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In what was certainly the craziest day in the Washington Sea Dogs' short history, the Sea Dogs came from behind in both games to sweep a doubleheader against the Denver team 12-6 and 20-13 on a day when they hit nine homers.
Sea Dogs manager Aaron Weiner was absolutely stunned after the game. "Do you all believe what you just saw?" Weiner said, shaking his head.
The answer, frankly, is no.
In the first game, Washington fell behind in the second inning, 3-0. Rightfielder Glenallen Hill, 3-5 on the day, started the rally with a double and was singled home by first baseman Cecil Fielder. Third baseman Matt Williams moved him to second, and then two more consecutive singles by catcher Eddie Taubensee and second baseman Nelson Liriano drove home Fielder and Williams.
The Sea Dogs came back with two in the third and then four in the fourth, and never trailed after that.
Offensive hero in the first game was second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who had an uncharacteristic two homers but a more characteristic 5-5 performance.
Knoblauch, who also drove in six runs in the first game alone, said, "I love playing in domes, because the ball carries for me much better there. I don't know why."
Jeff Conine, the team leader with eight homers, went yard in the first game, as did Jose Offerman with his fourth. Chuck Finley was knocked around a bit, giving up five runs in seven innings, but striking out eleven Denver players to overtake Pat Hentgen for the PVBL lead in Ks. He also collected win number five, a team high.
The second game was a really wild one. Chad Ogea started the game for the Sea Dogs, but didn't last long as Denver batted around on him. Ogea's line: .2 innings, 5 hits, 6 runs, 6 earned, 1 walk. Denver scored 7 runs in all in the first inning, and the game seemed on its way to a blowout.
In fact, it was on its way to a blowout, but not for Denver. The Sea Dogs were shut out in the first and second innings, but scored three in the third. Denver also added two, so after three innings, the score was 9-3, Denver.
Shawn Boskie (2-2), who pitched 6.1 innings of 7-hit ball to get his second win, shut down Denver in the next two innings. The Sea Dogs scored another three during that time to lessen Denver's lead to 9-6.
Then all hell broke loose.
The Sea Dogs batted around twice in the 5th inning, putting up 10 runs and sealing the game away for good. Denver pitcher Justin Thompson got the worst of it: 4 innings, 16 hits, FIFTEEN runs, 15 EARNED, 2 walks.
Weiner talked about that inning. "We'd gotten to Thompson in the fifth inning, and we were gaining some momentum, but none of us saw this coming."
Centerfielder Marquis Grissom, who had five hits in the second game, also talked about the inning. "It was like, we got one hit, and then another, and then another, and just kept circling the bases. It was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen."
The Sea Dogs showed more of their uncharacteristic power in this game, hitting five homers with five different players, including leftfielder Mart Murphy. Murphy was called up to replace outfielder/DH Warren Newson, who's out with an injury for at least six weeks.
The 33-year old minor-league veteran was at a loss for words. "Geez, to hit a homer in my second game ever up here...it's gotta be the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me," said Murphy.
The two wins combined with a Phoenix loss to Ponxatawney move Washington another game ahead of the Firebirds. They now lead the DL Data by 1.5 games.
Notes and Quotes:
This was a big day for Washington on the minor-league level too. With new faces popping up on the waiver wire, GM Aaron Weiner was quick to notice, and grabbed Nigel Fernandez, Dino Rigopolous and Taffy Colbert off the waiver wire.
"We picked up three huge players today," said Weiner excitedly. "Nigel Fernandez is the real gem of the crowd. He's got a rocket arm (93 AS) with an unbelievable curveball and an excellent fastball. We're going to bring him up tomorrow, and it's only a matter of time before he becomes one of the dominant short men in all of baseball."
Weiner was excited Rigopolous, too. "Rigolpolous may not be called up this year; he's just a kid (19 years old), and while he's got great stuff and fine control, we're not sure he's ready for the bigs. We're really excited to get him."
Reports on Rigopolous are good; scouts say he has a curveball that rivals anyone else's in baseball, and that he's got deadly accuracy, though they agree that his age may be a deterring factor in bringing him up.
"We think that to bring Rigopolous into the middle of a pennant race is asking for trouble," says Weiner. "Perhaps getting him some experience would be good, but we don't think it would offset the potential damage it might do should he be ineffective at the major-league level."
Weiner also had some kind words for Taffy Colbert. "Colbert's a veteran arm," said Weiner, "and he's got good control and a fantastic fastball. We're not sure of our plans for him yet, but he's a fabulous insurance policy for right now. We think he'll be up by the end of the year."
Washington shed AAA catcher Scott Lovett ("About time we got rid of Lovett," said Weiner about him), and SS Hal Black, and the Murphy callup was the other roster spot necessary.
With the huge rash of middle relievers coming onto the team, Washington might be interested in moving not one, but potentially a few of them. Washington had suggested a possible trade involving Bill Simas yesterday, but sources inside the team say that there wasn't that much interest. Interested parties needing solid middle relief should note that Washington is interested in a reasonably solid left fielder and a powerhitting, though not necessarily contact hitting first baseman.
Written by Aaron Weiner