Top of the 2nd: After striking out Terry Pendleton for his 3rd strikeout (through first 6 batters) in the game already, and 2nd out of the inning, the Phillies' Terry Mulholland looked like he was in complete control, until Damon Berryhill smacked a mistake pitch over the right field wall [Berryhill rolled a 66-0, 11-1].
Top of the 3rd: The Phillies almost had themselves a quick 1-2-3 inning, but suddenly appeared to be heading for some trouble, when Jeff Blauser reached on a fielding error by second baseman Mariano Duncan & a single by Ron Gant. Not good when the next two batters in the lineup were Fred McGriff (4 HR in NLCS) and David Justice (3 HR in NLCS). McGriff would fly out though. Braves still lead 1-0.
Top of the 6th: The Braves' Ron Gant leads off the inning by drawing a walk. Fred McGriff grounds out to third, while Gant advances to second. With one out, and David Justice stepping up to the plate, the Phillies elect to intentionally walk Justice in favor to face Terry Pendleton (.272 hitter with low .718 OPS), who has hit into 18 double plays during the 1993 MLB Season. Pendleton strikes out, while Damon Berryhill reaches on a infield single [25-9]. Bases loaded for Mark Lemke, [31-14, 2 balls, 16-28], hits into a 6-4 fielder's choice. It's still a tense, 1-0 Atlanta lead.
Bottom of the 7th: Dave Hollins breaks up Tom Glavine's no-hit bid [33-6], with a lead-off double. Braves' Pitching Coach Leo Mazzone calls down to the Braves' pen to get some arms ready. Glavine then walks Darren Daulton [64-14]. Mazzone will come out to talk to Glavine. Pete Incaviglia stands outside of the batter's box...
As a APBA strategist, we would probably run for the bullpen cards with some of those control Z's that Atlanta has, but I want to approach this realistically that Jay Howell and Steve Bedrosian would still be getting ready. The team may have had some relievers stretch their arms a bit, but Tom Glavine was rolling with a no-hitter, with 3 walks entering the 6th. So we are going to take a chance against Incaviglia, hoping for a strikeout or double play. In APBA Tournament play, I would already be placing Jay Howell's Grade A*-YZ card down.
Leo heads back to the dugout, Berryhill squats waiting for the pitch, Glavine delivers... Incaviglia bops it to left, but it's caught by Gant, one out. Glavine would get Wes Chamberlain to also fly out for the second out...
Now the APBA strategist takes over...
Braves' Manager Bobby Cox comes out, and asks the ball from Tom Glavine. The Braves' faithful that happened to make it to Veterans Stadium is all on their feet, giving Glavine a well-deserved standing ovation. Jay Howell will face Kevin Stocker, who batted .324 as a rookie this season through 70 games. Stocker also had an outstanding on-base percentage of .409.
My thought is that with runners on 1st & 2nd, Stocker will beat either Glavine or Howell with result '7' which Stocker has with a dice-roll 22, 33, 44 & 55, while he can also beat either pitcher with a dice-roll 11-6, or 66-0... but Howell has a chance to beat his result '9's in this situation, where as Glavine would have allowed an infield single that loaded the bases, while Phillies would call on a bench option to hit for the pitcher.
Jay Howell delivers the pitch, Stocker [66-0, 21-2-5 on double-columns] smacks it down the right field line, one will score, another will score, as Stocker makes it all the way to third on a triple! The Phillies lead 2-1, and want to add another run as they elect to pinch-hit for Mulholland. This move by Cox will certainly be second-guessed. The Phillies' Todd Pratt [11-5, 22-6, 33-5, 66-1, single-column card] steps up to the plate, with two outs. Howell with the pitch, this one is lifted, it's off the wall, Stocker scores! [Pratt rolled a 33-5]. Howell gets Lenny Dykstra to ground out to third, but it's all too late, as the Phillies now lead 3-1, and are 6 outs away from playing in the 1993 World Series.Top of the 8th: The Phillies call on reliever David West for his 5th appearance in the series, as he has not allowed a run in 3.1 innings of work. Jim Eisenreich takes over in left, as a defensive replacement for Pete Incaviglia. For the first time tonight, Ron Gant (2 singles, BB) doesn't reach base safely, as he flies out. Fred McGriff draws a walk [53-37-37]. Last time, the Phillies intentionally walked David Justice, but this time they do, as West strikes him out, two outs. Terry Pendleton would also strike out.
Bottom of the 8th: The Braves are forced to send Jay Howell out there for at least one inning. Mariano Duncan grounds out to second for out number one. John Kruk reaches safely on a fielding error by Braves shortstop Jeff Blauser. Dave Hollins [33-6] smacks a double over first, sending Kruk to third. With runners on 2nd & 3rd, Darren Daulton strikes out [36-12] for the second out. Jim Eisenreich works the count to a walk. Bases loaded, Wes Chamberlain sees his pitch, big swing, but comes up empty by striking out.
Top of the 9th: The Phillies call on their closer, Mitch Williams. Damon Berryhill grounds out to short for out number one. Bobby Cox will have Bill Pecota pinch-hit for Mark Lemke. Lemke is only batting 1-for-16 (.063) this series, and although Pecota is 0-for-5, with a sac fly RBI -- Pecota did bat .323 in pinch-hitting duty this season. Pecota strikes out, as the Phillies are one out away from finishing this thing. Sid Bream will come off the bench to pinch-hit in the pitcher's slot. Williams sets, delivers... [26-29] Bream strikes out!
The Philadelphia Phillies are your 1993 National League Champions!!!
The Phillies got all 4 of their hits late, but they made them count, none bigger than Kevin Stocker's two-out, two-run triple that took the lead.
- John Kruk (PHI): batted 10-for-21 (.476) w/ 7 bases on balls, with 4 RBI & 2 SB's /.607 OBP.
- Curt Schilling (PHI): 1-0, 0.56 ERA, 18 K / 4 BB, 6 H (16 IP) with a .625 WHIP.
- Terry Mulholland (PHI): 2-0, 1.13 ERA, 7 K / 4 BB, 9 H (16 IP) with a .813 WHIP.
- Pete Incaviglia (PHI): 3 HR (4-for-17, .235)
- Fred McGriff (ATL): 4 HR (5-for-27, .185)
- David Justice (ATL): 3 HR (7-for-23, .304)
- Greg Maddux (ATL): 1-1, 2.81 ERA, 15 K / 8 BB, 9 H (16 IP) with 1.063 WHIP.
I have to say, I am still going to have to go with John Kruk as the series' Most Valuable Player, he got on base over 60% of the time, while also collecting 10 hits, 7 walks, 4 RBI & 2 steals. Plus Mulholland kind of splits up Schilling's votes there, he didn't do much worse.
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