Huntsville Headlines 38.022: New Orleans Series Recap

[HoosierVic]

United Press International

New Orleans Crawdads at Huntsville Phantoms, Game 1
Sept. 20, 2038

New Orleans scored twice in the top of the 9th inning to break open a tie ballgame and tag Huntsville with a 4-2 loss in the first game of a double header.

The Crawdads led off the inning against Huntsville closer Esteban Velásquez with a pair of singles. New Orleans then sent in shortstop Reynaldo Ruíz to run for pinch hitter Gilberto Domínguez at second base. The speedy Ruíz promptly stole third, and came home on a sacrifice fly by second baseman José Sánchez.

New Orleans then added an insurance run when left fielder Paul Warren rapped a sharp groundball single to right.

Score: New Orleans 4, Huntsville 2
WP: Ricardo Viera PQR: 5
LP: Esteban Velásquez PQR: 0
SV: Freddy Delgado PQR: 3
Player of the Game: Alejandro Soto, Huntsville starter who pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs and 6 hits.
Cliché of the Game: “We’ll grab a cold one tonight and go after another win tomorrow,” said José Sánchez, apparently forgetting New Orleans still had to play the doubleheader nightcap.

New Orleans Crawdads at Huntsville Phantoms, Game 2
Sept. 20, 2038

Huntsville took a 6-1 lead into the top of the 9th inning, then hung on for dear life as New Orleans scored 4 times before reliever Justin Archer came in to strike out left fielder Virgil Shafer on a 3-2 slider in the dirt.

The Phantoms’ offense was keyed by center fielder Tim Torres, who went 2-3 with two doubles and a walk.

His efforts nearly went to waste, though, when long reliever François Mangin yielded four hits, including a 3-run homer to third baseman Júlio Montoya. Archer, however, came in and saved the day.

Score: Huntsville 6, New Orleans 5
WP: Vito Reyes PQS: 2
LP: Jim Armstrong PQS: 1
SV: Justin Archer PQR: 4
Player of the Game: Júlio Montoya
Cliché of the Day: “My job is to go out and play as hard as I can,” said Tim Torres.

New Orleans Crawdads at Huntsville Phantoms
Sept. 21, 2038

The Phantoms used some 9th inning walk-off heroics by four-time All Star first baseman Norris Rutledge to beat New Orleans 7-6 Tuesday night at the Huntsville Opera House.

Huntsville went into the bottom of the 9th tied 6-6 with New Orleans, and it appeared that Crawdads setup specialist Enrico Rivera was going to make quick work of the Phantoms. He coaxed a fly ball to deep left by pinch hitter David Hall, then retired second baseman Luis González on a grounder to third.

That brought Rutledge to the plate. After taking a 97-mph fastball for a called strike one, Rutledge tomahawked a hanging curveball to deep left for a walk-off homer and the victory.

Score: Huntsville 7, New Orleans 6
WP: Justin Archer PQR: 3
LP: Enrico Rivera PQR: 0
Player of the Game: Leyli Yelanian, Huntsville third baseman who went 1-3 with a 3-run homer and a walk.
Cliché of the Game: “It feels good to get this one,” said Yelanian.

New Orleans Crawdads at Huntsville Phantoms
Sept. 22, 2038

The New Orleans Crawdads scored early and often en route to a 9-5 rout of Huntsville Wednesday evening at the Opera House.

The Crawdads offense was led by center fielder Liam Oliver, who went 3-3 with 3 singles and 3 runs scored. He also was hit by a pitch. DH Pedro Costa chipped in with a solo home run in the second inning to help start the scoring.

Huntsville starter Manuel Peña wasn’t particularly effective: he gave up 8 runs, four of them earned, and 11 hits in 5 innings of work.

Score: New Orleans 9, Huntsville 5
WP: Ricardo Viera PQR: 1
LP: Manuel Peña PQS: 0
Player of the Game: Liam Oliver
Cliché of the Game: “It’s nice to come out on top today,” said Pedro Costa.

[JimBob2232]

Crazy series!

[HoosierVic]

A lot of close games - pretty entertaining to go back through the box scores and logs!