Playoff Run Heartbreak

What happens when you need to make a run for the playoffs? But the game has a different plan...

Atlanta Stonecutters at Washington Tribe

August 12, 2015

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13		R	H	E
Atlanta Stonecutters (68-52)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	11	0
Washington Tribe (74-46)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		2	4	1
	W: W. Banks (1-0) L: J. Cerda (1-1)

Atlanta Stonecutters Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO AVG J. Kendall C 6 0 0 0 0 2 .298 E. Diaz C 0 0 0 0 0 0 .308 J. Vidro 2B 6 1 2 0 0 2 .276 M. Ramirez LF 5 0 2 1 1 2 .406 S. Rolen 3B 6 0 1 0 0 1 .227 D. Mientkiewicz 1B 5 0 0 0 1 2 .230 L. Berkman RF 5 0 3 0 1 1 .268 J. Payton CF 6 0 2 0 0 1 .287 O. Cabrera SS 6 0 1 0 0 1 .261 P. Walker P 2 0 0 0 0 2 .071 a-B. Grieve PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .228 C. Paronto P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 b-O. Infante PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .438 D. Veres P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 c-C. Gomez PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .179 T. Percival P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 J. Cerda P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 50 1 11 1 3 15 a-pinch hit for Walker in the 6th b-pinch hit for Paronto in the 9th c-pinch hit for Veres in the 11th BATTING 2B: M. Ramirez (35, J. Halama), O. Cabrera (27, J. Powell), L. Berkman (28, W. Banks) RBI: M. Ramirez (81) Atlanta Stonecutters RISP: 1-13 (J. Kendall 0-2, S. Rolen 0-1, D. Mientkiewicz 0-1, L. Berkman 1-1, J. Payton 0-3, O. Cabrera 0-3, P. Walker 0-1, B. Grieve 0-1) Team LOB: 13 FIELDING Outfield Assist: J. Payton (C. Woodward at third) Atlanta Stonecutters Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR BF ERA P. Walker 5.0 1 1 1 2 3 1 18 3.85 C. Paronto 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 9 5.14 D. Veres 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 3.63 T. Percival 1.2 0 0 0 2 2 0 6 2.47 J. Cerda (L, 1-1) 1.0 2 1 1 3 0 0 7 7.71 Totals 12.2 4 2 2 7 7 1 47 Managed By: Craig L. (Waukesha, WI)	Washington Tribe Hitters AB R H RBI BB SO AVG J. Bagwell 1B 4 0 0 0 2 1 .258 M. Ordonez RF 5 0 0 1 1 2 .297 T. Lampkin C 4 0 0 0 1 0 .244 C. Woodward SS 4 0 0 0 1 2 .272 A. Jones CF 5 0 1 0 0 0 .227 T. Perez 2B 3 0 0 0 0 1 .220 M. Rivera P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .154 b-B. Buchanan PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 .308 W. Banks P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 c-R. Hernandez PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 .212 J. Sandberg 3B 4 2 1 1 1 0 .201 J. Halama P 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 B. Donnelly P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-C. Everett PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .195 J. Powell P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 M. Mora 2B 2 0 0 0 1 0 .159 T. Goodwin LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .262 d-H. Bocachica PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .264 Totals 40 2 4 2 7 7 a-pinch hit for Donnelly in the 5th b-pinch hit for Rivera in the 10th c-pinch hit for Banks in the 13th d-pinch hit for Goodwin in the 13th BATTING HR: J. Sandberg (4, 2nd inning off P. Walker 0 on, 2 out) RBI: M. Ordonez (77), J. Sandberg (18) 2-out RBI: M. Ordonez, J. Sandberg Washington Tribe RISP: 0-2 (M. Mora 0-1, H. Bocachica 0-1) Team LOB: 7 BASERUNNING CS: M. Mora (1, second base by T. Percival/J. Kendall) FIELDING E: J. Sandberg (7) Washington Tribe Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR BF ERA J. Halama 2.1 7 1 1 1 3 0 15 3.82 B. Donnelly 2.2 1 0 0 0 6 0 9 2.93 J. Powell 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 4.79 M. Rivera 3.0 1 0 0 2 2 0 12 2.33 W. Banks (W, 1-0) 3.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 10 2.25 Totals 13.0 11 1 1 3 15 0 53 Managed By: Rick J. (Ellicott City, MD)
GAME INFORMATION
Stadium: Nationals Park Game Time: 7:05 PM Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy Wind: 18 mph right to left Umpires: Home - Wegner, First Base - Diaz, Second Base - Reed, Third Base - Clark

**sorry for the layout but its the best I could do.

As the clock wines down on the season there are games/series that have a lot more meaning. Last week I got to play Rick and the Washington Tribe at his home park National Park.  Going into this series I was 6 games out of 1st, and Rick has been in first place most of the season. This was the series to get me back into the playoff game. I was excited and scared. I won the 1st game 5-3 on a great pitching performance from Terry Adams. I was in the bottom half of my rotation luckily this was a 4 game series. So I still had Maddux and Prior coming in for the next 2 games. It was the second game of the series that was what I think was the pivotal game in the series. If I win this game with basically my 5th starter I would look really good in taking the series. 

In all my games it seems if I do well in the 1st inning I do well in the game itself. My first two hitters Kendall and Vidro despite being high OBP guys let me down right away, then this years batting champ Manny got a base hit with 2 outs. That was followed by Scott Rolen hitting a single moving Manny to 2nd. So, now I'm a little excited with a "Clutch" hitter in Doug Mientkiewicz (DM) come to the plate. Dougie Fresh decides that he would try on hit a home run, but files out to Ordonez in right field. Hopes dashed. 

Now the real test if I can get out of the bottom of the first with out any damage. First two hitters Pete Walker has to face is Jeff Bagwell, and Maggilo Ordonez. Walker takes the hill and dismisses both hitters with ground outs. Number 3 hitter Tom Lampkin get a walk, and my heart rate rises a little but still good. Next up Chris Woodward. I push the "Pitch" button. SWING AND A MISS STRIKE THREE, whew, made it through the 1st. 
Start of the second I got Lance Berkman, Jay Payton, Orlando Cabrera coming up.  Lance gets a base hit, Payton get a hit moving Lance to 3rd. Cabrera a Hit and Run specialist in 03 hits a ground ball to second moving Payton to 2nd but with the infield in Berkman stays at 3rd. Okay 1 out man on second and third. Feeling pretty good. Pitchers spot, and Walker strikes out. 2 outs. Up next Jason Kendall who is one of my best OBP guys. What does Jason do? Grounds out to short, inning over. Ugh.

Walker comes out for the 2nd and get the 1st outs. .202 hitting Jared Sandberg steps up to the plate and hits a hanging curve 386 feet into the stands. Crap, I thought to myself, but at least the bases were empty. Inning ends with a ground out to 2nd. 

Time to get that run back and more I think to myself.  Jose Vidro starts the inning with a base hit, aright lets go team I think. Manny steps to the plate and hits a double off the wall (all score)! Sweet, tied the game and have a guy on second with no outs. Scott Rolen strikes out, boo! DM Walks. Now man on 1st and 2nd with Lance coming up. Lance hits a laser to center field for a hit. Manny to 3rd with a chance to go home, however with a base-running number of 4 I hold him at 3rd. At this point Rick brings in his reliever Brendan 
Donnelly come is and strikes out Payton and Cabrera. Crap, opportunity wasted. 

After some disappointments in the early innings we have what we call a "pitchers duel" that goes to the 13th inning. Top of the 13th I get Lance to double to right with one out. I think to myself, maybe this is the inning. Thanks to 2 ground outs I leave the inning with nothing. 
Rick substitutes Ramon Hernandez for Willie Banks and Ramon does his job by getting a base hit. I then substitute in Einer Diaz for Kendall behind the plate as Kendall is "tired" and now has a +2 arm. Diaz has at least a "0" arm which of course is better than a +2. Jared Sandberg again hitting .204 gets a walk, so now I'm in trouble with 2 on and no outs. My playoffs chances in the balance, and Melvin Mora comes to the plate. I get lucky as Mora grounds out to Scott Rolen at 3rd and Rolen touches the bag to retire the lead runner. Rick subs in Hiram Bocachica for Tom Goodwin. Luckily Bocachica files out to left and the runners hold. 2 outs 2 on. Come on Jamie Cerda lets get that last out!  Oh crap we are back to the top of his order and Jeff Bagwell. Bagwell works the count full and Cerda loses him to a ball outside. Oh boy, crap! Now the bases are loaded for Magglio probably Ricks best hitter. I push the "Pitch Now" button...

"Ball Four"

NOOOOOOOOOOO! Son of a ....

Here I totally out hit the Tribe 11 hits to 4 and could only score 1 whole run in the game.  Argh! One of those times you hate this game.

Rick played a great game, and congratulation on the win.  I thought my chances were pretty good for game 3 and Mark Prior on the bump, however it wasn't meant to be as I fell again 5-3. Came back and won the 4th game behind All Star MVP Greg Maddux. So, in the end I split the series, but what hurts is that I should have won the series and been closer to getting back into the playoffs. I still have another 4 game series with Rick and the Tribe, but before then I have the Beaneaters, Rippers, Senators, and Bombers before then. The road is getting harder and shorter.