Groundhogs Can't Sweep Bums, but Bjork is No Match August 18, 1998
Duluth, MN (AP) - Although Punxatawney was unable to beat Vero Beach in extra innings in the
final game of their series yesterday, they beat the Bjork in their second
game of the day and then continued to dominate Duluth with two more wins and
a series sweep today. With 6-5 and 9-2 victories, the Hogs rolled over
Duluth and expanded their lead to near double digits and won their 8th game
out of their last 10.
The first game was incredibly exciting, and it was the closest Duluth came
to a win. Punxatawney started the scoring with Roberto Kelly driving in two
with a single in the 4th, but Duluth came right back in the bottom of the
inning, scoring 3 runs with RBI hits from Alex Rodriguez and Frank Thomas.
They tallied another run in the 5th as Hugh Coleman doubled and around on a
groundout and a bad throw by Jose Valentin.
Punxatawney trailed 4-2 until the 7th inning. Jeff Hallony walked Jose
Valentin and then surrendered a 2 run blast to Ryan Klesko to tie the score
at 4-4. The homerun was his 24th, but his first in week or two. The big
slugger has been struggling with his power stroke even while keeping his
average at .280.
Bobby Munoz then came in to try and keep the score tied after Tim Worrell
threw 2 scoreless innings. But today, Munoz was not his usual self today,
and allowed 3 hits and a run as Alex Rodriguez drove in Mike Metcalfe.
The situation was looking down for the Groundhogs heading into the top of
the final frame. Hallony was hoping for a win, and Josh Ludolph was looking
for the save. But it was not to be for the Bjork. Jason Giambi popped out
to start the inning, but Scott Rolen reached on a Kevin Seitzer error. He
was on base when Dan Wilson got ahold of a high Ludolph fastball and just
barely got it over the right field wall to put Punxatawney ahead 6-5. Jim
Cunningham relieved Ludolph, and got the final 2 outs, allowing 1 hit.
"I've been getting better as I get more used to this team," Wilson said.
"It's taken a while, but I think I'm finally comfortable behind the plate
and at standing at it."
It was then up to the Punxatawney pen to finish the game. Ricky Bottalico
came in for the save, but struggled a bit. He allowed a hit to Hugh Coleman
then retired Mike Metcalfe on a lineout. Kevin Seitzer struck out next but
then Alex Rodriguez got his 4th hit of the game to put two men on base.
Scott Ruffcorn, who is having a horrid year, was called on to try and get
the final out. He didn't have an easy time, walking Frank Thomas to load
the bases and bring up Luis Gonzalez. Ruffcorn then turned it on for the
final out, getting Gonzalez to groundout to Tony Batista and give
Punxatawney a victory.
Munoz was the lucky winner, even though he pitched fairly poorly. His
record is now 3-1. Bottalico got his 3rd hold, and Ruffcorn got his 5th
save.
"We made the most of our hits today," Hogs GM Dan Shapiro said. "We only
had 6. They had 13. But we played solid defense, turned a few double
plays, and got the hits when we needed them."
While Punxatawney only had a few hits in the first game, they turned the
offense on in second game against Jason Isringhausen. It took 3 innings to
get things going, taking a 1-0 lead. In the 4th, they erupted for 4 more,
with Dan Wilson once again leading the way with a 3-run home run, adding one
more on a Ryan Klesko RBI double.
Duluth scored one in the 4th, but they couldn't keep up with Punxatawney.
The Hogs scored 4 more times, scoring in every other inning except the 6th
and 9th innings. Jason Giambi hit a solo shot in the 7th for one of those
runs. In the 8th, Ryan Klesko drove in two with his 2nd double.
In fact, every Groundhog had at least 1 hit, and everyone but Jose Valentin
scored a run.
"We call that team effort," said Giambi. "Everyone hits, everyone scores,
and we win. Especially with the way Bobby [Thomas] pitched today."
Thomas had his 3rd great outing in a row and recorded his 3rd straight win
to improve his record to 9-7. He threw 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 1
of them a solo home run by Frank Thomas who went 3-3 on the day. That was
the only run he gave up, also walking one and striking out two. He fared
much better than his opponent Isringhausen who have up 5 runs on 8 hits in 4
innings. Fernando Hernadez gave up the other 4 Groundhog runs, throwing the
final 5 frames.
Mike Hampton allowed the 2nd Bjork run in the 8th as Mark Nicol hit a solo
homerun. But Scott Ruffcorn finished his 2nd game in a row, throwing a
perfect 9th inning.
While Punxatawney was sweeping Duluth, Springfield was battling Vero Beach.
They managed a split with the Bums, falling 9 games behind Punxatawney. The
Groundhogs are now 27-24 in out of division play, which is worse than any
other division leader or the sureshot wildcard winner Washington.
"We aren't worried about our lack of out of division success. Most of those
losses came when we were facing lots of injuries, and now that we are
healthy, we're way over .500 against the Picard teams," Shapiro said.
Their next series will be against the Binghamton Mets while Springfield
battles Spokane. After the Binghamton series, Punxatawney faces off against
Vero Beach again. Then another series against Binghamton. After that,
Punxatawney faces nothing but Riker division foes for the final month.
"We're pretty confident about our chances now, but its under our control
when we have to play Springfield, Houston, and Tampa so many times in the
last month," said team captain Ryan Klesko.
Stats 'n Stuff
Punxatawney's balanced offense has continued to find support from everyone
rather than relying on a star player or two. Jose Valentin is still batting
over .300 at .319, and leads the team in RBI and runs created. Dave
Martinez has been a great leadoff man hitting .299 with 24 steals. Tony
Batista is hitting a solid .288 with 19 homers, 19 steals, and 77 runs
created. Ryan Klesko is not having a miracle season like last year, but his
.280 average, 24 homers, and 68 RBI are nothing to scoff at. Marty Cordova,
the ironman who hasn't missed a game in two years, is hitting .273 with 17
homers and 66 RBI. Although some of the other starters are hitting below
.250, Scott Rolen, Jason Giambi, and Dan Wilson have hit 17, 13, and 19
homers respectively, contributing over 50 runs created each.
Bobby Thomas has his ERA down to 3.07 now with a 9-7 record. Only 5 of his
24 starts have not been quality, and he leads the team with 167 IP. Sean
Bergman's poor start in the first game bumped his ERA back over 3.00 once
again to 3.19, but his 14 victories are still the best on the team.
Ken Hill will make his first start tomorrow as a Groundhog, trying to get
his 10th victory of the season.
I guess that's just about it. If anyone has a last minute trade offer, I
would be willing to trade Scott Aldred or Dustin Hermanson possibly. Not
sure what I'm looking for, but if anyone wants either of these guys, let me
know. I might also be willing to trade Ken Hill, even though I just got
him.
