Game 1 goes to Vancouver!

Yowza, who'd have expected that not only would Vancouver take game one in Newark, but take it in so convincing a fashion? Vancouver pounded out 13 runs and 21 hits en route to a 13-5 victory.

The Fist got on the board quickly with a 2-run David Ortiz homer in the first inning, but the Sugar Bears answered in the bottom half with a 3-run Chipper Jones homer of their own. That would be the last time the Sugar Bears would hold a lead. Vancouver exploded in the second inning, starting with an error by Mike Fontenot that got leadoff batter Mike Lowell on base. Two batters later Michael Young tied the game up at 3 with a double down the line. Curtis Granderson lined a single to score Young, giving Vancouver the lead. After Todd Helton doubled and Chase Utley singled, starter James Shields was removed from the game, replaced by Scott Downs. Downs got off to a good start, striking out Ortiz, but fell apart immediately after, giving up three more hits and hitting a batter. After the smoke cleared, Vancouver scored 7 runs and was leading 9-3. Newark scored 2 more runs in the 5th but that was all they could muster against starter Jake Peavy. Peavy, despite earning the win, was not impressive, lasting only 5 innings and giving up 5 runs, 10 hits and 5 walks. Rich Hill, who replaced Greg Maddux on the World Series roster, shut down the Sugar Bears for the final 4 innings. Hill only gave up one hit and 3 walks and struck out 3. With the impressive performance, Hill may have earned himself a start later in the series. On the offensive side, Curtis Granderson and Moises Alou were both 4-5 and Victor Martinez had 3 RBIs.

Game 2 will feature lefty Randy Johnson for Newark and Zack Greinke for Vancouver. Johnson pitched a solid game 2 for Newark against Philadelphia though the Sugar Bears would eventually lose the game. Greinke was roughed up a bit against Las Vegas in their game 2 matchup. Johnson is 0-1 in the regular season against Vancouver with a 2.93 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, while Greinke only faced Newark once in the regular season (5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 9 K).