BRASSBALL
LEAGUE |
GAME SIX
Fleetwood (Hernandez 16-11, 5.60 ERA) at Stanley (Appier 10-10, 6.19 ERA)
Fleetwood's Game Five win had brought the series back to Stanley. Starting for
Fleetwood was Livan
Hernandez, who had struggled in Game One. Stanley countered with Kevin Appier,
making his first start of
the series. Both pitchers had compiled hefty earned run averages during the regular
season, so a
high-scoring game seemed imminent. As it turns out, though, both pitchers were up to
the challenge.
After a scoreless first inning, Fleetwood mounted the first rally. Paul Konerko,
Bobby Abreu and Jeffrey
Hammonds each singled with nobody out. Konerko was unable to score on Hammonds' hit,
however, leaving the
bases loaded for Jose Valentin. Appier then utilized his sinking fastball to entice
a double-play groundout
from Valentin. A run crossed the plate, but the play gave Stanley the chance to
escape the inning with
minimal damage.
Appier took advantage of this opportunity and forced Fleetwood catcher Ben Molina into a
popout to end the
inning. Fleetwood had drawn first blood, but had only managed to tally one run.
In the top of the fourth inning, Valentin would redeem himself. Following a single
and stolen base by
Fleetwood right fielder Bobby Abreu, Valentin delivered a RBI single to extend the lead.
Facing
elimination, Fleetwood now led 2-0.
Meanwhile, Fleetwood pitcher Livan Hernandez was scattering Stanley's hits effectively and
entered the
bottom of the fifth inning with a shutout. Bernie Williams and Mark McGwire hit
singles in the inning,
however, and Stanley had two runners on with two outs. Moises Alou then hit a weak
dribbler toward second.
Attempting to end the inning, Craig Counsell fielded the ball off-balance but threw wildly
past first.
After the throw sailed into the outfield, both Williams and McGwire would score and Alou
would gallop
into third base. The play was ruled a single and a two-base error. The next
batter, Joe Oliver, further
capitalized on this mistake by hitting a RBI single to plate a third Stanley run.
Hernandez retired Palmeiro
to end the inning, but the Counsell miscue had given Stanley a one-run lead through five
innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, Mark McGwire continued his amazing performance. With
one out, he launched a
home run off Fleetwood relief pitcher Ramiro Mendoza (his fifth homer of the series).
Stanley now led 4-2
heading into the eighth inning. Fleetwood would need more late inning heroics to
keep its championship
dream alive.
At this point, Stanley had already handed the game over to its best relief pitcher, Felix
Rodriguez.
Prior to McGwire's homer, Rodriguez had struck out the side in the seventh inning.
He then continued his
dominance in the eighth, retiring Fleetwood in order again. The Walkers were now
down to their last three
outs.
Stanley continued with the hot hand in the top of the ninth, leaving Rodriguez in to face
Fleetwood's Paul
Konerko. Konerko continued his sizzling post-season, though, lining a single to
right field. This put the
tying run at the plate with nobody out.
Not taking any chances, Stanley now called on its closer Antonio Alfonseca.
Despite just three blown
saves in the regular season, Alfonseca had already blown saves in both Game 2 and Game 5
of the series.
Fleetwood would now need him to blow another.
Bobby Abreu, with three hits in three at-bats on the day, was the first Fleetwood batter
to face Alfonseca.
He smashed a deep fly ball to right field, bringing the Stanley crowd to a hushed silence.
Jermaine Dye
caught the ball at the base of the wall, however, for the out. Jeffrey Hammonds then
hit a fly ball to left
field for the second out. Stanley was one out away from the series win.
Stepping to the plate for Fleetwood was Damion Easley. Easley had hit 16 home runs during
the regular
season. Here he needed to add another.
And when Alfonseca hung a breaking ball to him on a -1 count, Easley did just that!
Amazingly, the ball
cleared the left-center field wall and the game was tied. Fleetwood had done it again!
Alfonseca finally
ended the inning on a Molina pop out and the game headed to the bottom of the ninth.
Leading off for Stanley against Fleetwood reliever Derek Lowe was none other than Mark
McGwire. Lowe got
the best of McGwire this time, however, striking him out. Lowe retired the next two
batters on ground
outs, and for the second consecutive game the series would head into extra innings.
Spurred by adrenaline, Fleetwood mounted another rally in the top of the tenth.
Kevin Elster got the inning
started with a lead-off single. The go-ahead run was now on first. Next up was
Shannon Stewart. Stewart
failed to put down a successful sacrifice bunt earlier in the series. This time
Fleetwood manager Rube
Foster let him swing away, but this decision backfired. Stewart grounded into a
5-4-3 double play.
Just when the inning seemed over for Fleetwood, however, Jim Edmonds lined a single and
then stole
second base. The go-ahead run was now on second base, and Chipper Jones came up bat.
In this important
at-bat, Jones did indeed earn a single. Unfortunately for Fleetwood, though, it was
of the infield variety
and moved the go-ahead run only as far as third base. The rally was now in the hands of
Paul Konerko.
During Fleetwood post-season run, Konerko now held an amazing .479 batting average through
48 at-bats. He
had come through with game-winning hits in earlier games, and now looked to add another.
Stanley called
upon relief pitcher Tim Crabtree to face Konerko. In another solid at-bat, Konerko hit a
line drive.
Unfortunately for Fleetwood, though, the ball ended up in the glove of Stanley third
baseman Terry Shumpert.
Stanley had escaped the inning unharmed.
Derek Lowe set Stanley down in order again in the bottom of the tenth. Crabtree
matched this effort by
shutting down Fleetwood in the top of the eleventh. This would force Lowe into his
third inning of work.
Mark McLemore led off the inning for Stanley with a walk, and then promptly stole second
base. Lowe then
uncorked a wild pitch, and McLemore moved to third base with nobody out. At this
point Fleetwood
intentionally walked Bernie Williams in favor of facing strikeout prone Jermaine Dye.
But with both the infield and outfield drawn in, Jermaine Dye wasted no time in lining a
single into
right field. McLemore scored for Stanley, and the game was over.
Stanley had won the game 5-4 in eleven innings and had won the series four games to two.
The series MVP was Mark McGwire. McGwire led Stanley by batting .368 (7-19), walking
eight times (three
intentionally), hitting five home runs and driving in nine runs.
WP-Crabtree (1-0). LP-Lowe (1-2).
Stanley now moves on to face Ocala in the National League Championship Series. Best
of luck to both
teams. Hopefully the NLCS will prove to be as exciting as this series was!
BOXSCORE: 2001 Fleetwood Walkers At 2001 Stanley Sioux 10/16/2001
Game 6: Another great one; Fleetwood ties in ninth, but Stanley wins in 11th.
Walkers AB R H RBI AVG Sioux AB R H RBI AVG
C.Counsell 2B 4 0 0 0 .400 B.Williams CF,LF 4 0 2 0 .370
B-K.Elster SS 1 0 1 0 .368 J.Dye RF 6 1 2 1 .300
S.Stewart DH 5 0 0 0 .333 M.McGwire DH 5 2 2 1 .368
J.Edmonds CF 3 0 1 0 .262 M.Alou LF 4 1 3 1 .407
C.Jones 3B 5 0 1 0 .239 C-D.Lewis CF 1 0 0 0 .000
P.Konerko 1B 5 2 2 0 .469 J.Oliver C 5 0 2 1 .353
B.Abreu RF 5 1 3 0 .172 R.Palmeiro 1B 5 0 0 0 .150
J.Hammonds LF 5 0 1 0 .265 T.Shumpert 3B 4 0 0 0 .318
J.Valentin SS 2 0 1 1 .227 D-K.Caminiti PH,3B 1 0 0 0 .000
A-D.Easley PH,2B 3 1 1 2 .222 N.Perez SS 5 0 1 0 .143
B.Molina C 4 0 0 0 .229 M.McLemore 2B 4 1 2 0 .318
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 42 4 11 3 Totals 44 5 14 4
A-Pinch Hit For Valentin In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Counsell In 7th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Alou In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Shumpert In 10th Inning
Walkers......... 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 4 11 1
Sioux........... 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 - 5 14 0
Walkers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
L.Hernandez 6 10 3 1 0 1 0 7.71 A1 D1
R.Mendoza 0 2/3 2 1 1 0 0 1 10.64 D2 D5
A.Osuna 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 3.27 D6 E1
D.Lowe LOSS(1-2) 2 1/3 1 1 1 2 2 0 2.45 E2
Totals 10 14 5 3 3 4 1
Sioux IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
K.Appier 6 7 2 2 1 4 0 3.00 A1 C7
F.Rodriguez HOLD(4th) 2 1 1 1 0 4 0 3.18 C8 D5
A.Alfonseca BS(3rd) 1 2/3 3 1 1 1 0 1 5.40 D6 E4
T.Crabtree WIN(1-0) 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 E5
Totals 11 11 4 4 2 10 1
ATTENDANCE- 49,600 DATE- TIME- Night
T- 4:06
LEFT ON BASE- Walkers: 7 Sioux:11
DOUBLE PLAYS- Walkers: 0 Sioux: 2
ERRORS- C.Counsell
DOUBLES- J.Edmonds(2nd), M.McLemore(1st)
HOME RUNS- D.Easley(1st), M.McGwire(5th)
STOLEN BASES- J.Edmonds(1st), B.Abreu(2nd), M.McLemore(2nd)
WALKS- J.Edmonds-2, B.Williams-2, M.McLemore
STRIKE OUTS- C.Counsell, S.Stewart, J.Edmonds-2, C.Jones, B.Abreu, J.Hammonds,
D.Easley-2, B.Molina, J.Dye-2, M.McGwire, N.Perez
GIDP- S.Stewart, J.Valentin
WILD PITCHES- D.Lowe
Mark McGwire slammed a homerun as the Stanley Sioux defeated the Fleetwood
Walkers in 11 innings by a score of 5 to 4 at The TeePee Tomb.
The score was knotted at 4 after nine innings. Stanley ended up winning it in
the 11th inning. Mark McLemore drew a walk. McLemore was running on the
next pitch and he stole second. Derek Lowe then let one slip out of his hand
for a wild pitch. Bernie Williams came up and he was walked intentionally.
Jermaine Dye stepped into the box and stroked a base-hit giving Stanley the
victory as 49,600 happy fans celebrated wildly. Stanley had 14 hits overall,
while Fleetwood had 11.
The victory went to Tim Crabtree(1-0) who went 1 and 1/3 innings, allowing no
runs. Lowe(1-2) ended up with the loss in relief. He pitched 2 and 1/3
innings and surrendered 1 hit and 2 walks.