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PRELIMINARY ROUND October 8-10, 2004 |
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The Cyclones came into this series still reeling after losing
their last seven games of the season against the Bulldogs to surrender the
final spot in the promotional playoffs to Chicago. Their tailspin
continued in Game 1 of their series with the Wolverines, as San Mateo
erased a 4-0 deficit in the top 7th with a six-run frame -- highlighted by
a two-run double by Wes Helms that tied the game -- and went on to a 6-5
victory. The Cyclones suffered the additional blow of losing Brad Penny to
injury after four innings of scoreless ball in Game 2, but the Clones
bullpen held firm as the score remained 0-0 until the top 11th, when
Cartersville’s Trot Nixon delivered an RBI single for the first run of
the game. The Wolverines loaded the bases in the bottom 11th with one out,
but Trey Hodges struck out Royce Clayton and got Ron Calloway to hit a
grounder back to the mound to force a Game 3. In the final game at
Cartersville, the Cyclones scored four in the bottom 3rd, then added seven
more in the bottom 4th – thanks largely to three-run homers by Orlando
Hudson and Chad Everett – to take an 11-1 lead. The Wolverines answered
with three-run innings in the 5th and 6th to scratch back to within four,
but Hudson added a two-run homer in the bottom 7th to put Cartersville at
a safe distance and into the First Round. G1: WOL 6 @ CYC 5 G2: CYC 1 @ WOL 0 (11) G3: WOL 9 @ CYC 13
The Giants’ pitching staff was in shambles at the start of
the series, with only five arms eligible. The Beavers got a two-run homer
from Mike Piazza off starter Kevin Jarvis in the top 4th of Game 1 on the
way to a three-run frame, coasting to a 6-2 away victory behind the arm of
Brad Radke. Game 2 saw the Giants take a 3-2 lead in the top 4th , thanks
largely to two wild pitches by Freddy Garcia – the second on a swinging
third strike – and a Todd Zeile error. But the brave seven-inning effort
of Piedmont middle reliever Duaner Sanchez in a starting role went for
naught in the bottom 8th when Mike Nakamura allowed a leadoff single to
Jeff Conine, followed by an RBI triple by Ruben Sierra to tie the game and
a sac fly by Zeile to give the Beavers a 4-3 lead. Joe Mays struck out
Larry Bigbie with two out in the top 9th to complete 2.1 innings of
perfect relief and advance the Beavers to the First Round. G1: BEA 6 @ GIA 2 G2: GIA 3 @ BEA 4
The Dirt Dogs scored a 7-0 home victory in Game 1, as Vernon
Wells hit a two-run homer off Kaz Ishii in the bottom 4th for the game’s
first runs and added an RBI single in a three-run 5th. Carlos Delgado had
a two-run jack in the bottom 8th for the game’s final runs, and Greg
Maddux and Ugueth Urbina combined on the six-hit shutout. In Game 2, the
D’Dogs’ Vinny Castilla started the scoring with a solo homer off Jason
Davis in the top 2nd, and Boston went on to score three more in the frame
after a two-out error by Omar Infante kept the inning alive. Jimmy Rollins
scratched a run back for the Sluggers in the bottom 2nd with a leadoff
homer off Kip Wells, and Louisville added another run in the bottom 5th on
a Luis Terrero sac fly to cut the lead to 4-2. But in the top 6th,
Boston’s Cesar Izturis went deep off Todd Wellemeyer for a two-run
homer. Wells handed the ball to Armando Benitez in the bottom 9th having
held the Sluggers to five hits, and Benitez toughed out a scoreless inning
to put the Dirt Dogs into the First Round. G1: SLU 0 @ DIR 7 G2: DIR 6 @ SLU 2
In Game 1, the Raccoons took advantage of a two-out error by
shortstop Adam Everett in the top 2nd and went on to score three, as Coons
starter Kevin Brown smacked an RBI double off Jorge DePaula and Barry
Larkin followed with a two-run double. Brown’s baserunning seemed to
affect his mound work in the bottom 2nd, as Randall Simon led off with a
single, Tom Goodwin doubled to put two men in scoring position, Brett
Mayne drew a walk that saw ball four sail wide, allowing Simon to score,
and Pablo Ozuna added a sac fly to cut Arizona’s lead to 3-2. But the
Raccoons gained a run back in the top 3rd when Darin Erstad came to bat
with the bases loaded and hit into a run-scoring force out. And in the top
5th, the Coons’ Jeff Bagwell added an RBI double to give Arizona some
unnecessary insurance. In Game 2, an hour-long rain delay in the top 1st
ended scheduled Underdogs starter Chris George’s day before it ever
began, as he tightened up on the bench and forced the U’Dogs to send
Carlos Silva to the hill for the home half of the frame. Erstad greeted
Silva with a leadoff double, Eric Hinske singled to put men on the
corners, and Bagwell delivered a three-run homer one out later to give
Arizona a 3-0 lead. That was all Raccoons starter Kevin Millwood needed,
as he held the Underdogs to just three hits for the shutout victory and
safe passage to the First Round for Arizona. |
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