2004 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #3
| NAME | TEAM | AVG | SLG | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | K | W | IW | SB | CS | HBP |
| INFANTE,Omar | IOW AL | .611 | 1.389 | 5 | 18 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NAME | CLUB | G | W | L | S | ERA | IP | R | ER | H | K | BB | IBB | WP | BK | HB | HR |
| WEAVER,Jeff | DDO AL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| NAME | TEAM | AVG | SLG | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | K | W | IW | SB | CS | HBP |
| LOWELL,Mike | BDB NL | .400 | 1.050 | 5 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| NAME | CLUB | G | W | L | S | ERA | IP | R | ER | H | K | BB | IBB | WP | BK | HB | HR |
| WEATHERS,Dave | MGH NL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 9.1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Hampton Huskies @ Flora-Bama Mullets |
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| Series Preview: | Flora-Bama’s offense gets its first taste of quality pitching as Hampton comes to town for five games. |
| Game #1: | Schilling was solid, only giving up RBI triples to Lamb in the 1st and Mackowiak in the 7th. Ledezma allowed lots of baserunners, but he went six scoreless innings, leaving a runner at second every inning. Huskies added four more in the 9th to put it away. Hampton 6-0 |
| Game #2: | Lee powered the Huskies with two home runs. The highlight for the visitors was Lee, Hatterberg, and Barajas going back-to-back-to-back off Karsay in the 8th to lock in another win. Hampton 7-1 |
| Game #3: | Lee was back at it, driving two more in with a double in the 1st. Beltran’s three-run homer capped a four-run bottom of the 1st as Flora-Bama finally started hitting with runners in scoring position. Gonzalez solo in the 5th was matched by Huff as the Mullets held on to the 2-run lead. Drew’s solo in the 6th cut it to one, but Roberts answered with a two rbi double in the bottom half. Gonzalez’s two-run homer in the 9th was Mahay’s first blown save of the season and tied it at 7-7. Closer Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless 9th and 10th, but ran out of gas in the 11th, giving up a walk-off RBI single to Huff. Flora-Bama 8-7 11th |
| Game #4: | Pena got Flora-Bama going with a Baltimore special in the 2nd. Gonzalez’s two-out triple in the 4th drove in two, and then he came in on Giles’ single to tie it up 3-3. The Mullets’ starter, Wolf, completely fell apart in the fourth as the Huskies pounded him and took a 7-3 lead. However, the Mullets rallied, scoring six runs with two outs in the bottom of the 6th as the Hampton defense faltered. Beltran’s two-run homer in the 8th sealed the win in a chaotic back-and-forth game. Flora-Bama 11-7 |
| Game #5: | Mullets got on the board with two in the 3rd, led by a triple from Adam Kennedy, who started at DH. Gonzalez’s two-run homer tied it in the 5th, and Podsednik’s RBI double in the 6th gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead. In the 6th, Roberts stole 2nd and later beat out a throw at home from an infield grounder to short. Webb lost his cool after the defense let him down and eventually issued back-to-back walks, walking in the go-ahead run. It got worse as the Mullets added three more runs, and Kennedy again drove in a couple. Flora-Bama 8-3 |
| Series Summary: | Flora-Bama’s pitching was a no-show all series. Hampton’s pitching dominated the first two games and allowed only one run in the first 18 innings as they picked up two quick wins. Flora-Bama’s hitting finally woke up in game three, and they then rattled off 27 runs in the final 24 innings, but barely squeezed out a 3-2 series win. The Huskies were tied or leading every game going into the later innings, so the Mullets needed late-inning heroics in all three wins. |
Baltimore Blue Crabs @ Manhattan Gas Hornets |
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| Series Preview: | After finishing the initial round of games in the division, we host Baltimore this week. Manhattan and Baltimore both faced Flora-Bama and lost 5 games (Baltimore had a 6th and won that one). Gas Hornets had better results vs. Hampton than the Blue Crabs, which is why we’re in 3rd and Baltimore is in 4th, but generally we’re both looking up with weak pitching as our problem. |
| Game #1: | Fielding was an issue for Manhattan in this one, as 9-rated SS Derek Jeter committed 2 errors, allowing 2 UER in the 1st 6 innings. Baltimore capitalized and scored 4 runs in those 6 innings, including an Adam Dunn homer (3). Joe Randa rattles off 3 singles, scoring once, driving in 1. Gas Hornets, however, plate 3 in their half of the 6th – a Garrett Anderson bases-clearing double being the big hit and the game is tied 4-4 after 6. Manhattan then scores another run in the 7th, and somehow Eldred holds Baltimore scoreless in the 7th and 8th, and Flash Tom Gordan closes it out in the 9th for the 5-4 win.
BAL 4-12-0 LP Hernandez (0-2) |
| Game #2: | Tim Hudson keeps giving us fits. This time it’s a CG 2-hit shutout! And the Blue Crabs bats are on fire, slashing 15 hits (only 1 homer, Posada [2]) including 5 doubles. Joe Randa again with 3 hits, as did Geoff Jenkins and Chipper Jones. Posada, with a double and a homer, drove in 3. All told, Baltimore put up a 7-run outburst to even the series.
BAL 7-15-0 WP Hudson (2-0) |
| Game #3: | The sleepy, ineffective Gas Hornets bats from Game 2 were a thing of the past as they woke up and belted out 14 hits in this one (to overcome 3 errors!). The 4-run 3rd was enough to win the game, and it came on an onslaught of 4 doubles. Jason Kendall went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs; Ray Durham also drove in 3 runs. Adam Dunn had 1/2 the Baltimore hits, going 2 for 4. Nunez and Spivey had back-to-back doubles to score 1 run, and a Tino Martinez error led to their other run.
BAL 2- 4-0 LP Zito (1-1) |
| Game #4: | Can Baltimore even the series, or will the Gas Hornets go up 3-1? Dave Weathers was not planning on starting this one, but everyone else was too tired, so he got the nod (after getting the final out in game 3). And did he respond? YUP. 7 innings, 4 hits, 6 Ks, ZERO RUNS!! And Ty Wiggington provided all the support he’d need with a double and a 2-run homer (1). Gas Hornets added 2 other runs for insurance, which made it easy to absorb the 2 runs Baltimore scored in the 9th on an Adam Dunn 2-run homer (4) off Lance Carter.
BAL 2-5-1 LP Padilla (0-2) |
| Game #5: | Apparently Manhattan prefers the double to the homer this season. They smack 6 of them in this game. Adam Dunn, meanwhile, keeps hitting homers, clubbing his 5th in this game; he also hit a triple (and drove in 3). Dmitri Young also hit two homers for Baltimore in a game that went to the wire. Baltimore, with runs in the 1st and 2nd and 2 in the 3rd, jumped out to a 4-1 lead through 2 1/2. Manhattan cut it to 4-2 in the 3rd but then plated 4 runs in the 4th off Jamie Moyer. A Baltimore run in the 6th (off Reyes, who left in the 6th) cut it to 6-5, but then Eldred, Meadows, and ultimately Flash Gordon held it at that score for a decisive 6-5 win.
BAL 5-9-1 LP Moyer (0-3) |
| Series Summary: | Well, somehow our pitching was a bit better, and we squeaked out 4 wins in the 5-game set. We’ll take it. Now 8-8 (somehow). |
California Quakes @ Dondero Oaks |
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| Series Preview: | An early divisional matchup as California heads to Dondero for a 5-game set. Both teams have started the year out at the bottom of the division through 2 weeks. |
| Game #1: | Dondero 10 California 3W: B. Tomko (2-0) 7IP 12H 3R 2ER 7K L: J. Patterson (0-3) 2IP 6H 6RJose Valentin goes 3/5 with 2 HR, 5 RBI. |
| Game #2: | Dondero 8 California 6 (11 innings)W: D. Miceli (2-0) L: S. Chacon (0-1)Starter lines: DDO – J. Lackey 2.2IP 8H 5R 1K CAL – D. Hermanson 5.2IP 7H 4R 3KJay Gibbons hits 2 HR for DDO while Brian Roberts gets a walk-off homer in the 11th. |
| Game #3: | Dondero 10 California 9W: L. Vizcaino (1-0) L: C. Politte (0-1)Starter lines: DDO K. Ishii 3.2IP 6H 4R 1K CAL J. Maine 6IP 3H 2R 4KA wild one, with California holding a 9-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. Another walk-off for Dondero as Rocco Baldelli hit the team’s 4th homer of the game and 2nd of the inning as Jose Valentin hit his 3rd of the series. Laker (fitting to play for Cali) hit the Quakes’ first homer of the series, but the offense was there while the pitching was not. |
| Game #4: | NO HITTER ALERT Dondero 10 California 0W: J. Weaver (2-0) CG 9IP 9K L: T. Mulholland (1-2) 4.1 IP 7H 7R 4KJeff Weaver is the story here with his no-hitter. 3 Quakes reached base, 2 by error, and Holliday was also HBP. |
| Game #5: | California 9 Dondero 7W: C. Politte (1-1) L: D. Miceli (2-1)Starter lines: DDO J. Santana 6IP 7H 6R 2K – 5.10 ERA on the year ouch CAL C. Lee 4.1IP 6H 4R 7KCalifornia salvages a game thanks to a homer from Mark Teixeira and a 3 RBI from Willie Bloomquist. Their pitching finally avoided blowing a lead as it gets in the win column. |
| Series Summary: | Dondero (8-8) takes 4 of 5 from California (3-13) thanks to 2 comebacks and a no-hitter. The Oaks have struggled in Johan Santana starts when he is far away from the best pitcher they have to offer. Both teams are on the road next week as they start facing teams outside the division. |
Chicago Demolition @ Southlake Stealers |
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| Series Preview: | The Demolition, with their eyes set on returning to the World Series for redemption from last year, come across Lake Michigan to visit the rebuilding Southlake Stealers. |
| Game #1: | Pedro takes the mound, looking for another Cy Young to add to his mantle. Southlake gives the ball to rookie Chacin.
Pedro does what Pedro does: he goes 9 innings, giving up just 4 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 12 while holding Southlake scoreless. Unfortunately for Pedro, rookie Chacin was unfazed by the veteran and matched him pitch for pitch. Chicago didn’t get its first hit until Hill led off the 9th inning with a single. Chacin would not let the Demolition advance any further. After a scoreless bottom half of the 9th, Chacin took the mound again for the 10th. As he had been most of the game, he was flawless, putting down the Demo 1-2-3. King took the mound for Chicago and handled the 10th and 11th innings. After pushing Chacin as far as he could, Southlake countered with Flores, who was masterful in the 11th and 12th innings. Chicago turned to Powell in the bottom of the 12th, and things stayed scoreless. Flores went out in the 13th and was greeted by a double from Bautista and a walk to Hilgado. With two on and no one out, Southlake called on Smoltz to try to keep it scoreless. Renteria’s bunt put runners at 2nd and 3rd with just one out. Hansen would hit a seeing-eye bloop toward left. Orlando Cabrera would make an over-the-head diving grab to prevent the single. He would then have the mindfulness to whip to Burke, covering 2nd, to double up Hilgado and keep Chicago off the board. Ichiro would lead off the 13th with a double. Cabrera, having made the defensive play of the day, bunted him over to third. Powell paced the mound and pounded the zone. He blew three fastballs by Blalock for the second out. He tried to put another fastball past Rondell White, but White would have nothing to do with it. He lined the ball over the infield to plate Ichiro and complete the upset. Final: Southlake 1-0 13 innings |
| Game #2: | The Demolition bats would not stay silent for a second day. Hildago and Bautista both went deep, going 2/5, each with 3 RBIs. Meanwhile, Schmidt continued his masterful pitching, going 8 innings, allowing no runs on two hits, and whiffing 10 Stealers. The Stealers would put a couple of meaningless runs across late to prevent the shutout.
Final: Chicago 8-2 |
| Game #3: | Chicago would get to Southlake starter Beckett early. Back-to-back home runs by Bautista and Hilgado would plate three runs in the 5th inning to chase Josh after just 4 1/3 innings.
SEO could not hold the lead, however, as he allowed Southlake to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. Southlake would then use small ball to plate one more in the 6th inning to take a 4-3 lead. The relief combo of Flores and Smoltz would again be masterful, limiting Chicago to just two more hits the rest of the way and bringing home another Southlake Victory. Final 4-3 Southlake |
| Game #4: | Southlake’s offense was on fumes after they lost two players in the last game and had to use Marlon Anderson in the outfield. Chicago jumped on the depleted lineup and worn-out bullpen, pounding 20 hits and scoring 14 runs before the game was halfway over. A total bloodbath.
Final: Chicago 14-4 |
| Game #5: | Southlake is out of pitching, and Chicago saw blood in the water. They wasted no time plating 4 runs in the 1st inning before Southlake could secure a single out. Elarton had to stay out there and take the beating for the weary Stealers. Chicago would add another 14 hits to their series total as they scored 7 times. Rocket Roger wasn’t his dominant self but was strong enough to earn his first win of the year.
Final: Chicago 7-4 |
| Series Summary: | Chicago takes the series, although not as handily as they hoped. Matsui went 8/23 with 3 HRs, 4 runs, and 7RBIs. His teammate Batista went 8/24 also with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs, but he scored 5 times.
Southlake may have found a gem in rookie Chacin, who gave up no runs on just 1 hit over a 10-inning start. |
Yucaipa Badgers @ Monroeville Maulers |
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| Series Preview: | Maulers, 7-4, looking to keep surprising the oddsmakers, welcome the Badgers, 5-6, to Hammer & Steel Stadium, as the Badgers want to thwart those efforts and get above .500. |
| Game #1: | MVM 7 vs YUC 6 – Hammerin’ Time bats plate 5 in the bottom of the 9th for bonus baseball and walk it off with a Felipe Lopez solo shot in the 15th. |
| Game #2: | YUC 13 vs MVM 9 – The Badgers overcome an 8-2 deficit starting in the 5th and blast away for 13 runs. |
| Game #3: | MVM 5 vs YUC 4 – Maulers score 4 late for more bonus baseball and plate the winning run in the bottom of the 14th. Another never-say-die comeback-from-behind victory! |
| Game #4: | MVM 4 vs YUC 0 – John Halama hurls an unexpected CG 5 hitter as the Maulers get a taste of some fine pitching. |
| Game #5: | YUC 5 vs MVM 2 – Badgers save face with a 2nd win on a fine CG 4-hit pitching performance by Carlos Zambrano. |
| Series Summary: | Both teams put on offensive fireworks, with some good pitching. Maulers improve to 10-6, keeping the pressure on Chicago. The Badgers are at 7-9. |
Brooklyn Cyclones @ Long Beach Titans |
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| Series Summary: | The Long Beach offense came alive in the 5-game sweep of Brooklyn. They only scored 1 in the last game, but that was all Peavy needed as he threw a 3-hit shutout to close out the series. |
Gladstone Gladiators @ Valdosta Bombers |
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| Game #1: | Valdosta 9-2. Woody Williams (3-0, 1.23) continues his early-season success, firing 7 strong innings and picking up the win. Mark Bellhorn led the offense with 4 RBIs. |
| Game #2: | Valdosta 5-4. The Bombers stole 6 bases, and Bobby Crosby homered and hit 2 2B’s to lead the offense. Denys Baez (2-0, 0.00) tossed 3 scoreless IP for the win. |
| Game #3: | Valdosta 6-1. Bombers went deep 4 times, and they cruised to an easy win. |
| Game #4: | Valdosta 9-5. Bobby Abreu and Daryle Ward both homered 2X and the Bombers held on for the win, with Jose Mesa picking up his 1st save of the year. |
| Game #5: | Valdosta 2-1. Zack Grienke pitched a CG in a losing effort for the Gladiators. Trevor Hoffman saved his 4th game of the year for the Bombers. |
| Series Summary: | Valdosta sweeps, despite their best hitter, Manny Ramirez, doing nothing the entire series. I think he needs some kind of “supplements” to get it going. |
Michigan Marauders @ Danbury Mad Hatters |
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| Series Preview: | 1st-place Michigan visits last-place Danbury. |
| Game #1: | DMH 15-3 |
| Game #2: | MIC 10-7(11) |
| Game #3: | MIC 2-1 |
| Game #4: | MIC 12-3 |
| Game #5: | MIC 7-1 |
| Series Summary: | Michigan stays in 1st place. |
Blarney Drive Bandits @ Hollywood Vampires |
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| Series Summary: | Blarney shows Hollywood who’s boss, shellacking them and taking the series 4 games to 1. |
Iowa Giants @ DeWitt Tigers |
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| Series Summary: | Dewitt takes the series 3-2 over Iowa. |
Houghton Penguins @ Corktown Bootleggers |
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| Series Summary: | The jumbled-up A.L. East continues to flip-flop around. Corktown goes 4-1 over Houghton. Can’t judge a season from 3 weeks, but it could be a battle. |
Castle Rock Hounds @ Fort Worth Panthers |
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| Series Summary: | Castle Rock wins game 1, then the Panthers take the last 4. |