Hdt draws first blood in the 2nd. Bard and Mags single with 1 out and then Ethier drives a 2b to the gap that scores 2. Ethier eventually scores an Hill rbi ground out to give Hdt 3-0 lead. Hdt stretches that to 4-0 on back to back 2bs from Glaus and Hill. Brk gets on the board with a Ramirez HR in the 5th. Hdt gets that run back on a Rollins single and sb. Santana gets wild on a pair of walks to Ramirez and A Rod to lead off the 7th. Papelbon comes and gets 2 outs before walking Doumit to load the bases. Roberts comes through with a 2 out 2 run single to cut the lead to 5-3 Hdt going to bottom of7th. Hdt gets a run back on a Beltran HR. German homers off Paps to begin the 8th. Gonzalez relives a tired looking Paps and gets through the 8th. Nathan slams the door in the 9th and Hdt claims gm 1 6-4.
WP- Santana LP- Webb SV- Nathan
GM 2
Mussina vs Sowers
the 1st inning was quite strange. Reyes leads off with a hit but is gunned trying to steal 2b. German then gets a hit and after Tex makes the 2nd out Ramirez's easy grounder is tossed into the dugout by Glaus to put runners at 2b and 3rb. A Rod singles to score a run but Ramirez was caught jogging and thrown out at home. Brk 3 hits and a 2b error but only 1 run. Guillen gets that back on the 1st pitch from Mussina with a an upper deck HR. Brk breaks the 1-1 tie in the 3rd on a sin from Robers and after 2 outs Big Tex homers dep into the desert night for a 3-1 BRK lead. Hdt gets a run back when Sexson homers in the 4th and then ties it when a Sexson fly ball manages to reach the seats on a 1-13 bp hr that rolls a 13. 3-3 after 6 and Hdt has been using the entire bullpen since the 4th.Zumaya is now in for Brk to start the 7th. Ethier works a BB and with 1 out Bard singles and Ethier is safe on a close play at 3b. Beltran is IBB and mngr Young brings in Meredith to face the hot Sexson. Sexson breaks his bat but the ball falls for a single. Zumaya gets out without further damage but Hdt now has a 4-3 lead. After 1 out in the 8th, Gregg BB 2 batters and A-rod comes up. Nathan is brought and grooves one down the middle in A Rod's power column but in A Rod fashion he Ks. Nathan gets the last out of the 8th and holds Brk to a Pudge single in the 9th for a 4-3 Hdt win.
WP- Papelbon LP- Zumaya SV- Nathan
Hdt has a 2-0 lead as the series moves to Brk later this week.
Series moves to Brooklyn with the Blow Monkeys in a 2-0 hole. Tom Glavine, who displaced Dontrelle Willis as the #3 playoff starter in the NLDS comes up huge, scattering 9 hits over a complete game but only allowing one run to score. Brooklyn has the big hits - Home Runs from A-Rod and Rivera prove enough, while three Diablo double-plays limit their offense. Jennings pitches decently (6 1/3 IP, 2 ER) but the offense just doesn't get going.
Highlights: Magglio Ordonez makes two errors in right field.
Final HDT 1 BRK 6 W: Glavine L: Jennings Series 2-1 HDT
Game 4
Santana vs. Webb
Rematch of game 1 starters - once again the promised pitcher's duel fails to materialize. HDT gets quick runs in the 1st and 3rd on double-play grounders. The limited damage lifts BRK spirits and a Manny Ramirez shot ties it up in the 4th to bring the crowd back into it. An unexpected homer from Jose Reyes in the 5th really gets the ball rolling and despite some excitement in the 7th, Brooklyn holds on.
Highlights: Four separate Blow Monkeys went yard - Reyes, Teixeira, Ramirez and Rivera. HDT had three steals for the game but still, BRK turned four double plays to again limit the damage.
Final HDT 4 BRK 8 W: Webb L: Jennings SV: Meredith Series tied 2-2
Game 5
Cain vs. Mussina
A re-invigorated BRK team looked to take a lead at home behind Mussina, who pitched well in Game 2. HDT looked nervous throwing Matt Cain out there, but he exceeded all expectations, throwing 5 innings of one-hit ball. Carlos Beltran reversed a terrible series with a two run homer in the first which looked like it would stand up. Mussina was able to limit the damage to another un-earned run to keep BRK in it. The star-studded HDT bullpen finally cracked in the 7th when three consecutive doubles and a two-base error off of Magglio Ordonez led to BRK squeaking out a lead. Zumaya got the last four outs to close it down and continue the FLCS streak of home victories. BRK fans could only hope that that would not prove to be the rule as the series now returns to HDT.
Highlights: Kinsler tries to catch up to Ordonez (3 errors on the series!) with two in one game. Ordonez rounded out his critical fielding error with a mighty 0-3 with 3K game.
