Cardinals Defeat Astros in 5 Games

The St. Louis Cardinals advanced to the Championship Series for the second straight year with a 4-1 Semi-Final series win over Houston. Complete box scores are available by this link. A recap of the series:

Game #1 STL 10, HOU 3 - Cards jumped on Jeff Weaver for 10 runs which included a 7-run 4th inning…..Todd Hollandsworth hit a two-run homer in the 1st to give the Redbirds the early lead

Game #2 STL 4, HOU 2 (10) - Jim Edmonds doubled in the go-ahead run in the 10th and scored an insurance run on the errant throw to the plate on the same play…..Astros’ Jaret Wright and Cards’ Dontrelle Willis pitched strong into the 7th inning

Game #3 HOU 8, STL 2 - Rodrigo Lopez scattered 11 hits in pitching a complete game…..Jerry Hairston drove in 3 runs and David Eckstein had 3 hits

Game #4 STL 11, HOU 6 - Cards again rough up Jeff Weaver early….JD Drew went 5-for-5 and Johnny Estrada had 4 hits….

Game #5 STL 2, HOU 1 - All runs scored on solo homers – Kotsay, Edmonds and pitcher Dontrelle Willis….Armando Benitez escaped a 2-out bases loaded jam in the 8th before pitching a scoreless ninth

The Cardinals will meet the Atlanta Braves in the World Series……

Cards Win Game 1 vs. Astros

NEWSPAPER GAME STORIES FOR 2004 Millennium Playoffs            Date: 10/9/2004

GAME 1
ST. LOUIS AT HOUSTON
Cardinals....... 3 0 0  7 0 0  0 0 0  - 10 12  0
Astros.......... 0 0 0  0 1 0  0 2 0  -  3  8  0
Win:Westbrook(1-1) Loss:Weaver(0-1)
Homeruns- T.Hollandsworth(1st)

Todd Hollandsworth hit a homerun and had 2 RBI as the St. Louis Cardinals
defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 10 to 3 at The Skydome.

St. Louis jumped out to the early lead in the first inning as they scored 3
runs on 3 base hits.  The critical plate appearance was by Hollandsworth who
quieted the home crowd when he lifted one out of the park for a two run home
run (his 1st of the season).  Overall St. Louis out-hit Houston 12 to 8.

The win was credited to Jake Westbrook(1-1) who went 7 innings allowing 3
runs. Jeff Weaver(0-1) ended up with the loss.  He was hit hard and gave up 6
hits and 5 walks in 3 and 2/3 innings.  

Final Stats - 2004 First Round Draft Picks

CLASS OF 2004:
_
  NAME               BAVG  GM  AB   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO HB SH DP  SB CS  E
 1-M.Holliday,MON    .279 104 384  50 107 26  1 12  42  36  78  3  0 11   2  4  2
 2-D.Wright,CHA      .256  69 238  39  61 13  0 12  44  20  43  2  0  9   2  0 13
 3-J.Mauer,KCA       .265  45 113  17  30 10  1  8  18   7  14  0  0  1   0  0  2
 5-G.Sizemore,ATN    ----   0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
 6-R.Howard,TOA      ----   0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
 8-B.Hawpe,HON       ----   0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
 9-A.Rios,CHA        .243 107 342  35  83 13  4  1  25  34  75  4  0 13   7  4  3
10-A.Gonzalez,KCA    .125  17   8   1   1  0  0  0   2   2   2  0  0  0   0  0  0
11-C.Tracy,NYA       .295 142 498  69 147 29  3 12  65  45  64  0  1 17   1  1 26
12-B.Upton,PIN       .250   9  32   3   8  0  0  0   1   2  11  2  0  1   0  0  0
16-K.Youkilis,ATN    .246  33 118  15  29  6  0  3  14  21  19  5  0  1   0  0  5
17-D.Dejesus,NYA     .288 114 382  67 110 11  3 10  37  39  48 12  3 12   9  6  2
18-D.Dellucci,CLA    .337  31  98  21  33  3  0  9  21  17  23  3  0  2   2  0  0
_
_
  NAME                ERA  W  L   PCT   G GS CG SH SV    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO
 4-S.Kazmir,SEA     12.38  1  4  .200  12  4  0  0  0  32.0  54  46  44  9  21  39
 7-C.Young,OAA       5.33  1  2  .333   6  6  0  0  0  27.0  33  16  16  1  13  15
13-J.Duchscherer,HON 5.52  6  4  .600  45  0  0  0  3  89.2 104  64  55 18  32  46
14-Z.Greinke,SFN     3.13  9  2  .818  19 19  1  0  0 138.0 127  51  48 26  15  87
15-E.Bedard,FLN      4.14  6  9  .400  25 25  1  0  0 147.2 150  78  68 13  86 128
19-C.Cordero,SLN     4.73 10  2  .833  69  0  0  0  1  80.0  81  46  42 12  45  82
20-D.Bush,ARN        4.82  5  2  .714  10 10  1  1  0  65.1  70  36  35  5  22  31

Posada Leads Braves into World Series

The Atlanta Braves defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4 games to 2 to advance to the MSL World Series. Braves catcher Jorge Posada has hit .417 in the postseason and starter John Thomason is 3-0 and carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning of the final deciding game. Click on the this link for all boxscores. A recap of the games:

Series is tied 1-1 so far....

Game 3 Zito v Harden..... Pirates get 2 in top of 1st but Atl answers with 3. Atlanta batters Zito and everyone else throwing a pitch. Atl gets 4 HR's in a 15-5 win. Durham has 4 rbi. Series is 2-1 ATL.

Game 4- Benson v Millwood.... a close game but Pitt gets the 3-2 lead going into the 7th and adds another run. The Pitt bullpen takes over for the last 2 1/3 and Lidge will close out a 4-2 win for Pitt. Series tied 2-2

Game 5- Oswalt v Lackey.... Pitt has the better SP going but they can't field a groundball. Errors by Guillen, Vidro and 2 by Oswalt stake the ATL to a 5-3 lead after 3. Lackey gives it back and its 5-5 after 6. Atl will get 2 in the 7th on a Posada 2-out, 2 rbi 2b for a 7-5 lead. Atlanta adds another in the 8th. Rusch is flawless through 2 and Gordon shuts them down in the 8th. Gordon starts the 9th with a 8-5 lead but Pitt will load the bases chasing Gordon and Takatsu can't hold the lead. Pitt scores 3 in the 9th to tie it at 8. Atlanta gets their opportunity in the 9th and Posada and then Mirabelli get on base. DaVanon pinchruns for Posada and they are bunted over to 2b and 3b. Reed Johnson then hits a walkoff single to end the game 9-8 and give Atlanta a 3-2 series lead going back to Pittsburgh.

Game 6 was a rematch of Game 2 with Clement vs. Thomson. However it was more like Game 3 because the Braves scored early and often as they pounded the Pirates, 12-4 to move on to the Championship series. Frank Thomas hit a homerun in the 1st, a double to drive home Jeter in the 3rd, and then a 9 run 5th inning put away the Pirates. John Thomson had a no-hitter into the 6th as he won the game.

Braves-Buccos Series Tied at 1-1

John Thomson improved to 2-0 in the post season as Atlanta beat Pittsburgh 6-3 in Game 2. The Series is now tied at 1-1 and will head to Atlanta for Game 3.......

Strat-O-Matic Report

---

BOXSCORE: 2004 Atlanta Braves At 2004 Pittsburgh Pirates            10/2/2004
 
  Braves             AB  R  H RBI AVG     Pirates            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  J.Davanon RF        5  0  1  3 .286     J.Kendall C         4  0  1  0 .282  
  D.Jeter SS          3  0  1  0 .316     R.Winn CF           4  0  0  0 .237  
  C.Jones 3B          4  1  0  0 .143     C.Guillen SS        3  2  2  0 .353  
  A.Jones CF          4  0  1  0 .257     B.Giles RF          3  1  2  3 .375  
  J.Posada C          5  1  2  1 .462     B.Broussard 1B      3  0  0  0 .345  
  R.Palmeiro 1B       3  1  1  0 .308     E.Alfonzo 3B        4  0  3  0 .281  
  M.Tucker LF         5  1  1  0 .265     R.Freel LF          4  0  1  0 .400  
  S.Takatsu P         0  0  0  0 ----     L.Rivas 2B          3  0  0  0 .200  
  R.Durham 2B         2  2  1  1 .375   D-J.Vidro PH          1  0  0  0 .200  
  J.Thomson P         1  0  0  1 .000     M.Clement P         2  0  0  0 .000  
  T.Tucker P          0  0  0  0 ----     R.Choate P          0  0  0  0 ----  
B-F.Thomas PH         1  0  0  0 .200   A-P.Nevin PH          1  0  0  0 .222  
  M.Stanton P         0  0  0  0 ----     K.Wood P            0  0  0  0 ----  
  T.Gordon P          0  0  0  0 ----   E-C.Wilson PH         1  0  0  0 .000  
C-R.Johnson LF        0  0  0  0 .250                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      33  6  8  6                 Totals      33  3  9  3
 
A-Pinch Hit For Choate In 7th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Tucker In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Gordon In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Rivas In 9th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Wood In 9th Inning
 
Braves.......... 0 0 0  3 0 1  1 1 0  -  6  8  1
Pirates......... 1 0 0  0 0 2  0 0 0  -  3  9  1
 
Braves (5-3)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
J.Thomson WIN(2-0)        5 1/3   8   3   3   0   2   1   3.14
T.Tucker HOLD(1st)        1 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   3.24
M.Stanton                 0       1   0   0   2   0   0  27.00
T.Gordon HOLD(3rd)        1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00
S.Takatsu SAVE(3rd)       1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00
Totals                    9       9   3   3   2   4   1
 
Pirates (5-3)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
M.Clement LOSS(1-1)       6 1/3   6   5   5   7   6   0   6.05
R.Choate                  0 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00
K.Wood                    2       2   1   1   1   4   0   5.40
Totals                    9       8   6   6   8  10   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 43,263 DATE- Saturday, October 2nd 2004 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Chuck Meriwether, Tim Timmons, Tim Tschida, Greg Gibson
T- 3:12
LEFT ON BASE- Braves:10  Pirates: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Braves: 3  Pirates: 0
ERRORS- J.Posada, C.Guillen
DOUBLES- J.Davanon(2nd), C.Guillen(2nd), E.Alfonzo(2nd)
TRIPLES- R.Durham(2nd), B.Giles(1st)
HOME RUNS- B.Giles(4th)
STOLEN BASES- D.Jeter(2nd), R.Durham(1st), C.Guillen(2nd)
CAUGHT STEALING- J.Davanon
SACRIFICE HITS- J.Thomson
WALKS- D.Jeter-2, A.Jones, R.Palmeiro-2, R.Durham-2, J.Thomson, B.Giles,
       B.Broussard
HIT BY PITCH- C.Jones, J.Kendall, C.Guillen
STRIKE OUTS- J.Davanon, C.Jones, A.Jones, J.Posada, R.Palmeiro, M.Tucker-2,
             R.Durham, J.Thomson, F.Thomas, R.Winn, B.Broussard-2, P.Nevin
GIDP- R.Winn, R.Freel, L.Rivas
WILD PITCHES- K.Wood
 
Catcher Jorge Posada had 2 base hits as the Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh
Pirates by a score of 6 to 3.
 
Atlanta had 3 runs cross the plate in the 4th inning when they had 3 base
hits.  The crucial at-bat was provided by Jeff Davanon who disappointed the
partisan crowd when he doubled scoring two baserunners.  Shingo Takatsu
relieved and was untouched by Pittsburgh as he recorded the save, his 3rd.
 
The win was credited to John Thomson(2-0) who went 5 and 1/3 innings allowing
3 runs. Matt Clement(1-1) took the loss.  He pitched 6 and 1/3 innings giving
up 6 hits and 7 walks.

• Go to Strat-O-Matic Homepage

Mariners Hold On to First Pick

Seattle (AP) - Mariner manager John Ferraro was all smiles tonite as Seattle held on to the first pick in the upcoming 2005 draft. Last season, Seattle selected lefty starter Scott Kazmir (4th pick overall) with their first pick. The lottery for the second pick will be conducted tomorrow night....

Durham's Homer in 11th Gives Braves Playoff Series Win

 GAME 6:

Braves.......... 3 0 0  0 0 0  2 0 0  0 1 -  6 12  0

Marlins......... 2 0 2  0 0 1  0 0 0  0 0 -  5 14  1



The score was knotted at 5 after nine innings.  Atlanta came out on top in the

11th inning.  Ray Durham cracked a solo homerun (his 1st of the season).

Mike Lamb struck out, unable to help the rally.  One out later, Derek Jeter

stepped in and he lined a one-base hit.  Chipper Jones followed and he

stroked a base-hit.  Atlanta finished with 12 hits in the victory.



The winning pitcher was Glendon Rusch(1-0) who allowed no runs in 2 innings.

Rusch got help from Shingo Takatsu who earned his 2nd save.  Rheal

Cormier(1-1) was tagged with the loss in relief.



The Braves advance to the Semi-Finals and will meet the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2005 Draft Lottery Info

We will be conducting our draft lottery on Wednesday, March 18th and Thursday, March 19th.....

The “Pennsylvania Daily Number Evening” lottery (http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/) on subsequent nights (7PM EST) will be used to decide who gets the #1 and #2 picks in the first round only. If the second pick yields the same result as the first night, then a third night’s lottery drawing will be used. The remaining 10 teams will draft in reverse order of record. So, the team with the poorest record can do no worst than pick third in the first round.


2005 Lottery Drawing Chances:

000 to 249 – Seattle (47-115)

250 to 449 – Chicago (61-101, 4-2 vs. Cleveland in tie-breaker)

450 to 604 – Cleveland (61-101)

605 to 724 – Kansas City (65-97)

725 to 814 – New York (68-94)

815 to 879 – Montreal (76-86)

880 to 924 – Toronto (78-84)

925 to 954 – Oakland (79-83)

955 to 974 – Boston (80-82)

975 to 986 – Anaheim (81-81, 5-1 vs. Los Angeles in tie-breaker)

987 to 994 – Los Angeles (81-81)

995 to 999 – San Francisco (90-72)

(Click here for a history of previous lottery numbers selected.)

Pirates Send Phillies Packing

The old adage good pitching beats good hitting played out in Pittsburgh's first round victory over Philadelphia. Pirate pitchers held the heart of Philadelphias lineup to a .192 average in beating the Phillies 4 games to 2. Once more, Philadelphia exited in the first round of the playoffs.

With the Pirates leading the series 2 - 0, the series switched to Pittsburgh. Philadelphia looked as if it might make a run, as they took games 3 and 5. However, Pittsburgh showed its tenacity in holding off the Phillies in game 6, winning 11-10 in 14 innings.

Game 3 - Philadelphia 5 Pittsburgh 2. Phils chip away at Zito, and Aaron Rowand has 4 hits. Two unearned runs in the top of the 9th add some comfort to a very close game.

Game 4 - Pittsburgh 11 Philadelphia 1. Pirates blow it wide open with 5 runs in the 8th against overmatched Dave Burba. Ben Broussard has 2 homeruns and 7 RBIs in a one man show.

Game 5 - Philadelphia 6 Pittsburgh 2. In an amazingly sloppy game, in which only 2 of the 9 runs were earned, Philadelphia staved off elimination. Kirk Reuter was the winner, going 5 innings.

Game 6 - Pittsburgh 11 Philadelphia 10 (14). Pittsburgh fought off a resilient Philadelphia team with 4 runs in the top of the 14th. Several times in the game, it appeared the Pirates had the Phils on the rope, and each time the Phillies battled back. Pittsburgh got to Brad Penny with 3 runs in the top of the 4th. However, Philly countered with 4 in the bottom. The score stayed knotted until the 9th when Pittsburgh battered the season long stalwart of the Philadelphia bullpen Jason Frasor, scoring the tieing run. Both teams went down fairly quietly until the top of the 11th when Pittsburgh scored 3 runs. Amazingly enough, Jim Thome hit a 3 run shot in the bottom of the 11th, tieing it once again. Neither team scored again until the wild 14th. Pittsburgh scored 4 in the top of the 14th, to take a seemingly secure lead. However, as the Pirate bullpen tired, the Phillies started back again. They scored 3 runs, and with two on, no outs, once again the game was in the hands of the toughest part of the Phils order - Pujols and Thome. However, in an eerie repeat of game 2, Pujols struck out. Thome struck out. Clutch hitting Sol Taguchi, one of the few bright spots in the playoffs ended the game, and Phillies hopes for a game 7. At least he didn't strike out.

Philly Phans Phume!

Philly fans took to the streets, incensed their team once again, exited the playoffs in the first round after a successful season. Said one fan - "It is a given the Phillies will be in the playoffs - but this is ANOTHER [expletive] choke. What do we we pay these guys for?" Another put the blame soley on the shoulders of manager Rick Cornell. "Fassero? @#$%ing Fassero? My son's Little League coach could have done just as good of a job as Cornell!" When pressed for comments Phillies manager Cornell stated - "All I can do is put guys on the field that I believe give us the best chance of winning. I can't hit the ball, throw the ball or catch the ball for them. It was a tough loss.

Pittsburgh showed a weakness against lefties. Hindsight is 20/20." Pitcher Jeff Fassero, the easy target of blame for yet another Philly failure simply said "I gave it my best. Obviously it wasn't enough. I don't know..." his voice trailing off as he headed for the showers..

The 2004 Phillies boasted one of their strongest lineups this year, but it was that very heart of the lineup that failed them. Eric Chavez, Mark Loretta, Torii Hunter, Miguel Tejada and superstar Albert Pujols were held to a measely .192 average in the six game set (24-125). Pujols a subject of an earlier article publicizing his drive for a pennant was woeful - hitting .208 with just one double. Hunter (.120) and Tejada (.154) were deplorable. Staff ace Brad Penny could not go more than 4 innings without giving up a slew of runs.

As fans nearly rioted, Philly ownership is left looking confused and incompetent. Only Aaron Rowand could hold his head up high, as he played flawless defense and hit .400 in the series. (10-25). However as one can expect, Rowand stated "Yeah, I guess that's nice, but I would gladly give up everyone of those hits if we could have just won the series."

Braves - Marlins Series

At last report, Atlanta leads the series over Florida 3 games to 2. . . .Game 6 returns to Florida at Fenway Park. . . .

Arizona's Championship Run Ends

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ six straight playoff series wins and two straight league championships came to an end last Sunday Night in PNC Park. St. Louis knocked off #1 seed Arizona in six games. This was a rematch of the 2003 World Series in which Arizona swept the Redbirds. This is the third straight year that the #1 seed has fallen to the #8 seed (Anaheim over Philly in 2003 and Boston beat Atlanta in 2002). Complete box scores are available by this link. A recap of the series:

Game #1 AZ 10, STL 6 - The Cards put up a four spot in the first inning off Randy Johnson, but Jake Westbrook could not hold the lead as he gave up seven runs in 4+ innings. After the 1st inning, the Big Unit pitched scoreless ball all the way into the 9th as he struck out 11 along the way… AJ Pierzynski hit two homers for the D-Backs

Game #2 STL 4, AZ 3 - Curt Schilling vs. Dontrelle Willis…..With the Cards clinging to a 4-3 lead, embattled reliever Armando Benitez was brought in to close out the ninth. Benitez got the first two outs but then gave up a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. However, Armando got the final out to preserve the win in a tense finish. Cards felt fortunate to gain a 1-1 split vs. Johnson and Schilling…..off to St. Louis for game 3…..

Game #3 STL 13, AZ 4 - Redbirds scored nine runs off Al Leiter in 3+ innings. A pivotal moment was when pitcher Woody Willams hit a two-out bases loaded single in the 2nd that scored the first two runs of the game. Melvin Mora drove in three more runs (7 RBI’s in 3 games) and is now hitting .583 in the series.

Game #4 STL 1, AZ 0 - In the most exciting game of the series, Randy Johnson and Jake Westbrook put up goose eggs over the first eight innings. St. Louis pinch hit for Westbrook in the bottom of the eighth and then brought in Benitez who pitched a scoreless ninth. The D-Backs pinch hit for Randy Johnson in the ninth and brought in Scott Shields for the bottom of the inning. Shields gave up a hit and a walk and was relieved by Gagne. With runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, Konerko bunted the ball and beat out the play at first to load the bases. Now with the Bank One Ballpark rocking, Gage walked Edmonds to force in the winning run.

Game #5 AZ 3, STL 2 - Curt Schilling turned in a gutty performance as he went all the way in a 3-2 D-Back win. Schilling allowed just four hits and struck out nine. Arizona scored the winning run on a two-out bases load error by Renteria in the top of the eighth innning. Schilling made the run stand up as manager Mark Childs stayed with Schilling in the 9th rather than bringing in his closer. Series goes back to Arizona for game 6.

Game #6 STL 9, AZ 5 - The Cardinals jumped on Brian Lawrence (the star of the 2003 post season) with nine hits and six runs to take a 6-4 lead. Two key moments occurred in the 8th…..With no out and a runner on, Paul Konerko attempted (another) bunt and got two strikes on him. The bunt sign was then taken off and Konerko connected on the next pitch for a 2-run homer to make it 8-4. In the bottom of the 8th, the D-Backs had the bases loaded with two out and run already in. Bruce Chen, making his first appearance in the series, got David Newhan to end the threat. Armando Benitez pitched another scoreless inning to finish up the series.

The bullpen was the story – St. Louis had a 2.25 ERA while Arizona’s bullpen was 6.55 ERA. . . . St. Louis now advances to meet Houston in the semi-Finals…..

Astros Defeat Twins in Six Games

The Houston Astros won their first playoff series by eliminating the Minnesota Twins in six games. Complete box scores are available by this link. A recap of the series:

Game 1 (8-7 Hou.): Down 6-2 in 6th, John Mabry hits grand slam off Santana and Triples in GW in 8th.

Game 2 (8-4 Minn.): Twins score 3 in 8th and 3 in 9th. Alex Cora homers and knocks in 4.

Game 3 (9-7 Hou.): Mabry 2 RBI, Todd Walker and Berkman hit homers. Matsui and Lee knock in 2 for Minn.



Game 4 (12-0 Hou.): Tom Glavine magnificent in tossing 2-hit shutout. Kotsay 4 RBI, Burroughs 4 hits.

Game 5 (8-7 Minn.): Jose Hernandez PH HR ties game in 9th, Graffanino wins it w/ 2-out, 2-run walk-off 1B in 13th.

Game 6 (7-5 Hou.): Russ Adams 2-out, 2-run PH 1B in 7th puts Astros ahead and Wagner closes out series w/ his 2nd save.



For Hou:
Series MVP John Mabry - HR, 7 RBI, .333 in just 12 AB's
Moises Alou - 2 HR's, 7 RBI, .482 in just 13 AB's
Shane Burroughs - .600 (12-20)

For Minny:
Hideki Matsui - 3 HR's, 5 RBI, .391
Jose Hernandez - 2 HR's, 3 RBI, .400
David Ortiz - just 1 HR 4 RBI, .238

Pittsburg Puts Philly in an Early 2-0 Hole

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching gave the Phillies very little to work with over the course of their two game sweep in Philadelphia Sunday night 5-3 and 7-6.

In the first game Roy Oswalt held the Phils to just 3 hits over 7 innings and road a 4 run second inning to the win. Giles and Nevin connected for home runs, while Tejada had a solo shot for the Phils. Philadelphia had come within 1 on Tejada's solo shot in the 7th, but Nevin countered in the top of the 8th with a blast off of Lance Carter. Philly threatened in the bottom of the 9th getting two on, but was unable to score as Lidge recorded the save.

The second game saw the Phillies come out fast, scoring 4 runs in the second inning. Brad Penny seemed to be on the way to getting the Phils even up in the series when disaster struck in the 4th. The Pirates narrowed the gap to 2 with a couple early runs, but then Ben Broussard hit a 3 run shot to wipe out the deficit and give the Bucs the lead 5-4. Stunned, Penny was pulled after 3 2/3 innings. Pittsburgh scored what turned out to be the winning runs in the top of the 9th, making the score 7-4. However, Philadelphia managed to answer with two of their own to make it 7-6. With two outs, two on, the heart of the Phils order was due up - Pujols and Thome. Pujols drew a walk to load the bases. Thome then watched a called third strike.

As has been the case in the past as its star Pujols goes, so go the Phillies. Pujols has been held to two meaningless singles in the first game and is but 2 for 9 thus far. Philadelphia has hit just .185 over the first two games. Pittsburgh's Brian Giles has led his team with a .500 average (4-8) with two doubles and two homeruns.

The series moves to Pittsburgh, resuming Wednesday evening.