Hdt pushes a cross single runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings to take a 2-0 lead. Har closes the gap with a run in the 4th but the tying run is gunnes down at the plate by Mags on a 1-15 roll. Hdt plays long ball in the 5th with a Guillen Hr followed by a 2 run shot from Beltran. Hdt cruises the rest of the way behind the strong pitching of Cain Nathan and Papelbon.
Hdt 5-1 W Cain L Smoltz SV Papelbon
GM 2 Kazmir vs Santana
HAR brought the big bats. HAR jacked 5 HRs with 4 coming off Santana. Matsui was the big hero with 3 HRs and 6 rbis. A 3 run 9th broke the game open as HAR evens the series with a 10-5 win.
Har 10-5 W Kazmir L Santana
GM 3 Penny vs Billingsley
Hdt jumps out to a 3-0 lead with the big hit coming from a Rollins 3b. Har answers with a 6 run 4th. The key play being a missed range check by GG SS Rollins and then Penny's inability to get the 3rd out before giving up 6 and heading to the showers. Hdt bats went cold and HAR takes series lead with a 7-3 win.
Har 7-3 W Billingsley L Penny SV Rivera
GM 4 Cain vs Smoltz
Rollins smokes another 3b to key a 3 run first for Hdt. Hdt pushes across another run in the 2nd. HRs from Beltran in the 5th and Rollins in the 6th add to the diablos lead. Cain pitches another strong 7+ innings and Hdt gets back in the series.
Hdt 7-1 W Cain L Smoltz
GM 5 Santana vs Kazmir
Hdt broke on top with a 2 out error by Ramirez extending the inning. A bases loaded walk to Glaus scored the 1st run and Bard emptied the bases with a 3 run double to give Hdt an early 4-0 lead. Santana was dominate allowing only 3 hits. A 4 run 5th keyed by a Rollins 3b and the rout was on.
Hdt 9-1 W Santana L Kazmir
GM 6 Wolf vs Penny
With the champagne on ice Penny lays another egg. Har bats around in the 1st dropping a & spot on Penny as he exists to well deseerved boos from the Hdt faithful. Hdt rallies for 4 in the bottom of the 1st to make it 7-4 after 1 inning. A Mags 2 run HR in the 5th and Hdt rallies all the way back to tie the game at 7. With studs reliever Nathan on the mound Thome gets a hold of a hanging slider and puts Har up 8-7. Ortis goes yard in the 8th to pad the lead to 10-7. Rivera pitches out of jams in the 8th and 9th to tie the series at 3 games apiece.
Har 10-7 W Gagne L Nathan
GM 7 Smoltz vs Cain
Cain takes the ball again for GM 7. He has been dominant in the playoffs with 6 wins and era just over 1. Smoltz and Cain toss goose eggs for the first 3 innings as neither team gets a man beyond 2b. Hdt strikes 1st in the 4th with a leadoff single by Mags followed by a 1 out single from Guillen sets the stage for little used Ryan Raburn to become a hero. Raburn turns around a Smoltz fastball and deposits it into the Hdt bullpen. Rollins reaches and steals 2b and comes home on a rbi singlen from Munson. Hdt 4-0 after 4 innings. Hdt gets another run in the 5th on singles by Mags and Beltran and DP ground out by Either. Cain tires in the 6th and the only threat of the game is put out by lefty specialist SHerril as he retires Ortiz and Thome with men on base. Nathan takes the ball in the 7th and HDT has won the ARBA World Series with a 5-0 gm 7 win.
Wow! That looks like quite an epic battle. Congratulations to Keith on yet another championship, although it has been a long time since that run of dominance in the 90's. My condolences to Harmony Grove on coming up just short again...their 3rd WS loss in 5 years in fact. That matches my record with Laramie, although it there was a much bigger gap before the third one.
Now is a time for reflection, to ponder what evil crimes you have perpetrated to bring such nasty karma down upon you. Alternatively, you could just move the team to a new city. That's all it took for me to finally win one!
