Houston, TX (AP)--Even with the Springfield Atoms winning both games against
Tampa Bay today, the Punxatawney Groundhogs held on to their precarious 1/2
game advantage by sweeping the Houston Hellraisers in an 11-0 blowout
followed by a 2-1 thriller.
The first game was a pleasant surprise for the Groundhogs, who expected a
pair of tough games. Dustin Hermanson, recently converted to a starting
pitcher, had another solid start. This time he tossed 7 scoreless innings,
allowing 6 hits and walking one. The game was rather close though, until
the 5th inning when Punxatawney scored 5 times to increase their lead to
6-0.
"I've felt very comfortable this year," said the 22 year old hurler. "Last
year I just didn't have the power to get the ball past anyone or the control
to really finesse outs. This year, I think I have the raw ability to get
anyone out."
There were some changes to the lineup, however. DH Jason Giambi, was has
struggled to a .222 average so far and has only 7 homers was benched in lieu
of Robin Jennings, who moved into the 7th spot in the order. Tony Batista,
who has shown surprising power this year, moved into the 5th spot while
Scott Rolen moved into the 6th spot. Dan Wilson moved down to the 8th spot.
Giambi was understanding, but annoyed. "I'm not hitting, I know. And
Shapiro has given me half a season to change that. But putting me on the
bench for that rookie Jennings can't help much. They said he has Rolen's
raw talent, and maybe so. But he's 6 years older than Scottie. I just hope
this benching doesn't last too long. I'm gonna start hitting again, I
promise."
All of these changes apparently worked. Marty Cordova and Dan Wilson each
had a pair of hits while Scott Rolen racked up three. He and Ryan Klesko
each drove in a pair of runs, but many runs were unearned as 7 of the team's
11 total runs were credited with RBI's. Robin Jennings was 1-3, scoring
once and walking twice in his first game as DH.
"Jason [Giambi] understands that its not personal between us. I had no clue
this was going to happen, I was just happy to be in the big show," Jennings
said. "But I'll do my best to help the team as long as Coach needs me to."
Also, the Punxatawney bullpen looked solid in the last two innings. Tim
Worrell threw a scoreless 8th inning and Scott Aldred threw a scoreless 9th
closing out the dominating win and giving starter Dustin Hermanson his 2nd
win. Hermanson has only started 5 games since returning to the rotation
after starting the season in the pen, but already has 4 quality starts and a
3.52 ERA, far better than last season's 5+ ERA. Punxatawney scored many of
their runs off Houston starter Todd Stottlemyre who threw 4 2/3 innings and
allowed 6 runs. They then scored 5 more in 3 2/3 innings against Roger
McDowell before Luis Thomas came on to stop the bleeding.
An hour later, game two began. This was the far more interesting battle of
the day. Jon Lieber was making his second start since his battle with arm
troubles, but was facing Houston ace Alex Fernandez who has really struggled
this season.
Both teams talied a run in the third as Roberto Kelly singled and was driven
in by a Jose Valentin sacrafice fly while Houston DH Andy Clarke doubled and
came home on a Piazza single. Punxatawney then scored again in the fourth
as Tony Batista ripped a double and was driven in on a Dan Wilson single
with 2 outs. From there on, the pitchers were the story.
After the top of the 4th, neither team was able to score again, though both
threatened. Jon Lieber threw 6 1/3 innings in this game, allowing just 4
hits and 1 walk while racking up 7 strikeouts. In two games since returning
from injury, he has thrown 13 1/3 innings and allowed 1 run. Bobby Munoz
finished the 7th, allowing one hit. Scott Ruffcorn, who recent trade talks
have targetted, tossed a scoreless eighth and Tim Worrell recorded his first
save of the year with another donut in the ninth.
After the game, Ruffcorn wanted to make it clear that he didn't want to be
traded. "Look, I love it here. Last year, I was the glue that held this
bullpen together until we all got situated and I was the ace in the hole
back here. Sure, this year I've struggled. I can turn that around.
Besides, Bobby [Munoz] has been better this year than I ever was last year,
so has Bottalico."
Of course, the great Punxatawney performance shouldn't subtract from Alex
Fernadez's superb game for Houston. He tossed a complete game in the losing
effort, allowing 10 hits, no walks, and striking out 7. Unfortunately,
Fernandez is only 3-10 this season. The record is deceiving--while he is
2nd in losses in the DL, Fernandez has an impressive 3.01 ERA and 9 quality
starts, 6 of which have been complete games. He has simply not gotten run
support.
"He's the best pitcher with double digit losses I've ever seen," said
Punxatawney slugger Ryan Klesko.
With these two wins, Punxatawney has climbed to 3 games over .500 and
maintained their .5 game lead over Springfield, who swept Tampa Bay.
Houston is now 3 games back, and Tampa Bay trails by 13.5. They now go face
the lowly Mets and appear to have a chance to increase their small lead.
"We're looking forward to the series," Shapiro said. "We've been playing
tough teams for a while, and not to take anything away from Tampa Bay, but
they just haven't done much this year. Maybe they are hiding something, but
we haven't seen much so far."
