Game 1 (U.Jiminez @ C.Zambrano): Still intoxicated from the evening before, and fresh off his Hennepin Avenue sidewalk extrication by Torto a little after midnight, Nick managed to hold on to Carlo's cards and cobble together a lineup to face my division leading squad. With the heart and soul of my team, the Big Z - Zambrano on the mound things would be tough for Carlo's manager by proxy. Ubaldo Jiminez was no match for the worlds most expensive setup guy on this day. I opened up the bottom of the first with 3 consecutive singles for Schumaker, Tejada, and the Toddfather, and in the end all 3 scored before the inning was up. Carlo's squad fired back with a 2-run Josh Willingham blast in the 2nd, but that was all he could muster. El Toro locked it down from there, going a full 7 IP, scattering 5 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 10. Fist pumping abounded. My boys tacked on two more insurance runs in the 5th and 7th, on Angel Pagan and Randy Winn RBI doubles, respectively. Street held down the 8th, while Franklin closed out the 9th.
Torto W 5-2
WP - C.Zambrano
LP - U.Jiminez
Sv - R.Franklin
HR - J. Willingham
Player of the Game - Big Z - 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 10 K
Game 2 (R.Nolasco @ R.Harden)- With last night's booze quickly wearing off, and hangover rapidly setting in, Nick buckled down for game 2. Josh Willingham homered again in the top of the 2nd to break the scoreless tie, and Nick manufactured a run in the top of the 4th to take an early 2-0 lead. My squad fired back with a Juan Pierre RBI single in the 5th, and a 3-run 6th inning, highlighted by a Kung Fu Panda RBI double. With the score now 4-2, I felt comfortable to get the always iffy Rich Harden off the mound after 5 decent innings and turn things over to the pen. Big mistake. In the 7th, after a lead off single, Brandon Medders struck out Juan Uribe, and then proceeded to walk the next two batters leaving the bases loaded for the dangerous Andre Ethier. Ethier did what he does - and crushed the ball for a Grand Slam, taking a 6-4 lead. Stunned by this turn of events, my team turtled up, and couldn't muster a hit the rest of the way.
Carlo W 6-4
WP - T.Clippard
LP - B.Medders
HR - J.Willingham, A.Ethier (GS)
Player of the Game: A.Ethier - 2/3 with 4 RBI and a HR
Game 3 (J.Blanton @ J.Vasquez)- Time running short, Nick and I decided to postpone Game 3 for Sunday morning, giving me plenty of time to think about the last loss. I decided that having Javy on the mound for the last game of the series would be all the edge I needed. Wrong again. Apparently the 2010 Javy Vasquez showed up for this start. Despite an early 6-1 lead for my squad (capped by a Jayson Werth 3-run deep drive blast to left for 440 feet), Javy began to melt down beginning in the 5th. Vasquez yielded 2 in the 5th on a Big Puma base-clearing double, and then two more in the 6th on a Beretta Ianetter 2-run shot. With the lead down to 1 and Javy tired, I turned it over to my middle relievers again. Ugh. In the 7th, Mitch Stetter gave up a 3-run blast to Willingham (after getting 2 quick outs against the meat of the order), and yielded the lead 6-8. My squad scrapped back in the bottom of the 8th with a lead off Juan Pierre single and stolen base, followed up by back-to-back doubles by Tejada and Helton (Tejada was 4-4 in the game with 3 2Bs and 3 RBI). Score tied 8-8, I decide to hold back my closers, in case the game became a marathon. Top of the ninth, Ryan TheRiot (of 'D' power) eeks a deep drive off Guillermo Mota over the fence in right field to take a 9-8 lead. The Coors Field +40 carry worked against us this day. Stunned, my guys had no answer in the bottom frame.
Carlo W 9-8
WP - K-Rod
LP - G.Mota
HR - J.Werth, J.Willingham, R.Theriot
Player of the Game - Josh Willingham - 3/3 with a 2B and HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Carlo takes the series 2-1
Good stuff, and a nice dramatic series. Josh Willingham homered in every game of the series - Record?
Good series boys...way to get r' done. Playing PTP hungover is pretty brutal - really got to get back on the horse in that situation.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel like we've had players hit a home run in each game of a series before, but my lack of data-tracking leaves me with nothing more than anecdotal evidence. I'm sure I have documentation, however, of Guillermo Mota tossing meatballs to lose games.