April 18, 2006: This One Hurt

Things looked good for Fleetwood early. After allowing one run in the top of the 1st, the Walkers responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the inning, knocking out Moline starter Livan Hernandez. Fleetwood then scored two more runs in the 3rd inning, making the score 6-1. With Greg Maddux moving down Moline's hitters (3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K), a victory looked likely indeed.

But beginning with a Larry Walker solo home run in the 4th, Moline started to creep back. The Cutters then scored two more runs in the 5th on a Dave Roberts RBI single and a Wilson Betemit RBI groundout. Moline had now cut the score to 6-4.

Moline's comeback continued in the 6th inning. Walker drew a lead-off walk, and Troy Glaus followed with a single. Walker raced around to third base, and a big inning looked in order. However, Maddux -- ever the competitor -- coaxed a groundball double-play from Victor Martinez. That drew Moline within one run of Fleetwood, but also prevented a bigger inning.

The score remained 6-5 through the 7th and 8th innings, although Moline threatened in both innings.

With two outs in the 8th inning, Fleetwood had called on Derrick Turnbow to slam the door. He did escape the 8th inning jam, but allowed a lead-off triple to Pedro Feliz in the 9th. With the tying run on third and nobody out, Betemit struck out. Brian Giles was next, and drew a walk. Larry Walker completed Moline's comeback with an RBI double, and Turnbow was out of the game in favor of Eric Gagne.

With runners on 2nd and 3rd and only one out, Gagne looked for a strikeout. He pitched carefully to Junior Spivey, eventually walking him to load the bases. He then struck out Victor Martinez. Fleetwood was one out from at least keeping the game tied.

But Eric Hinske would draw another walk from Gagne, forcing in the go-ahead run. Gagne's poor control continued, as a wild pitch plated yet another run. Gagne finally earned the third out on a Brad Wilkerson strikeout, but the damage had been done. Moline now led 8-6.

The Cutters called on Juan Rincon to earn the save. An earn the save he did, striking out Derrek Lee and Miguel Cabrera in a 1-2-3 inning.

The game's biggest star was Andy Sisco (4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K), who held Fleetwood scoreless and allowed Moline to complete the comeback. Final Score: Moline 8, Fleetwood 6.

Tomorrow's matchup: Moline (Mark Prior) at Fleetwood (A.J. Burnett).

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BOXSCORE: 2006 Moline Cutters At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers             4/18/2006
Gm 3: Moline comes back from a 6-1 deficit to win, scoring 3 runs in the 9th.
 
  Cutters            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  D.Roberts LF        3  1  2  1 .222     M.Giles 2B          5  0  0  0 .103  
B-J.Francoeur PH      0  0  0  0 .500     D.Dejesus CF,LF     5  1  1  0 .296  
C-P.Feliz LF          1  1  1  0 .400     D.Lee 1B            2  2  1  0 .194  
  W.Betemit SS        5  0  0  1 .125     M.Cabrera LF,3B     5  2  3  3 .314  
  B.Giles DH          3  1  1  1 .500     D.Wright 3B         4  0  0  0 .308  
  L.Walker RF         4  3  2  2 .333   D-B.Crosby SS         0  0  0  0 .188  
  T.Glaus 3B          3  0  1  0 .273     J.Dye RF            4  1  1  3 .333  
F-J.Spivey PR,2B      0  0  0  0 .000     J.Phelps DH         2  0  1  0 .375  
  V.Martinez C        5  0  0  0 .308   A-J.Closser PH        2  0  0  0 .167  
  E.Hinske 1B         3  1  1  1 .143     R.Castro C          4  0  0  0 .278  
  B.Wilkerson CF      5  0  0  0 .167     N.Perez SS          2  0  1  0 .250  
  O.Hudson 2B         3  1  2  0 .429   E-J.Edmonds CF        1  0  0  0 .280  
G-J.Franco PH         1  0  0  0 .000                                          
H-C.Gomez 3B          0  0  0  0 .000                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      36  8 10  6                 Totals      36  6  8  6
 
A-Pinch Hit For Phelps In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Roberts In 7th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Francoeur In 7th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Wright In 8th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Perez In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Ran For Glaus In 8th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Hudson In 8th Inning
H-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Franco In 8th Inning
 
Cutters......... 1 0 0  1 2 1  0 0 3  -  8 10  3
Walkers......... 4 0 2  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  6  8  0
 
Cutters (2-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
L.Hernandez               0 2/3   4   4   4   1   1   1  54.00  A1 A7
J.Witasick                3 1/3   1   2   2   2   3   1   5.40  A8 C2
A.Sisco WIN(1-0)          4       3   0   0   1   6   0   0.00  C3 E1
J.Rincon SAVE(2nd)        1       0   0   0   0   2   0   0.00  E2
Totals                    9       8   6   6   4  12   2
 
Walkers (7-3)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
G.Maddux                  6 1/3   8   5   5   1   8   1   5.40  A1 C9
S.Downs HOLD(2nd)         1 1/3   0   0   0   4   1   0   0.00  D1 D8
D.Turnbow L(0-1) BS(1st)  0 2/3   2   3   3   1   1   0   7.36  D9 E4
E.Gagne                   0 2/3   0   0   0   2   2   0   0.00  E5
Totals                    9      10   8   8   8  12   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 34,503 DATE- Friday, April 18th 2006 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
T- 3:13
LEFT ON BASE- Cutters: 9  Walkers: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Cutters: 0  Walkers: 1
ERRORS- T.Glaus, E.Hinske, O.Hudson
DOUBLES- B.Giles(1st), L.Walker(1st), O.Hudson(1st), M.Cabrera(5th)
TRIPLES- P.Feliz(1st)
HOME RUNS- L.Walker(1st), M.Cabrera(1st), J.Dye(2nd)
STOLEN BASES- D.Roberts-3(3rd), N.Perez(1st)
WALKS- J.Francoeur, B.Giles-2, L.Walker, T.Glaus, J.Spivey, E.Hinske-2, D.Lee-3,
       N.Perez
STRIKE OUTS- D.Roberts, W.Betemit-4, V.Martinez-3, E.Hinske, B.Wilkerson-2,
             O.Hudson, M.Giles-2, D.Dejesus, D.Lee, M.Cabrera-2, D.Wright-3,
             J.Dye, R.Castro, J.Edmonds
GIDP- V.Martinez
WILD PITCHES- E.Gagne