New Orleans, LA (AP)- The New Orleans coaching staff had been begging and pleading for the Vampires' bats to come alive. Finally, they did. Unfortunately, their defense failed them as they dropped 2 heartbreak, 1-run losses at home to the first-place Edmonton Sled Dogs today. Game 1 saw Chuck Finley and Ken Hill last barely 3 innings combined and the teams' fortunes were put in the hands of their bullpen. It took 12 innings for Edmonton to finally edge the pesky Vampires, 10-9 on, of all things, A PASSED BALL by New Orleans catcher Jason Kendall! Reliever John Burke (0-1) picked up the loss despite allowing only that 1 UNearned run. Game 2 was much more of the same as the Vampires fell short 5-4 despite 2 homeruns by Kurt Abbott and a, pardon the pun, "sterling" effort by Hitchcock. Hitchcock continued to dominate this season yet, once again, got a no decision as Nigel Fernandez came on in only his second appearance of the season and got tanked for the loss, allowing 4 earned runs in the top of the 9th. Sterling had pitched 8 solid innings, allowing only 1 UNearned run while striking out 9. Of the games, Manager Pete Rose declared, "We're as good as these guys. They're nothing special. Losing these two 1-run games on stupid, mental defensive errors proves nothing of their so-called 'dominance' to me. Hopefully when Glanville arrives and we get our batting lineup straight, we start kicking some heads." Rose was referring to a major deal pulled off in the late hours of the night on Thursday. New Orleans sent veteran ace Roger Clemens along with top outfield prospect Bob Abreu to New Diggens in return for pitcher Jaime Navarro and outfielder Doug Glanville. Of the deal, GM Peter Gammons stated, "We're quite pleased. It may be shocking to some but what many people don't realize or know about is that Roger (Clemens) came to us a week ago and asked for us to shop him around as he wasn't happy here. He is quite concerned with getting into the playoffs once or twice more before his retirement and was seemingly convinced we wouldn't get him there. In return we got Jaime Navarro who, many people may not realize, is only 2 or 3 career wins behind Roger and is 5 yrs younger. So, we got quality for quality. But Glanville was the true icing in this deal. We had been looking for a solid CF for quite some time and Gumbert and Benard knew they weren't our answer. Hopefully Doug's arrival will spark something here. But we're not done yet either." What New Orleans still has planned up its sleeve is subject to speculation but rumor has it they have been in talks for some major sluggers and have been searching for either a solid leadoff man or DH. But it seems that the Vampires organization is not complacent with being in last place and wants to fill its new stadium now.
