All posts by Brian

Voice-over pro. Former broadcaster. Current president of Harrisburg Senators Fan Club. My passion is "baseball" - the strategic nine-player game (without a DH) where each player must run, hit and field.

Speakers at Lemonheads

Game 1 – 3 RBI singles in the 3rd give the Speakers a 3-1 lead. Alex Gordon’s SF in the bottom half narrows the lead to 3-2. The Speakers load the bases on a single, walk and HBP with 2 outs in the 5th when Albert Pujols offers shades of past glory and connects for a grand slam. The Speakers hold on, 9-5.
W – Carlos Martinez (1-2); L – Marcus Stroman; S – Jeremy Affeldt (2)

Game 2 – Charlie Blackmon greets Bud Norris with a lead off HR in the bottom of the 1st. The Lemonheads pick up 2 more in the 2nd on a Gordon RBI double and Brayan Pena RBI single. That would be enough for Collin McHugh and ‘Heads pen in a 4-2 victory. JD Martinez leads off the 6th with a rope to center that Yoenis Cespedes can’t catch up to. Cespedes crashes into the wall and must leave the game.
W – McHugh; L – Norris (3-5); S – Fernando Abad

Game 3 – The Speakers celebrate their second grand slam of the series when Danny Santana receives a gift from Chris Young (-26) in the 2nd inning. Pujols (5-5, 2-2B, 7th HR, 3-RBI, 4-R) again conjures up his scary card days as the Speakers roll, 11-1. Ian Desmond hits a bomb with 2 outs in the 9th to spoil Alex Wood’s shutout.
W – Wood (4-2); L – Young

The Speakers win their first series since taking 2 of 3 from the Birds of Pray in early August. Pujols raises his average from .195 to .216.

Shooting Stars II at Speakers

Game 1 – Justin Morneau’s 4th inning solo shot scores the only run of the game. The Speakers collect another grand total of 3 hits, waste a great outing by Bud Norris and fall by shutout for the 10th time this season.
W – Dallas Keuchel; L – Norris (2-4)

Game 2 – Alex Wood walks 3 in the 1st. With 2 outs, 1 run in and the bases juiced, Matt Kemp strokes a 3-run triple. Michael Cuddyer 2-out 2-run double in the 2nd makes it 6-0 Stars. The Speakers specialize in solo homers when the game’s out of reach, so Jason Heyward (2) and Anthony Rendon (8) contribute to the 6-3 loss.
W – Jered Weaver; L – Wood (3-2); S – Mike Fiers

Game 3 – Buster Posey’s RBI single and Scott Van Slyke’s (6) 3-run blast in the 1st are rendered meaningless. Michael McKenry and Angel Pagan homer in a 4-run Stars 5th. In the bottom half, Rendon’s RBI double knots the game at 6-6 and becomes the final hit for either team. Both pens blank the opposition. Jhonny Peralta’s bobble at short on Albert Pujols’ grounder (he specializes in 6-3 or more effectively 6-4-3 ground balls) starts the bottom of the 9th. Yoenis Cespedes pinch runs at 2nd and Andrelton Simmons bunts him to 3rd. After a Heyward intentional pass, Buster Posey lifts a fly to deep left. Coco Crisp catches the ball, but can’t throw out Cespedes with the winning run.
W – Jeurys Familia (3-3); L – Buddy Carlyle

Eliminators at Birds of Pray

G-1 Eliminators score 1st with an RBI single from A. Jones in the 2nd. Birds get single runs in the 3rd, (a Lagares triple), & 4th, (back-to-back doubles from Votto & McCann) for 2-1 lead. Eliminators got an RBI single by V. Martinez in the 5th, then a solo homer by J. Bruce & a Reyes SF, driving in J. Harrison who tripled. POY candidate C. Sale (10-0) went 7 IP, 7 hits 7 Ks for the Eliminators 4-2 win.

G-2 Eliminators took a 3-2 lead on RBIs from Bruce (bases loaded walk), a solo by V.Martinez & Freeman’s SF. Birds regained the lead on Prado’s single & C. Headley’s 2-run homer (#4). Headley homered again in the 8th (#5) & the Birds held on for a 5-3 win. J. Altuve led off the bottom of the 1st with his 3rd homer.

G-3 Birds took a 4-1 lead after 3 using SFs from Cruz & Gennett. The Eliminators tied the game at 4-4 with a 2-run homer from V. Martinez. They then got a solo from Freeman & a 2-run double from Uribe to get a 7-4 win.

V.Martinez went 6-11 with 2 homers & 4 RBIs.

Asian Tsunamis at Birds of Pray

G-1 Tsunamis score 2, top 1 & Birds score 3, bottom 1, capped by a N. Cruz 2-run homer (#8). Tsunamis get 2nd inning RBIs from Marte & M. Cabrera for a 4-3 lead. Tsunamis add several more runs, 2 on a K. Vargas double, to take a 7-3 lead. Birds score 3 in the 5th, with Cruz hitting another 2-run homer (#9) to close the gap to 7-6. Birds scored an unearned run for the tie before C. Dickerson hit a 2-out 10th inning double for an 8-7 Tsunamis win. Tsunamis 1- 4 hitters combined for 11-19 with 5 RBIs.

G-2 P. Hughes (8) threw a CG 5-hitter & M. Cabrera & D. Gordon each drove in 2 in a 6-0 Tsunamis win.

G-3 Tsunamis used a 2-run homer from K. Vargas to take a 3-1 lead. Birds got 5 consecutive 2-out singles to score 3 runs in the 3rd, with Lagares driving in the go-ahead run. V. Worley, Neshak & Street combined to shut out the Tsunamis for the next 6 innings, to give the Birds a 4-3 win.

In a run & gun series, the teams combined for 8 outfield assists, with the Birds getting 6 (Cabrera 3 & Markakis 2). Molina threw out 3 of 5 attempted base stealers.

Tsunamis scored 17 runs on 37 hits. They also drew 15 walks, while giving up 4.

Asian Tsunamis at Speakers

Game 1 – The Speakers make the most of 7 hits by bunching them into just 2 innings. In the 3rd, Chris Johnson’s error extends the inning as Buster “Hearts Buster” Posey strokes a 2-run single followed by Yasiel Puig’s (2) 2-run shot. The Tsunamis cut the lead in half in the 5th thanks to Danny Santana’s bases loaded error with 2 outs. After the stretch, Rizzo’s sac fly and Anthony Rendon’s 2-run double extend the lead to 7-1, the final margin.
W – Jeremy Jeffress (2-2); L – Johnny Cueto

Game 2 – The magic quickly dissipates as the Speakers manage 4 singles against Wei Yin Chen. The Tsunamis break the scoreless tie in the 9th when Corey Dickerson singles, Danny Espinosa pinch-runs to steal 2nd and 3rd, and then Drew Stubbs comes through with a sacrifice fly to RF. Tsunamis win 1-0, establishing the 9th time the Speakers have been shut out this season.
W – Chen; L – Felix Hernandez (7-8)!

Game 3 – Drew Pomeranz and friends hold the Speakers to only 3 hits, 2 of which leave the park. Solos by Scott Van Slyke (5) and Danny Santana (2) help the Speakers match Kyle Seager’s solo to the lead off the game and Kennys Vargas’ RBI double, 2-2. In the bottom of the 7th, the Speakers string together a Miguel Cabrera error, a walk and a fielder’s choice RBI to grab their first lead. In the 8th, the Tsunamis send 7 to the plate before the first out is recorded. Steve Pearce’s 3-run HR concludes the string of 6 hits and a HBP. Tsunamis win 9-3.
W – Jake McGee; L – Jeremy Affeldt (0-2)

The Speakers collect 14 hits in the series, half in Game 1. The Tsunamis club 24.