Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Semifinals: Game 1
A's 2, Brewers 1
Swinging in the rain…
The A's/Crew series finally kicked off Tuesday night at Sky Hill. On a still and overcast evening, the A's sent only two players, The Pirate and Mathis (with a little help from an auto-fielding Shirls), to take on the Crew. Still, those two would to be enough to get the job done. The game was scoreless through 2, as Mathis' (1-1) slider and sinker were working well, inducing easy fielding outs and an occasional K. In the top of the third, West drew a leadoff walk and advanced to 2nd on a ground ball out. Costa Rica then smoked a line drive to the gap in left center…but a great Pirate to Mathis relay tagged West out at the plate. However, aggressive base running by Costa, as he tried for 3rd, forced an errant throw by Mathis, allowing Ted to score the first run of the game. 1-0 Brewers. Spilseth (1-1) was also extremely solid on the mound, pitching all 6 innings, and keeping the A's bats off balance until the bottom of the 4th. With nobody on base, Mathis tied things up with a high fly homerun that just cleared the fence in deep right center. The game stayed knotted up at 1 run a piece through the 5th and top of the 6th inning, thanks in part to some nifty fielding by Joe and The Pirate. It was the home half of the 6th that would eventually do the Brewers in. The Pirate led off with a wall shot single down the left field line, and ended up on second after Mathis' ground out. After Greg was sent down swinging, Costa appeared to be in good shape to force extra innings. But it wasn't meant to be. With a man on second and two away, Mathis stepped up to the plate and quickly ripped a line drive to center on Ted's first offering. Hendi's throw from the wall wasn't in time to stop the rumbling, bumbling Pirate from scoring the game winner. A's end up edging out the Crew to take an early series lead and put the pressure on the underdog 7th seed.
Submitted: Joe Lawrence
Sep 19, 2004
Hitting Stars
Series at a Glance