The Pelicans limp home at 3-6, fresh off a 14-2 loss to the Foofy Dogs which saw them sweep New Orleans.

Now here comes another slumping team, the two-time defending champion Missouri Jailbirds. Great.

Day 11 -- Martinez v. Schilling
Before the marquee pitching matchup of the series, the Pelican players had a players-only closed-door meeting. When asked what was discussed, Derek Jeter smiled and replied, "Groupies."

Word has it that was was REALLY discussed was 2001, when the Jailbirds were on their way to the first of two FEBC titles and the Pelicans were still the Palm Beach Hanging Chads, a really bad team inherited by Notch that won only 19 games that year. Missouri trounced the Chads every time they played that year, and some of the Pelicans -- players like Jay Bell and Junior who were on the team in 2001 -- wanted the rest of the team to understand how important is was to them (and to Notch) that they provide a strong showing for the integrity of the franchise.

"It was a very positive upbeat meeting," says the anonymous source, "They knew they had to improve their play, that's obvious with any players-only meeting because they're never called in the middle of a winning streak. There was no fingerpointing or any of that crap. The talk was about pride, and how they had to exhibit that against the champs. The leaders on this team relayed the fact that Notch wanted these games, not just because they were 3-6, but also because it's the Jailbirds. Notch always instills in the boys that if you didn't have pride you had nothing; well, in the clubhouse they were telling themselves that it's put up or shut up time."

Well, they got off to a lousy start against the Jailbirds, with two singles, a double, and an RBI groundout making it 2-0 Missouri four batters into the game. And they were facing Pedro Martinez to boot. Two runs off Pete Munro yesterday, and now it's Pedro with an early 2-0 lead. Beautiful.

No problem. Ichiro singled to start the 1st, then after a two-base error by Spivey, Junior grounded out but Ichiro scored and it was 2-1. A walk and an infield single later, Jason Kendall's sac fly tied it at 2. Then the Pelicans get 3 in the 2nd thanks to a Schilling double, singles by Ichiro and Jeter, an error on Pedro, and a single by Robin.

So much for the pitchers' duel everyone came to see. Jim Edmonds' homer in the 3rd cut the lead to 5-4, and his next homer in the 5th tied it at 5. Schilling was tired but he stayed in. Doubles by Burrell and Robin plated a run for the Pellies in the 6th to give them a 6-5 lead, and then they broke it open in the 7th, scoring 3 on a pinchhit homer by Ricky Ledee and a two-run double by Burrell.

Ledee was pinchhitting for Schilling, and we all know what that means. Oh, that bullpen.

Pedro Borbon comes in and gives up a double to pinchhitter Eduardo Perez. Esteban Yan then comes in and gives up a double to Manny Ramirez and just like that it's 9-6.

But the bullpen hangs on, Shiggy gets his first save of the year, and the Pelicans end their three-game losing streak with a little redemption.

MJ 202 010 010 -- 6 10 2
NO 230 001 30X -- 9 14 0

Jailbirds info:
Pitching -- Martinez (L) 7 IP, Roberts 1
Catching -- Wilson 7, Hundley 1
HR -- Edmonds 2 (1 on, 1 out in 3rd and solo, 2 out in 5th)
Injuries/Suspensions/Ejections -- In the bottom of the 2nd, Eric Hinske chased a foul pop into his dugout, slipped on someone's ball and chain, tripped, and dented his schnozz. He had to come out of the game but he should be okay to play tomorrow.
Limits -- Cora 5 AB v. R, Perez 1 AB v. L, Palmeiro 1 AB v. R

Pelicans info:
Pitching -- Schilling (W) 7, Borbon 0, Yan .2, Plesac .1, Hasegawa (Sv) 1
Catching -- Kendall 8, Blanco 1
HR -- Ledee (solo, 1 out, PH in 7th)
Injuries/Suspensions/Ejections -- None
Limits -- None

Player of the game: Jim Edmonds in a losing cause. 3-for-3 with two
homers off Schilling.

Anti-player of the game: We are very happy to give this to Pedro. 14 hits, 9 runs (6 earned) in 7 IP.

Day 12 -- Perez v. Vazquez
Unimpressed with the steroidal card of Odalis Perez, the Pelicans score four in the first thanks to Ichiro's two-run triple and Robin's two-run homer. Vaz cruised most of the way, and the Pelicans continued to send a message to the Jailbirds as well as themselves.

MJ 010 000 001 -- 2 7 0
NO 400 100 00X -- 5 10 0

Jailbirds info:
Pitching -- Perez (L) 4 IP, Soriano 3, Rhodes 1
Catching -- Wilson 8
HR -- Cora (solo, 2 out in 2nd), Delgado (solo, 1 out in 9th)
Injuries/Suspensions/Ejections -- None
Limits -- Cora 3 AB v. R, Palmeiro 1 AB v. R

Pelicans info:
Pitching -- Vazquez (W) 8.1 IP, Hasegawa .2
Catching -- Kendall 8
HR -- Ventura (1 on, 1 out in 1st)
Injuries/Suspensions/Ejections -- For some goddamn reason, with a runner on 3rd, no out, and a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st, Pat Burrell was ejected after disagreeing with the umpire about the exact location of strike three. This kind of bullcrap does little to help team karma.
Limits -- None

Player of the game: Vaz was sensational, giving up one run going into the 9th, and then he gave up a meaningless homer to Delgado to make it 5-2. Notch lifted him thinking the cheap save can be had but he was denied by the official scorer.

Anti-player of the game: Other than that homer in the 9th by Delgado the 2-3-4 guys in the Jailbird order (Edmonds, Delgado, Ramirez) were a combined 0-for-11.

Day 13 -- Dessens v. Ortiz
Wilner is desperate going into the last game, shuffling his lineup to avoid a sweep, but did he go overboard? Carlos Delgado batting LEADOFF!? Notch will take one of his best power hitters batting with nobody on, no sweat.

Shane Halter's sac fly in the 2nd gives the Pellies the early lead, and then they tack on two more in the 3rd thanks to a double by Junior, a pair of walks, and a wild pitch.

Ortiz is playing with fire, stranding runners left and right but eventually it catches up with you. Top 5, 2 out, Edmonds doubles to right, Delgado is waved around and Ichiro nails him at the plate to end the inning and preserve the 3-0 lead.

They finally bring in a run in the top of the 6th, but give it back after an error by Delgado causes another Pelican to score to make it 4-1. But finally (depending on your perspective) the Jailbirds begin to show championship form in the series, and if you're guessing the Pelican bullpen was involved....................well, good guess.

4-1 top 8, Ortiz gets Stewart swinging to start the inning, but after a single to Cora, a fielders choice, a hit batter, and a walk later, here comes Dan Plesac to face leadoff hitter Carlos Delgado with two out and the bases loaded down by three runs. Apparently Notch's lefty-on-lefty ploy ruined what would have been Delgado's first at-bat of the game with runners on base, so Eduardo Perez simply comes on and hits a double in the gap clearing the bases to tie the game at 4. Oh, that Pelican bullpen.

No real threat until top 10, when Spivey stole second and the Jailbirds had a man in scoring position with one out. Armando Benitez shuts down the Pelicans for the first 3 2/3 innings he's in, but then he comes out for the 12th............

Strike three to Shane Halter.

Jim Mecir is now up, Tomo Ohka is in, and apparently the lack of a pinchhitter for Mecir baffled Ohka, because Mecir (who entered the game in the 11th and was prepared to pitch quite a long time) poked one into the gap for a double. So now that sets the stage for Ichiro, who promptly grounds one up the middle and Mecir is waved around and the Pelicans complete an improbable sweep of the two-time defending champions, sending them to 2-9. The king is dead.

MJ 000 001 030 000 -- 4 10 2
NO 012 001 000 001 -- 5 13 1

Jailbirds info:
Pitching -- Dessens 5 IP, Roberts 2, Rhodes .1, Benitez 4, Ohka (L) 0
Catching -- Wilson 11, Hundley 1 (or part of 1)
HR -- None
Injuries/Suspensions/Ejections -- None
Limits -- Cora 1 AB v. L and 4 AB v. R, Perez 1 AB v. L and 1 AB v. R,
Palmeiro 1 PA (walk) v. R

Pelicans info:
Pitching -- Ortiz 7.2 IP, Plesac .1, Yan .1, Borbon 1.2, Mecir (W) 2
Catching -- Kendall 12
HR -- None
Injuries/Suspensions/Ejections -- None
Limits -- None

Player of the game: Jim Mecir pitched two shutout innings (almost
unheard of from this bullpen), then doubled and scored the winning run
in the 12th.

Anti-player of the game: Pelican fans were pleased by the display by Ohka, who pitched to two batters. The first batter (a relief pitcher) hit a double. The second batter hit a single to score the relief pitcher to win the game. Honorable mention should go to Carlos Delgado, Leadoff Hitter. The only two times he didn't lead off the inning was with the bases empty and two out in the 5th (singled) and with the bases loaded and two out in the 8th (pinchhit for). The three times he did lead off an inning he went 0-for-3. Not a good day for Carlos.

The Pelicans (6-6) continue their homestand against an injury-ravaged Eagles team. Rueter, Suppan, and Schilling are the expected starters for the Pelicans.