Today's matchup was a battle of veteran pitchers: Randy Johnson for Metropolis and Greg Maddux for Fleetwood. Both pitchers had one in their first starts of this series, and hoped to do so again today.
In the top of the 1st inning, Rafael Furcal led off with a single, stole second, and advanced to third on a Ramon Castro throwing error. Brian Roberts promptly drove Furcal home with a sacrifice fly, and Metropolis led 1-0.
Fleetwood answered with two runs in the bottom of the 2nd. These runs scored on a Marcus Giles walk and back-to-back doubles by Derrek Lee and Miguel Cabrera. The score remained 2-0 until the 4th inning, when the Walkers exploded for 4 runs on a 2-run double by Jim Edmonds and a 2-run homer by Jermaine Dye. Fleetwood now led 6-1.The Walkers added another run to their lead when David Wright led off the 4th inning with a solo home run. The score was now 7-1, and remained that way until the 6th inning when Metropolis would rally its way back into the game.
With one out in the 6th, Brian Roberts and Bobby Abreu set the table with a single and walk. That brought Vladimir Guerrero to the plate with 2 runners on board. Guerrero did not disappoint the Metropolis faithful, quickly launching a 3-run homer into the outfield stands and chasing Maddux from the game in the process. The hit cut Fleetwood's lead to 7-4.The Avengers would threaten again in the top of the 8th. Roberts and Abreu once again reached base via a single and a walk, but this time with nobody out. Vladimir Guerrero now came to the plate representing the tying run with the powerful Richie Sexson to follow.
With the game was on the line and two powerful right-handed batters scheduled to bat, Fleetwood manager Rube Foster called on Derrick Turnbow a bit earlier than usual. Foster undoubtedly hoped that Turnbow could at least get Fleetwood out of this jam, allowing the team to piece things together in the 9th inning if need be.Throwing an array of fastballs and sliders, Turnbow retired Guerrero on a flyball to center field. Sexson did not fare any better, grounding out into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. Fleetwood had escaped without allowing a run.
The Walkers attempted to put the game away in their half of the 8th inning. Now facing Metropolis' Jason Isringhausen, Ramon Castro led off with a single, followed by a double from Bobby Crosby. David Dejesus then walked, and the bases were loaded with nobody out. Seeing that Isringhausen did not have his best stuff, Metropolis turned to Cliff Politte.
Marcus Giles had hit a grand slam the day before, and hoped to do the same here. Politte had other ideas, though, and coaxed Giles to hit a ground ball to shortstop Rafael Furcal. Furcal went home with his throw, retiring Castro on a force play, and Posada quickly gunned a throw to 1st base. The throw beat Giles, and Metropolis had turned a 6-2-3 double play. It appeared that the Avengers might escape the inning without any damage, and keep their small hope alive.
With 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, David Wright would not cooperate. He lined a Politte offering into the outfield for a 2-out, 2-run single. The big hit extended Fleetwood's lead to 9-4, and Turnbow held Metropolis scoreless in the 9th. The game was over, and Fleetwood had evened its season record against Metropolis to 3-3. Tomorrow's game would decide which team would win this season series.BOXSCORE: 2006 Metropolis Avengers At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers 6/29/2006
Avengers AB R H RBI AVG Walkers AB R H RBI AVG
R.Furcal SS 4 1 1 0 .328 M.Giles 2B 4 1 0 0 .228
B.Roberts 2B 3 1 2 1 .364 D.Wright DH 5 2 3 3 .311
B.Abreu LF 2 1 0 0 .249 D.Lee 1B 5 2 1 0 .262
V.Guerrero RF 4 1 1 3 .351 M.Cabrera 3B 4 0 1 2 .319
R.Sexson 1B 3 0 1 0 .231 J.Edmonds CF 4 1 1 2 .225
E.Chavez 3B 4 0 2 0 .282 J.Dye RF 4 1 1 2 .280
M.Mora DH 4 0 0 0 .247 R.Castro C 4 0 2 0 .281
J.Posada C 4 0 1 0 .239 B.Crosby SS 3 1 1 0 .270
V.Wells CF 3 0 0 0 .201 L.Matos LF 2 0 1 0 .304
B-R.Branyan PH 1 0 0 0 .173 A-D.Dejesus PH,LF 1 1 1 0 .270
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 32 4 8 4 Totals 36 9 12 9
A-Pinch Hit For Matos In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Wells In 9th Inning
Avengers........ 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 4 8 1
Walkers......... 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 2 - 9 12 1
Avengers (51-32) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
R.Johnson LOSS(11-2) 5 8 7 6 2 4 2 2.95 A1 C8
J.Benoit 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.58 C9 D4
M.Wuertz 0 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.86 D5 D6
J.Isringhaus 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 5.14 D7 D9
C.Politte 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.58 E1
Totals 8 12 9 8 3 7 2
Walkers (38-24) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
G.Maddux WIN(6-2) 5 1/3 5 4 3 2 3 1 5.11 A1 C4
C.Eldred HOLD(10th) 1 2/3 2 0 0 1 2 0 2.25 C5 D3
D.Turnbow SAVE(12th) 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.67 D4
Totals 9 8 4 3 3 6 1
ATTENDANCE- 36,942 DATE- Sunday, June 29th 2006 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
T- 3:08
LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 5 Walkers: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 1 Walkers: 2
ERRORS- R.Johnson, R.Castro
DOUBLES- E.Chavez(25th), D.Lee(13th), M.Cabrera(22nd), J.Edmonds(11th),
R.Castro(4th), B.Crosby(10th)
HOME RUNS- V.Guerrero(14th), D.Wright(13th), J.Dye(5th)
STOLEN BASES- R.Furcal(23rd), D.Wright(6th), D.Lee(2nd)
SACRIFICE FLIES- B.Roberts
WALKS- B.Abreu-2, R.Sexson, M.Giles, B.Crosby, D.Dejesus
STRIKE OUTS- R.Furcal, B.Abreu-2, V.Guerrero, R.Sexson, M.Mora, D.Wright,
M.Cabrera-3, J.Edmonds, J.Dye-2
GIDP- R.Sexson, M.Mora, M.Giles
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