Hdt took the lead in the 1st on rbi doubles from Casey and Pickering. In the 4th the wheels came off for Clemens, hdt scored 2 more runs on 3hits and a walk before Pickering delivered a rocket knockout with a 3 run jack that sent clemens to the showers and gave hdt a 7-0 lead. Wells relieved and was greeeted with 2 more hrs from Casey and unlimited hitter Leon. Hdt hit back to back to back hrs to set an ARBA record for most consecutive hrs in an league championship game. Sfe scored some meaningless runs and Hdt cruised to a 9-5 win. Nomar did blow his groin while running out a grounder and will not be back for the series.
GM 2
Schilling vs Washburn
Once again hdt pulled out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st with the big hit being a Guillen triple. Washburn was cruising with a no hitter until the 4th when Posada banged one off the foul pole to tie the game 2-2. Hdt responded by retaking the lead back in the bottom half on 2 runs on 3 hits. Sfe closed the gap on a Gload hr in the 5th and then tied it up in the 7th 4-4. Sfe took their first lead of the series in the 9th on a 2 out error by the pitcher. Hdt's varitek responded by leading off the 9th with a hr and the game went to extra tied 5-5. In the top of the 10th Sfe loaded the bases with 0 outs and Nathan was looking really tired but stayed in the game to face Ford. Ford smoked one to Guillen who started a 6-2-3 double play. Nathan then struck out Mueller to end the threat. Hdt followed suit by loading the bases with 0 outs in the bottom of the 10th. Casey then grounded out to 3rd for a force at home. Glaus came up and got a call on 3-2 breaking ball to draw a walk and force in the winning run. Hdt 6 Sfe 5
GM 3
Halladay vs Clemens
Yes thats right Tomlinson showed true desperation by bringing back his 42 yo sp on just 2 days rest. Well it worked as he dominated hdt 10-1. Sfe knocked halladay from the game in the 3rd with the big hit being a bases clearing triple by Walker. There was a Bonds sighting as he finally went deep with a meaningless hr in the 7th. Sfe cruises 10-1 and Hdt also loses their ss guillen for the series in sfe. Sfe 10 Hdt 1
Hdt finished the regular season 89-73 which is the same record as the Astros regular season total. Hdt defeated a 100+ win team in Lar and now faces another monster in Sfe. Houston defeated a 100+ win team from Stl and faces the Al champs Chicago white sox. Coincidence? I think not! All true astros fans need to get behind Hdt's drive for a title (that includes you Tomlinson) because a Hdt loss would be a very bad omen for the 'stros. Tom you need to put your personal needs aside and take one for the team and help Hdt advance to the world series. If the Astros go down, we won't blame Stearns for it. We will all know who was responsible Mr Tomlinson.
HDT used 3 singles to score a run off Radke in the first, but Polanco mashed a leadoff homer to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. Mohr and Casey hit 2-out RBI singles in the second to take a 3-1 lead and Radke was looking shaky. Polanco amazingly launched another HR in the 3rd to make it 3-2. That was still the score in the 5th when Milton put two on with one out and was removed for Cliff Lee with Bonds at the plate. HDT's strategy of pitching to Barry finally backfired as he launched a 3-run upper deck moon shot to take a 5-3 lead. The pitchers largely took over from there, although Bonds padded his stats with a solo shot for a 6-3 final to even the series at 2 games apeice.
Game 5
It was 0-0 in the bottom of the 5th when Chris Gomez doubled to lead off the inning with SFE's first hit off Washburn. HDT showed shockingly little faith in their starter, pulling him for the mighty Calero. Calero escaped with nobody scoring, but Washburn stormed out of the stadium furious. HDT had a scoring threat in the 6th, but didn't capitalize and Varitek was injured for game 6 to boot. Calero and Schilling cruised until the 8th when Ford singled and Mueller walked to lead off the inning. Polanco bunted them over. Beltran brought home the game's first run with a sac fly and bonds was intentionally walked. Posada took that insult seriously, however, and launched a 3-run homer to effectively end the game. Schilling took the shutout win 4-0.
Game 6
The Diablos scored in the first again on a 2-base throwing error by Mueller. They addedd 2 more in the 3rd on a total moon shot by Sexson to make it 3-0. SFE couldn't get anything going until scoring a run in the 5th on an error. HDT got the run back on a wild pitch in thew bottom of the inning. The pitchers were in control from there until Calero put a man on in the 8th and tired, brining in Nathan. Nathan grooved a pitch to Beltran for a 2-run homer to make it 4-3! But that was all that SFE could muster, and the series would go to a climactic game 7!
Game 7
SFE scored in the first on a Walker RBI single but both Clemens and Halladay pitched out of trouble with men on everywhere. Sexson mashed another mammoth homer in the 4th to tie the game at 1. Bonds got an RBI double in the 5th to retake the slim lead, but Calero escaped a bases-loaded jam to prevent further damage. There were more pitching heroics escaping jams and it was still 2-1 SFE in the 8th. Calero walked Mueller and with 2 out and 1b open, intentionally walked Bonds. This hurt Frank Thomas's feelings, however, and he expressed himself with a ballpark homer that was JUST over the wall to take a late 5-1 lead! Foulke retired HDT in the 8th and SFE added a pair of insurance runs in the 9th! Ordonez and Valent contributed 2-out doubles in the 9th to make it 7-2, but Benitez retired Loretta and the Geckos stormed the field to celebrate their Federal League Championship!!!
So, that was an incredible series. Congrats to Keith for taking HDT much further than anyone (including himself) expected, but HDT was a great team for the playoffs.
