A's 5, Yankees 5 (12 inn, darkness)
Tie? We can tie in this game?
Cota versus Mathis. Sounds big right? Well it was, twelve innings big to be exact. Who was the winner? No one. That's right, the first ever HRL:TC tie! It was a crazy game with many twists and turns and with these two pitchers going on the mound it was expected to be a low scoring game, somewhere in the range of 0-0 or 1-1, but that wasn't meant to be as the final score after twelve was 5 to 5. The A's had an opportunity to close this one out in regulation as they took a 4-3 lead into the sixth inning, but the Yankees were able to tie the game with three consecutive hits by Willie, Scott, and Cota. Neither team would score again until the Yankees managed a single run in the top of the tenth due to a walk, a hit, and an error. In the bottom of the tenth Cota made an error on a ball hit by Larry, allowing him on base. It seemed that Cota (8-4) would be able to pitch his way out of that mistake by getting the next two batters out, but his error came back to haunt him as The Pirate came up and delivered a clutch two-out double driving in Larry to tie it up again at five apiece. For a moment it looked like the A's might rally again in the bottom of the eleventh when The Pirate and Larry got back to back hits with two outs, but Cota was able to strike out the side and keep the Yankees hopes alive. That would be as close as either team came to scoring again as once the A's made their last out of the twelfth inning the game was mutually called due to darkness. All in all, both pitchers would go the distance and rack up some impressive stats. Mathis (5-2) allowed five runs on nine hits, four walks, and two errors while striking out thirteen. Cota's five runs allowed came on ten hits, four walks, and two errors while he struck out twenty batters! It was a game full of highlights, but perhaps the most notable moment of the night was when Cota overextended himself and once again ripped his shorts, sending out the cry of "Cota's colons' exposed! Again!" So what did we learn from all of this? That darkness is a real bitch on wiffleballers, and that Cota needs to buy some gym shorts.
Submitted: Nick Consoer
Aug 23, 2004