Newark pushes Vancouver to the brink

The Sugar Bears won the crucial game 5 yesterday in Newark 6-3. Randy Johnson shut down the Iron Fist offense for 5 innings, allowing only 1 earned run on 6 hits and striking out 9. The Sugar Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Carlos Guillen hit a single with the bases loaded in the first. Vancouver scored a run in the 2nd on a Todd Helton single, then tied it up in the 3rd on a Moises Alou double. Bobby Abreu gave the Sugar Bears the lead with an RBI-double in the 4th and Guillen extended the lead with a 2-run homer in the 5th. David Ortiz homered in the 8th to make it 5-3, but Newark got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Brian Shouse made it interesting in the 9th by walking the first two batters, but they were left stranded. The teams are off today, returning to Vancouver tomorrow.

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.

Game 3 in Vancouver

Today's matchup returns to Vancouver where the Sugar Bears are 1-5 in the regular season. The Iron Fist send out Ben Sheets who was 0-1 against the Sugar Bears this year with a 9.28 ERA and 1.59 WHIP (this includes a disastrous start in the Cereal Bowl) in two starts, while Newark counters with Javier Vazquez (1-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.07 WHIP).

Sugar Bears even it up

It was a bit much to expect Vancouver to take 2 of 2 from Newark in the Cereal Bowl. Newark tied up the series with a 7-5 victory yesterday. Vancouver was the first one on the board again when Jose Guillen drove in a run in the first. But Newark tied it up in the second with a Carlos Guillen triple and then later took the lead after Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled in Guillen. Newark broadened the lead when Salty doubled in another run and Mike Fontenot drove in another for a 4-1 lead in the 4th. After a half hour rain delay, manager Don Mattingly pulled Randy Johnson from the contest, giving way to the Newark bullpen. Zack Greinke, who started for Vancouver, was also pulled. Vancouver scored a run in the 6th to pull within 2. Vancouver's playoff hero Chase Utley tripled in another run to make it a one-run game in the 7th. Newark pulled away in the bottom half on a 2-run Nick Swisher homer, then tacked on another in the 8th. Vancouver made it very interesting in the 9th. With two runners on, pinch hitter Mike Lowell smashed a line drive to left, scoring a run. Moises Alou hit a single to score another run, but the next two batters were retired to end the game.

The two teams will head to Vancouver tomorrow where Javier Vazquez will take on Ben Sheets.

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).

Series starts today!

Newark and Vancouver go at it again for the second time in 3 years. In three previous Series matchups, Vancouver has drawn the short end of the stick, but they remain optimistic. "It's not easy going up against the juggernaut" said Vancouver manager Darren Daulton, "but we think we have a good chance to bring the trophy back to the Pacific Northwest." Of course Vancouver hasn't won the DMBL title since 1994, back when they were the juggernaut of the Microleague Era. In 2008, Vancouver won the season series with Newark 8 games to 4, so the confidence level is healthy. But Newark is a different animal when it comes to the playoffs. The Sugar Bears easily disposed of the Endzone Animals in five games and have had a week to prepare for the Series. Sugar Bears owner Butch Garretson has been mum so far on the identity of the game one starter - James Shields or Randy Johnson are likely. Meanwhile, Vancouver has confirmed that Jake Peavy will start for the Fist. Peavy is 2-0, with a 6.50 ERA against the Sugar Bears this year in 3 games, including a rough start in Newark earlier in the season.

Game 7 tonight

This is it for Vancouver and Las Vegas. For all the marbles...

Also, FYI, the World Series game 1 will be pushed back to Monday.