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SEMIFINAL ROUND October 25-27, 2004 |
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The AL Champion Chicago Force, having been denied the 2004 ISBL title by the St. Louis Finns in the Senior World Series, sought to gain some additional hardware, entering their Semifinal Round series as the prohibitive favorite against the Toronto Crown Royals, who despite a respectable 85-77 regular season record finished in fourth place in the AL, a full 22 games back of the Force. The Royals got off to a fast start in Game 1, as Luis Castillo beat out a grounder to starter Barry Zito for a leadoff single and A.J. Pierzynski homered deep to right to stake the visitors to a 2-0 lead. The Force got a run back in the bottom 1st, as Tike Redman hit a leadoff double off Javier Vazquez and AL MVP Bill Mueller followed one out later with an RBI double. The Royals made it 3-1 in the top 2nd when Miguel Tejada hit a leadoff double and Castillo brought him home with a two-out RBI single. Then in the top 4th, the Royals staged an impressive two-out rally, as Castillo singled to put men on first and second, Pierzynski delivered an RBI single and Alex Escobar smashed a three-run homer to right-center to give the Royals a 7-1 lead and chase Zito. Still, the Force made small gains in the ensuing innings, scoring single runs in the bottom of the 4th (RBI grounder by Luis Gonzalez), 5th (Redman sac fly) and 7th (Jason Tyner sac fly) to close the gap to 7-4. Then in the bottom 9th, the Force attempted to stage a dramatic comeback. Magglio Ordonez drew a leadoff walk from Oscar Villarreal and Sexson singled to put two aboard with nobody out. The Royals turned to closer Billy Wagner, who got Jason Varitek to fly out before walking Brian Jordan to load the bases with one out. Redman followed with an RBI single to make it a two-run game and move the potential tying run into scoring position. Wagner then settled down, catching both Jose Vidro and Mueller swinging to preserve a 7-5 victory for Toronto. Game 2 saw the Force grab the early advantage in the top 1st, as Redman drew a leadoff walk from Curt Schilling, Mueller hit a one-out single to move Castillo to third, and Gonzo hit a sac fly to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. In the bottom 1st, Castillo hit a double off T.J. Tucker to start the frame. One out later, Tucker turned into Rick Ankiel, plunking Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro and Tejada in succession to force in the tying run. Andruw Jones then hit a two-run single, and the Royals had a 3-1 lead. The Force climbed back to within a run in the top 2nd on a leadoff homer by John Vander Wal, then tied the game at 3-3 in the top 5th on a leadoff homer by Vidro. But in the bottom 5th, Juan Gonzalez and Palmeiro hit leadoff singles, Tejada hit an RBI double and Jones knocked in another with a grounder to give Toronto a 5-3 cushion. Again the Force battled back, scoring in the top 6th when Varitek hit a two-out single and pinch-hitter Justin Morneau ripped an RBI double to tighten the scoreline to 5-4. In the top 7th, the Royals again put Villarreal on the hill, and Vidro, Mueller and Gonzo hit consecutive singles to load the bases with nobody out. Alex Rodriguez hit a long sac fly to right, scoring Vidro to tie the game and moving Mueller to third. Vander Wal then hit a grounder to first that saw Mueller take off for home, only to be nailed at the plate by a perfect throw from Frank Catalanotto to keep the game tied at 5-5. In the bottom 8th, Curtis Leskanic took the mound for the Force and issued a leadoff walk to Michael Restovich. Two outs later, Juan Gone smacked a double to left-center to score Restovich from second and put the Royals three outs away from a berth in the ISBL Diamond Cup Final. In the top 9th, Toronto again turned to Wagner to seal the game, and he struck out Vidro and Mueller before issuing a two-out walk to Brian Jordan to put the potential tying run aboard. But A-Rod grounded out to second, and the Royals had a 6-5 win to sweep the Force and advance to the Cup Final. G1: CRO 7 @ FOR 5 G2: FOR 5 @ CRO 6
The Manhattan Meat Possums entered the Semifinal Round as the surprise team amongst the Final Four, having disposed of the ISBL Champion St. Louis Finns in the Quarterfinal Round despite finishing the regular season with a 72-90 record. The Wilmington Quicksteps, on the other hand, were looking for a measure of redemption after having been named the preseason favorite to win the NL by several pundits, only to finish three games behind the Finns. The Possums sought to prove they belonged at the opening bell, as Carlos Beltran hit Byung-Hyun Kim's first pitch of Game 1 into the right-field stands to give the Meat a 1-0 lead in the top 1st. Manhattan had a chance to add more runs in the frame when Lou Merloni drew a four-pitch walk off a rattled Kim, but Paul Lo Duca gunned Merloni down on a steal attempt, leaving the bases open when Albert Pujols later hit a two-out double that went for naught. The Steps tied the game in the bottom 2nd when Aubrey Huff hit a leadoff homer off Doug Davis, then went up by a run in the bottom 3rd when Julio Franco hit a solo homer with two out. The Possums sought to tie the game in the top 6th when Beltran led off with a double and moved to third on a Merloni sacrifice. Larry Walker then hit a grounder to third and Beltran took off for home, only to be nailed at the plate on a perfect throw by Huff. In the bottom 6th, Possums reliever Chris Spurling ran into trouble in his second inning of work, giving up a leadoff double to Jose Guillen. Spurling intentionally walked Huff, then struck out pinch-hitter Zach Day as he failed to get the sacrifice bunt down. Spurling was pulled for Jason Kershner, and pinch-hitter Jason Michaels lined a single down the right-field line to score Guillen and make it a two-run game. Kim and four relievers held the Possums hitless for the final three innings, and the Quicksteps had a 3-1 victory. Game 2 again saw the Possums jump out to a quick lead, as Beltran hit a leadoff homer (his fifth HR of the cup) in the bottom 1st off NL Cy Young runner-up Matt Clement. In the bottom 2nd, Matt Lawton hit a leadoff single, Greg Myers walked and Alex Cora hit an RBI double with one out to give Manhattan a 2-0 lead. Clement walked both Walker and Pujols with one out in the bottom 3rd, and it came back to haunt him when Myers and Rich Aurilia both hit two-out RBI singles to extend the home team's lead to 4-0. The Steps got a run back in the top 4th on a one-out solo homer by Placido Polanco off Hideo Nomo, but in the bottom 4th, Merloni hit a two-out RBI single and Walker followed with a two-run blast over the wall in right to give the Possums a seemingly insurmountable 7-1 lead. The Quicksteps, however, led the ISBL in homers in 2004 for good reason, and in the top of the 6th, they showed why. Bernie Williams drew a leadoff walk, Erubiel Durazo singled and Polanco hit an RBI single to plate the Steps' second run of the game. Ryan Klesko then ended Nomo's day with a first-pitch homer to right-center to cut the lead to 7-5. Travis Harper came on in relief, and Guillen welcomed him by driving his first pitch down the left-field line for another homer to pull Wilmington to within a run. One out later, pinch-hitter Todd Hundley deposited a 1-2 pitch into the same section as Klesko to knot the score at 7-7. It stayed that way until the top 8th, when the Steps' Julio Lugo hit the first pitch he saw from Matt Roney over the fence in left for a two-out solo homer to give Wilmington the lead. The Possums threatened to stay alive in the bottom 9th when Derrick Turnbow issued consecutive two-out walks to Myers and Aurilia to put the potential tying run in scoring position. But Phil Norton came in for the final out, getting pinch-hitter Robb Quinlan to pop up a 3-2 pitch that Polanco squeezed to secure an 8-7 victory for the Quicksteps, completing a two-game sweep to advance to the Cup Final. |
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