(AP) PHOENIX, AZ--The Washington Sea Dogs last night proved are no
flash-in-the-pan first-timers.
With a huge seven innings of shutout ball from RIGHTHANDER Mackenzee
Leefenhaufenhauz and help from third baseman Bill Mueller's first homer of
the playoffs, Washington moved on to the second round, defeating the
Phoenix Gila Monsters 5-0, 3-1 in the series.
Washington manager Aaron Weiner said that it was the Washington pitching
staff that made the difference.
"Well, tonight's start by Big Mack was something special," Weiner said,
"but I've learned to look for special things out of him every time. It
was the rest of the staff, though, that really came through in the
series."
After the first game, when a rusty Leefenhaufenhauz and others gave up
seven runs, Washington's pitching allowed only four runs in the last three
games combined.
"It was a whole team effort," starter Ben McDonald, who won game 2, said.
"Without our pen, we wouldn't have won last game, and, well, Mack put up a
huge outing tonight. I don't know where this team would be without him."
Weiner thought that the Sea Dogs may have had an advantage in this, a
short series, because of the strength of the top three starters.
"Well, when you've got three guys of the caliber we do going 1, 2, 3,
you've definitely got an advantage over maybe any team," Weiner said.
"While Phoenix's staff is perfect for a long series, they didn't match up
very well with us for a short series."
Weiner pointed to the Vero Beach/Punxatawney matchup as an example.
"I mean, you look at the other series, Vero Beach and the Groundhogs,"
Weiner said. "You have to consider their injuries, especially
Coppinger's, but mostly it was the strength of Vero Beach's front three
that did in Punxatawney."
In the end, the only thing that mattered was the final score of the game.
"We were just able to keep them off the bases tonight," Leefenhaufenhauz
said. "And that was the most important thing."
Notes and Quotes:
"There's no feeling like hitting a playoff homer. It's like your first
kiss."
-Bill Mueller
* * *
This is certainly the first dance for the Washington Sea Dogs, but there
was no champagne in the clubhouse, no big celebration like when they
clinched the wild card.
"We know this season isn't over yet," second baseman Chuck Knoblauch said.
"Those of us who were here last year - Bobby Ayala, Chad Ogea - they
remember when the team had no chance to win last year at midseason."
Indeed, the infamous Sea Dogs throw-in at the end of last year is all but
a memory now. GM Aaron Weiner has assembled a team that seems capable of
getting past Vero Beach.
"We're not anything close to the same team we were last season at this
point," Weiner said. "We're a much more veteran ballclub, a faster team,
a better pitching team."
Indeed, there has been so much turnover that only Ayala, Knoblauch, Ogea,
Mueller, Nigel Fernandez, Shawn Estes and Warren Newson were even on the
major-league roster last year. The other 17 players were either
traded for, drafted or developed in Washington's minor-league system.
"The additions of Barry Larkin was huge, but when we got Ben McDonald was
when we realized we were going to be contenders this year," Weiner said.
"We had realized the potential in our team because of our pitching staff,
but McDonald made a huge difference in our evaluation."
* * *
Washington's manager, Aaron Weiner, believes that the Sea Dogs match up
extremely well with Vero Beach.
"Well...they outscored us a lot this season," Weiner said. "But we
outpitched them by quite a large margin also...they were sort of the
leaders of the second tier of pitching teams."
Indeed, Washington outpitched Vero Beach by a quarter-point in ERA, 3.38
to 3.63 for Vero Beach. Weiner says, however, that there is more to the
numbers than just the ERAs.
"Well...they've maybe got the three top starters that Phoenix lacked,
pitchers like Albie Lopez and Willie Adams," Weiner said. "What they
don't have is either the strong fourth starter that's so helpful in a
short series, nor the pen that we've got."
Despite the discrepancies in pitching, however, Weiner was assured that
the difference wasn't in the pitching, but the hitting.
"Well, it's gonna come down to this: Can our offense execute against
Vero's top starters? We're a much better team offensively than we were
earlier this season, but it might not be enough.
"What's amazing is that we've even got a shot. Our GM's done an
incredible job getting this team together," Weiner said.
