Sunday, October 30, 2089
VIPERS COOL OFF STALLIONS BATS, EVEN SERIES IN 4TH GAME OF PRO CUP SERIES
Some good pitching finally made an appearance in this year's Pro Cup Series. Country Corbin and Michel Bourgeois combined to cool off the blazing bats of the South Fork Stallions 3-2 to even up the series at two games each. Howie Dassner continued to come through in the clutch with a game-winning sacrifice fly in the top of the 9th.
Corbin has struggled in the playoffs so far, but not in this game. He tossed 5 and two-thirds innings and held South Fork to 4 hits and one run. The game was still tied when he departed the game. Michel Bourgeois (2-1/2.66 ERA/3 saves/9 games/20 IP) followed him and got the victory. He limited the Stallions to one run on 3 hits in his 3 and one-third frames. South Fork got a solid outing from its starter Owen Frank, who hurled 5 innings and allowed one run on 4 hits. The defeat went to Jimbo Tucker (0-1/2.81 ERA/3 saves/7 games/16 IP). Tucker permitted one run and 2 hits in 2 innings.
Valmara scored first on Tavio Ortega's (.259 BA/4 HR/10 RBI) home run in the top of the 2nd frame. It was his 4th roundtripper in the postseason. South Fork's Gillis Featherstone (.340 BA/7 RBI) tied it up in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI base knock. Pinch hitter Vinny Silvera put the Vipers in front 2-1 in the 7th on an RBI single. Once again the Stallions knotted the score at 2-all in the 8th frame on Rupert Kruger's (.412 BA/1 HR/9 RBI) run-scoring hit. Valmara won it in the 9th on singles by Pavel Malashenko (.218 BA/5 RBI) and Vinny Silvera (.667 BA/2 RBI) and Howie Dassner (.322 BA/2 HR/17 RBI) sac fly. Each club was held to 7 hits apiece.
Game five in South Fork will be pivotal. Manager Primo Sirak has his ace Arjan Huntsman (19-3/2.18) ready to go. He has impressed with a 4-1 mark and a strong 2.29 ERA in 5 postseason starts. South Fork's skipper Jay Murphy will go with Clinton Starr (13-12/3.03 ERA). His place in the playoff rotation was taken by Kenny Falconer (10-12/4.14 ERA), who has not fared well in the postseason. Starr has made 2 relief appearances in this year's playoffs. He has not surrendered a run in 4 innings.
