In a season and league where wild finishes have been more rule than exception, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox captured the PCL championship here Saturday in typical - and exciting - fashion.
Not with a homer, not with a screaming double off the wall, but with a . . . bloop single.Sky Sox 8, Buzz 7, in a game that featured a grand slam homer by a catcher hitting .150, a near-fracas at home plate, and appearances by nine pitchers. The Buzz led 7-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, but three Salt Lake pitchers gave up two singles and a walk, and Sox slugger Jim Tatum's soft single that proved to be the game-winner.
Asked if he'd seen anything similar in his several decades in baseball, Buzz manager Phil Roof said, "No, and I hope I don't see another the rest of my lifetime. It was a tough loss."
Buzz players were not in talkative moods after the game, but Roof patiently and graciously answered all questions. He mostly expressed pride for his players.
"I'm only disappointed for the players," Roof said. "I'm not disappointed for myself. Everyone of them played their hearts out."
In the early going, this didn't look like a typical PCL game. Both starting pitchers cruised through the first couple of innings. The Buzz managed to get some runners on, but the Sox turned two double plays in the first three innings, and Tom Quinlan bounced out in the second with the bases loaded.
Colorado Springs got on the board in the third after Robertson walked leadoff hitter Ty Van Burkleo. Craig Counsell singled, too, but was erased when Dan Walters hit into a double play. That moved Van Burkleo to third, however, and Quinton McCracken singled to center for the first run of the game.
The score remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth. With one out, Salt Lake's Riccardo Ingram doubled, causing Sox manager Brad Mills to lift starter A.J. Sager. Sager was pitching with two days' rest anyway, and Mills was happy to get that much out of him.
He may have regretted that decision, though, when Salt Lake's Steve Dunn reached over the plate and slapped a pitch into leftfield for a double, tying the game. Patrick Lennon reached first on an error by the Sox shortstop, then stole second base. Tom Quinlan then struck out, putting lefty Van Snider at the plate against the righthanded Fredrickson. Mills elected to walk Snider and pitch to righty Mike Durant, who came into the game hitting .150 in the postseason.
And Durant responded with a shot to left that was deep, high and well out of the park.
In the ensuing celebration, though, Lennon and Sox catcher Dan Walters got into a jawing match, after Walters reportedly swore at Dunn. Regardless of who started it, it was the last thing Roof wanted to see at that point.
"It probably fired them up," Roof said. "We probably should have ignored it."
Thus fired-up, the Sox came right back with four runs in their half of the sixth. Robertson, who to that point had done the best postseason job by a Buzz starter since his own shutout of the Canadians, started it all by walking Quinton McCracken. McCracken stole second and scored on Webster Garrison's double, and Garrison scored on a single by Jim Tatum. After a double play, Alan Cockrell singled, bringing in Sean Gavaghan from the Buzz bullpen. Gavaghan gave up a homer to Pedro Castellano that tied the game.
By this point, with both teams into their bullpens, it was time for the hitters to decide the game. The Buzz went back in front in the seventh, 7-5, on a two-out single by Ingram, an RBI double by Dunn, and an RBI single by Lennon - against three Sox pitchers.
The Sox cut the lead to one in the bottom of the seventh when McCracken tripled, then scored when Dunn's toss to Gavaghan went over the pitcher's head and rolled to the Buzz dugout.
In the ninth, Bill Wissler retired the first batter, then gave up a single to Craig Counsell. Carlos Pulido replaced Wissler and surrendered a single to pinch-hitter Jay Gainer. McCracken then grounded out to short, scoring Counsell. The Buzz intentionally walked Webster Garrison, and Dan Naulty, who got the last out in Thursday's game, came in. On a 3-2 pitch, Tatum hit the blooper in front of Ingram, scoring pinch-runner Ced Landrum.
"We made some pitches up in the strike zone, and they took advantage of it," Roof said.
Pulido took the loss, Hawblitzel the win.
GAME NOTES: Five Buzz players were called-up to the parent Minnesota Twins immediately after the game - Dunn, Robertson, shortstop Denny Hocking, second baseman Brian Raabe and pitcher LaTroy Hawkins . . . There was an ugly incident after the game in front of the Buzz locker room, when some obviously chemically influenced Sox fans chose to heap verbal abuse on the Salt Lake players, rather than enjoy the celebration on the field. One Buzz player took physical exception until he was restrained.