Coppinger's Season is Over, but Hogs Play On September 5, 1997
Punxatawney (AP)--The Punxatawney Groundhogs were dealt a major blow in today's doubleheader. Game one was a thrilling 3-2 victory in the first game over Calgary, coming in the bottom of the 9th as Marty Cordova hit 2 out solo homer to win the game. It was game two that caused major problems for the Hogs pitching staff. Rocky Coppinger took the mound to start that game, his first start in a few weeks. After 3 2/3 innings of average pitching, in which he gave up 2 runs, Coppinger threw a hard cutter and game up cringing, holding his pitching arm. Scott Aldred came in next and slipped on his first pitch, spraining his ankle. Rick Aguilera took the mound next and appeared to pull something in his arm after 2 pitches.
Later x-rays and studies showed that the Punxatawney Hogspital would have some new visitors. Coppinger's injury was the worst of all year--he had inflamed a tricep tendon and would be out for 2-3 months--mostly likely missing the playoffs. Aldred's ankle was fine and he had no problem walking on his own, but Aguilera is day-to-day with a pulled triceps tendon.
"It was like a war zone on the mound," said team owner Dan Shapiro. "I made them rake and fix up the mound before I put anyone else out there."
With a worn-down and weakened bullpen, Shapiro gave the ball to Sean Bergman. "Sean has been a great asset since we traded for him and I was confident he could get us through the next few innings without losing the game."
Bergman did just that. He ripped through 5 2/3 innings, giving up just 3 hits and 1 walk, resulting in 1 run. He also K'd 4. However, this game was also not decided until the bottom of the 9th. Punxatawney came in trailing 3-2 and scored twice to win 4-3 for their 88th victory of the year.
The offensive hero of the day was Scott Rolen. He had one of the three solo homers in game 1 and then went 3-3 in game two--all singles. But both games were more pitching duels than anything else. Jon Lieber threw 6 3-hit innings, walking just 1 and striking out 7, but Bobby Munoz struggled and gave up 2 runs in the 7th and 8th. But Ricky Bottalico, long ineffective for the Hogs, came in and threw 1 2/3 of great baseball for his third win.
Rolen spoke for the whole team after the end of the nightcap. "We're happy we won. We're happy we've just about clinched. But we are more concerned about Rocky, Rick, and Scott than our division. Now excuse us, we have to get to the Hogspital."
Rolen's remark about clinching was very true--the Hogs magic number has plummeted to 1, meaning 1 win by the Hogs or 1 loss by Tampa Bay will give the Hogs a guarentee of a tie for the division win. However, the Galena Hamsters overall record is now better than the Hogs' record. The Hamsters became the first team to 90 wins and are 2 games ahead of Punxatawney overall.
Stats 'n stuff
The Hogs would like to congratulate Shane Reynolds for being the first pitcher to 20 wins in PVBL history.
Punxatawney is on the verge of an amazing feat--if Roberto Kelly hits another homer, 8 of the 9 starters will have 20 homers. If Tony Batista somehow hits 7 more, all the starters will have 20. Ryan Klesko still leads the league in a number of categories. He's tops in slugging percentage, second in homers, and leads in RBI. He also ranks in runs created and and runs scored. Jason Giambi also ranks in both HR and RBI.
That's all, I guess. The AVBL keeps me too busy to write this as often as I'd like, but I am looking forward to the playoffs. There's some great EL teams I'd love to face, but I have lots of competition in my league first. Should be fun--and we're on the homestretch.
