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Message #: 32809
The unluckiest team anywhere continues to underachieve massively and also continues our trend of having to somehow salvage the third game of a series just to avoid being swept.... Game 1: One inning was sufficient to determine the outcome of this one. Florida's Al Leiter walked the first 3 Cincy batters he faced (12 balls, 1 strike) then the clutch chokers of the Cincy lineup went to work and the result was 3 K's in a row (1 ball, 9 strikes) and 0 runs. In the bottom of the first the M's had 2 on and 2 out and so they naturally came up with a pair of clutch split-card hits, the second of the pair being a 3-run gopher. To rub it in, Leiter started the CIN 2nd in exactly the same fashion (walk, walk, walk) and once again escaped major damage. From the 2nd inning onward the Reds "won" this game by the score of 4-2, but that was good enough only for a 6-4 loss in the end. Leiter worked hard (166 pitches) for 9 innings and posted a line that probably hasn't been seen since Nolan Ryan's heyday -- 12 walks, 14 strikeouts -- but Leiter's task was made significantly easier once he realized there was little chance of his opponent, since it was the Reds, ever delivering a clutch hit and making him pay for all that wildness. And he was right. ============================================================================ Game 2: See if this sounds familiar: Reds load the bases in the first, LOB 3 and score zilch, then choke up a pair of timely split-card hits in the bottom of the inning (including another 2-out gopher) and dig yet another grave in which to bury our chances of winning. But today the Reds quickly rebounded with 2 runs in the second and 1 in the third to tie the contest at 3-3 while CIN starter Donne Wall settled down and put up 6 straight scoreless innings (although of course his own team ceased scoring as well). Too bad it wasn't 7 in a row. With 2 on and 1 out in the FLN 8th and the game still tied, Chaz Johnson batted and rolled a 95% chance at an out and a 5% chance at a triple. The inevitable triple made the score 5-3, a totally non-hitting pitcher then doubled in the 6th run and then the Cincy bullpen allowed an RBI hit (just to keep in practice for a close game) to make the final score 7-3. ============================================================================ Game 3: We held Florida to just 1 run in the first inning today and built a 6-1 lead. To choke away. The Cincy DP combo of Bret Boone (2e8) and Barry Larkin (1e20) played sabotage defense to the hilt as is their habit, while stumblebums like Bobby Bonilla and Gary Sheffield recorded spectacular outs on our x chances, as is any Cincy opponent's habit. No mistake ever goes unpunished so Larkin's 2-out, bases-empty error in the 6th was rendered immediately costly when a gopher followed 1 batter later. Kent Mercker loaded the bases with still just 1 more out to get, and Boone's choke made it a 3 unearned run inning. Not done yet, two timely solo gophers off of Blown Save Brantley in the 7th & 8th finished the job of forfeiting the 5-run lead and we went into extras with the Reds LOBbing a pair in RISP (without scoring of course) in the 9th and 10th and 2 more in the 11th but only 1 was in scoring position. Once B.S.B. left the mound, Hector Carrasco and regular starter Dave Burba combined for 5 IP, 1 hit, 0 walks and -- amazingly -- 0 runs! Finally in the 15th inning the Reds got some mileage out of our narrow margin in hits (a mere 23-11 advantage, and 40 total bases) and tallied 5 times with Jeff Branson notching his second homer of the contest. Brian Keyser mopped up in the bottom of the frame and gave back only 1 run so the Reds salvaged an 11-7 win. Mercker turned in a Leiter-esque performance with 11 baserunners in 5.2 IP but only 1 earned run, though he was obviously long gone by the time a verdict was reached. The Reds' batters, as in their statuesque approach during the series opener, just stood there frozen most of the day and drew 7 walks while fanning 18 times. Alan |
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