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Message #: 25505
ALCS Game 2: Dave Stieb vs. Mike Moore in a pitchers duel. Only 1 runner got as far as third base in the first 6 frames, as the Jays sort of threatened to score in the 1st and 4th innings but failed to carry out those threats. Oakland's first real chance came in the 7th when Phil Bradley booted Stan Javier's liner into a 2-base error that put 2 runners in scoring position with 2 outs. David Wells relieved Stieb and retired Steinbach on a groundout. Toronto got a walk and a wild pitch with 2 outs in the 8th, but the game proceeded scoreless into extra innings with both teams deep into their bullpens. In the TOA 10th with 2 outs and nobody on base, Tony Fernandez singled off of Todd Burns and stole second. Nelson Liriano delivered the RBI single and then ended the game in the bottom of the frame by making a great play to snare Steinbach's x-grounder. Final score: 1-0, as the teams then headed to Toronto with the Jays looking to close it out 3 games to 0. It didn't quite happen that way.... ==================================================== ALCS Game 3: Bob Welch vs. Jimmy Key. One of the two starters took a no-hitter into the middle innings; Jimmy Key, OTOH, did what he usually does. Oakland wasted no time in showing that they weren't dead yet: McGwire plated a pair of runs in the first (with 2 outs, as usual) and Key flubbed Steinbach's weak grounder and gave Oakland another run. That would be more than enough for Welch. Welch retired the first 9 batters he faced before walking a pair to open the 4th. Welch easily escaped that minor trouble and then finally permitted his first hits in the 5th, but they also amounted to nothing. Although Key leveled off after that rocky first inning, the A's did not lack for baserunners. Relievers John Cerutti & David Wells picked up where Key left off, allowing 3 late runs to seal the defeat. Toronto's only run of the day came via Greg Briley's sac fly in the 8th. Final score: 6-1, a contest dominated from start to finish by a determined Oakland squad. ==================================================== ALCS Game 4: Dave Stewart vs. Bud Black. As in game 3, no time was wasted in establishing how this one was going to go. Black unraveled immediately and the A's had 3 runs on the board before even 1 batter was retired. Black (with help from Lance Parrish) achieved a rare and undesirable trifecta, amassing a PB, WP and BK all in the same inning, and the contest was effectively over at that point. Fred McGriff got Toronto on the board with a solo homer in the second, thus completing our scoring for the day. Oakland tacked on a run in the 4th when the bases became loaded and a runner walked home with nobody yet out. Juan Agosto relieved Black and heroically fanned Canseco & McGwire and retired Steinbach to end the inning with no further damage. It would have been a little more heroic had it inspired the TOA offense even one iota, but it did not. Final score: 4-1. Oakland stranded 11 runners, most of them having reached base through the generosity of Toronto's wild pitchers. With the A's surging and the Jays in Full Choke Mode, we go to the decisive contest. ==================================================== ALCS Game 5: Mike Moore vs. Dave Stieb. Once again Oakland struck quickly: three consecutive singles (2 of them blown x's by Liriano) gave the A's 1 run -- but we held to them to less than 3 for a change! Toronto got 2 runners on base to open the 2nd but they never moved an inch. The sequence was almost perfectly repeated in the 4th, however this time Ron Hassey (!) came through and his single chased Kelly Gruber home from second. Then that little '$' symbol came into play -- twice -- and the Jays were on the losing end both times. The next batter, Junior Felix, would have singled home another run except for the pesky $. Then in Oakland's very next turn at bat, Jose Canseco made the final out of the inning... oh wait, there's that $ again and Oakland is back on top by the count of 2-1 in the critical contest. Moore and Stieb both exited after brief appearances. Fortunately for the home team, Duane Ward was in top form all series, including today (3.1 scoreless innings), and so was Tom Henke (of all people). Ward & Henke combined for 13.1 IP, 5 hits, 0 runs, 3 BB, 14 K in the 5 games. The Jays tied this game in the 7th when Felix led off with a single and was advanced to second on Fernandez's hit & run groundout. Phil Bradley provided the RBI single and the game went into extra innings tied at 2. Oakland got a leadoff double from Baines in the 10th but Henke kept the A's off the board. In the bottom of the 10th Bradley opened with a single off of Todd Burns, and was bunted to second by Liriano. With first base open and faced with the difficult choice of dealing with Kelly Gruber or on-deck hitter Fred McGriff, the A's pitched to Gruber -- who singled to right and Bradley beat the throw to end the series! Final score: 3-2 in 10, the second time in the past 3 seasons that the ALCS has been decided in extra innings of the 5th game. Congrats to the A's on their fine season, and the Jays now look forward to some much-needed rest before meeting the Cubs or Reds in the World Series. Alan |
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