Groundhogs Split in Phoenix, but Lose Coppinger October 15, 1999
Phoenix, AZ (AP)
It began on an ominous note. In the bottom of the 3rd inning of game one,
the young star of the Punxatawney Groundhogs staff, Rocky Coppinger,
delivered a fastball to the Gila Monsters' #2 hitter, Ivan Rodriguez. He
came up holding his right shoulder, yelling in pain.
"I knew I was done right there," said Coppinger. "It hurt like my elbow did
last May."
The injury prone Coppinger has spent time on the disabled list on two or
three occasions in the last two seasons, and this injury will sideline him
for the remainder of the playoffs. But the Groundhogs fought on.
The score was 2-0 at that point, as Dave Martinez had hit a 2-run homer in
the top of the inning, and Bobby Munoz came in to relieve Coppinger. In one
of his best, and longest, pitching outings of the season, Munoz threw 4 2/3
scoreless innings. He gave up only 2 hits and struck out two without
walking anyone.
"It was really incredible," said pitching coach Mark Fidyrich. "He threw
one of his best games against one of the best lineups out there."
During his pitching stint, the Hogs tacked on another run when Geronimo
Berroa hit a solo homer to right-center. So with a 3-0 lead heading into
the 8th, the Gila Monsters brought in Greg Swindell. He kept the Groundhogs
at bay with a scoreless inning.
This left the 8th inning in the hands of Bobby Thomas, working from the
bullpen as his first scheduled start was a few games away. He gave up a
hit, but nothing more, and the game went to the final inning with the
Groundhogs safely ahead. They tacked on another run as Tony Batista doubled
and later scored. Sean Bergman threw the final inning, allowing a solo
homer to Dave Justice but nothing more. The Groundhogs had won their first
LCS game in two years, but had lost Rocky Coppinger. Munoz took the win and
Thomas got a hold.
"Its a bittersweet victory, this one," said manager Dan Shapiro. "But its
one more step toward the DL pennant we want to hang next to our three Riker
titles."
Unfortunately for the Hogs, the second game did not go quite so well. It
was an exciting game, as the Gila Monsters scored two in the second to take
an early lead, only to watch it vanish in the 4th as the Hogs scored twice.
Phoenix then scored two more in the 5th, but once again Punxatawney
responded with two in the 6th.
"It was a real see-saw battle," said Punxatawney's Ryan Klesko, 3-4 on the
day with 3 RBI, a double, and a homerun. "They just got the last little hop
on us."
That came in the 7th inning as starter Juan Guzman was tiring and
surrendered a 5th run. Surehanded Phoenix relievers Darren Holmes and Rob
Nen finished the game out, not even allowing a single baserunner in the last
3 2/3 innings. Holmes got the win and Nen took the save.
But unfortunately for Phoenix, their starter suffered a similar fate to that
of Punxatawney's Coppinger. He went down to injury in the 3rd inning, and
is listed as day-to-day. Derek Jeter, 3-4, 2 doubles, and Raul Mondesi 2-3,
with a homerun, led the way for Phoenix.
This exciting series now goes to Punxatawney where the teams will play three
games. Game 3 is a battle of aces--Jon Lieber faces off against Shane
Reynolds. Each threw the 1st and 5th games of their divisional playoff
series, and their teams won both of those games.
Galena and Deadwood are also deadlocked at 1-1 in the EL, and they now head
to Deadwood for three games.
