loaded the bases with one out in the bottom 8th, but Malaska got pinch-hitter Robbie Hammock to hit into a 4-2-3 DP to end the threat. The Crush threatened again in the top 9th, as Cruz hit a two-out single to move pinch-runner Andy Fox to second. Travis Driskill came in from the bullpen and struck out Mora on three pitches to preserve the 7-6 win for the Bulldogs and force a Game 3. The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead in Game 3 as Lee and Ramirez hit back-to-back solo shots off Eric Milton with two out in the bottom 1st. Long added a solo homer in the bottom 4th to make it a 3-0 game. In the top 6th, the Crush loaded the bases with nobody out off Estaban Loaiza. Loaiza got Blalock and Cruz to pop out, but Mora slapped a bases-clearing double to tie the game. Loaiza gave way to Cormier, who intentionally walked Thomas before giving up an RBI single to Milton, of all people, and the Crush had a 4-3 lead. Milton pitched into the 7th, and it proved the Crush's undoing. Warren Morris hit a one-out pinch-single in the bottom 7th and scored on a Belliard double to tie the game. With two out, Derrek Lee got hold of a 1-0 Milton delivery and parked it over the fence in left-center to give Chicago a two-run lead. Sparks threw two innings of scoreless relief for the save, and the Bulldogs had a 6-4 victory and the honor of being the only Junior Circuit club to advance to the Quarterfinal Round. G1: ORA 9 @ BUL 5 (12) G2: BUL 7 @ ORA 6 G3: ORA 4 @ BUL 6
The Pythons gained the early advantage in Game 1 when Richard Hidalgo hit an RBI triple off Livan Hernandez and then scored on a Preston Wilson grounder to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead. The Nessmen got a run back in the bottom 1st on a solo homer by Eric Young off Jerome Williams, but the Pythons got the run right back in the top 2nd on an RBI single by Benito Santiago. The Nessies tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom 3rd when Young hit his second homer of the game, this time a two-run shot, and L.A. went up 5-3 in the bottom 5th as Brooks Kieschnick batted for Hernandez and pasted a two-run homer into the right-field stands. Gerald Laird made it a 7-3 game in the bottom 6th with a two-run double that spelled the end of Williams' game, and Ken Griffey greeted reliever Arthur Rhodes with an RBI single to make it 8-3. The Nessmen scored three more in the bottom 7th off Juan Cruz and tacked on another in the bottom 8th on the way to a 12-3 rout. In Game 2, The Pythons' Craig Monroe opened the bottom 2nd with a leadoff single off Mark Mulder. Jeff Kent then hit into what should've been a DP grounder, but Carlos Guillen's throw to first sailed wide, and Kent advanced to second on the play. Wil Cordero followed with an infield single to put men on the corners, and Santiago lined a single to right to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. That unearned run proved to be enough, as Victor Zambrano pitched six innings of four-hit ball and Brad Lidge and Eric Gagne held the Nessies scoreless over the final three to protect the 1-0 victory and force a decisive Game 3. They say it never rains in Southern California, but Game 3 was a damp affair, as the start of the game was delayed nearly 90 minutes. The Nessmen took the early advantage in the bottom 2nd. Reggie Sanders led off with a single off Tim Hudson, then stole second and advanced to third when Santiago's throw sailed into center. Adrian Beltre followed with an RBI double, and Young hit a single to center to put men on the corners for Laird, who grounded into a run-scoring DP to make it 2-0. The Pythons tied the game in the top 3rd when, after another 41-minute rain delay, Angel Berroa jacked a two-out, two-run shot off Brian Lawrence. And there the game stayed through the rest of regulation and into extra frames, until the bottom of the 12th, when the Pythons had to sit Gagne after three innings of perfect work and bring in Turk Wendell. Wendell gave up a one-out walk to Jay Gibbons, who gave way to pinch-runner Mike Kinkade. Sanders then hit a single to center, and Kinkade attempted to reach third on the play. Carl Crawford -- who had just come into the game to take over center -- fired the ball to third and missed Sean Burroughs' glove, and Kinkade raced home to score the series-ending run in a 3-2 victory. G1: PYT 3 @ NES 12 G2: NES 0 @ PYT 1 G3: PYT 2 @ NES 3 (12)
The Force jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 1 when Mike Ryan hit a two-run homer in the top 1st off Carlos Zambrano. The Noise tied the game in the bottom 1st on a two-run homer by Bret Boone off Jake Peavy. The Noise took a 3-2 lead in the bottom 3rd when they loaded the bases with nobody out and Michael Tucker hit a one-out sac fly. The lead swapped again in the top 5th when Alex Rodriguez delivered a one-out RBI single with men on the corners to tie the game and Luis Gonzalez added a sac fly to give Chicago a 4-3 edge. The Noise threatened in the bottom 7th, as Dave Hansen hit a leadoff single off Ben Weber, Scott Podsednik singled off Matt Mantei and Travis Hafner was plunked to load the bases with nobody out. Mantei then walked Boone to force in the tying run, but Doug Mientkiewicz hit into a force at home and Jose Valentin flied out into a double play, as Gonzo threw a perfect strike home to nail Hafner and keep the game tied at 4-4. It stayed that way until the top 9th, when Jose Vidro drew a leadoff walk from Guillermo Mota and Bill Mueller followed with a single to put men on the corners with nobody out. One out later, A-Rod hit a grounder to third and Vidro beat the throw home to give the Force a 5-4 lead. Magglio Ordonez beat out a two-out infield single to reload the bases, and Richie Sexson lined a two-run single to center to make it a three-run game. Odalis Perez came on to pitch a scoreless bottom 9th to give the Force a 7-4 win. The Noise took an early 2-0 lead in the top 1st of Game 2, as Podsednik opened the game with a single off T.J. Tucker, Michael Tucker hit an RBI double and Boone followed with an RBI single. Jose Valentin hit a two-run homer in the top 3rd to extend the Noise lead to 4-0. Noise starter Mark Prior held the Force scoreless until the bottom 7th, when he gave up a two-out walk to Vidro with the bases loaded. The Force cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom 8th with a solo homer by Gonzo off LaTroy Hawkins, but the Force got distance in the top 9th on an RBI double by Boone off Weber and a two-base error by Mueller on a Mientkiewicz grounder that scored Boone. Hawkins pitched a 1-2-3 bottom 9th, and the Noise had a 6-2 win to force Game 3. Mike Ryan again came through for the Force in Game 3, giving the visitors the lead in the top 4th with a two-run homer off Jeff D'Amico. The Noise got a run back in the bottom 4th when Barry Zito gave up back-to-back walks to load the bases with nobody out and Hafner hit an RBI grounder to score Mark McLemore from third. It was still a 2-1 game in the top 8th when it all fell apart for the Junior upstarts. Vidro led off with a single off Hawkins and Mueller walked. After a sacrifice by Enrique Wilson, Hawkins issued a free pass to A-Rod, bringing pinch-hitter Ordonez to the plate. Ordonez slapped a two-run single to make it a 4-1 game. Sexson walked to reload the bases, and the Noise handed the ball to Damaso Marte, who proceeded to walk Ellis Burks and Jason Varitek in succession to force two more runs across. Vidro added a two-out RBI single to complete a five-run frame. The Noise got a leadoff triple from Podsednik in the bottom 8th, but stranded him, and loaded the bases in the bottom 9th with one out, only to leave them full when Podsednik flied out to left for the final out in a 7-1 Force victory that moved the AL champs into the Quarterfinal Round. G1: FOR 7 @ NOI 4 G2: NOI 6 @ FOR 2 G3: FOR 7 @ NOI 1
The Moose caught an early break in the bottom 1st of Game 1 when Juan Pierre hit a leadoff single and Possums starter Horacio Ramirez had to leave the game due to injury. Matt Roney came on to pitch, and Marlon Anderson welcomed him to the ballgame with a two-run homer. The Meat got a run back in the top 2nd on a one-out RBI triple by Tomas Perez off Vincente Padilla, but left Perez stranded at third. Pierre hit a two-out triple in the bottom 2nd off Doug Davis and Anderson followed with an RBI single to again put the Moose up by two at 3-1. Pierre struck again in the bottom 4th with a two-out RBI double to make it 4-1. The Possums scored a run in the top 5th on a Larry Walker sac fly and loaded the bases with one out, but Greg Myers grounded into a force at home and Rich Aurilia struck out to end the threat. The Moose again made it a three-run game in the bottom 5th when Jason Phillips and Scott Rolen started the frame with back-to-back doubles, then busted it wide open in the bottom 6th with a three-run inning that included an RBI double by Rolen and a two-run single by Ken Harvey off Matt Ford. The Possums made a game of it in the top 8th, scoring four runs and bringing Mike Sweeney to the plate as the potential tying run, only for the Moose to bring on John Smoltz, who struck Sweeney out and retired the side in order in the 9th to preserve an 8-6 win for the Moose. Game 2 saw Mark Redman of the Moose and the Possums' Wilson Alvarez pitch scoreless ball for the first five. The Moose broke through in the top 6th when they loaded the bases with two out and Jacque Jones found the hole on the left side for a two-run single. Redman allowed just two hits over seven innings, but the Moose gave the ball to Cal Eldred to start the bottom 8th, and the Meat capitalized. Perez hit a leadoff single and Myers drew a walk to force Eldred from the game in favor of Joe Borowski. Pinch-hitter Lou Merloni hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1 and Carlos Beltran walked to load the bases with nobody out. Borowski then struck out Alex Cora and Walker, but Albert Pujols came through with a two-run single to give the Meat Possums a 3-2 lead. The lead was short-lived, as Francisco Rodriguez started the top of the 9th for the Meat and watched Scott Rolen deposit his first pitch into the left-field bleachers to tie the game. In the bottom 9th, Sweeney drew a leadoff walk off Scott Linebrink and Perez singled to put the potential game-winning run on second with nobody out. Gregg Zaun sacrificed to move the runners 90 feet. The Moose brought in John Parrish to pitch to Merloni, and Merloni executed a perfect squeeze play, bunting to the mound as Sweeney raced home ahead of Parrish's throw to the plate for a 4-3 Possums victory. Game 3 had the Meat Possums in front early, as Walker drew a two-out walk from Kerry Wood and Pujols drilled the first pitch he saw off the Coke bottle in left-center to stake the Meat to a 2-0 lead. Sweeney added a two-out RBI single in the top 3rd to extend the lead to 3-0, and the Possums added two more in the top 5th, as they loaded the bases with one out to chase Wood and bring in Parrish, who gave up an RBI grounder to Glaus and an RBI single to Aurilia to make it 5-0. Possums starter Hideo Nomo allowed just one hit over the first four, but he ran into trouble in the bottom 5th. Damian Rolls hit a one-out solo homer to give the Moose their first run of the game, Marlon Anderson singled and stole second, and Juan Uribe slapped an RBI double to make it 5-2 and bring out the quick hook for Nomo. Gabe Kapler added a two-out pinch-single off Jason Kershner to bring Uribe home and cut the lead to 5-3. But in the top 6th, Carlos Beltran hit a leadoff double off Ray King, and Merloni followed with a bunt single to put men on the corners. One out later, King intentionally walked Pujols to load the bases, then handed off to Borowski. The usual closer proved ill-suited in a middle-relief role, as Sweeney hit into an RBI force for the second out before Myers slapped an RBI single and Glaus smacked a two-run double to give the Possums a 9-3 lead. The Moose had some cause for hope in the bottom 6th, as Jones, Phillips and Rolls hit consecutive one-out singles off Travis Harper to load the bases and Anderson walked to force in a run. But the Possums brought in Roney to face Uribe, who lined into an inning-ending double play at third to sound the death knell for the Moose. Manchester limped through the final three frames in a fog as the Possums scored a 9-4 victory and a place in the Quarterfinal Round. G1: MEA 6 @ MOO 8 G2: MOO 3 @ MEA 4 G3: MEA 9 @ MOO 4
The Gridlock took an early 2-0 lead in the top 1st of Game 1 on a two-run homer by Jason Giambi off Tim Wakefield. Cliff Floys added a two-out RBI single in the top 2nd to extend the lead to 3-0. In the bottom 2nd, Jose Guillen hit a leadoff single off Kyle Snyder and scored one out later on an RBI double by Bernie Williams to give the Gridlock their first run, and Williams scored when Julio Lugo hit a grounder to third and Eric Chavez threw the ball away on what should have been the third out, cutting the lead to 3-2. In the top 5th, a one-out walk to Floyd spelled the end of Wakefield's day, as Ron Mahay came into the game. Matt Kata greeted Mahay with a double to put two men in scoring position, and Mahay then walked Giambi and Chavez to force in a run before Shawn Green cleared the bags with a double to cap a four-run frame and give the Gridlock a 7-2 lead. But the Quicksteps stormed back in the bottom 6th, as Ryan Klesko hit a leadoff single, Guillen doubled, Aubrey Huff hit an RBI grounder and Chris Michaels hit an RBI double to make it 7-4. Snyder was pulled for Ricky Stone, who gave up a single to Todd Hundley and a two-run homer to Lugo to tie the game at 7-7. The game looked headed to extras when Paul Shuey got the first two Quicksteps out in the bottom 9th, but Placido Polanco grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a single, and Klesko followed with a double down the first-base line to score Polanco and give Wilmington an 8-7 comeback victory. Game 2 also proved to be a nail-biter. The Gridlock took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 2nd on a leadoff homer by Chavez off Jose Contreras. In the bottom 6th, Marquis Grissom hit an RBI double and Alex S. Gonzalez added an RBI single to make it a 3-0 game. Meanwhile, Gridlock starter Roy Halladay mowed down the first 22 batters before a one-out double in the top 8th by Huff broke up his bid for a perfect game. From there, it got worse for Halladay, as Paul Lo Duca beat out a two-out infield single to keep the inning alive and Lugo followed with an RBI single to give the Steps their first run. Wilmington brought in Todd Hundley as a pinch-hitter, and the Gridlock countered by pulling Halladay in favor of Stephen Randolph. The Steps pulled Hundley back and sent Phil Nevin to the plate in his stead, and Nevin jerked a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right to give Wilmington an unlikely 4-3 lead. The Gridlock tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom 8th off Mike Koplove, as Grissom and Brian Schneider started the inning with singles and pinch-hitter Marco Scutaro drove Grissom home one out later with a single. The game went to extras, where the Steps took a 5-4 lead in the top 11th on an RBI double by Polanco off Mike Crudale. Wilmington sent Byung-Hyun Kim to the hill for the bottom 11th to nail down the win, but Scutaro came through again with a leadoff double and Floyd beat out an infield single to put men on the corners with nobody out. Kata hit into a force at second that failed to bring the tying run home, but with Giambi coming to the plate, the Steps opted to pull Kim and give the ball to lefty Jamie Walker. Giambi hit a grounder to second that should've ended the game and the series, but Jerry Hairston muffed the play, allowing Scutaro to score the tying run and keeping the inning alive. Brandon Larson followed with a single to load the bases, and Green singled home Kata to give the Gridlock a 6-5 win and send the series back to Wilmington for Game 3. As tight as the first two games were, Game 3 proved anticlimactic. Gridlock starter Elmer Dessens hit a two-out RBI single in the top 2nd off Matt Clement to give himself a 1-0 lead to work with, but he surrendered that advantage in the bottom frame when Lo Duca hit an RBI single to tie the game. In the bottom 4th, Guillen hit a leadoff double and Dessens had to leave the game with an elbow strain. In came Justin Speier, and the Steps tore into him. Huff walked, Williams hit an RBI double and Lo Duca hit a two-run double to give the Quicksteps a 4-1 lead. Lugo then struck out for the second out to bring Clement to the plate, and Clement sent an 0-2 pitch deep to left for a two-run homer to cap a five-run frame. Wilmington added two more in the bottom 5th off Randolph, as Klesko hit a leadoff homer and Lo Duca later added an RBI grounder, and the rout was on. Both teams added single runs in the 6th, but in the bottom 7th, the Steps tacked on another four, capped by a two-run single by Polanco, and the Quicksteps went on to a resounding 13-2 win to advance to the Quarterfinal Round. G1: GRI 7 @ QUI 8 G2: QUI 5 @ GRI 6 (11) G3: GRI 2 @ QUI 13
The Nomads took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 2nd of Game 1 as Aaron Guiel hit a leadoff double off Nelson Cruz and scored from third one out later on an Aaron Boone grounder. Guiel was back at the plate in the bottom 3rd with two out and men on the corners when he hit a foul pop that Wilson Delgado dropped. Guiel capitalized on the second chance, lining an RBI single into right to make it 2-0. Raul Ibanez added a solo homer in the bottom 4th to extend the lead. As for the Cardinals, they managed just three singles against Nomads starter Josh Beckett, as the Nads took Game 1 handily, 3-0. Game 2, by contrast, was an epic tilt. The Cards grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st when Nomads starter Nate Cornejo fielded a two-out grounder by Bobby Abreu and threw it away for a two-base error, and Ben Molina followed with an RBI single. The Nads got the run back in the top 4th on a solo homer by Mike Lowell off Bruce Chen. In the top 5th, Cards third baseman Jolbert Cabrera muffed what should've been an inning-ending DP grounder by Reed Johnson, and Nomar Garciaparra singled to load the bases with one out. Chen then walked Ivan Rodriguez to force in the go-ahead run and Lowell hit a sac fly to put the Nomads up 3-1. The Cards got a run back in the bottom frame when Jack Wilson hit a leadoff double and Randy Winn brought him home one out later with an RBI single. The Nomads made it 4-2 in the top 6th on a leadoff homer by Josh Phelps, but the Cards again closed to within a run in the bottom 6th on a leadoff dinger by Molina. In the bottom 7th, Jack Wilson hit a leadoff single and Chris Magruder followed with an RBI pinch-double to tie the game at 4-4. Winn then singled to put men on the corners with nobody out, and Cornejo gave way to Paul Quantrill. Tino Martinez and Bobby Abreu tagged Quantrill for RBI singles, and Molina added a sac fly to give the Cards a 7-4 lead. The top of the 9th saw Brendan Donnelly return to the hill for a second inning of work to close out the win for the Cards, but it wouldn't be that easy. Ibanez led off with a single and went to second as Tsuyoshi Shinjo bobbled the ball in right. One out later, Guiel delivered a pinch-double to cut the lead to 7-5. Garciaparra followed with an RBI triple to make it 7-6, and I-Rod smacked an RBI double to tie the game. So they went to extras, and in the top 14th, Garciaparra hit a leadoff triple off Jeff Nelson and scored one out later on an RBI single by Lowell to give the Nomads an 8-7 lead. Shiggy Hasegawa started his second inning of work in the bottom 14th, and Jared Sandberg hit a one-out double to put the tying run aboard. Winn grounded out to move Sandberg to third with two out, and Tino drew a walk to bring Geronimo Gil to the plate. Gil lined a double to right-center to tie the game, and Tino rounded third and headed home. Right fielder Jason Bay relayed to Boone, who threw a perfect strike to I-Rod, and the catcher held on as Tino collided violently with him at the plate. I-Rod had to leave the game, but they headed to the 15th tied at 8-8. The Nomads went back on top in the top 15th on a two-out pinch-homer by John Flaherty off Hector Mercado. So the Nomads sent Brian Tallet to the mound to pitch the bottom 15th, and Raul Gonzalez led off by pounding a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left to again tie the game at 9-9. With two out, Luis Ugueto beat out an infield single off Gabe White and stole both second and third, but Jack Wilson struck out, and the game continued. Finally, in the bottom 17th, Gonzalez hit a one-out single off David Weathers and moved to second on a two-out walk to Coco Crisp. Ugueto grounded an 0-1 pitch between first and second, and Gonzalez raced home ahead of the throw to give the Cards a 10-9 win. Game 3 had the Cards up 1-0 in the top 1st, as Winn hit a one-out single off Dontrelle Willis and Moises Alou followed with a single to center, with Johnson taking third and then scoring when Reed Johnson's throw to the bag went wide. In the top 4th, Sandberg hit a leadoff single, Gil walked and Abreu hit an RBI single to make it 2-0. Wilson then grounded into a DP that scored Gil to extend the lead to 3-0. In the top 5th, Alou drew a leadoff walk and scored one out later on a Sandberg triple. Gil then doubled to score Sandberg, then scored himself on a two-out single by Cards starter Randy Johnson off reliever Jeremy Griffiths to make it 6-0. The Nomads chipped away at the lead, scoring a single run in the bottom 5th on an RBI single by Lowell and two more in the bottom 7th when Lowell smacked a two-run homer. But despite bringing the tying run to the plate in the 8th and 9th, the Nomads could score no more, and when Phelps grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 DP in the bottom 9th, the Cards had a 6-3 win and were headed to the Quarterfinal Round, having won both of their series after losing the first game in each. G1: CAR 0 @ NOM 3 G2: NOM 9 @ CAR 10 (17) G3: CAR 6 @ NOM 3
The matchup between the World Champions and the Federal League's fourth-place team looked like a mismatch on paper, and it proved to be on the field, as well, in what was the least dramatic of the Second Round series. In the top 3rd of Game 1, Mark Loretta hit a leadoff double off Garrett Stephenson, Edgar Renteria singled and Barry Bonds was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Jim edmonds then hit a fly to right that Shannon Stewart dropped for a two-base error, staking the Finns to a 2-0 lead. Dmitri Young hit an RBI single to make it 3-0 and chase Stephenson. Jung Bong immediately gave up an RBI single to Sammy Sosa and Chad Moeller added another RBI single one out later, and the Finns had a 5-0 lead. Loretta added a two-run single off Dan Wright in the top 5th to extend the Finns' lead to 7-0. Finns starter threw five innings of two-hit ball, Jay Witasick chipped in a perfect inning of relief, and John Halama held the Dogs to just three singles in picking up the three-inning save in a 7-0 thrashing. The Finns took a 1-0 lead in Game 2 in the bottom 2nd on a solo homer by Young off Jason Johnson. Renteria added RBI singles in the 3rd and 4th to boost the Finns' lead to 3-0. Finns starter Russ Ortiz held Boston to just two singles in 6.1 innings of work, and three Finns relievers retired the remaining eight batters in order, as the Finns won 3-0 to advance to the Quarterfinal Round handily. G1: FIN 7 @ DIR 0 G2: DIR 0 @ FIN 3
The Crown Royals took a 1-0 lead in the top 2nd of Game 1 on a solo homer by Joe Vitiello off Johan Santana, and Rafael Palmeiro hit a two-run shot in the top 3rd to put the Royals ahead by three. The Bandits knotted the game in the bottom 4th, as Ramon Vazquez hit a leadoff homer off Javier Vazquez, Mike Cameron hit a two-out double and Fred McGriff parked one in the stands just to the left of the right-field pole. The Royals retook the lead in the top 6th when Palmeiro led off with his second homer of the game, spelling the end of Santana's hill stint. But the Bandits took a 5-4 lead in the bottom 6th when Lance Berkman hit a leadoff single and Cameron rocketed a souvenir into the right-field stands. In the top 8th, the Royals' Andrew Jones hit a leadoff single off Kyle Farnsworth and Tony Batista followed with a blast into the stands down the left-field line to give Toronto a 6-5 lead. Royals reliever Oscar Villarreal faced the minimum six batters over the final two, and the Royals had a 6-5 win in Game 1. Game 2 shaped up as a classic pitching duel between the Bandits' Randy Wolf and the Royals' Curt Schilling. The game's first run didn't come until the bottom 5th, when Alex Escobar tagged Wolf for a two-out solo shot to give Toronto the advantage. Schilling allowed just three singles over the first five, but he unraveled in the top 6th, as Ramon Vazquez, Adam Kennedy, Berkman and McGriff started the inning with singles, with Berkman's scoring the tying run and McGriff's giving the visitors a 2-1 lead. Then Cameron ripped an RBI double and Ichiro Suzuki added a sac fly, and the Bandits had a 4-1 cushion. The Royals cut the lead to a single run in the bottom 7th when Juan Gonzalez came off the bench to hit a two-out, two-run homer off Kevin Gregg. The Bandits took a 4-3 lead into the bottom 9th when Batista led off with a double off Gregg. Tony Armas came in to pitch, and one out later, Luis Castillo hit an RBI double to tie the game at 4-4. A.J. Pierzynski then lined a single to center, and Castillo raced home to give Toronto a 5-4 win and a series sweep to advance to the Quarterfinal Round. |
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