Steve Stein sent me this postseason press release straight from the Transcontinental Baseball League headquarters:
A report on game 5 of the TBL National Conference wildcard playoff series.
"Sure, we have time to play one more tonight." (HUD-NBO playoff)
Anyone who has ever uttered that phrase knows what’s coming.The series between the Northboro Phoenix and Clay Beard’s Hudson Generals was tied at 2 games apiece, with one more game remaining at Northboro (on boards, as opposed to games at Hudson on computer). Things weren’t going smoothly technically and we were doing the games via phone instead of in a chat room, so we decided just to get this last one at Northboro out of the way.
Lincecum versus Halladay promised to be a pitching duel, so it would go quickly, right?
The Generals claimed the early lead with 2 runs on four singles in the second, while Lincecum was smoking. With men on first and second, no out, Hudson’s #9 hitter Santiago was up. Clay’s call for a sacrifice bunt worked poorly, Jeter was cut down at third and the rally sputtered.
Lincecum had the Phoenix dazed and confused, retiring the first 12 batters, when Northboro harshed his mellow in the 5th with 2 singles and a Ramon Hernandez double tying the contest at 2 runs apiece.
Hudson struck right back in the top of the sixth when Kurt Suzuki stroked a lead-off double and once more Ramon Santiago was up, no outs, man on second. Once again, Clay called for the bunt and this time Santiago got the job done, moving Suzuki to third. Todd Helton’s RBI single gave the Generals a 3-2 lead. But Northboro came right back and matched the run in the bottom of the frame when Ian Kinsler scored from third on a no-out double play.
Jose Bautista reached base leading off the 7th when Halladay couldn’t field a come-backer cleanly, and the day was over for Roy as Will Ohman came on in relief. Rajai Davis greeted him with a run-scoring double, and Chris Heisey followed with a 2-run HR giving the Generals a 6-3 lead. Oh, Man!
Lincecum buzzed his way into the 9th inning, but when David Ortiz ripped a one-out single, Clay went to his closers. Josh Spence retired Carlos Pena and gave way to Vinnie Pestano to get the final out. Jeff Francoeur doubled, though, and JJ Hardy launched a 2-out 3-run home run to tie the score. Lincecum’s fine effort was wasted.
The game then got down to serious bullpen innings burning. Huston Street set down 8 straight Generals, and Rafael Betancourt downed 3 more. Meanwhile, there was high drama in the bottom of the innings. In the 10th, Hernandez led off with a single. Jayson Werth pinch-ran, stealing second, and moving to third on Cairo’s successful sacrifice. Kinsler and Smith, however, were victims of Pestano strikeouts, ending the threat. In the 12th, Javy Guerra came on in relief with one out and Melky Cabrera came up rolling a "1" – Stolen! by Guerra’s +42 HR rating, and Melky couldn’t advance past third. Leading off the bottom of the 13th, Ian Kinsler launched another "1" – Stolen again! by the crafty Guerra. But where long ball fails, small ball prevails. Kinsler stole third, and a McKenry fly ball gave Ian 35 chances to score. The way things had been going, I cringed as I rolled, but no 66 appeared and the Phoenix prevailed 7-6 to take a 3-2 series lead going back to Hudson.
Tonight we plan to finish the series on Clay’s computer, but we know that sometimes the baseball gods have other ideas. Stay tuned.
Great report. Good luck to both teams!!
Hmm.. “Lincecum was smoking”, “Lincecum had the Phoenix dazed and confused”, “Northboro harshed his mellow”, “Lincecum buzzed his way into the 9th”, and “Lincecum’s fine effort was wasted”?
I see what you did there. :)