Padres 15, Dodgers 13
Walks and Runs: PADRES! Hold on to win the longest 6 inning game in HRL:TC history
The season began with many question marks for both teams. Would the Dodgers be able to compete with the veteran teams? Would the acquisition of Jim "Westy" West make a difference to the Padres? Where exactly is the rink located? All these questions were answered, and then some. Featuring the debut of bats named "The New Dangler" and "The Inquisitor" the Padres stepped up to the plate with confidence… and it showed. The 2005 season started off with a bang for the new look PADRES! as they batted around twice in the first inning scoring 8 runs in a stunning display of offense. Sporting new uniforms complete with gold socks and gold shirts, the Pads had 5 hits including a grand slam by Brian Pace (1) and a 3 run blast by Kelly Pieklo. What started out as a blowout quickly turned into a tense game as Padre ace, Bryan Shirley (1-0) had uncharacteristic control problems. The Dodgers patience at the plate paid off, scoring 5 runs as Shirls walked 7 batters before taking himself out of the game. The Pads answered back with another 3 runs in the second inning taking advantage of two Dodger errors. After plating 1 run in the second, the Dodgers stormed back, scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th closing the Pads lead to 1 at 11-10, but the scoring was not finished there. Not to be outdone by a rookie team, the Padres' bats woke from their slumber in the 6th inning when the Pads scored 4 runs of their own as Shirls (1) and Pieks (2) both homered. The no-quit Dodgers scored another 3 runs in the bottom of the six moving onto the second scoresheet with 4 hits and one walk. All told it was the second highest scoring game in HRL:TC history. There were 28 runs scored and an unprecedented 20 walks given up. Shirls was the good-luck winner of the game with long reliever Pieks earning the save working 5 1/3 effective innings. Brian "Dr. K" Klein was saddled with the loss in a game that took over 2 hours.
Submitted: Jim West
May 5, 2005