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After an astounding week and a half of perfect play, the Punxatawney Groundhogs faced the inevitable--a loss-at the hands of the North Spokane Titans. In their second 1 run affair in a row, the Hogs fell by a score of 5-4. "It was a truly great series, especially these last two games," said owner/manager/GM Dan Shapiro. We left way too many guys on base again, and unlike last game it cost us a win this time. Rocky [Coppinger] is a bit peeved that he's not getting the big run support that everyone else is, but he knows that if he doesn't give up a run it won't be a problem."
The Groundhogs took the early lead again in this game, scoring a run in the first and the third. Another tally in the top of the 6th gave Coppinger a 3-0 advantage, but everything fell apart in the bottom of the inning. Coppinger was gone before the inning was over and Butch Henry was in. He couldn't hold the Titans onslaught either and Punxatawney trailed 4-3 going into the 7th. The score remained at 4-3 until the 8th when Henry allowed another run. Punxatawney wasn't done yet as they threatened in the 9th inning, scoring a run to make the game 5-4 before they finished. Luis Thomas, though he allowed one run, struck out the side in the 9th for his second save. The win went to reliever John Ericks who is now 2-0. Coppinger took the loss and fell to 3-3.
Surprisingly, the Groundhogs outhit the Titans 12-7 and even drew one more walk, but they left 13 men on base while the Titans left only two. Many of these hits came from the bats of leadoff hitter Rondell White and 2nd hitter Brian Giles. Both were 3-5 and scored one run while Giles also drove in a run. All three of his hits were doubles. Ryan Klesko contributed with a 2-4 game, scoring once and driving in one. Norberto Martin got his average back up near .250 with 1-3, 1 RBI performance. Ryan Klesko also managed to swipe a base in this game, his first steal of the year. "Like I've been saying all along, for us to keep winning would be impossible. It's good that we finally lost a game, the guys don't think they're invincible anymore," Shapiro said.
News and Notes: Rondell White continued his amazing hitting as a Groundhog with another fine game, making him 10-14 in his first 3 games. Punxatawney now has a day off as they return home to Pennsylvania after a highly successful trip to the west coast. Once they return to the friendly confines of Punxatawney Phil Memorial Stadium, Shapiro plans to give his team a day off to relax and spend with their families in preparation for their next series. Jon Lieber will be pitching the first game of that series. In his first start for the team, he threw 6 scoreless innings. Dustin Hermanson will throw the next game and Roger Clemens will pitch after that.
Written by Dan Shapiro