Joe Borowski allows one hit as he earns the save in the 9th. A big win for the Cubs. Ortiz played with fire once two often, and Kerry Wood survived his wildness by being unhittable. Game 2 tomorrow night, same bat time, same bat channel.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:41 pm | Games | Permalink | 2 Comments
September 30, 2003
Wood Runs Out of Gas
Wood is gone after 124 pitches and walking Gary Sheffield to load the bases with one out in the eighth. A great plate apperance by Sheffield, fouling off pitches in the zone, and taking everything outside. Remlinger is in to turn Chipper Jones around to the right side.
Update: Jones grounds into a force out [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:15 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Wood Wows
Kerry Wood just blew away Vinny Castilla for his 9th strikeout. He’s overcome his early wildness and just keeps mowing the Braves down. He’s getting them swinging at pitches in the dirt; he’s catching them looking at belt high breaking balls. A masterful performance.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:50 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Giles Injured
Marcus Giles tripped over first base in the bottom of the sixth and has been taken out of the game. A serious injury for the Braves if he can’t play.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:28 pm | Injuries | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Deja Vu All Over Again
Once again, Alou, Ramirez and Karros load the bases with none out. Last time, Ortiz got out of it with 2 K and a pop out. Hacker Randall Simon is pinch-hitting for Gonzalez.
Update: Simon strikes out. Wow.
Update: Bako hits what looks like a DP ball to Fick, who boots it to Giles [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:00 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
RO DP’s
Russ Ortiz just induced his 2nd ground double play of the game. He could have had three if not for the error Giles made. It should be noted that he only induced nine during the regular season.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:45 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Ortiz Does it Again
With the bases loaded and no out, Ortiz strikes out Gonzalez and Bako, then gets Wood to pop out. Ortiz now has six K through four innings; he’s not a strikeout pitcher, but he’s taking advantage of the Cubs propensity for the K.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:31 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Bloop!
Eric Karros just blooped one into centerfield to load the bases with no one out. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Andruw Jones not make a play! Just kidding, no one else would have gotten close to it.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:23 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Making his Marcus
Marcus Giles makes up for his error with a solo HR in the third. It was the first hit allowed by Kerry Wood. Braves lead 1-0.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:10 pm | Sluggers | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Do It Yourself
Russ Ortiz pitches a great inning. He gives up a one-out hit to Kerry Wood, and then Giles misplays a good double play ball. With men on first and second and one out, Ortiz strikes out Grudzielanek and Sosa to end the inning. He has four K through three innings.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:04 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Control Problems?
Neither Ortiz nor Wood were really throwing strikes in the first inning. Ortiz threw 15 pitches, 7 for strikes, and Kerry Wood threw 17 pitches, only 8 for strikes. That doesn’t strike me as a ball/strike ratio that can hold up for a whole game.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:38 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Cubs Crowd
Kenny Lofton just singled leading off for the Cubs, and cheers went up at Turner Field. Seems a lot of Cubs fans made the trip to Atlanta to root, root, root for the road team. When I was at the 1999 World Series in Atlanta, I remember the Yankees fans being much louder [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:21 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Schmidt And Bonds
Giants win 2-0. Yesterday, I tried to write a post about how the Giants have their talent concentrated in two players. The point I made poorly is that concentration of talent is enough to carry the team. That concentration shone through today.
Schmidt pitched brilliantly. He gave up only three hits, no [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:48 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Ring ‘Em Up
Schmidt and Beckett are ringing up the strikeouts at Pac Bell today. Beckett has five through three innings, Schmidt has four. Each has allowed 1 hit.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:57 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Twins Win
Nick Johnson ground out to third base to end the game. A huge win for the Twins, given the home field advantage they enjoy in the Metrodome. The game came down to defense, with the Twins making a big play in the 9th, and the Yankees not making plays in the 3rd and [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:28 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Soriano Singles
It’s not over. Soriano’s infield hit breaks up the shutout. Tying runs on base for Nick Johnson, vs. the lefty Guardado.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:23 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Bonds Walks
Durham on 2nd, 2 out, the Marlins walk Bonds. Can Alfonzo make them pay?
Update: Edgardo flied out to center.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:20 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Great Catch
Shannon Stewart made a great catch in the 9th. With Williams on first, Matsui hit one deep that Stewart ran down. Boone then doubled. If Stewart doesn’t get to that ball, the Yankees would be in a better position to tie the game. Sierra pops out, and the game depends on Soriano.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:19 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Marlins-Giants Underway
Jason Schmidt starts off the game with a strikeout of Juan Pierre.
Update: Schmidt retires the side on 7 pitches. The Marlins were not very selective in the first.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:10 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
You’ve Got it, LaTroya
LaTroy Hawkins retires the Yankees 1-2-3 in the 8th. He’s faced seven batters and struck out four. He’s also got through the heart of the Yankees order and Williams, Matsui and Boone will be batting in the 9th. Twins still lead 3-0.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:07 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Gillick Gallops
Pat Gillick has resigned as the GM of the Mariners.
Gillick will remain in his position until a successor is found, then become a consultant for the team.
“After much thought I’ve decided to step away from my current role with the Mariners,” Gillick said in a statement released by the team. “I’ve had four chances at [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:01 pm | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
September 30, 2003
Yankees Threatening
The Yankees get the first two men on in the 7th. Sierra pinch-hitting for Rivera against Hawkins.
Update: Hawkins fails to get a double play on a comebacker to the mound. 1st and 3rd, 1 out.
Update: Soriano strikes out.
Update: Johnson battles, fouling off a number of pitches, but he also strikes out. The [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:31 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Twins Up 3-0
Santana came out after four innings with a leg cramp. The Twins scored two in the sixth. The big hit was a Hunter triple. The Twins led the AL in triples.
Posted by David Pinto at 3:05 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Moose Jam
Mussina works himself into a bases loaded situation with two out in the 4th, but got Guzman on a foul pop up to third to end the inning. Mussina has thrown 63 pitches through four innings.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:19 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Yankees Selectivity
Santana got the first two batters in the 3rd, but Johnson walked on four pitches, and Jeter worked a walk on seven. Now Giambi is up with two on and two out.
Update: Giambi strikes out on three pitches. He could not catch up to Santana’s fastball, despite choking up with two strikes on [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:01 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Aggressive Baserunning
Christian Guzman scores the first run of the game. He tried to go first-to-third on a Stewart single, and Matsui missed him on a close play (the Twins radio announcers seemed to think he was out). Then on a line drive to centerfield, he was able to beat Bernie William’s throw to the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:48 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Matsui Singles
Hideki Matsui singles in his first post-season AB. Yankees and Twins tied at 0 at the end of two.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:36 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Play Ball!
Twins-Yankees are underway. Stewart doubles to lead off the game, but Gardenhire wastes an out bunting him to third. And the Yankees, like idiots have brought the infield in.
Update: Mientkiewicz taps back to the box. Yankees got lucky there. A groundout to short finishes the inning.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:09 pm | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
Playoffs Today
In the past, starting a lefty against the Yankees was considered a good idea. This year, however, the Yankees have a 26-11 record when the opposition starts a lefty against them, best in the AL and tied with the Giants for 2nd best in the majors. Nevertheless, the Twins send lefty Johan Santana [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:38 am | League Division Series | Permalink | No Comments
September 30, 2003
On the Table
Black Table, a literary journalism web site in New York, has an extensive preview of the playoffs by Will Leitch. I love their summary of the A’s:
Oakland, despite the similarities in philosophies, couldn’t be a more different team. The lineup is one of the worst in baseball, so bad that Beane was forced to [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:04 am | Predictions | Permalink | No Comments
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