2003 N.L. DIVISION SERIES #1
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| PREVIEW – Michigan Mauraders 82-80 vs. Flora-Bama Mullets 110-52 The seasonal records may be one-sided, but the Marauders’ offensive punch and the top of the rotation make them a very challenging opponent over a short series. The Mullets must get to the Michigan bullpen and ultimately take advantage of their overall offensive and defensive depth to move on. |
| GAME #1 – Livan Hernandez 11-12 (3.28) vs. Jamie Moyer 19-6 (2.91)
Jim Edmonds, the second batter Moyer faced, took him deep to right field to give the Mauraders a quick 1-0 lead. They added another run in the 3rd, when Aaron Boone (who will start being called Frigging Boone soon) doubled to start the inning and scored on a two-out single from Edmonds. The Mullets got their first hit of the game in the bottom of the 3rd when Bigbie hit a pinch-hit liner that cleared the fence in right field. 2-1 Michigan. Both starters continued to induce weak content and limit damage over the middle innings. In the bottom of the 6th, Huff worked a flare to the gap for a double with one out. Rolls pinch ran for Huff and scored the tying run when Lopez hit a soft single to centerfield. Moyer worked a quiet 7th inning and then turned it over to the pen. Acevedo and Hammond handled the 8th for Flora-Bama while Hernandez stayed in and completed the 8th for Michigan. Plesac, Beckett, Spooneybarger, and Strickland pitched a scoreless top of the 9th. Embree allowed a pinch-hit single to Ross with two outs in the 9th. Vizquel pinch ran and stole 2B, but Embree got Bigbie looking to send the game to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Strickland got the first two righties and turned it over to Ramirez to get Johnson. Johnson worked a walk to bring up the hot-hitting Edmonds. Flora-bama pivoted to Wagner, who got Edmonds to ground out. Embree gave up a lead-off walk in the bottom of the 10th, but then got the lefty Clark to pop up. Michigan decided to bring in Wendall for the platoon advantage on Javy Lopez. The move backfired when the NL MVP hit a walk-off two-run bomb. Final Score: Flora-Bama 4- Michigan 2 (10 Innings) Win: Ryan Wagner 1-0 (0.00) |
| GAME #2 – Matt Clement 14-8 (4.52) vs. Josh Beckett 19-2 (2.54)
Both starters pitched well to start the game. Beckett was effectively wild, allowing a few baserunners here and there, and then recording strikeouts for the final outs whenever a runner moved into scoring position. Matt Clement was just unhittable most of the game. In the top of the 6th with one out, Leiberthal and Hafner worked walks against Beckett. The Mullets went to the pen and brought a lefty to face Patterson. Plesac picked up the needed strikeout. The Mullets went to the pen for the righty Schilling to face Boone. This time it didn’t work out, and Aaron Friggin Boone launched a three-run blast near the left field pole. In the top of the 8th, Patterson singled with two outs and stole 2B. Boone picked up his 4th RBI of the game with a single and then scored again when Guzman hit a two-run homer. The Mauraders added two more in the 9th to completely blow it open. Clement finished strong for a four-hit complete game shutout. Final Score: Michigan 8 – Flora-Bama 0 Win: Matt Clement 1-0 (0.00) |
| GAME #3 – Curt Schilling 14-6 (3.37) vs. Brad Radke 13-8 (4.13)
With the series moving to Michigan tied 1-1, Schilling got the nod for Flora-Bama and completely redeemed himself by only giving up one hit with eight strikeouts over seven innings. Radke wasn’t as dominant, but he definitely continued the streak of good Michigan starting pitching. His only early mistake was a solo homerun to Larry Bigbie in the 3rd. Radke also benefited from his defense as Edmonds gunned a runner at home. However, the Mullet’s offense finally exploded at the top of the 7th when Radke was pulled after giving up another RBI to Bigbie. Michigan’s bullpen completely let him and the hometown fans down. Harper was first to come in and gave up a three-run homer to Lopez on his first pitch. He then gave up a RBI triple and a sac fly that made it 7-0. Estrella replaced Harper and ultimately gave up a three-run homer to Berroa. Flora-Bama scored 9 runs in the 7th for a 10-0 lead. Ramirez pitched the final two innings of the game, giving up a RBI single to Piazza. Flora-Bama 10 – Michigan 1 Win: Curt Schilling 1-0(1.29) |
| GAME #4 – Jamie Moyer 19-6 (2.91) vs. Brad Penny Starter 7-12 (4.92)
The Maurader’s good starting pitching was nowhere to be found in this one. Brad Penny recorded two outs in the first, and then the wheels fell off. Huff hit a two-run homer. Fullmer singled, Gonzalez took a costly pitch off his wrist (out 12 games), Palmeiro walked, and Kent hit a bases-clearing triple. Berkman singled Kent home to finish Penny’s day. The potential NL Cy-Young had a 6-0 lead before even taking the mound. Moyer pitched well and ended up giving up 4 runs over 7.2 innings for the easy victory. The Mullets added another half dozen runs over the rest of the game. Flora-Bama 12 – Michigan 4 Win: Jamie Moyer 1-0 (3.68) |
| GAME #5 – Josh Beckett 19-2 (2.54) vs. Livan Hernandez 11-12 (3.28)
The Mauraders ace Livan Hernandez took the mound against the Mullets’ most effective starter, Josh Beckett, with the series on the line. The Mullets struck first when Huff went deep with a two-run homer in the 3rd. Williams led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk, and Aaron friggin Boone tied it up with a blast to left. 2-2. In the bottom of the 4th, Michigan put two runners on with two outs to bring Aaron Boone up again. Beckett didn’t give him anything to hit this time, and he took a walk to load the bases. However, Guzman popped up, stranding three. In the bottom of the 5th, Edmonds and Brett Boone walked with two outs, but Acevedo bailed out Beckett. In the top of the 6th, Palmeiro took his old team deep, and Howie Clark slapped a pinch-hit RBI single to give the Mullets a 4-2 lead. Michigan responded in the bottom of the 6th. Hafner doubled, and Mr. Aaron Friggin Boone crushed a two-run game-tying homer. Johnson added a solo shot to give the home team their first lead of the game, 5-4 Mauraders. In the 7th, Lopez walked, and Huff doubled to put runners on 3rd and 2nd with no outs. Michigan brought on Embree to face Fullmer. Flora-Bama flexed their depth, bringing in pinch runners for 3rd and 2nd, and David Ross to pinch hit. Ross hit a sac fly ball to the warning track that scored the tying run from 3rd. The next batter, Kent, singled to right field, which scored the pinch runner from 2nd. 6-5 Mullets. In the top of the 8th, Larry Bigbie made his case for MVP with his third homer of the series for a very important insurance run. 7-5. In the bottom of the 9th, Wagner recorded the first out. Plesac came in to face the lefties. Nick Johnson took him deep to make it a one-run game. Plesac recovered to get Gerut. Spooneybarger then came on and got Edmonds to ground out to third for the final out. Flora-Bama 7 – Michigan 6 Win: Jose Acevedo 1-0 (8.10) |
| SUMMARY – Flora-Bama wins the divisional series 4-1 behind their strong offense that took advantage of Michigan’s bullpen for three of their four victories. The Mauraders’ pen finished with an ugly 8.22 ERA and also allowed eight inherited runs to score. Larry Bigbie was on the winning side, so he picked up the MVP award, hitting .500 with 3 homeruns and four RBI. Aaron Friggin Boone actually out-hit him slightly with eight RBI, five runs, and three home runs.
Flora-Bama will continue its title defense against Baltimore. Michigan’s season comes to an end, but they won’t have to wait long for another shot at the playoffs. Their 2004 squad looks far stronger than the 2003 team. |