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Islandian Pro Alliance
Friday, August 3, 2001
Tycobbian Union - West Division
Champs Take 4 of 5 From First Place Frogs
It could be a three-way battle down the stretch for the playoff spots in the Tyrobbian West. Third place Arlon took the last four games of the series with first place Fairfax, winning the finale 6-4. That pulled the Champions within 4.5 games of the lead. Skipper Gary Louis got strong relief from Rob Kelley (7-2 3.63), who worked the final five frames and held the Frogs to one run and three hits. Kelley struck out four, walked one and picked up the victory, aided by a dozen hits by the Champs. Third sacker Bubba Tate (.336) had a three-run homer and batted in four runs to lead them. Tate smacked his 8th roundtripper in the decisive fifth, putting Arlon ahead to stay 6-4. The Frogs were held to seven hits. Fairfax right fielder Gregg Vincent (.322) went 2-for-4 and clouted his 28th home run, a three-run shot in the opening inning. Shortstop Warren Lee (.326) singled in the other Frog run in the fifth, giving them a short-lived 4-3 lead. Starter Eddie Castillo (0-4 4.09) was the loser. He was tagged for six runs in his six innings.
Fairfax (59-48) has been beaten in the last four games and they now have a 2-game edge over second place Bayview. Arlon (55-53) is in third place and 4.5 games back.
17 Hits Not Enough, Viks Lose 11-8 to Blue Sox
The Bayview batters did their job with 17 hits, but it wasn't enough. The Blue Lake Blue Sox got only 12 hits, but won the game 11-8. The second place Vikings missed a great chance to get a game closer to the top spot in the TU West race, but they just left too many runners on the bases, a total of 13. Second baseman Ken Bennett (.276) poled two homers for the Blue Sox to give him 20 for the season. Bennett batted in four runs, went 3-for-5 and scored three times. First baseman Fred Taranto (.292) drove in a pair of runs with his 13th roundtripper and pinchhitter Doyle Osborne (.333) batted in a pair of runs. Jay Clay (12-5 2.85) was awful, giving up seven runs and 15 hits in six-plus innings, but still got credit for the victory. Only three of the runs were earned, however. Closer Russ Courtney (5-3 2.24) notched his 14th save with two innings of relief, but he staggered through the ninth, giving up a run on a double and a triple before he put the Vikings away. Jerry Harrison (12-8 3.68) was rocked for six runs in two innings and caught the loss.
Second place Bayview (57-53) is now 3.5 games in back of first place Fairfax (59-48) with Arlon (55-53) making waves in the race in third place, just 4.5 games behind the top two teams.
Lynx Edge Bucs 4-3
La Claire rallied in the seventh to bump off Bay St. Clair 4-3. Right fielder Antonio Guerrero (.324) tied the score 3-3 with a double, stole third and then scored the winning run when first baseman Francisco Robles (.292) grounded out to second base. Tony Nygaard (6-7 3.41) struck out 10 Buccaneers and chalked up the win. He permitted three runs on nine hits with one unearned. Nygaard was relieved after giving up a lead-off single in the top of the ninth. Monoto Kishata (5-9 3.59), who has been erratic as closer this year, did his job to perfection, retiring all three batters he faced and leaving the tying run on second base. Adam Lundgren (5-4 3.46) went the distance in defeat, yielding four runs and six hits.
The La Claire Lynx (52-57) are fifth in the division standings and trail first place Fairfax (59-48) by 8 games. Bay St. Clair (49-59) is in last place and 10.5 games off the pace.
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