Game Five recap, by Tom DiStefano:

This was a big game for a number of reasons. Besides giving one of us the series
lead, I felt that this game was important because it gave me the ability to try 
to finish this series off before Game 7. Because that’s when Pedro might be 
ready to take the mound again. 

Randy Johnson vs Jason Schmidt 
Turns out that Mulder WASN’T ready to go despite only throwing 98 pitches game 2. 
The thing is, DJ still had Schmidt sitting there so this wasn’t a killer for 
him. 

Allentown won this game 6-5. Here is the scoring summary for the Ridgebacks, see
if you can find the common thread: 

1st inning – Mackowiak single, Koskie single. After a wild pitch, Bonds singles 
them both home. 2 runs. 
2nd inning – Mackowiak homer. 3 runs for Allentown. 
7th inning – Bonds homer. 4 runs for Allentown 
9th inning – Craig Wilson single, Bonds homer. 6 runs for Allentown 

If you can pick up the commonality there (besides the run in the 2nd), then 
you’re able to get a feel for this entire series. BONDS, BONDS, BONDS. Despite 
Allentown scoring 3 quick runs in the first 2 innings, we couldn’t put the game 
away. Schmidt went 5.2 innings allowing 7 hits and 4 walks (1 homer) but still 
only gave up 3 runs. 

The Ryche scored 1 in the fourth (Vizcaino double, followed by Bernie Williams 
and Scott Rolen singles) and did the rest of their scoring in the 6th. Vizcaino 
started off the 6th by hitting a fly ball to Larry “Shitburger” Walker (his new 
nickname after TWO miserable series – more on that later) which he DROPPED. 
Bernie Williams singled him home for run number 1. Rolen flew out but then Jason 
Giambi homered off Johnson for two more runs and the lead. I don’t trust my 
bullpen much and Johnson’s pitch count wasn’t bad so I left him in to face 
Magglio Ordonez who homered to give the Ryche the 5-3 lead. 

The Mackowiak homer in the 7th brought me to within 1 run and it stayed 5-4 
until the 9th. That’s where things got a little spooky. Scott Shields had thrown
a 1-2-3 8th inning so DJ stuck with him to start the 9th with Craig Wilson, 
Bonds, and Larry Walker due up. Arthur Rhodes was ready in the pen so it would 
have been useless for me to send up a lefty bat for Wilson so I just took my 
chances. Wilson singled. Now if you think back to game 4, it was the SAME 
SITUATION. Allentown down in the 9th, Craig Wilson singles, Bonds faces Rhodes 
and wins it with a homer. So here we are again, Allentown down a run, Craig 
Wilson singling, and Bonds coming up with Rhodes warmed up in the pen. I could 
almost HEAR the wheels buzzing around in DJ’s head. He clicked on “Defensive 
lineup” and then spent a solid couple of minutes with the pointer dangling over 
Arthur Rhodes name. Finally, he made the move. Rhodes threw 1 pitch. Bonds hit 
it over the right field wall. 

I had been giving Tony Chamra some short, quick updates during the game but at 
that point, I actually could not move. Tony was asking me what happened and all 
I could do was type out “HOME F’ING RUN” with my nose (like a chicken pecking 
at the keyboard) because I couldn’t move my arms. It was unbelievable. I thought
about calling the Akron police department to tell them to get to DJ Shepard’s 
house to talk him off the roof. I actually kind of felt bad about it because 
there was no way that was supposed to happen TWICE IN A ROW. I wonder what the 
actual odds were of Bonds homering off Rhodes in successive at bats. 

One other notable fact about this game. Akron had chances in the 7th, 8th, and 
9th to ice this thing against my mediocre bullpen but couldn’t quite get the 
runs home. In the 7th, they got a leadoff double (plus an error by Bonds 
allowing Varitek to take third). With a runner on third and no outs, Gomez flew 
out to shallow left, Vizcaino grounded out to first (with the infield in), and 
Bernie Williams grounded out. In the 8th, Mark “First train back to Villanova” 
Hendrickson came in to face Giambi with 1 out and walked him. He then gave up a 
double to Ordonez putting runners on second and third with 1 down. But then 
Durocher k’d PH Rusty Greer and got PH Karim Garcia to ground out. In the 9th, 
Gagne allowed leadoff singles to Varitek and Chris Gomez to put runners on first
and second with no outs. Vizcaino popped up to the infield for out number 1. 
Bernie Williams then singled to right and DJ decided to try to score Varitek 
from second. There was a play at the plate and Manny Ramirez threw him out for 
the second out. Rolen k’d to end the inning. 


Game Five recap, by D.J. Shepard:

As I mentioned before, I was wondering which Jason would show up. First a little
fun (well, not for me) with numbers. Schmidt against lefties in 
MLB: .259/.350/.402, not all that bad. Schmidt against lefties in the BDBL 
this year: .339/.429/.530, ugh. Schmidt against lefties with Akron this 
year: .385/.464/.577, I'm not liking this trend. Schmidt against lefties in the 
ELDS: .529/.619/.941,  I told Tom before we played that if bad Jason showed up, 
I might be going to the pen REAL early. 

Randy gets through the first easily despite a walk to Vizcaino. Bad Jason makes 
his way to the mound. Mackowiak singles...lefty. Koskie singles...lefty. Bonds 
up and Bad Jason throws one to the screen, moving the runners up. I get Shields 
up in the pen. Bonds with a long single to the gap, scoring both runners...
lefty. Walker walks...lefty. I almost pull Bad Jason after 14 pitches, but 
there's a righty up. I decide to see what happens. Ramirez k's. Here comes 
another lefty though, McGriff. He k's!  Damian Jackson up, a righty, he can end 
it right here. Slow roller to SS, and Jackson beats it out.  They're loaded now.
LoDuca hits one to right. It wasn't routine. It was either caught at the wall or
Ordonez raced back and made a diving catch. Can't remember now. I feel very 
fortunate to be down only 2-0 at that point. 

Randy breezes through the second, making it Jason time again. Randy k's to lead 
off, luckily he bats righty. Mackowiak takes him deep...here we go again. 
Shields gets up again. But somehow, Good Jason sneaks onto the mound. Bonds 
works a two-out walk but it's sandwiched between a K and a force out...from 
lefties! 

The third is uneventful Akron goes down in order again, and Good Jason allows a 
lead-off single to Manny, but that's all. After facing the minimum through 3, 
Randy gives up a double off the wall in center to Vizcaino. Bernie singles him 
to 3rd, and Rolen singles him home. Looks like the start of something big, 
right? Wrong. Giambi whiffs yet again, Ordonez pops up to third, and Burks k's. 

3-1 now. It stays that way until the 6th. Vizcaino leading off again, and he 
crushes another one to dead center. Walker races back to the track and drops it!
Vizcaino thinks about trying for three, but slams on the brakes and scrambles 
back to 2nd. Bernie follows with a single to plate Vizcaino. Rolen hits one to 
the wall in right, but it's caught for the first out. Giambi finally figures out
that you're supposed to swing that piece of lumber in your hands, and he hits 
one out to right. Ordonez follows with a solo shot to make it 5-3. 

We've got Randy on the ropes, time for the knockout punch! "Bitchass" Burks 
grounds out to SS, and Graffanino k's. We let Randy stumble back to his corner. 

Schmidt gets the first two guys in the 6th and then walks Mackowiak. I don't 
want to find out if Bad Jason has snuck back out there with all the lefties 
coming up, so in comes "Way Back" Embree. Koskie hits into a force to end the 
inning. Varitek leads off the 7th off of Callaway, by ripping a double to left. 
Bonds misplays it off the wall and Varitek chugs into 3rd. Big run here. Tom has
his infield in. Gomez pops one up in foul territory on the first base side, but 
it just hits off the top of the dugout. Then he smokes a grounder down the 
third base line...FOUL! Then comes the short fly to left. I don't even get the 
option of sending the runner. Infield still in, and Vizcaino hits a slow bouncer
to first. I probably should've tried to send the runner, especially since I had 
the lead, but I chickened out. Two down, up to Bernie. He grounds out to 2nd. 
Missed opportunity number one. Since I have a 2 run lead, I let "Way Back" face 
Bonds to lead off the bottom of the inning. He takes him out to center. What a 
shock.  Koch comes in and finishes off the inning. 

Top of the 8th, Callaway gets Rolen to fly out to left. Tom brings in 
Hendrickson to face Giambi. Giambi works the walk. Tom wishes he had Chad 
Moeller back for about the millionth time. Ordonez follows with a double, 
sending Giambi to 3rd. Tom sprints out to the mound and rips the ball away from
Hendrickson. Durocher comes in to face "Bitchass". I really don't want to see 
"Bitchass" flail away in this situation, so I go to the bench. Greer, Garcia. 
Garcia, Greer. 2nd and 3rd, one out. I want the ball put into play, so I go with
Greer. Of course, he k's. Pitcher's spot up next, so Garcia gets his shot. Of 
course, he puts the ball in play. Groundout to 3rd. Missed opportunity number 
two. 

Shields comes in for the bottom half and gets them in order easliy. Tom 
brings Gagne in to start the 9th. Varitek leads off with a single. Gomez rips 
another single to center. Two on, noboby out, a VG bunter up, sure would be 
nice to get another insurance run in. I don't usually bunt a lot with my 
pitchers, let alone position players. This is a special circumstance though. I 
want to try and scratch out one run against Gagne. First pitch, Vizcaino pushes 
it foul. Second pitch, he pushes another one foul. By now, I'm calling him 
every name in the book. I let him swing away at the third pitch, and he hits a 
foul pop to 3rd. Bernie follows with a line shot single to center. I send the 
runners everywhere, to home, to 3rd, to second on the throw home. No way Tom is 
going to cut it though. It'll be close... Varitek slides...he's out! 

Rolen follows with a k. Missed opportunity number three. With Craig Wilson due 
to lead off and Shields dominating 8th, I send him back out there for Wilson at 
least. Rhodes and Hawkins are warmed up. Wilson dumps one into right to get 
things started. Here comes Bonds. There is a long pause. I send Tom a message...
"Unbelievable" Tom says "Deja Vu". 

I go to the pitchers page and think about it for a while. I finally decide that 
it can't happen again. He just can't get big hits EVERY time. In comes Rhodes. 
Bonds jumps on the first pitch and hits a no-doubter to right. We have another 
long silence. I'm stunned. I finally type to Tom "Whatever". He comes back with 
"Errr". We both don't know what to say.