MAUER POWERS CONFEDERATES OVER REBELS

JOE MAUER  (20/647/700/882)

Joe Mauer is probably the most underrated player in baseball.  Maybe its because he plays for the Twins in MLB and the Confederates in the BDBL but whatever the reason, this guy is simply amazing and he showed it in this series.

091309

MAN    2-5-1

COR    3-10-2

WP  Chad Qualls (7-3)

LP   Odalis Perez  (4-6)

S     Brad Lidge  (16)

Greg Maddux ( 5-6-1-1-1-0) and Chris Young (6-2-1-1-0-13) engage in a classic pitcher's duel through the first half of the game.  Jorge Cantu homers in the 2nd for a 1-0 Rebel lead.   Corona ties the score in the 3rd when Chone Figgins singles, steals 2nd and scores on a Berkman RBI single.   The Confederates take a 2-1 lead in the 6th on a Ben Fransico single and a Corey Hart gap double.  Rebels knot the score in the bottom of the 7th due to a Corona error but BJ Upton whiffs with 2 outs and the bases loaded with Qualls on the mound.   Corona's Corey Hart scores the winning run in the 8th when he walks, steals second, goes to 3rd on a SF and scores on a Christian Guzman single.

091409

MAN  4-9-0

COR  8-13-2

WP  Zach Duke (10-11)   6-8-4-3-2-2

ND  Ryan Dempster   4-7-3-3-1-7

LP   Phil Hughes  (1-4)

Rebels take early lead in the first.  Cantu doubles, Paulino gets a RBI on a bases loaded walk and Rebels bring in pinch hitting specialist Dimtri Young with the bases loaded but Young grounds out and the Rebels only have a 1-0 lead.

Corona comes back strong in the bottom of the inning with a Mauer BB and  a James Looney HR for a 2-1 lead.  Mauer adds a RBI single in the 2nd for a 3-1 lead.  Gutierrez hits a 2 run shot in the 3rd and Thames hit a solo shot in the 5th for a 4-3 Rebel lead.  

It was all Corona after the 5th.   Shin-Soo Choo came off the bench and launched a 2 run homer which landed in the right field upper deck in the 6th to give Corona a 5-4 lead and the Confedrates exploded for 3 runs in the 7th for a 8-4 win.

091509

COR  5-9-0

MAN 3-14-2

WP  Shawn Hill  (1-0)    5-12-2-2-0-3

LP   AJ Burnett  (15-15)  6-5-4-3-1-8

S    Brad Lidge   (17)

Mauer and Berkman homer in the first for a 2-0 lead.   Iwamura, Cantu and Shoppach hit singles in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1 and Carlos Gomez adds a RBI single to knot it at 2-2 after 2.

Berkman picks up a RBI double and Corona scores another run on a Burnett WP to make it 4-2 after 3.  

Pitchers throw goose eggs until the 7th when Corey Hart hits a pinch hit homer off of Franklin Morales for a 5-2 lead.  Rebels can only manage a single tally on a Marcus Thames SF in the 7th as Corona earns a 5-3 win.

091609

COR   4-12-0

MAN  11-14-0

WP  Bronson Arroyo  (8-11)    7-10-4-4-1-7

LP   Kevin Correia   (2-4)    7-14-11-11-4-6

Pena (3-4-2-3) , Shoppach (3-2-2-2) and Gutierrez (3-1-1-5) all hit home runs and Gutierrez's shot was a grand salami as the Rebels maul Kevin Correia.

Series Notes:

Joe Mauer (647/700/882) in 20 PAs speaks for itself.

Jorge Cantu (471/500/765) in 18 PAs was not too shabby himself.

Rebels are now 61-91 with 8 games left in the season.  

After watching some of the MLB playoff games, I really am interested in making sure we play every game to win and not just play out the string.  Baseball and the BDBL is a great hobby, especially in October.

LOS ALTOS OUTPITCHES REBS, WINS SERIES 3-1

EX-REB  RIVERA SAVES 3 FOR LAU

Los Altos

Game 1: CC Sabathia vs. Ryan Dempster

Manchester started off the series with a solo homer by BJ Upton, leading off the bottom of the first.

Los Altos would strike right back in the top of the 2nd, on an RBI triple by Ramon Santiago and a RBI groundout by CC Sabathia.

Chipper Jones RBI double in the 5th made it 3-1. A Miguel Olivo solo homer in the 7th made it 4-1.

That was plenty for CC, who went 6 2/3rds, giving up 7 hits and striking out 7.

Undertakers 4
Irish Rebels 2

WP: CC Sabathia, 23-3
LP: Ryan Dempster, 9-11
S: Mariano Rivera, 34

HRs: BJ Upton (7), Miguel Olivo (7)

Game 2: Matt Garza vs. Bronson Arroyo

Arroyo pitched well - 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 9 k's.

But so did Garza - 5 2/3rds, 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 k's.

Three solo homers, two by Los Altos, helped to give the Undertakers another tight victory.

Undertakers 3
Irish Rebels 1

WP: Matt Garza, 16-8
LP: Bronson Arroyo, 7-12
S: Mariano Rivera, 35

HRs: Chipper Jones ( 18 ), Kevin Youkilis (21), Kelly Shoppach (16)

Game 3: AJ Burnett vs. Justin Duchscherer

Carlos Pena launched a solo shot in the 1st to give Manchester the quick lead. The next hit for the Irish Rebels would be with 2 outs in the 9th.

The Los Altos offense didn't do much better. A Youkilis sac fly in the 1st tied the game at 1.

A Brandon Philips solo shot in the 7th made it 2-1.

And that was it.

Irish Rebels 1
Undertakers 2

WP: Joakim Soria, 4-5
LP: Odalis Perez, 4-6
S: Mariano Rivera, 36

HRs: Carlos Pena (27), Brandon Phillips (19)

Game 4: Odalis Perez vs. Jon Lester

Los Altos held a 2-0 lead before Manchester finally exploded. A three run homer by Richie Sexson in the 6th gave them the lead.

RBI hits by Angel Berroa, Upton and Reed Johnson gave the Irish Rebels the 7-2 lead after 7.

Los Altos made a late comback, but Darren Oliver closed the door for an ineffective Papelbon to give the Irish Rebels the victory.

Irish Rebels 7
Undertakers 6

WP: Brian Bass, 3-1
LP: Jon Lester, 11-7
S: Darren Oliver, 2

HRs: Richie Sexson (5), Nomar Garciaparra (7)

Notes: Los Altos now sits at 95-41, with their magic number now at 21. They hit .246/.303/.442 for the series. Chipper went 5 for 10.

Manchester is now 60-88 on the year, 10 games back of Marlboro. They hit .173/.228/.299 for the series. Sexson and Upton each had 3 RBIs.


 

REBELS SPLIT SERIES WITH COWTIPPERS

ADAM JONES PLAYS FOR PRIDE

Manchester NH

No matter what the records are, The NH grudge match between Salem and Manchester always makes my blood boil.  I hate to lose to anyone but especially the Commish.   I mean there is so much to hate.  The hi tech arrogance, the computerized approach to the flesh and blood game of baseball, the endless propaganda on the BDBL website about how good the Salem franchise will always be, the endless taunts, etc. Well, at least we split this series with our hated rivals.

Game 1

 Salem    3-11-0

Man       1-6-0

WP    Hochevar (7-5)   6-5-1-1-3-3

LP   Phil Hughes  (1-3)

Greg Maddux  (5-5-0-0-2-3) makes another great start but runs out of gas and the Irish bullpen fails to back him up.   Adam Jones had a RBI single in the 2nd for an early 1-0 lead but Kemp homered in the 6th, Willingham had a RBI single in the 7th and and Wigginton added a final RBI single in the 9th for a 3-1 win.

Game 2

Salem   0-3-2

Man     5-10-0

WP  Dempster (9-10)  7-2-0-0-0-9

LP   Beckett   (11-12)  7-9-4-2-0-8

Gutierrez scores on a suicide squeeze bunt by Ryan Dempster  and Upton launches a HR to give the Rebs a 2-0 lead after 3.  Adam Jones doubled in 2 runs in the 6th and Jorge Cantu hit a laser shot over the fence in the 8th to give the Rebs a 5-0 win.

Game 3
Man    2-6-0
Salem  6-11-0


WP  Scott Richmond  (3-1)
LP   Burnett   (15-13)    4-8-6-6-4-4


Cantu gives the Rebs an early 1-0 lead with a RBI double in the 1st.  Cowtippers knock AJ Burnett out of the game in the 5th with a 6 run rally.  Willingham and Teixeria homered and Rolen had a 2 run single to cement the Cowtipper win.


Game 4
Man   5-8-0
Salem  4-8-1


WP  Bronson Arroyo  (6-11)  6-6-3-3-2-5
LP   Harang  (1-3)     6.1-8-5-5-0-6


This game was played late at night and I left the computer to do battle against the Commish.  Fortunately for the Rebs, a computer rainout occurred and the game had to be replayed.  The Rebs won the replay.


Franklin Gutierrez and Bronson Arroyo hit RBI singles to give the Rebs an early 2-0 lead after 2.
Jimmy Rollins cranked a homer in the 3rd to increase the lead to 3-0 but HOF Ken Griffey drove a line drive over the right field fence for a 2 run shot to cut the lead to 3-2.  Carlos (feast or famine) Pena hit a laser shot into the second deck to increase the Reb lead to 4-2 after 4and a half.  Rebs issued a free pass to Harang in the first and Wigginton knocked him on a flare single to cut the lead to 4-3.  Adam Jones golfed a low slider over the left field wall in the top of the 6th to seal a 5-3 win.


Adam Jones (400/400/800) was the series star for the Irish , knocking in 4 runs and scoring 4 more himself.

WADE SAVES 3 MORE FOR THE BRONCS

COREY WADE BRONCS SAVE WIZARD

Manchester NH

The Rebels entered Chapter 6 with a 55-77 record but were surprisingly only 5 games out of the divisional race.   San Antonio and Los Altos are the 2 best teams in the Ozzie League and the we have to face them 8 times.  Realistically, we only hope to avoid being swept when facing these teams.   In this series against SAB,  our pitching gave us hope we could do alot more but our hitters forgot to bring their bats to the park.

GAME  1

SAB    2-7-0

MAN  0-3-0

WP   Dan Haren  (17-6)  6-2-0-0-0-4

 LP   Greg Maddux  (10-14)  7-6-1-1-1-3

S      Corey Wade  (52)

Casey Blake picks up a RBI single in the first and Chris Dickerson drilled a RBI double in the 9th to give SAB a 2-0 win.   Haren and Wade limited the Rebels to 3 hits in the game.

GAME  2

SAB    4-10-0

MAN  3-7-0

WP  Bucholz  (3-2)

LP  Chad Gaudin (0-8)

S     Corey Wade (53)

Rebels drive Edwin Volquez off the mound when Carlos Pena launches a 2 run shot in the 5th and Dimtri Young launches a PH HR in the 6th for a 3-0 lead.   Bronson Arroyo (7-3-0-0-0-5) pitches his best game of the season before he turns it over to the Rebel bullpen.   The bullpen blows the lead when SAB scores 3 runs to tie the game in the 8th and Vernon Wells launches a game winning HR off Chad Gaudin the 9th to obtain the win.

GAME 3

MAN  3-10-0

SAB   4-6-0  

WP  Aaron Heilman   (3-1)

LP  AJ Burnett   (15-12)

S    Corey Wade  (54)

Rebels score all their runs in the top of the 2nd when Cantu doubles, Shoppach doubles, Adam Jones singles and AJ Burnett drops a suicide squeeze to take an early 3-0 lead.

Burnett (6-3-3-3-4-5) and Lackey (5-6-3-3-1-4) have rough outings so they turn to their respective relief corps to save the day.   Oh yeah, SAB has Corey Wade and we have  Jon Papelbon so no problem right ?   

Wrong.   AROD knocks in Bip Roberts with a RBI single in the bottom of the 6th and then SAB scores 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th on a Wells single, a Dave Murphy walk, a Nelson Cruz 2 run triple and a Chris Dickerson single gave the Broncs a 4-3 win.

GAME 4

MAN   5-8-2

SAB     2-7-0

Odalis Perez takes on Tim Hudson.  Neither pitcher did very well but the Rebels came alive to avoid the sweep.  Rebels take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st  on a Cantu SF .  Tim Hudson leads off the bottom of the 5th with a double, Jason Kendall knocks him in with another double and Vernon Wells knocks him in with a single for a 2-1 Bronco lead after 5 innings.  The Rebels finally showed some offensive firepower as Carlos Pena launched a 2 run shot in the 6th, Franklin Gutierrez hit a laser shot in the 7th and Cantu followed later in the same inning with an insurance RBI single.   

Post Series Notes:

The Rebel pitching staff had a 2.83 ERA and kept AROD (200/385/200) from doing any serious damage.   Unfortunately, the Rebels failed to do any significant damage themselves (214/262/374). Jimmy Rollins continued his hitting slump (133/235/200) and BJ Upton decided to start his own slump (000/091/000).   

The expansion to 35 players also is presenting new challenges for the Rebels.  While we can now use Dimtri Young and Richie Sexson more often, we are running low on relief pitchers who can retire LH and RH batters.  As a result,  pinch hitters like Chris Dickerson (600/600/800) and Nelson Cruz (1000/1000/3000) are doing serious damage in clutch situations.