SERIES #21 vs PITTSBURGH - Injuries, Ejection Rule the Day

Baltimore welcomes Pittsburgh to town for a three game set.  The Crawfords are one of the hottest teams in all of MBL, winners of 15 of their last 21 contests.  Their surge has put them atop the standings in the Classic League's competitive Rust Belt Division.  They come to town fresh off a road sweep of Toronto.

The Stouts are playing as poorly as the Crawfords are good, losers of five of their last six and 19 of their last 28.  Outfielder Jermaine Dye is set to see his first action as a member of the Stouts following his trade to the team following Baltimore's series against Cleveland.  Also set to resume action is outfielder Larry Walker, who returns to the lineup after missing the last month due to injury.  Let's see how it all played out.

ARTIST RENDITION OF BEAUTIFUL MEMORIAL STADIUM - HOME OF THE STOUTS

Game 1
Memorial Stadium

June 7, 2014

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Pittsburgh Crawfords (36-25)	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1		3	9	0
Baltimore Stouts (26-35)	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	X		6	11	0
	W: K. Rueter (4-4)   L: T. Ohka (0-2) SV: A. Benitez (12)

HR: B. Larkin (5, 3rd inning off K. Rueter 0 on, 1 out), D. Segui (6, 9th inning off K. Rueter 0 on, 0 out)
HR: T. Helton (17, 1st inning off T. Ohka 2 on, 0 out)

Baltimore had their bats working early in this one, scoring six runs in the first three innnings, sending Pittsburgh starter Tomo Ohka to the showers.  The Crawfords were unable to get anything going against Kirk Rueter, who had his best start in nearly a month.  He went eight strong inning to pickup his fourth win on the year.  Closer Armando Benitez relieved Rueter in the ninth and retired the Crawfords in order to notch his 12th save.  Todd Helton continued his hot hitting, going 2-4 and launching a three-run homer in the first to get the scoring started.

The big news from the game came as Baltimore catcher Robert Fick was injured in the 7th inning and had to leave the game.  He's expected to miss 3-4 weeks of action.

Game 2
Memorial Stadium

June 7, 2014

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Pittsburgh Crawfords (37-25)	2	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0		7	11	0
Baltimore Stouts (26-36)	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0		3	3	1
	W: S. Williamson (5-3)   L: E. Dessens (0-6)

HR: B. Williams (9, 1st inning off E. Dessens 1 on, 2 out), D. Fletcher (6, 4th inning off E. Dessens 0 on, 1 out), D. Bell (5, 6th inning off A. Alfonseca 0 on, 0 out)
HR: E. Taubensee (3, 6th inning off S. Williamson 2 on, 2 out)

The Crawfords respond in a big way in game two, scoring in five of the first six innings, cruising to an easy 7-3 win.  Pittsburgh starter Scott Williamson and two reliever held the Baltimore bats to just three hits in the contest.  Elmer Dessens is now winless in eight starts for the Stouts, taking his sixth loss on the season.


Game 3
Memorial Stadium

June 8, 2014

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Pittsburgh Crawfords (38-25)	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0		5	12	0
Baltimore Stouts (26-37)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0		4	8	0
	W: B. Tollberg (9-2)   L: A. Osuna (6-1) SV: M. Myers (2)

HR: D. Bell (6, 8th inning off F. Rodriguez 0 on, 1 out)
HR: T. Helton 2 (19, 4th inning off B. Tollberg 0 on, 1 out; 8th inning off J. Manzanillo 1 on, 2 out), G. Williams (4, 8th inning off J. Manzanillo 0 on, 2 out)

Pittsburgh jumped out on top in this one, manufacturing a run in the 2nd inning to go up 1-0.  The score remained the same into the top of the 4th.  Bernie Williams drew a leadoff walk.  Baltimore starter Jon Lieber took exception to home plate umpire Greg Gibson's strike zone and was ejected from the game.  Antonio Osuna relieved Leiber and got out of the inning to keep the score at 1-0.

Todd Helton tied the game up in the bottom of the 4th with a solo homer, his 18th on the season, but the Crawfords jumped right back on top in the next inning, pushing two more runs across to lead it 3-1.  Pittsburgh picked up a couple insurance runs in the 8th.  Josias Manzanillo came on to pitch for the Crawfords in the bottom of the innings.  He got the first two batters he faced to ground out.  But after Tom Evans kept the inning alive with a single, the Stouts got back-to-back homers by Helton, his 19th, and Gerald Williams to cut the lead to 5-4 heading into the 9th.

Antonio Alfonseca retired the side in order in the top of the 9th.  Mike Myers came on to pitch for Pittsburgh in the bottom of the inning.  He struck out two of the three batters he faced to close the door and collect his second save of the year.  Brian Tollberg picked up his ninth win compared to only two losses by pitching 6.2 strong innings.  Osuna was saddled with his first loss of the season for the Stouts.

Another series loss for Baltimore, their eighth in the last ten played, as their season record drops to an abysmal 26-37.  Up next is a trip to Detroit to take on the Buckeyes.  They are only a game better on the year with a 27-36 record.  Who will turn their fortunes around?  Stay tuned.