Two
teams who battled for the division title all season
meet in the playoffs. Thanks so much to Rocky for
the fun battles all season and the very fun
playoffs. ALways a battle with the Wildcats,
congrats on another well played season.
GAME 1 Rats 10, Wildcats
wp-Lester
lp-Wood
A nick punto rbi single and Jason Michaels 2 run
double give the rats a 3-0 lead in the 4th. Travis
Wood walks 6 through 4.2 and the Rats threaten a
couple of times before breaking through in the 4th.
Wildcats came right back with 2 runs of their own in
the 5th, but Lester gets Votto to K to kill the
rally and hold onto the slim lead 3-2. Lester ks 8
through 6 and holds the Wildcats at bay. In the
bottom of the 6th, the Rats explode for 7 runs as
Kimbrel uses gasoline to try to put out the fire. No
big hits, just 7 singles (2 infield) and 2 walks.
Barton goes 3-3 with 2 walks for the Rats.
GAME 2 Rats 5, Wildcats 1
wp-Soriano
lp-Jansen
Weaver vs Arroyo is a real pitchers duel as the
score is 1-1 when both pitchers leave in the 6th.
Mark Reynolds HR is the run for the Wildcats and a
Wigginton infield single plates Holliday for the
Rats run. In the 8th Jansen comes on for the
Wildcats and gives up an rbi 2b to Delmon Young
before he gives way to Motte who serves up a 2 run
HR to Wigginton.
GAME 3 Wildcats 6, Rats 0
wp-Motte
lp-Niemann
Wildcats dont waste any time knocking around Niemann
scoring 2 in the 1st, 1 in the 3rd and 3 in 4th to
take a 6-0 lead. Joey Votto 2 HRs are responsible
for much of the damage. Halladay is in control
holding the Rats to 0 runs through 4 before giving
up to the Wildcats bullpen, who continue the fine
work.
GAME 4 Rats 3, Wildcats 1
wp- Lester
lp- Bailey
Lester is tough again for the Rats again striking
out 8 in 6ip with 0 runs allowed. In the 2nd, the
Rats load the bases and push across 2 on a sac fly
and bases loaded walk vs Bailey. Manager Rocky Hall
wastes no time and pulls Bailey for Benoit who stops
the rally with a force out at home and K of
Holliday. However the 2 runs are enough as Lester
and the Rats Bullpen only allow 1 unearned run in
the 8th to hold onto the win.
GAME 5 Wildcats 10, Rats 2
wp-Arroyo
lp-Weaver
A rematch of the Game 2 pitchers duel with the
Wildcats on the verge of elimination does not
happen. The Wildcats eliminate any stress by
knocking Weaver around by scoring 7 runs in the
first 2 innings. Homers by Choo and Hall give the
WIldcats a 7-0 lead that they never look back from
as Arroyo is again tough on the Rats by giving 8
strong innings. Weaver manages to recover after the
first 2 to pitch a complete game and save the Rats
pen.
GAME 6 Rats 4, Wildcats 2
wp chen
lp Halladay
After seeing Niemman get shelled by the potent lefty
WIldcat bats in game 3, manager Bob Woertz turns to
the Lefty Bruce Chen for game 6. Chen is very much
up to the task going 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits
and 0 runs. Halladay is tough, but not the shutdown
tough you might expect and he cant match Chen. Rats
push across 1 in the 3rd on a Joyce rbi 1b and 1 in
the 5th as Joyce walks with the bases loaded. Again
Wigginton comes up big with a 2 run HR in the 6th
after Manager Woertz changes his mind about pinch
hitting for him That 2 run cushion is very much
needed as Soriano and Wagner bend, but dont break,
allowing 2 but holding on for the win.
STATS
Rats outhit Wildcats .264 vs .228
Rats
Barton .381 ba, .500 obp
Wigginton 2hrs, 5 rbi, 4rs
WIldcats
Votto .381ba, .458obp, 2hr, 4rbi, 4rs
Choo .350ba, .409obp, 1hr, 4rs
a key factor was the Tori Hunter hit only .182 and
provided little to no support for Votto.
Rats ERA 2.77 vs Wildcats 3.71
Rats
Lester 2-0 1.50 era
CHen 1-0 0.00 era
Lannan, Moylan, Soriano all pitched more than 3 ip
with 0 ER allowed. This series really came down to
the Rats bullpen doing the job and the Wildcats not.
However, the wildcat starters did not take the
pressure off by many times leaving early.
Wildcats
Arroyo 1-0 2.02 era
bullpen
Benoit 4.15 era
Thronton 5.40 era
MOtte 6.00 era
Jansen 6.75 era
O Day 9.00
Kimbrell 13.5 era |
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