They haven't led the division since May. They will finish this season below
.500 after making the World Series last year. But it is not over for the
Hogs, who have one game left on their schedule. This final game may get them
to the playoffs.
"We thought it was over long ago," said Shapiro. "Even earlier this week,
after we blew two games in the 9th inning, we thought it was over. But this
team knows how to win when it matters."
The Hogs had pulled to within 2 games of the division leading Houston
Hellraisers last week, but lost two straight games in their final at bat,
allowing numerous runs in the last inning, and were not able to close the gap
any farther. They faced a 3 game series against Houston where they would
need to win all 3 games to win the Riker--and make the postseason.
"We knew it was an uphill battle, but we've done this before," said
co-captain Tony Batista, finally starting to hit after a horrid season.
However, it looked very grim for the Hogs in the first game of the series.
They battled all game as starter Juan Guzman left after an early rain delay,
as did Houston's starter, Jerry Lewis. The bullpen strung together a few
good innings, but Houston was a bit better and carried a 4-3 lead into the
bottom of the 9th. They brought on closer John Ericks, but he walked two and
allowed a hit, giving Punxatawney just enough to tie the game at 4 and force
extra innings.
"Talk about stress," said GM Dan Shapiro. "The season on the line, and we go
to extra frames. Jeez."
For the next few innings, the bullpens took over. Luis Thomas got the final
out in the 9th and then tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, taking Houston all
the way through the 13th inning. Ricky Bottalico tossed two scoreless frames
for the Hogs, then turned it over to Masato Yoshii. He tossed three perfect
innings, and the game went to the bottom of the 14th still tied at 4.
Houston, at that point, brought in reliever Heine Phillips, 5-3 on the year.
But Phillips was no match for the Hogs offense. Scott Rolen lined a single
to open the inning, and Jason Giambi lined one over second for another hit to
follow that. Houston brought the infield and outfield in to try and cut
Rolen off at home. John Cangelosi, inserted for Jay Buhner after he slipped
and stubbed his toe early in the game, slapped a hard grounder past a diving
Edgar Renteria and Rolen scored easily, putting the Hogs 1 game behind
Houston with a better chance to win the Riker.
"I'm no hero," said Cangelosi. "Today's hero was the bullpen--Dusty [Dustin
Hermanson], Bo [Ricky Bottalico] and Yosh [Masato Yoshii]."
The trio of relievers kept the Hellraisers from even threating to score from
the 8th inning on. Hermanson threw 2 innings, allowing 1 hit. Bottalico
struck out 2 and gave up 1 hit in 2 more. And Yoshii struck out 3 and
allowed no baserunners through the final 3 innings for the victory.
Of course, after this nearly 5 hour marathon, the Hogs and Hellraisers took a
quick break and headed back out to play the crucial second half of the
doubleheader. Once again, a Houston victory would clinch the division. A
Punxatawney win would put the teams in a tie with a final, deciding game to
be played Sunday.
And nobody expected it to be easy. Once again, the game was a close scoring
battle. Punxatawney took the early lead on a 3rd inning two run homer by
leadoff man Dave Martinez. Nobody scored again until the 7th when Tony
Batista hit a double the scored Roberto Kelly from first (no RBI given).
This insurance run proved to be crucial. Punxatawney ace Rocky Coppinger
exited after 8 superb innings of 2-hit, no-walk ball, striking out 6. But
the tired bullpen nearly blew the lead, as they had done twice last week.
Dustin Hermanson opened the inning by walking Homer Bush. After getting
Edgar Renteria to pop out, he gave up a double to James Brosius that scored
Homer Bush. Mike Cameron followed that with a single, moving Brosius to
third. After a Vinny Castilla sacrifice fly, Hermanson was pulled with the
score 3-2.
His reliever? Masato Yoshii, the winner of the first game. Yoshii, who had
6 saves coming into the game, needed just 1 out. However, standing in his
way was slugger Ed Sprague, followed by Ron Gant and John Olerud. Sprague
hit .271 this year, leading the Hellraisers with 26 homers and 81 RBI. But
on this occasion, Yoshii was the better man. Sprague grounded to short and
Tony Batista flipped to defensive replacement Jack Jackson for the final out
of the game.
Batista, who went 4-4 and brought home the crucial third run, was elated.
"Its been such a crappy year, this final run at least shows us that we're
still the team that made the postseason every year."
It could happen. Punxatawney, after trailing for almost the entire year,
will now play 1 game, on their home field, against Houston. The winner goes
on to the playoffs and will face either Sacramento or Spokane, who also play
eachother. If Sacramento wins, they will play the Riker winner. If Spokane
wins, both the River Otters and Pirates will make the playoffs, and whichever
one doesn't get the wildcard will play the Hogs or Hellraisers. All we know
for sure is that Phoenix, Galena, and Missiagua are in!
So on Sunday, Punxatawney will most likely send their starter with the lowest
career ERA, Jon Lieber, against upstart Jason Schmidt. Schmidt is 10-15 with
a 3.98 ERA this year and is the scheduled starter. Lieber, also the
scheduled starter, is 10-9 with a 3.02 ERA.
"If we play our best game, nobody can beat us," said Scott Rolen, whose
recent hot streak has pushed his average over the .300 mark.
Also, in an interesting and frustrating side not, Hogs top setup man Bobby
Munoz is sidelined for 2-4 weeks with arm trouble. However, 1997 relief ace
Scott Ruffcorn, injured for most of the year, is returning to the bullpen for
the final game of the season. He has struggled greatly in the last two
years, but is needed to give the pen some arms after the team blew (and
nearly blew) numerous multi-run leads in the final innings.
"If I'm needed, I'll do the job," said Ruffcorn. "If I'm not, fine. But I
want to be in there. Every one of us wants a chance to carry this team back
to the playoffs."
Punxatawney has already sold out the stadium for their final game and is
considering adding a new section of bleachers to accomodate Hog-crazy fans.
With very few Houston boosters making the long trip north, thinking their
team had it locked up, the stadium has been a haven for Groundhog mania as
the fans finally realize that the team is still one of the best.
Interesting stat of the day:
Reliever Masato Yoshii has entered 71 games as a relief man this year. He
has gone 8-4 with 7 saves and 4 holds. And he has throws 136 1/3
innings--ALL IN RELIEF!
So everyone, watch your favorite playoff race. Between the Riker, Picard, DL
wildcard, EL wildcard, and McCoy races, there are still 5 playoff berths that
are undecided. Sacramento and Spokane play each other. If the River Otters
win, and either Washington or Battle Axe wins, there will be a tie decided by
I have no idea what method for a playoff berth. If Spokane wins, then
Sacramento and Spokane make the playoffs, but I have no idea who gets the
wildcard and who doesn't. Montreal and Edmonton, unfortuantely, will not
play each other on the final day. However, if they both win, and both
Tiajuana and Anchorage lose, then one of the two will make it as the McCoy
winner and the other might make it depending on who gets the wildcard. If
Tiajuana or Anchorage wins, it means Edmonton and Montreal are out of the
wildcard race but one will still make it as the McCoy winner. Wow--Peter was
right, this is confusing!
