Denver at Florida, game 5

Game 5 turned out to be the most exciting game of the postseason so far.  It started out as a strong pitchers duel between Chris Reyes and Denver ace Ruben Ramirez.

Mark Crawford doubled with 2 out in the first, then scored on an Alex Maldonado double.  The score stayed at 1-0 until the 5th, when Gromit Peveto hit a 3 run homer.  In the 6th, Mark Crawford walked, moved to second on a balk, and scored on a Clyde Frogg single.

In the 8th it was Crawford again, leading off with a double against lefty David Tejada.  Florida brought in Darrell Tibbs to face Maldonado, and got him to strike out on a foul tip.  At this point Big Cheese broke out the running game.  Crawford stole 3rd, the first Denver stolen base in the entire playoffs.  Penguins played the infield in, and Joey Renseller was able to sneak a ground ball through to tie the game.  Renseller took off, Mitch Oakenshield made a diving stab off a line drive and threw to first for a double play.  Troy Lewis held the

To the top 9th.  Vince Jones reached on an error to lead off, and then stole second.  Ozzie Gaedel grounded out, moving Jones to third.  As pinch hitter Jason Polanco squared to try a suicide squeeze bunt, Grant Hansen threw inside and nailed him.  The Penguins intentionally walked Alex Hamilton to loaded the bases.  With the infield drawn in, Denny Berroa struck out.  Only drawback to this was Mark Crawford waited on deck.  Crawford lined a single, brought home two runs.  He had a hand in all 5 Denver runs for the day.  Maldonado was retired, and the Penguins would have one more chance.

Denver brought in the closer, Ryan Webb.  Webb retired Crom before surrendering back to back singles to Kawasaki and Oakenshield.  Kurt Scherman and Alphonso Soprano came in to run for them.  Gromit was looking for a game winning 3 run homer, but his swing came up empty.

Florida was down to their last batter.  Otto Tingley hit for Melvin Ortiz.  Tingley drove a fastball the other way, past the glove of Maldonado.  Scherman scored.  Soprano raced around third.  Tingley never stopped at second.  Throw to the plate... SAFE!  Tie game.

Pitcher's spot up next, Chad Macha came in to hit.  Chad grounds one into the hole between 3rd and short.  Ozzie Gaedel made a desperate dive, stopped the ball deep in the hole.  He made a desperate throw to the plate, too late.

Penguins win 6-5, take a 3-2 series lead.  Game 6 will send the series back to Denver.

Denver at Florida game 4

Penguins struck first behind Mitch Oakenshield's first inning triple.  Conn homered, and C.J. Crom scored twice after being hit by pitch.

Bryan Brooks went 6 innings, allowing one unearned run, and the Penguins tied the series up with a 5-1 win.

Miami vs Utah game 5

Utah wins 7-3 to take a 3-2 lead in the series.  Willie Gomez went 4-4 with 2 homers and 4 RBI.  Jaret Benser went the distance, allowing only 4 hits and 3 unearned runs.  Utah went deep 3 times off Miami ace Jered DeMario.

Miami vs Utah, games 3-4

Game 3:  Lucas Velasquez allows 2 runs over 7 innings,  Utes get to Tim Sullivan for 5 in 5 innings.  Miami gets a pair off the Utah bullpen, but Utes hold on for a 5-4 win.  Joe Young hits his 5th homer of the playoffs.

Game 4:  Miami chases Randy Watson in the 3rd inning and cruises to a 7-4 win behind Odis Robinson.  Brandon Cohen homers and drives in 4.

Florida vs Denver, games 1 to 3

Game 1:  Florida takes a 1-0 lead on a Joey Howell triple and Gerald White Jr. Sac fly.  Tight pitcher's duel through 7 between Chris Reyes and Ruben Ramirez.  Stan Marsh's 2 run homer in the 7th puts Denver on top, and Troy Lewis pitches a scoreless 9th for the save.

Game 2:  Denver grabs a 3-1 lead off Peter Buchanon, but he settles down to go 7 2/3 innings, the Penguin bats come alive, and Florida wins it 7-5

Game 3:  Rabbits rough up Doug Guzman for 7 runs on 11 hits.  Clint Meyers pitches 7 strong innings for the win.

Superior league championship series

Game 1:  Miami rolled to an 8-1 victory over Utah.  Prince Ferreira and Brian Kaat had 3 hits each, Jered DeMario went 6 strong innings, and Miami ran wild (4 steals) on Utah's Willie Gomez.

Would Utah respond by replacing Gomez?  He's not a strong thrower, but batting cleanup between Frank Lewis and Adama Dunn, he had 41 RBI in 35 games to end the season.  Battletrap choose to stick with him, as the best way to stop the running game is to make it irrelevant while running the bases loaded offense.

Game 2:  and run the bases loaded offense they did, to a 10-4 victory.  Jose Landry homered and drove in 5.  Frank Lewis reached base 3 times.  The Utes knocked Tommy Vercetti out with a 5 run second inning.  Alex Bronkey went 6 innings, allowing 2 for the win.  Miami managed only one steal attempt, and Gomez threw Brian Kaat out.

Penguins finish Cobra

After taking a surprising 2-0 lead in the series, beating former Cy Young award winners Pedro Lewis and Buddy Dervish on the road, the Penguins came home to wrap up the series.  Bryan Brooks took the ball for Florida, with rookie Silvanos Tonka going for New York.

New York took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.  Brett Solo led off with a walk, stole second, and advanced to 3rd on a balk.  Manfred Mueller brought him home with a deep fly to right.  The lead didn't last long as Mitch Oakenshield tied things up with long homer to left.  Florida took the lead in the 3rd as Gerald White Jr. singled, Conn Barbarian walked, and C.J. CROM! blooped an RBI single to left.

New York failed to capitalize on a few chances to score, and Brooks left after 5 innings with only one run allowed despite 4 hits, 5 walks, and no strikeouts.  In the 7th, New York got to Florida's bullpen.  Hal Glover doubled with one out, and advanced to 3rd on a long fly by Gehrig Bear.  With 2 out and right handed batters due up, Florida relieved David Tejada, going to Ernesto Lopez.  Chad White doubled, Brett Solo singled, and just like that it was 3-2 New York.  Lopez finally got David Jackson to pop up and end the inning.

New York stuck with Tonka in the 7th.  Melvin Ortiz singled.  Alfonzo Soprano, in after a double switch, doubled in Ortiz.  Joey Howell walked.  Gerald Jr.  moved the runners up with a bunt, and Conn was intentionally walked.  All was according to manager Calhoun's plan, as the meant Crom had the bases loaded.

C.J. Crom grounded out to 3rd.  Mueller got the force play at the hot corner, but Crom was able to get down the line in time to avoid the double play and bring home the go ahead run.  David Kison pitched a scoreless 8th.

Instead of going straight to his closer, Calhoun brought in lefty Travis Howard to face 2 lefty hitters.  Hal Glover popped up.  Bear grounded to short.  Melvin Ortiz bobbled the ball and allowed Bear to reach.  With the righties up, Calhoun now brought in his closer Grant Hansen.  Chad White grounded to first.  Chad Macha, in as a defensive replacement for Crom, picked it up, threw to second for one, and back to first for 2.

The Penguins are on their way to the championship series, and changes may be in store for New York.

Florida Penguins Sweep Cobra...Changes Looming?

The Penguins took care of business, producing a late rally to beat the New York Cobra in Game 3 of the Division Series to complete the sweep.  More coverage on that series later.

For now, rumors are swirling that highly regarded New York Manager Juan Alou may be on the hot seat.  Despite a regular season record of 316-170 (win totals of 116, 97, & 103), Alou has won only one playoff series in 3 years and has not advanced to the World Series.

When pressed for comment, New York Fuhrer, Brad of this Nation, stated, "I am very disappointed in my team's showing in the Playoffs.  We will evaluate all positions from the starting lineup to the coaching staff from A to Z."

Miami can't finish Texas

Joe Young homered in the 6th to break a 1-1 tie, and Miami took a 2-1 lead to the 9th.  Tim Sullivan started the inning as he had been pitching a 3 hitter with 10 strikeouts.  Manny Ortez singled to start the inning, and RJ Duke went to his bullpen, bringing in Bob Belardi.  Pinch runner Jose Lopes stole second and scored on an Andy Moore single.

In the 10th Miami failed to score and Texas started the inning with 2 singles off Brad Moulds.  Ervin Russell came on to retire Rickey Buckley, and the got Justin Headley to ground to short.  Fidel Duenas bobbled the ball and everyone was safe.  That brought up the pinch runner Lopes, who singled over a drawn in infield to end the game.

Utah had no trouble finishing Cleveland as Lucas Velasquez pitched a 5-0 shutout.  Florida has taken the first 2 games in New York, and the mighty Cobra are one loss away from elimination.

Comparing the 2 Pedros

While we await the next games, I recommend you compare the career stats of Pedro Lewis and Pedro Martinez.  At this point, they have thrown almost the exact same innings.  Martinez is better due to the tougher competition he faced as well as having all of his short decline phase in the stats.  Two pretty good pitchers though.

Pedro Lewis

13 Seasons

209-102

2.80 ERA

2828 IP

2383 Hits

774 BB

2728 K's

41 CG

4 Cy Youngs

Pedro Martinez

18 Seasons

219-100

2.93 ERA

2827 IP

2221 Hits

760 BB

3154 K's

46 CG

3 Cy Youngs

Playoff Coverage

Most games can be found by following @ edbird117 on twitter.  A quick recap :

Texas defeated Baltimore 2-0

Florida over Toronto 2-1

Utah wins the opener against Cleveland.

Miami vs. Texas:

Texas took a 2-0 lead as Andy Moore and Miggy Fernandez hit back to back homers off Jered DeMario.  DeMario settled down, and allowed no more runs in 7 1/3 innings.  Rufus Anderson held Miami scoreless until Brian Kaat homered in the 6th.  He left with 7 innings and 3 hits allowed.

In the 8th, facing Jared Pollard, Trevor Burton came on as a pinch hitter and homered to tie the game.  Other than that, Pollard gave Texas 3 strong innings, with 5 strikeouts.  Miami got strong relief from Ervin Russell, Brad Moulds, and Bob Belardi.

In the 11th Kaat led off with a single off Charles Morrow, and promptly stole second.  MVP Joe Young came up, 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts to that point.  Young singled to center, sending the cat around with the winning run.