Wow! Another great game! This game went back and forth all night on a rain-soaked Bob Moore field. Both teams had to deal with a wet ball every time it hit the ground. In the end, the A's handled the wet baseballs just a little better that the Marlins. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth when the Marlins backup shortstop was unable to make accurate throws to first on two very routine ground balls by the first two batters. The wild throw on the second of these two ground balls left runners on second and third with nobody out. The Marlins intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases. Randy Craft, in his third inning of relief, got Wayne Newcombe to hit a bouncer to first that was turned into a force out at home. Herb Cepeda then blooped a single over the second baseman into short right center field to send the series to a third, and deciding game. The A's got 9 innings out of Brian Kent, who scattered 8 hits and 7 walks. The Marlins got 6 strong innings from Chuck Sohl, who gave up 5 hits and 8 walks. Randy Craft was incredible in his three innings escaping jams in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings that could have ended the game. My hats off to all three pitchers, who did great jobs while dealing with rain soaked horsehide all night. Hicks, Moore, and Cepeda all had two hits for the A's, while Dave Mitchell was the only Marlin to have two hits. The series finale should be a great one as these two teams battle for the right to face the Giants in the semi-finals. Game time: 5:45pm at New Scotland's Swift Road Park on Friday night!!!
These games are so tension-filled that Just For Men can't even keep your hair dark. Anyone who plays in the league is missing out on some great baseball if they aren't in the stands.
As for the Giants, we want no part of either of these teams; both of them killed us this year, though we managed a split, beating an undermanned Marlins team early in the season before they got even in a big way later on. We played the A's just once, and they hammered us.
You can bet I'll be there Friday night; of course toasting with the winning team to help soften them up for Monday.
Good luck to both teams; play hard and be safe. JimK
Jimmy - you're team is coming together at the right time - you are not to be taken lightly. But right now, neither of us is thinking about you. Too much to think about in this series!
The A's - Marlins game has been moved to Bob Moore at 6:00PM on Friday.
Yet another recap as told by David Schillinger....
Bob Moore was the setting for game 2 of the series Wednesday night. The Marlins quickly jumped ahead with 2 in the first. After walks to the first 2 hitters and a fielder's choice Mitchell lined an rbi single. Another walk was followed up by a sac fly from Coons. The second inning saw the A's plate 4. A single and 2 walks loaded the bases with 2 outs. After a wild pitch scored a run Jim Hicks delivered a single up the middle scoring 2 and giving the A's the lead. Another wild pitch was followed by a single from Alex Marin and a 4-2 A's lead. An error and walk again loaded the bases but the Marlins escaped further damage. The next 3 innings saw the A's strand 5 runners. In the Marlins half of the 5th they loaded the bases on 3 walks. With 2 outs the A's made a costly error allowing 2 to score. Mitchell lined another rbi single giving the Marlins a 5-4 lead. Threatening skies and a bolt of lightning delayed the game 15 minutes in the fifth. Trailing by 1 in the bottom of the sixth Herb Cepeda hit a shot that looked destined for the cheap seats, but the thick air wouldn't allow it as it hit the fence for a leadoff double. On the second of 2 fly outs to center Herb took off for third, an errant throw by the shortstop allowed the tying run to score. Two walks didn't lead to any more runs. The seventh inning brought heavy rain but we continued to play. After a 1-2-3 top of the seventh the A's had a runner on second with no outs. After a failed sacrifice attempt and an intentional walk to John Haff the A's couldn't deliver. On to extra innings. After a leadoff single by Girard, Mitchell hit a fly ball to right with Girard in motion, The ball was caught and the runner doubled off. In the bottom of the 8th the A's got singles from Hicks and Marin. 2 on, no outs and the 3-4-5 hitters coming up. With the game hanging in the balance and Craft on in relief the A's couldn't plate the winning run. In the ninth the Marlins had 2 on with 2 outs but Brian Kent struck out Ansel to end the threat. In the bottom of the ninth Jim Moore started things off with his third single of the game and stole second. David Schillinger got an infield hit moving Moore to third. John Haff was again walked intentionally to load the bases. After a ground out forced the runner at home Herb Cepeda hit a short fly to center that dropped in front of a diving Skip Treece and the A's live to fight another day. Brian Kent went the distance throwing about 150 pitches, not sure his arm is still attached.
Another great game between theses 2 teams. Thank you to the Marlins for allowing the game to start at 6:30. We had several players including our starting pitcher who would have been late for a 6:00 start. A class move by an always class team.
Note: Mike Girard writes a great recap, but when my man David goes to the trouble of writing a 200 sentence, 10,000 word recap all in one paragraph (because that is what that game felt like - one looooong, non-stop paragraph), I've got to put it up here!
