July 11, 2006: Shooting for a Sweep

With a potential series sweep lurking, Fleetwood turned to Mark Buehrle. Opposing him for Springfield was rookie Ezequiel Astacio.

Springfield grabbed its first lead of the series with a run in the top of the 1st inning. The Isotopes earned that run on a lead-off walk by Kelly Johnson, a one-out double by Jose Vidro, and an RBI groundout by Jeff Conine.

That one-run lead would stand until the 3rd inning, when Fleetwood responded in a big way. After lead-off singles by Jermaine Dye and Neifi Perez, David DeJesus loaded the bases with a walk. David Wright was up next, and he smashed a fastball to deep left-center field for a grand slam. Fleetwood now led 4-1.

Buehrle and Astacio found their grooves in the middle innings, with both pitchers holding their opponents scoreless from the 4th inning through the 7th.

In the top of the 8th, Springfield tallied a quick run when Vidro greeted Buehrle with a lead-off home run. After two more Isotopes reached base, Fleetwood manager Rube Foster brought in Arthur Rhodes to put out the fire. Rhodes did so wonderfully, getting Angel Berroa to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Fleetwood responded in the bottom of the inning. Jim Edmonds, continuing his hot hitting in the series, launched a 3-run homer and Fleetwood now led 7-2. It seemed the game was over.

In a rivalry like this, though, no lead is safe. Fleetwood relief pitcher Juan Dominguez quickly learned this lesson after surrendering a lead-off single to Hank Blalock and a walk to pinch-hitter Justin Morneau. Springfield right fielder Kelly Johnson then drove a double into the right-field corner, scoring a run and putting the tying run on deck in the form of hot-hitting Jose Vidro.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Fleetwood's Rube Foster brought in Derrick Turnbow to slam the door on Springfield. Turnbow quickly dispatched Lew Ford on a strikeout, and then retired the dangerous Jose Vidro on a groundout.

Down to its last out, Springfield's Jeff Conine also fell victim to Turnbow's slider and struck out. The game was over, and Fleetwood had earned a sweep of its arch rival Springfield Isotopes. Final score: Springfield 3, Fleetwood 7.

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BOXSCORE: 2006 Springfield Isotopes At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers       7/11/2006
Gm 3: Wright & Edmonds lead FLE to a sweep; Vidro is great for the Isotopes.
 
  Isotopes           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  K.Johnson RF        4  1  2  1 .250     D.Dejesus LF        2  1  0  0 .273  
  L.Ford CF           5  0  0  0 .277     D.Wright DH         4  2  2  4 .317  
  J.Vidro 2B          4  1  3  1 .270     D.Lee 1B            4  0  0  0 .262  
  J.Conine LF         5  0  0  1 .286     M.Cabrera 3B        3  1  0  0 .326  
  T.Martinez 1B       3  0  1  0 .267     J.Edmonds CF        3  1  2  3 .252  
  S.Hatteberg DH      3  0  1  0 .217     M.Giles 2B          4  0  1  0 .238  
B-S.Stewart PR,DH     0  0  0  0 .261     R.Doumit C          3  0  0  0 .226  
  A.Berroa SS         3  0  0  0 .263   A-R.Castro C          1  0  0  0 .338  
  H.Blalock 3B        4  1  2  0 .220     J.Dye RF            3  1  2  0 .292  
  V.Wilson C          3  0  1  0 .143     N.Perez SS          3  1  1  0 .276  
C-J.Morneau PH        0  0  0  0 .215                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      34  3 10  3                 Totals      30  7  8  7
 
A-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Doumit In 8th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Hatteberg In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Wilson In 9th Inning
 
Isotopes........ 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 1 1  -  3 10  0
Walkers......... 0 0 4  0 0 0  0 3    -  7  8  1
 
Isotopes (23-64)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
E.Astacio LOSS(1-4)       7       5   4   4   3   7   1   8.38  A1 C9
M.Batista                 0 2/3   2   3   3   1   0   1   5.01  D1 D5
T.Harper                  0 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   3.54  D6
Totals                    8       8   7   7   4   7   2
 
Walkers (70-31)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
M.Buehrle WIN(9-8)        7 1/3   8   2   2   4   4   1   4.81  A1 D6
A.Rhodes HOLD(8th)        0 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.40  D7 D7
J.Dominguez               0       2   1   1   1   0   0   4.31  D8 E1
D.Turnbow SAVE(20th)      1       0   0   0   0   2   0   2.61  E2
Totals                    9      10   3   3   5   6   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 34,665 DATE- Friday, July 11th 2006 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
T- 2:50
LEFT ON BASE- Isotopes:10  Walkers: 3
DOUBLE PLAYS- Isotopes: 2  Walkers: 4
ERRORS- M.Cabrera
DOUBLES- K.Johnson(10th), J.Vidro(17th), H.Blalock(19th), D.Wright(23rd),
         J.Edmonds(20th)
HOME RUNS- J.Vidro(8th), D.Wright(21st), J.Edmonds(28th)
WALKS- K.Johnson, J.Vidro, T.Martinez, S.Hatteberg, J.Morneau, D.Dejesus-2,
       M.Cabrera, J.Edmonds
HIT BY PITCH- A.Berroa
STRIKE OUTS- L.Ford-2, J.Conine, T.Martinez, A.Berroa, V.Wilson, D.Wright,
             D.Lee-2, M.Cabrera, M.Giles, R.Doumit-2
GIDP- L.Ford, J.Conine, A.Berroa-2, M.Giles, N.Perez