2003 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #13

WP: Pineiro (8-6)
LP: Westbrook (3-2)

WP: Sabathia (10-3)
LP: Pettitte (9-2)

WP: Brown (9-3)
LP: Rogers (2-7)

WP: Lohse (5-6)
LP: Nomo (9-2)

Carl Crawford finally breaks through for Fort Worth, providing a 2-out 2-RBI double in the 5th to cut the lead to 3-2. But, Hammock provides a clutch 2-RBI double in the bottom of the 6th to make it 5-2. Fort Worth threatens in the 9th, and scores a run to make it 5-3, but that is how it would finish.

WP: Davis (5-5)
LP: Redman (7-3)
S: Quantrill (10)

ANYWAY – this week’s game are quite amazing. Games 1 and 2 and then 3 and 4 look a lot like carbon copies – then game 5 …..

2nd inning – After Berroa reaches on a FC, he moves to 2nd on a Jeter throwing error to 1st. Hunter then grounds into a FC and Kennedy singles scoring Berroa. 1-0 Mullets. In the bottom half, Ruben Sierra comes up with the bases loaded and doubles (out at 3rd trying valiantly to make it a triple) – but Manhattan scores 3 to go up 3-1 after 2. Well, based on the cliff notes above, you should be able to figure out the final outcome. Anderson gives up NO Earned runs, Mullets only score once and the Gas Hornets tack on an extra insurance run in the 5th and Flash Gordon gets the save to close out the game and the series.
FNA 1-5-1 LP Schilling (5-3)
MGH 4-6-1 WP Anderson (6-3) S Gordon (22)

The Maulers strength lies in their offense. They are 4th in runs scored and 3rd in batting average. The engine for this group is Catalanotto who leads the AL with a .380 batting average. The Southlake hurlers would be smart to pitch around him this series.

Pitching has been their issue so far this season. They have a team ERA of 4.27, are last in the league in strikeouts and 3rd in walks issued. One bright spot has been their closer Turnbow who has 9 saves on the season so far.

Southlake is tough to beat at home holding a 21-8 record on the lakefront. Despite a tough series against Chicago their bullpen continues to be strong and deep for them. Plus they can always count on Mark Prior to be the ace of the staff. He leads nearly every pitching category in the AL and last week was his 3rd pitcher of the week honors this year.
Offensively they are still looking to put it together with most of their key players significantly under-performing to expectations. Look for the bats to come alive with some home cooking this week.

Neither team can afford to lose this series so we expect both teams to come out fighting hard.

The Maulers looked to get something going early. A lead off walk followed by a single put the first two batters on base. That also was the end of the day for D’Amico, as the Southlake skipper went to the pen before they could even record an out. The heartbeat of the Stealer team came through once again. Six relievers would go 9 innings giving up just 3 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 7 Maulers in a shutout effort.

Meanwhile the Stealers would get solo homeruns from Blalock and Anderson to score two runs. They would dink and dunk 8 more hits plus take advantage of a Mauler error to score 3 more to cap off the scoring.

Final 5-0 Stealers
WP: Shuey (1-1)
LP: Snyder (7-6)

The Southlake bullpen did exactly what was asked of them. Mateo would retire the first batter he faced to get out of the jam in the second. He would then retire the next 9 men he faced. Southlake would follow that up with 3 more relievers over the last 4 innings yielding just 2 hits, 1 walk and no runs.

The Stealers bullpen in the first two games has been incredible going 16.1 innings of shutout ball.

Final Score: Stealers 6-2
WP: Mateo (1-1)
LP: Riedling (5-5)

In the fourth inning Crisp would double. He would then take off on the next pitch. Lecroy’s throw would be wide of third base and suddenly Monroeville was up 3-0. Blalock would get one back for Southlake on his 13th homerun of the season.

Southlake would tie the game one inning later thanks to a Nomar sac fly and an Encarnacion single. The hits would continue for Southlake as Ichiro singled home Ventura one in later for a Southlake 4-3 lead.

Southlake would turn to their incredible bullpen. After a scoreless 7th inning, Monroeville would finally get to the bullpen. Who would be the hero none other than Catalanotto, who lead off the 8th with a solo shot to tie the game. Leskanic would walk Soriano. He would steal both second and third bases and score on a single by Guerrero to take the lead.

The Stealers would put the first two men on base in the bottom half of the 8th. It looked like they may get out of the jam when the Stealers failed to execute a sac bunt and Ichiro struck out. But Shane Spencer came up with a big single to tie the game.
Both bullpens would put up goose eggs for the next few innings, until Blalock greeted ace closer Turnbow with his second bomb of the day, a lead off shot in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Final score: Stealers 6-5
WP: Mota (2-1)
LP: Turnbow (0-2)

In the 2nd inning Varitek walked with one out. Jones would double putting two in scoring position. Crisp hit a flyball to left center for the second out. Varitek would challenge Beltran’s arm and get gunned down at the plate to end the inning. Runs will be hard to come by and bad baserunning won’t help.

Prior would walk another in the third inning. This time Mientkiewicz wouldn’t leave it up to baserunning as he deposited a fastball into the seats for a 2-0 lead. The Stealers answered when Baerga had a two out single in the bottom of the inning to score the tying runs.

Prior would continue to battle control issues. A walk to Varitek, a single by Jones and a ground out by Crisp would give Monroeville the lead back 3-2. That lead would be short as Beltran would single and score on Garciaparra’s 13th homerun of the season.

Prior would settle into a groove throwing up zeros in the 5th and 6th innings. Meanwhile the game would spin out of control for the Mauler pitchers with two outs and a runner on first base in the bottom of the sixth. Nomar would single and Encarnacion would walk to load the bases. Rondell White would also bring a good eye to the plate and walk, scoring one run. Diaz would wear a pitch right to his helmet, scoring another run. Baerga would continue the trend of free bases as he would walk scoring yet another run. It was suddenly 7-3 Stealers.

Southlake would once again look to the bullpen, and it would be 9 up and 9 down for the Maulers. The Stealers would add two more runs for good measure late in the game.

Final Score: Stealers 9-3
WP: Prior (12-2)
LP: Willis (7-7)

With two outs in the 2nd inning Catalanotto would double and score on a single by Soriano. It would stay that way until the 4th inning. Hernandez would double with one out. Southlake had Mateo warm in the pen, but Sarge elected to keep the lefty Dubose in to face the lefty Catalanotto. Frank doesn’t care what arm you throw with he just rakes. He would also double scoring Hernandez

Monroeville finally was able to score off the Stealer bullpen when Varitek hit his second homerun of the game. This one was a two-run shot in the 7th inning.

Monroeville finally got some solid pitching, as starter Stanford went the distance limiting Southlake to just 3 runs on 7hits for his third win of the season.

Final: Monroeville 7-3
WP: Stanford (3-1)
LP: Dubose (3-4)

Southlake continues to pursue Chicago for the Division lead. While this was a blow to Monroeville in their Wild Card pursuit, there is still a lot of season left to play,

Bernie Williams hits a sac fly in the 11th to win it.

Michigan 5 Valdosta 4 (12)

Ricky Stone goes to 2-0.
Valverde drops to 0-5 after blowing the save.

Michigan with 13 hits and they cruise to the win. Ben Sheets goes to the 9th with a shutout. Valdosta hits 2 homers to avoid the shutout. Jason Bay and Vinny Castilla hit homers for Michigan.

Michigan 12 Valdosta 2

Both teams keep the game close. Michigan leads by one in the 9th, but Eduardo Perez spoils it with a solo homer. The game goes to extra innings. Valdosta scores 3 in the 10th to take the game. Sexson also hits a homer for Valdosta.

Valdosta 6 Michigan 3 (10)

Eric Chavez hits a homer in the 2nd for the Bombers. But, Michigan fights back with 6 in the 3rd. They also tee off on relief pitchers. Michigan hits 5 homers. Hafner hits 2 homers. Wells and Chavez hit 2 homers for Valdosta.

Michigan 13 Valdosta 3

Michigan builds a 4-2 lead. Valdosta gets 2 in the 6th. In the 9th, Plesac blows his 2nd save of the series as LaRue hits a 2 run homer. In the bottom of the 9th, Michigan wins it on a wild pitch.

Michigan 5 Valdosta 4

HUSKIES 3 / 7 / 1
CRABS 9 / 10 / 1
WP – Zito (7-5)
LP – Linebrink (0-1)

HUSKIES 11 / 18 / 0
CRABS 4 / 8 / 1
WP – Webb (9-2)
LP – Myers (4-4)

HUSKIES 5 / 9 / 1
CRABS 7 / 10 / 0
WP – Williams (8-6)
LP – Chacon (3-8)
S – Fuentes (4)

HUSKIES 2 / 6 / 0
CRABS 3 / 4 / 0
WP – Hudson (9-5)
LP – Suppan (4-5)
S – Farnsworth (2)

HUSKIES 2 / 5 / 0
CRABS 6 / 8 / 1
WP – Padilla (9-4)
LP – Miller (2-5)