SCUM CAPTURE UBL CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 1 had the ‘Dawgs
hosting the Scum with the pitching matchups of Jose Lima for the Scum and Todd
Stottlemyr for the ‘Dawgs. Frank
Catalanotto opened the game with a leadoff HR to stake the Scum to a 1-0
lead. Rusty Greer answered with a HR of
his own in the bottom of the 1st, to tie the game at 1-1.
Catalanotto’s next at
bat in the 3rd, saw him take Stottlemyr deep again, another solo
shot, and a 2-1 Scum lead. Meanwhile
Lima was retiring 12 straight and 15 of next 16 ‘Dawgs batters. Stottlemyr was also holding keeping the Scum
off the scoreboard and both pitchers were lifted in the 7th with the
score still 2-1 Scum.
In the top of the 7th,
The ‘Dawgs brought in Mike Mohler to pitch.
He walked the first two batters he faced and this lead to two Scum runs
when Shawn Green singled them in. The
Scum bullpen of Bobby Howry, Rudy Seanez, and Scott Williamson shut the door on
the ‘Dawgs with 3 innings of 1 hit relief to secure a 4-1 victory for the
Scum.
Star of the game:
Frank Catalanotto 2-2 with 2 HR’s, 2
RBI’s, and a walk.
Game 2 pitted rookie
Jeff Weaver for the Scum versus the “Rocket”, Roger Clemens for the
‘Dawgs. The ‘Dawgs jumped out first on
a solo HR by Rondell White in the bottom of the 2nd. Reggie Sanders answered with a 2-run HR in
the top of the 3rd off of Clemens staking the Scum in front
2-1.
Sanders’ next at bat,
in the 4th inning, also saw him take Clemens deep, another 2-run HR
and the Scum lead 4-1. But Mike Piazza
connected in the bottom of the 4th, a solo shot, making it 4-2 Scum.
A RBI double by Juan
Encarnacion put the Scum ahead 5-2 in the top of the 6th, but once
again the ‘Dawgs answered. Weaver
walked Eric Young to start the bottom of the 6th and is lifted for
Howry. Piazza’s 1-out single put ‘Dawgs
on 1st and 2nd.
The Scum calls on John Rocker to quell the fire. Instead, he walks pinch hitter Ellis Burks
to load the bases of ‘Dawgs with 1 out.
Pinch hitter Rich Amaral hits into a Fielder’s Choice RBI and Rocker
then fans Rondell White, stranding 2 runners.
The Scum heads into
the bottom of the 9th with a 5-3 lead and has Williamson in the game
in his 2nd inning of work.
White singles to open the 9th and is followed by a Dave Berg
pinch hit single. Rich Aurilia grounds
out, but the runners move up to 2nd and 3rd with 1
out. Williamson strikes out Ed Sprague
and gets Eric Young to fly out to end the game and send the Scum home with 2-0
series lead.
Star of Game: Reggie Sanders 4-5, 2 HR’s, 4 RBI
Game 3:
The Series shifts to
Oakland and the matchups are John Smoltz for the ‘Dawgs and Brian Moehler for
the Scum. The ‘Dawgs score first in the
top of the 2nd on a RBI single by Matt Franco. Smoltz is blowing through the Scum, retiring
18 of the next 20 batters and striking out 6 out of 9 in one stretch.
Moehler kept his club
in it, retiring 13 out of 15 from the 2nd-6th innings
when he is lifted for a pinch hitter.
The ‘Dawgs get
another run in the 8th inning to go up 2-0 on 1 hit and 2
walks. They get 3 more in the 9th
off Al Reyes on 2 hits and another throwing error by Reggie Sanders and lead
5-0 entering the bottom of the 9th.
Smoltz is lifted
before the bottom of the 9th and Mark Petkovsek closes out the 5-0
victory for the ‘Dawgs.
Star of Game: John Smoltz
8 IP, 0 runs, 6 hits, 11 K, 0 BB’s
Game 4 has starting
pitcher matchups of Gil Heredia for the ‘Dawgs and Jason Schmidt for the
Scum. It appeared to be a slugfest on
paper, but was not.
The ‘Dawgs jumped out
front for the 3rd game in a row when they scored 3 runs in the top
of the 3rd on a Piazza 3-run HR off of Schmidt. The Scum answered with a run in the bottom
of the 3rd on a RBI triple by Reggie Sanders.
The score remained
3-1 ‘Dawgs until the top of the 8th when the ‘Dawgs scratched out a
run and closed the door on the Scum, winning 4-1.
Star of Game: Gil Heredia 7 IP, 1 run, 5 Hits, 4 K
Game # 5 was a
classic. The Scum ran out of all of
their position players and all of their pitchers. The ‘Dawgs had only 2 position players remaining by the end of
the game. The only pitcher not to get
into the game was Roger Clemens, the game 6 starter and Smoltz and Heredia, the
games 5 and four starter. The Scum’s
game 6 starter, got into the game, but it was as a pinch hitter.
The starting pitchers
were game 1 starters, Stottlemyr for the ‘Dawgs and Lima for the Scum. For the 4th time out of 5
contests, the ‘Dawgs got the early lead on a Rusty Greer double which scored
Eric Young in the 1st inning.
A Mike Lieberthal HR in the bottom of the 2nd tied it a 1-1.
The ‘Dawgs scored 4
in the top of the 3rd, all with 2 outs. Ellis Burks had a bases loaded single, add another throwing error
on Reggie Sanders and all 3 runners scored.
Ed Sprague followed with a single and it was quickly 5-1 ‘Dawgs. The Scum got 1 run back in the bottom of the
3rd on an RBI single by Sanders.
In the bottom of the
4th, the Scum got 2 more back.
After a Aurilia error, Tony Batista hit a 2-run bomb to make the score
5-4 ‘Dawgs. Relievers from both squads
escaped a couple of minor jams keeping it 5-4 ‘Dawgs after 7 innings of play.
Another Lieberthal HR
tied the game for the Scum in the bottom of the 8th.
The game headed to
extra innings. The 9th – 12th
innings there was no scoring and both teams now had only 1 reliever each
remaining.
In the 13th,
Ed Sprague launched a 2-run HR off Al Reyes for a 7-5 ‘Dawgs lead. John Wetteland remained in the game to pitch
the bottom of the 13th. Rico
Brogna opened the 13th with a double. Lieberthal followed with a single making it 7-6, ‘Dawgs.
The ‘Dawgs bring in
their final available pitcher, Yoshii.
He gets an out that moved Lieberthal to 2nd. Lenny Harris followed with a single, but the
slow-footed Lieberthal was unable to score.
This brought up Encarnacion. He
roped one to right that was caught and again, Lieberthal could not advance
home, leaving him on 3rd with two outs and the pitcher’s spot due
up.
The Scum had no
batters left and only 3 pitchers from which to choose among to pinch-hit. The only pitcher remaining who had any hits
in the regular MLB season was Jeff Weaver so he was summoned to bat. Weaver roped a single to left scoring
Lieberthal and knotting the game at 7-7.
The Scum is forced to
bring in their final reliever, Kim. The
‘Dawgs Eric Young gets a 1 out single and stole 2nd base. With Young on 2nd, Kim gets Greer
for the 2nd out. The next 2
batters are Piazza and Olerud. In a
controversial move, the Scum elects to intentionally walk them BOTH, to load
the bases.
Yoshii was due up
after Olerud, and since they were out of pitchers he was forced to remain in
the game and hit (even though they had 2 position players on the bench). Kim struck him out. In the bottom of the 14th, Reggie
Sanders opened it up with a double.
After he moved up to 3rd on a ground out, he walked home with
the winning run on a Rico Brogna single.
Star of Game: Mike
Lieberthal 3-5, 4 runs scored, 2 HR, and 3 RBI
Game # 6 had the
teams heading back to Burlington with the starting pitcher matchup of Jeff
Weaver for the Scum and Roger Clemens for the ‘Dawgs.
The Scum broke on top
in the 1st when Tony Batista hit a 2 run HR. However the ‘Dawgs were determined and got 2
in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd to lead 4-2 after 3
innings. The first 2 ‘Dawg runs scored
on a Ed Sprague single and throwing error on Reggie Sanders followed by a
double by Aurilia. Rondel White hit a
bases loaded single to score the third ‘Dawg run and the other scored on a sac
fly.
In the 5th,
Tony Batista followed a walk and an error with his 2nd HR of the
game, a 3 run shot off of Clemens and a 5-4 Scum lead. Clemens was lifted in the bottom of the 5th
with another sub standard playoff performance of 5 IP, 5 runs, 5 hits, and 6
walks.
However, Aurilia
atoned for his previous error with a solo HR off of Dennis Cook, knotting the
game once more at 5-5, after 5 innings.
However, Batista was
due up in the 6th and he connected with a double which scored Alfonzo
and Green, both of whom had singled.
All of this damage was done on reliever Rick White.
The ‘Dawgs tried to
answer in the bottom of the 7th off of Seanez. A single and a walk brought Rocker into the
game with no outs. He proceeded to
strike out pinch hitter Burks and then retired the next 2 batters to escape the
inning unharmed.
Scott Williamson was
summoned to pitch the 9th after Rocker struck out two more in the 8th
inning. He got the first two batters,
but then pinch hitter Matt Franco single to bring the tying run to the late in
the person of Ellis Burks. Williamson
got him to fly out to right to end the game and the series.
Star of Game: Tony
Batista 3-5, all 7 RBI, 2 HR, 1 Double
MVP of Series: Reggie
Sanders .320 AVG, .680 SLG., 7 RBI, 2 HR
Other notes: Scum bullpen 31 IP, 23 hits, 33 K, 2.03
ERA. Take away Reyes’ mopup effort and
it was 0.96 ERA. Howry, Kim, Rocker, Williamson
combined: 23.2 IP, 25 K, 13 hits, 0.00 ERA, 0 runs
‘Dawgs bullpen 21 1/3
IP, 21 Hits, 17 K, 3.37 ERA.