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Minor League Playoff Action!

Rotblatt Sep 09 2005 09:53 AM

The Tides lost their first game against the Toledo Mud Hens 6-5. Junge (3.80 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 2.19 K/BB) got the start, but was victimized by Calloway's error in the fourth. Junge allowed 9 hits and walked one, giving up 6 runs (4 earned) over 6.1 innings, striking out 7 on the way. Pagan went 3-4 with a double & a walk, and Basak wen't 2-3 with a walk. Hietpas doubled in Calloway & Basak in the fourth to give the Tides a temporary 5-4 lead. Everyone's favorite 2B prospect, Anderson Hernandez went 1-3 with 2 sacrifices and stole a base. Here's the write-up from the Pilot: ]Tides lay an egg in opener By RICH RADFORD, The Virginian-Pilot © September 8, 2005 | Last updated 11:44 PM Sep. 7 NORFOLK — The Toledo Mud Hens were high-fiving one another and hopping in the air to bump their behinds together after beating the Norfolk Tides 6-5 Wednesday night at Harbor Park. Nobody needed to tell those Hens what kind of an advantage they’d just gained in this best-of-five Governors’ Cup playoff series. Conversely, nobody needed to tell the Tides what tonight brings. “We have to win,” Tides third baseman Rodney Nye said. It’s not an elimination game, but the Tides certainly don’t want to head to Toledo, where the last three games of the series are scheduled, in a 2-0 hole. Wednesday’s game, played in front of a typically sparse playoff crowd of 2,653, seemed to turn on one play, a sharp grounder off the bat of Toledo’s Mike Hessman that eluded Tides third baseman Rodney Nye in the fifth inning. “I thought I had a bead on it , but the ball flattened out on the last hop,” Nye said. “On its last bounce, the ball just didn’t come up off the ground. It scooted,” Tides catcher Joe Hietpas said. It was scored a run-scoring single and it drove in the tying run from third base as Toledo knotted matters 5-5. Maybe the Tides need to take a little advice from Hessman, who had been in a horrific slump . “Mike was hitting the ball so badly that in the last week he had only two balls off his bat that went forward,” Toledo manager Larry Parrish said. Hessman’s way out of the slump? “I hit the reset button,” he said. “That’s what you get to do in the playoffs.” The Tides had taken a 5-4 lead with a four-run fourth inning that was keyed by a two-run double to the gap in right by Hietpas. Angel Pagan delivered a run-scoring double, then scored on a single by Eric Valent in the Tides’ big inning. But that would be it offensively as Toledo’s bullpen threw five shutout innings. Toledo scored the go-ahead run in the seventh when Marcus Thames, who had smacked a two-run homer in the third inning, lifted a sacrifice fly off releiver Jeremy Hill to left to drive in Sandy Martinez with what would be the winning run. Hill had just entered the game in relief of starter and losing pitcher Eric Junge. Toledo’s other two runs came in the fourth and were unearned. Norfolk’s Ron Calloway missed a fly ball to shallow rightfield by Gookie Dawkins, allowing a run to score. Dawkins, who would have been the inning’s third out, then scored on a single by Martinez. Toledo also gift-wrapped a run when first baseman Jason Smith dropped an on-target throw from shortstop Kevin Hooper to allow a run to score in the second inning. But Toledo seemed to gain more from the miscues. “They nibbled,” Tides manager Ken Oberkfell said. “And we gave them a few runs. Hey, the way we’d been hitting, I was pleased we put 11 hits on the board. That’s a good sign.” Tonight, two 20-year-old pitchers will be on display as Toledo goes with Joel Zumaya and the Tides throw Yusmeiro Petit. The two, who both turn 21 in November, were born 13 days apart. “I’ll be happy if Petit pitches the way he’s capable,” Oberkfell said. “We’ve already seen Zumaya and what he can do. He stuck it to us last time.” Notes: OF Wayne Lydon was called up from Double-A Binghamton to fill out the Tides’ roster and provide some speed off the bench. Also, INF David Bacani was recalled from Binghamton. RHP Anderson Garcia was also added to the Tides’ bullpen, up from Binghamton. The Tides also received LHP Felix Heredia from the New York Mets on a major league rehabilitation assignment. The Tides reassigned backup catcher Anthony Piazza. Reach Rich Radford at 757-446-2463 or rich.radford@pilotonline.com

Rotblatt Sep 09 2005 10:44 AM

09/08/05 The Tides, desperate for a win before leaving the friendly confines of Norfolk, rode 20-year old Yusmeiro Petit, their least experienced but most talented starter, to a 7-3 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens last night. In contrast to his last two starts, Petit got sharper as the night wore on. After giving up a two-run homer in the first and a run on three hits in the third, Petit allowed only 2 of the next 20 Hens he faced to reach, striking out 8 over that stretch, including six in a row between the sixth and seventh. By the time the dust had settled, Petit had struck out 14 over 8 innings, allowing only 6 hits, 1 walk and 3 runs. The Tides were patient with Hens starter Joel Zumaya (2.66 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 11.45 K/9, 2.33 K/BB), who issued 5 walks in the first & second innings. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Daubach singled in Pagan from second, and Lambin & Valent followed with consecutive walks. With the bases loaded and the Tides down 2-1, Rodney Nye singled to left, giving the Tides the lead, which they would not relinquish. Pagan went 0-2 with 3 walks, Hernandez went 2-5, Redman 1-4 with a home run, Valent 1-3 with a walk, and Nye 2-4. Dae-Sung Koo made things interesting in the ninth with the Tides up 7-3, giving up a leadoff single to Alexis Gomez, followed by a runner-advancing groundout, then a walk to Jack Hannahan. Manny Aybar relieved and induced consecutive groundouts from the next two batters to save the game. The Tides head to Toledo tonight for the third game in this best-of-five series. Neil Musser (5.02 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 6.48 K/9, 1.71 K/BB) is next up in the rotation, but Oberkfell is likely to start 15-game winner Jason Scobie (3.34 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 5.17 K/9, 1.75 K/BB) instead. The game tonight is at 7:00 p.m.