2003 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #24

In the 4th, Nick Punto has a RBI single and the Gladiators go on top. Ortiz throws a wild pitch in the bottom half and the game is tied. Aaron Boone hits a homer in the bottom of the 6th and Michigan goes on top.

In the bottom of the 8th, Jim Edmonds hits a 2 run homer for Michigan.

Radke earns the win for Michigan and Embree gets the save.

Michigan 5 Gladstone 2

Benito Santiago hits a double in the 2nd to put Gladstone on the board. Kielty knocks in a run for Gladstone in the 4th. In the 5th, the Gladiators erupt for 4 runs and Hidalgo hits a 3 run blast.

Gladstone ends up winning easily.

Gladstone 10 Michigan 3

In the bottom of the 2nd, Vinny Castilla hits a grand slam for Michigan. Michigan adds another in the 2nd.

In the 6th, Bret Boone smacks a 2 run homer and Michigan now leads 9-0.

Sheets throws a complete game shutout. He gives up 5 hits and wins his 12th game.

Michigan 9 Gladstone 0

In the 1st, Loretta hits a 2 run homer for Gladstone. Bret Boone knocks in a run for Michigan in the bottom of the 1st. Gladstone adds 3 in the 3rd. Bagwell adds a 3 run homer in the 5th.

Gladstone wins easily to tie the series.

Gladstone 13 Michigan 5

Koskie hits a RBI single in the 1st as once again Gladstone scores first. Michigan ties in the first on an Edmonds RBI single.

In the bottom of the 6th, Jason Bay hits a 2 run homer.

Michigan hangs on for the win and retains first place. Matt Clement with his 12th win and Embree gets his 6th save.

Michigan 4 Gladstone 1

Yucaipa comes at you with offense early. They have the second highest batting average in the American League and are third in runs per game. The offense revolves around MVP Candidate Todd Helton who comes into the series hitting a league high .364. He is also first in runs scored, second in On Base Percentage and fifth in RBIs. If you are able to pitch around Helton, you still need to deal with Larry Walker and Mueller who are dangerous every at-bat.

On the mound they are led by Mike “Moose” Mussina with a record of 16-6 and an ERA of 2.87. But he is not the only starter who can sling it, as Carlos Zambrano and Kerry Woods both back him up and have double digit wins.

If the offense does their job and the starters can hold a lead late in the game, the Badgers will turn to their Ace of the Pen Eric Gagne. Gagne is currently 4th in the American League with 27 saves and his stuff is electric.

But can the Badgers offense get a lead late in the game is the question, as they will face the best pitching staff in the AL. The team leads the league in ERA, opponents’ batting average against, and complete games as they are lead by Cy Young Candidate Mark Prior with a record of 19-2. Prior is backed up by Sydney Ponson who has been lights out since being acquired in a mid-season deal.

The real strength of the staff is the bullpen. They have arms that come at you over and over. They have 4 of the top 5 pitchers in holds this season. They have adopted an approach they call Pitching Chaos and are not afraid of using their bullpen early in the game if needed.

Offensively they are led by their three headed monster of Ichiro, Nomar and Beltran. But this lineup goes deep, with Hank Blalock leading the AL with 103 RBIs. This team doesn’t just sit back and wait on the long ball, both Ichiro and Beltran are in the top ten of both steals and steal percentage.

Neither team can secure a playoff spot in this series, but a sweep one way or the other could most definitely damage their postseason dreams. The calendar has flipped to September. The nights may be getting colder but the push toward the playoffs is most assuredly heating up.

Both pitchers are fantastic through six innings as each allowed just one hit at that point. However, both guys started to get tired in the 7th. Randy Winn led off the top of the 7th with an infield single. He advanced to second on a ground ball to the right side. But that is as far around the bases he would go as Prior retired the next two hitters.

In the bottom of the inning, Washburn would get Nomar to fly out. But Rondell White found the sweet spot of the bat and gave Southlake a 1-0 lead with his 15th homerun of the season. Encarnacion would single and Jose Macias getting his first swings of the year would deposit a fastball into the cheap seats for a 3-0 lead through 7 innings.

A three run lead was all Prior would need as he would go all 9 innings shutting out the Badgers on just 3 hits, no walks and 9 punch outs in being the first 20 game winner of the season.

Final: Stealers 3-0
WP: Prior (20-2)
LP: Washburn (7-13)

Southlake strikes early, as Beltran would single, steal second and come home on Ichiro’s single. Ichiro would then score himself as Nomar would blast his 31st homerun of the season into leftfield for a quick 3-0 lead.

The Stealers extended the lead two innings later when Encarnacion belted a two out two-run homer, making the score 5-0. That would be the end of the day for Foppert.

For the home team, Tejera would retire the first six batters of the game and then turn the ball over to the bullpen. The bullpen accepted the challenge, and they would use 7 different arms over the next seven innings. Giving up just 4 hits, 3 walks, striking out 6, while keeping the Badgers off the scoreboard for the second consecutive game.

Final: Stealers 5-0
WP: Lopez (4-0)
LP: Foppert (5-7)

Tejera got the lead off batter but after Franco singled, it was time for the Stealers bullpen to shine. Holmes finished off the first inning, but he gave way to Spurling after he allowed a lead off single to Bard. A wild pitch by Spurling put Bard at third base with no outs. He was then able to coax three pop ups on the infield to strand the runner and keep the game scoreless.

Then one by one the bullpen arms came out. First, it was Bong. Mateo was next. Followed by Lopez, Leskanic and Mahay.

The Badgers finally got on board this series when Mueller went deep with one out in the 6th inning off Mahay. The visiting team was pumped having scored after being shutout for 23.1 innings.

For the Badgers Kerry Wood was dealing. He had a no-hitter going until Anderson singled in the 6th inning. But he was stranded there keeping the score 1-0 after 6 innings.

Walker led off the 7th with a double, but Koplove would prevent him from coming around as well keeping the game tied.

The Stealers would get their second hit of the game in the bottom of the 7th, when Blalock would deposit this 39th homerun of the year into the stands to tie the game

Mota would work a scoreless 8th inning for Southlake. Wood had a 1-2-3 inning as well to keep the game tied. Hasegawa followed Mota with a shut-out inning in the 9th. Wood would give up just his 3rd hit of the day to Suzuki in the bottom half of the inning. The Stealers could not do anything with him, and we went to extra innings tied at 1-1.

Shuey would be the 11th pitcher out of the pen for Southlake in the tenth inning and he would be spotless. Yucaipa, in a bold move, left Wood out there to pitch the tenth inning and he would retire the side in order.

Shuey would give up a one out double to Helton in the top of the 11th inning. That was followed by a single from Mueller. With Helton rounding third the coach put up the stop sign, not willing to risk it against the strong arm of Encarnacion.

With runners on the corner and just one away, the Stealers went to the last pitcher in their bullpen, John Smoltz. Smoltz would immediately walk Larry Walker to load the bases. With the crowd hushed in silence, Smoltz threw a sinker that Hart rolled over to second base. A quick toss to Nomar, who whipped it back to Franco, and a 4-6-3 double play ended the inning.

Having gone 10 innings giving up just one run on three hits, 1 walk, and striking out 9 the day was done for Kerry Wood. The Badgers brought Linton out to start the inning. A one out infield single by Anderson would bring the crowd to their feet. Two pitches later he stole second base and now the dome was rocking. Linton got Beltran to hit a lazy fly ball to left keeping Anderson at second base. However, he wasn’t as successful against Ichiro, who lined a single to centerfield bringing home the winning run.

Final: Stealers 2-1 (11 innings)
WP: Smoltz (2-5)
LP: Linton (0-1)

Southlake gets on the board early when Jordan goes deep in the first inning for his first homerun of the year. Yucaipa immediately ties it back up in the top of the second when Franco brings home Todd Walker. The Stealer retake the lead in the bottom of the second when Encarnacion hits a triple and scores on Banks sac fly.

Yucaipa wont go down without a fight. Helton walks with two outs in the third and comes home on Muellers bomb making the score 3-2.

Southlake needed Ponson to bring his A-Game and he wasn’t able to. He is pulled after 5 1/3 having given up 5 runs on 8 hits and 5 walks. Yucaipa then took advantage of a wornout Southlake bullpen, adding three more runs in 3.2 innings. Todd Walker was outstanding offensively going 3 for 3 with 4 RBIs.

After giving up two early runs, Mussina settled in and controlled the game. Anytime Southlake threatened he would dig deep and bring the heat finishing with 8 strikeouts, in the victory.

Final: Badgers 8-4
WP: Mussinsa (17-6)
LP: Ponson (13-7)

Wade Miller struggles early, as Yucaipa puts two runners on with just one out in each of the first three innings. However, the Badger bats can’t come up with the timely hit and fail to score in those innings. Miller’s luck wouldn’t last when he put two runners on in the fourth and they scored on Larry Walkers double.

Zambrano was able to handle most of the Stealers early in the game except for Blalock, who had RBI singles in the 1st and 3rd innings, as well as a solo shot in the 5th inning that ended Carlos’ day. Southlake led 4-2 after the 5th.

Carlos Beltran who has struggled this season, appeared to put the game away when the belted a two-run shot in the bottom of the 6th inning, giving Southlake a 6-2 lead. When Larry Walker led off the 7th with a double that finished Miller’s day. The Badger were then shut down by Moto and failed to score in the 7th.

When Grissom led off the 8th with a single that brought Leskanic in to pitch. Curt got the first batter to pop up but then quickly walked the next two to load the bases. The Stealers called on their closer Smoltz to put this game away. The Badger brought Wilson off the bench to pinch hit, and he delivered with a single to score two and put runners on the corner with still just one out.

Smoltz got Larry Walker to fly out to Encarnacion on a 2-2 count. Todd Walker then tested Juan’s arm and failed that test as he was gun down at the plate, keeping the score 6-4 going to the bottom of the 8th inning. The Stealers would get those two runs back in their half on Beltran’s second home run of the game, an Ichiro triple and a sac fly from Nomar. Going into the 9th it was 8-4 Stealers with their closer on the mound.

When Hart led off with a single and Todd Helton coming to the plate, Sarge Stauffer went to Hasegawa in the bullpen. Helton would greet him with a triple to score Hart and make it a 3-run game. Hasegawa followed that up by walking Mueller, putting runners on the corners. Having failed to do his job, the Stealers removed Hasegawa and went to Koplove to face Grissom.

Grissom hit a dribbler in front of the plate which was fielded cleanly by the catcher for the first out. But this put two runners in scoring position now as Mueller advanced to second base. Koplove would then walk Julio Franco to load the bases. With the lefty Alex Sanchez up to bat, the Stealers went to the lefty Mahay.

Alex didn’t care if a lefty or righty faced him as he ripped a single to score one run cutting the lead to 8-6. With the bases still loaded and lefty hitting Todd Walker at the plate, the Stealers kept Mahay in the game to face him. Walker hit a shot to Encarnacion for the second out. The Badgers, having learned their lesson earlier, did not test his arm, so the remained down by two with the bases loaded.

Wilson stepped to the plate with two outs. He had a clutch pinch hit in the 8th inning, looking to repeat his success. The Stealers went to the bullpen once again, bringing in their 5th pitcher in just the 9th inning alone. Right-handed Paul Shuey entered the game looking for just one out. A 1-2 wipe-out slider had Wilson swinging at nothing but air for the strikeout and to end the game, giving Shuey his first save of the season.

Final Score: Stealers 8-6
WP: Miller (10-8)
LP: Zambrano (13-11)
S: Shuey (1)

Yucaipa’s playoff hopes take a big hit as they lose 4 out of 5 games to the first place Stealers. They travel to last-place Monroeville next week hoping to right the ship. They then have tough back-to-back series with Chicago before finishing off with these same Stealers in a series that will have big playoff implications.

After struggling to find hits in the first three games they pound out 25 in the last two, perhaps a good sign as they head down the stretch. Todd Helton remains firmly in place to win the batting crown. On the mound Mike Mussina once again proved why he is the Ace of the Staff and a Cy Young Candidate.

The four wins by Southlake allows them to remain in a tie with Fort Worth for the number one seed in the American League as well as extend their lead in the Central division to seven games. Their magic number to clinch the division sits at 16 and at just 3 games to clinch a playoff spot, pending Castlerock’s series this week against California.

The Stealers continue to ride Mark Prior’s Cy Young worthy season as he becomes the first pitcher in the AL to 20 wins joining Jamie Moyer in the National League who also has 20. Offensively, both Blalock and Nomar continue to bring runners across the plate as they are first and fourth in the League. Meanwhile Ichiro chases Helton for most runs scored as he crosses the 100 threshold this past week.

There is some exciting baseball still to be played during these remaining 22 games of the 2003 season.