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After a dissapointing 2-1 series loss to the Data-leading Washington Sea Dogs, the Punxtawney Groundhogs travelled all the way from their home town to Larimer, Colorado, for a series against the Larimer Knights. John Dybala, the Knights owner, was recently appointed as the league's statistician and is one of the three officers. Dan Shapiro, Hogs OGGM, is the PR official. This battle was won by the Groundhogs as they beat the Knights by a score of 8-6.
Larimer got the first lead of the game, going ahead 1-0 and holding the lead until the third inning. After Punxtawney scored once to tie the game, the Knights scored once more as well, and took a 2-1 lead into the 4th inning. In the 4th, Punxtawney erupted for 4 runs and got a 5-2 lead, which they extended to 6-2 in the top of the 5th. The Knights fought back, scoring 4 runs by the bottom of the 7th and tied the game at 6. However, they had no answer for 2 more Groundhog runs in the 8th, and the game ended with that score of 8-6.
Pedro Martinez had another sub-par start for the Hogs. He got the win, but allowed 6 earned runs on 8 hits over 7 2/3 innings. His record is 4-3, but his ERA has climbed from the high threes to 4.46 since he joined the team. He did, however, record 11 strikesouts and climbed to 6th on the Defiant League leaderboard with a total of 64. Martinez was relieved in the 8th inning by Scott Ruffcorn who threw a scoreless 1 1/3 innings to close the game out for his 3rd save.
For Larimer, starter Dave Burba lasted just 4 innings, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk. The loss went to his reliever, Jim Kane, who allowed 3 more runs over the last 5 innings.
The Punxtawney offense had a pair of unlikely leaders in this game. Greg Myers and Scott Rolen, batting 7th and 9th in the order, each made major contributions. Myers was 4-4, homered, and drove in 4 runs. Scott Rolen went 3-4 and hit two solo homeruns. Tony Batista hit another homerun as well, giving him longballs in 3 of the last 4 games. Ryan Klesko was 3-5 and Jason Giambi was 2-3, scored twice, doubled in a run, and walked twice. Jose Valentin, playing through a moderately sprained wrist for the last few weeks, had a horrendous game, going 0-5 and making two errors.
Ex-Groundhog Brian Giles was a major contributor to the Larimer offense. He went 2-5, scored twice, drove in 3, and hit a homer. Jim Edmonds had a strong game as well, going 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI.
After the game, Shapiro called Greg Myers into his office. When Myers left the office a few minutes later, he was obviously enraged.
"I go 4-4 and knock in half our runs, and he yells at me for my defense? I won this (censored) game for us, that's all I have to say. If winning the game isn't enough, I don't know what is," Myers told reporters.
Shapiro had a bit of a different view. "Every game he makes an error or is charged with a passed ball. And he doesn't go 4-4 every game. He's gotta learn to play defense before he's gonna play full time here. Look for Jorge Posada to get some time behind the plate too."
Later, Myers heard this quote from Shapiro on Sportscenter. Sources say that he then placed a call to Shapiro's house and asked to be traded or played full time. Shapiro had no comment, but admitted that trading Myers was certainly within reason.
In other news, the Groundhogs are preparing for another tough game against Larimer tommorow. "Don't underestimate them because of their record. They are in probably the strongest division in the game and it is very competitive. They have a better record than we do out of division," said Shapiro. Rocky Coppinger (4-5, 4.03) will be facing ex-Groundhog Jack Broskie (0-2, 7.31).
Written by Dan Shapiro