La Crosse Crusaders(1-0) @
Eau Claire Badgers(0-1)September 12th, 2013- For game 2 of the Wild Card Series, La Crosse was able to send fan-favorite and team ace Javier Martinez to the mound. Javier was excellent this season for the Crusaders, ending up 16-5, with a 2.56 ERA and a league leading 192 strikeouts. On the hill for the Badgers was Gustavo Gallegos, who has arguably one of the coolest names in the UBL. He also posted some pretty cool stats, going 9-5 with a 3.63 ERA for the Badgers. However, Gallegos started the season in Fort Wayne, where he was 2-3 with a 5.05 ERA. Luckily for Eau Claire, he was much better after being traded to them.
La Crosse wasted no time getting into the game, and in the 1st inning, leadoff man Danny Sharpe took a 1-2 pitch in his first at bat to deep right field and into the bleachers! Sharpe's early solo homer gave La Crosse a 1-0 lead, before Eau Claire could even bat. This spelled trouble for the Badgers, with Javier Martinez on the mound.
Martinez blew threw the first 2 innings on the mound, and rapped a double to lead off the La Crosse 3rd inning. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Martinez was in prime position to score with the top of the order up. Sharpe and Phillips both struck out, and so things came down to Steve Ward, a .377 hitter with runners in scoring position, but Ward flew out to left center to strand Martinez.
Both pitchers cruised after that, making it through 5 innings without allowing anything else notable to report. However, Gallegos got into a bit of a jam in the 6th, allowing a Ward single to lead off the inning and then drilling Michael Barnes on an 0-2 fastball. Josh Howard popped out to second base, and Jose Avila reached first base, but got Barnes out on a grounder to second to put runners on the corner with 2 outs. Ross Mullins was up next, and hit a hard grounder up the middle, but Eau Claire's shortstop Monty Winters was able to get his glove on it and end the inning.
Jim Thompson had a great day behind the plate, throwing out the fleet footed Pali Ciftja not just once, but twice! He also knocked a single to leadoff the top of the 7th for the Crusaders. Javier Martinez was then pulled, after pitching 6 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts. Even though his strikeout stuff may not have been at its best, Martinez was still able to hold the Badgers scoreless. Pulling Martinez turned out being an excellent decision, as his pinch hitter, Brian Villa, squeaked a 341 foot homer over the left field wall to put the Crusaders ahead 3-0. Gustavo Gallegos was also pulled this inning, after allowing a Steve Ward single with 2 outs. He went 6 2/3 innings, striking out 8, and giving up 3 runs.
Dave LaBelle mowed through the bottom of the 7th, and it was starting to look like the Crusaders would be able to get out of Eau Claire with a 2-0 series lead.
Set-up man Fred Everett is usually lights out, but ran into trouble in yesterday's 8th. He got the first out on a grounder to short, but then back to back singles by Willie O'Teighe and Andrew McCann put him in quite the jam. Eau Claire leadoff man Ernest McIlrevie also singled, driving in O'Teighe, advancing McCann to third, and taking second on the throw. La Crosse's comfortable 3-0 lead had turned to a 3-1 nail biter in the matter of a few at-bats. Jorge Ruiz flew out to center, but it was deep enough to score McCann, narrowing the lead to 3-2. That would end the day for Everett, and Brit Hewitt came in to face the dangerous Pali Ciftja with 2 outs and a man on second. Ciftja smoked a grounder past Ward at 1st, and McIlrevie hustled home to tie the game at 3-3. Hewitt really blew it in the next at bat, hanging an 0-2 breaking ball, which Monty Winters kindly blasted 418 feet to left center field, well over the fence. This put the Badgers ahead for the first time, 5-3. Hewitt finally got Tim Moore to groundout to second to end the painful inning.
The Crusaders had their 2, 3, and 4 batters up for the top of the 9th. Phillips lead off with a double, breaking an awful streak of 4 consecutive strikeouts. Ward couldn't work his magic however, grounding out to first, but advancing Phillips to third. Barnes struck out looking, which put things squarely on the shoulders of an 0-4 Josh Howard, who singled for his first hit of the game! Phillips trotted home to score, and put La Crosse within a run, 4-5. Yet, Avila ended it on a grounder to shortstop, crushing the Crusaders' hopes of a comeback.
The Crusaders really should have won this game, after getting 6 shutout innings from Javier Martinez. However, the bullpen absolutely blew it, which allowed the Badgers to even the series. Looking at the big picture though, the Crusaders are in pretty good shape, splitting the first two games at Eau Claire. Now they'll get 2 home games in a row, where hopefully the home crowd will help lead to 2 wins!
W: J.McConnell(1-0) L: B.Hewitt(0-1) S: M.Deming(1) HR: D.Sharpe(1), B.Villa(1), M.Winters(1)S.Ward: 2-5
J.Avila: 3-5, 2B
J.Thompson: 2-4, R
J.Martinez: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 0.00 ERAE.McIlrevie: 3-4, RBI, R
P.Ciftja: 2-3, RBI, R, BB, 2 CS
M.Winters: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
G.Gallegos: 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 8 K, 4.05 ERA-----------------------------------South Division Playoff UpdateEvansville was also able to even their series down in the South yesterday.
#3 BLM(1-1): 7 | 12 | 1
#2 EVN(1-1): 10 | 10 | 0
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Paul McCartney15 wrote:
You should have been banned from this forum over 5,000 posts ago tbh
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