2007 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS HIGHLIGHTS
For Immediate Release
October 9, 2007
Fremont vs. Severn
Game 1 – Ted Lilly vs Carlos Zambrano
Fremont strikes early by scoring 2 in the first inning on an RBI single by Brandon Philips and a sac fly by Hank Blalock. Severn gets 1 back in the second on a sac fly by Pat Burrell to cut the lead to 2-1. Fremont pushes another run across inthe 4th on a Placido Polanco RBI to increase its lead to 3-1. Payton adds an RBI in the 6th to make it 4-1. It would stay that way until the bottom of the 8th. Fabio Castro comes in to pitch and promptly gives up a solo HR to Miguel Cabrera and the lead is 4-2. Jeff Kent hits a double and then Ty Wiggington ties the game at 4-4 with a 2 run HR. Chris Ray would give up the game winning HR to Hank Blalock in the 10th as Fremont wins game 1, 5-4.
Game 2 – Juan Cruz vs Brandon Webb
Fremont again would strike in the first on RBI singles by Nick Swisher and Brandon Phillips to take a 2-0 lead. Severn would get 2 in the bottom half on an RBI single by Brian McCann to tie the game at 2-2. Juan Pierre singles home Coco Crisp in the top of the 2nd to help Fremont regain the lead 3-2. It would stay that way until the bottom of the 6th, when the man who does not produce in the post season (ARod), would come up big with a 2 run HR to give Severn a 4-3 lead. After an Emil Brown single, Brian McCann knocks him in with a triple to increase the Severn lead 5-3. Miguel Cabrera would end the scoring in the 6th by knocking McCann home and make the score 6-3 Severn. Fremont would come right back in the 7th on a 2 run HR by Swisher to cut the lead to 6-5. Juan Encarnacion would answer the call in the 7th by hitting a 2 run HR to give the Express some breathing room, 8-5. Chris Sampson would pitch the final two innings for the save. Severn wins 8-5 to tie the series at 1 game apiece.
Severn @ Fremont
Game 3 – Scott Olsen vs Roy Oswalt
With the score 0-0, Fremont would get 2 in the bottom of the 4th to take the lead 2-0. Ramon Martinez delievered a 2 RBI single to account for the scoring. Pat Burrell would lead off the 5th with a double. ARod would then deliver an RBI double to cut the Fremont lead to 2-1. McCann would then single home Rodriguez to tie the game at 2-2. Burrell would lead off the 7th with a walk. Emil Brown would then hit a double to make it 2nd and 3rd with no one out. After an ARod strikout, Holliday would walk to load the bases with one out. McCann would deliver the sac fly that would prove to be the game winner, 3-2 Severn. Severn takes the series lead 2-1.
Game 4 – Zambrano vs Smoltz
ARod scores in the first on a wild pitch to make the score 1-0 Severn. It would remain that way until the top of the 3rd, when Matt Holliday would homer to extend the Express lead 2-0. Morneau hits an RBI single to score McCann and make the score 3-0 in the 3rd. Fremont would get 1 back in the bottom of the 3rd when Juan Pierre scores on a sac fly by Swisher, to make it 3-1. Severn would close out the scoring as Ty Wiggington knocks in Bill Hall in the 8th to make the score 4-1. Rivera gets his 2nd save of the series and Severn takes a 3 games to 1 lead.
Game 5 – Webb vs Lilly
Top of 1, bases are loaded for Miguel Cabrera and he hits a Grand Slam to give Severn a 4-0 lead. Fremont gets 1 back in the 1st on an RBI single by Brandon Philips. Severn would get 5 more in the top of the 2nd to make the score 9-1. Encarnacion scored on an error; Cabrera would walk to force in another run; Morneau hits an RBI single; and Cabrera would score on an error. McCann would score on an RBI single in the 3rd by Cabrera to close out the scoring for the Express and make the score 10-1. Fremont would get 1 more run in the 9th on a Jay Payton RBI single and the final would be 10-2. Severn wins the series and awaits the winner of Tempe/LA.
Tempe vs. Los Angeles – Tempe beats LA 4-2. Chris yawns, George cries.
After taking a 6-1 beating in Game 1, the Riots looked as if their pitching would stand strong against the Tempers. LA responded with 3-2 and 4-1 victories in Games 2 and 3. Leading Tempe 2-0 late in Game 4, LA looked as if it could take a commanding 3-1 series lead. That is, until the Tempers woke up in the bottom of the 9th. With one on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Tempe’s aging Alou smashed a two-run shot to tie the game. Tempe won it in the 10th, without breaking a sweat.
Done playing around, the Tempers handed it to the Riots (again) with 6-2 and 6-3 victories in Games 5 and 6.
The series really wasn’t that close. Though each team hit 8 homers, Tempe out-hit LA .237 to .166, and outscored LA 24-15 in the 6 game set. At the same time, Tempe’s arms wielded a 2.17 ERA against a mediocre effort by LA, which put up a 4.08 ERA. There were few rays of light in LA’s overall performance, including a 1.000 fielding percentage and an inspiring performance by backup catcher David Ross, who batted .400 with 3 HR in 15 AB. Pujols sucked, batting .100 with no runs or RBI – sadly not his worst LCS performance yet.
Tempe actually had something to smile about, aside from his 15th straight world series appearance. While a disappointing Clemens went 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA, Bronson Arroyo went 1-0 with a nice 1.42 ERA. More impressive were Johjima, Matsui, Alou and Lowell who hit .412, .400, .385 and .350 respectively. Tempe had no one with more than 5 runs or RBI; instead Chris gave every player on his roster ample opportunity to participate in the ass-whippin’.
The always gracious Chris offered to let me replay the series as many times as it took to beat him, but between my entire blubbing yes’s all he heard is ‘no, Chris, you’re the better manager and you deserve it’. Oh, well. At least I’m used to it by now …