Vancouver takes the lead

Once again, Vancouver jumped on the scoreboard early and held the lead, taking game 3 by a 6-3 final. Todd Helton drove in the first run with a double in the second inning. David Ortiz would bring him home on a sac fly, giving the Fist a 2-0 lead. Helton extended the lead with a 2-run homer in the 3rd to make it 4-0. Chipper Jones finally put the Sugar Bears on the board with a solo home run in the 4th, but Andre Ethier answered him with one of his own. The Fist made it 6-1 when Moises Alou hit an RBI-single in the 5th. Chipper Jones hit his second homer of the game in the 6th, but again, no one was on base for him. The Fist held the lead until the 9th, when Yadier Molina hit a pinch hit home run to make it 6-3, but that was all for Newark.

The teams will meet again today for Game 4 where Chad Billingsley will start for Vancouver. Billingsley has started two regular season games against Newark, both at the Cereal Bowl. He's 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. The Sugar Bears are still undecided, possibly opting to go with game 1 starter James Shields over Chien-Ming Wang. Shields, of course, was roughed up in game 1, not even escaping the second inning. Perhaps Mattingly may choose to play Shields rather than subject him to another beating in front of the home town faithful.