August 3, 2006: Ed-moans

In what some were calling a potential World Series matchup, the Fleetwood Walkers looked to sweep a three-game series versus the Cook County Maulers. John Patterson took the mound for Cook County, while Fleetwood countered with A.J. Burnett.

Things looked great for Fleetwood early. The Walkers scored 4 runs in the 4th inning, highlighted by a 2-run triple from Marcus Giles. Meanwhile, Burnett held Cook County scoreless through 5 innings.

In the 6th inning, though, the Maulers made some noise. Run-scoring hits by ex-Walker Chipper Jones, Jhonny Peralta, and Carl Crawford shrunk Fleetwood's lead to 4-3 and drove Burnett from the game.

After a scoreless 7th inning for both teams, Cook County mounted another threat versus Fleetwood's strong bullpen. Johnny Damon drew a lead-off walk from Fernando Cabrera. After a Bill Hall strikeout by Scott Downs, Carl Crawford singled. Downs then struck out Chase Utley for the inning's second out.

Fleetwood manager Rube Foster then brought in Derrick Turnbow to face Manny Ramirez. Turnbow walked Ramirez, bringing Tony Clark to the plate. Turnbow made a great pitch, forcing Clark to hit a flyball to center field.

Unfortunately for Fleetwood, though, the usually reliable Jim Edmonds dropped the ball. Instead of recording the final out of the inning, two runs scored on the miscue. Cook County now lead 5-4. Adding insult to injury was Andruw Jones, who then launched a 3-run homer off Turnbow to make the score 8-4. Once 4 outs from a series sweep, Fleetwood now found itself down 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Cook County rookie Brandon McCarthy then ended the game with a scoreless 9th inning. Having relieved Patterson in the 6th inning, McCarthy threw 3.1 scoreless innings and earned a relief victory. Cook County had avoided the sweep, while Edmonds and his teammates could only hope this loss would not prove costly down the road.

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BOXSCORE: 2006 Cook County Maulers At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers         8/3/2006
Gm 3: Fleetwood is 4 outs from a sweep, but Edmonds drops a flyball in 8th.
 
  Maulers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  C.Crawford LF       5  1  2  1 .335     D.Dejesus LF,CF,LF  4  0  1  1 .278  
  C.Utley 2B          5  0  1  0 .271     D.Wright DH         4  0  0  0 .302  
  M.Ramirez DH        4  1  1  0 .238     D.Lee 1B            4  1  2  0 .270  
  T.Clark 1B          4  2  0  0 .259     M.Cabrera 3B        5  1  1  0 .319  
  A.Jones CF          4  1  1  3 .238     J.Guillen RF        3  0  0  0 .310  
  C.Jones 3B          3  1  2  1 .284     M.Giles 2B          3  1  2  2 .258  
  J.Peralta SS        5  1  2  1 .293   C-J.Edmonds CF        1  0  0  0 .256  
  J.Damon RF          4  1  1  0 .283     R.Castro C          3  1  0  0 .306  
  T.Hall C            3  0  1  0 .245     B.Crosby SS         4  0  2  1 .319  
D-C.Kotchman PH       0  0  0  0 .276     L.Matos CF,LF       1  0  0  0 .284  
E-B.Hall PH           1  0  0  0 .247   A-B.Bonds PH          1  0  1  0 .241  
F-M.Lecroy C          0  0  0  0 .328   B-C.Counsell PR,2B    1  0  0  0 .229  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      38  8 11  6                 Totals      34  4  9  4
 
A-Pinch Hit For Matos In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Bonds In 6th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Giles In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Hall In 8th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Kotchman In 8th Inning
F-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Hall In 8th Inning
 
Maulers......... 0 0 0  0 0 3  0 5 0  -  8 11  0
Walkers......... 0 0 0  4 0 0  0 0 0  -  4  9  1
 
Maulers (78-37)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Patterson               5 2/3   6   4   4   5   7   0   4.33  A1 C9
B.McCarthy WIN(1-0)       3 1/3   3   0   0   2   5   0   2.45  D1
Totals                    9       9   4   4   7  12   0
 
Walkers (79-36)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
A.Burnett                 5 1/3   6   3   3   3   7   0   3.17  A1 C7
F.Cabrera HOLD(5th)       0 1/3   2   0   0   1   0   0   0.79  C8 D2
A.Rhodes HOLD(11th)       1       0   0   0   1   0   0   0.33  D3 D6
K.Escobar HOLD(3rd)       0 1/3   0   1   0   1   1   0   3.44  D7 D8
S.Downs LOSS(1-1) H(15th) 0 2/3   1   1   0   0   2   0   2.07  D9 E2
D.Turnbow BS(6th)         1 1/3   2   3   0   2   0   1   2.64  E3
Totals                    9      11   8   3   8  10   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 37,552 DATE- Sunday, August 3rd 2006 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
T- 3:34
LEFT ON BASE- Maulers:12  Walkers:11
DOUBLE PLAYS- Maulers: 1  Walkers: 1
ERRORS- J.Edmonds
DOUBLES- C.Jones(26th), D.Lee(21st)
TRIPLES- M.Giles(3rd)
HOME RUNS- A.Jones(34th)
STOLEN BASES- C.Crawford(40th), D.Lee(7th), L.Matos(12th)
SACRIFICE FLIES- D.Dejesus
WALKS- C.Crawford, C.Utley, T.Clark, A.Jones, C.Jones-2, J.Damon, M.Lecroy,
       D.Wright, D.Lee, J.Guillen-2, J.Edmonds, R.Castro, L.Matos
HIT BY PITCH- M.Ramirez
STRIKE OUTS- C.Crawford, C.Utley-2, T.Clark, A.Jones, J.Peralta-3, J.Damon,
             B.Hall, D.Dejesus-3, D.Wright-2, M.Cabrera, M.Giles, R.Castro-3,
             B.Crosby, C.Counsell
GIDP- D.Lee
WILD PITCHES- D.Turnbow