Williams vs Halladay
A hot muggy night in Texas (90's) was the setting for game 1 of the 3 game series between the 9-0 Norsemen and the 5-4 Neanderthals. Could Halladay bounce back from his pathetic performance last time out or would the Norsemen go to 10-0 ?

The first inning once again was not kind to Halladay. Dellucci lead off the game with a triple and Reese drove him in with a single. After retiring Lamb and Bonds Halladay served up a 2 run gopher ball to Woodward making it 3-0 Norsemen. Manager Toby Harrah had a heart to heart with Halladay between innings and the newly hailed ace of the Caveman staff responded. Halladay kept the Norsemen at bay while he waited on the offense to get going. In the bottom of the 4th with 1 on and 1 out, Woody Williams drilled Sheffield with an inside fastball. Home plate umpire Craft, wasted no time in tossing Williams out of the game. Unfortunately for the Cavemen their best hitter was forced to leave the game with bruised ribs. Matt Stairs greeted reliever Dan Smith a a 2 run double and Martinez followed with a triple to tie the game at 3. Michael Young then hit a sac fly to left bringing home Martinez and the Neanderthals took a 4-3 lead.

Halladay pitched in and out of trouble, but stubbornly held on to the 4-3 lead. Tino Martinez lead off the 7th with a homer to make it 5-3. The Norsemen threatened in the 8th and Mike Crudale was summoned from the bullpen with 2 on and 2 out. After walking Perez to load the bases, Crudale retired pinch hitter Mike Kinkade to end the inning. Sasaki came on in the 9th and promptly gave up a leadoff single to Dellucci. Reese struckout and Lamb grounded into a fielders choice, leaving Sasaki 1 out away from a save. Barry Bonds stepped up with a chance to tie it and Sasaki pitched him very carefully. Too carefully, as Bonds drew the 2 out walk and Woodward came to the plate with a chance to rally the Norsemen. Woodward ripped a liner to shortstop Jimmy rollins who snagged it to end the game. The Neanderthals escaped with a come from behind, 5-3 victory.

Norsemen 300 000 000 3 12 0
Cavemen 000 400 10X 5 4 0

Norsemen Data
Pitching - Williams 3 1/3, Smith 1 2/3 (L), Karsay 2, Acevedo 1
Catching - Torrealba 7, Lamb 1
SB - None
CS - Reese
HR - Woodward
INJ - None
Ejections - Williams (plus a 7 game suspension)
Limits Used - Torrealba 3 AB vs R, Ensberg 40%, Kinkade 30% and 1 ab vs R
Ineligibles - D'Amico, B. Giles, McCracken, Reynolds, D. Williams

Cavemen Data
Pitching - Halladay 7 2/3 (W), Crudale 1/3, Sasaki 1 (S)
Catching - Stinnett 9
SB - Rollins
CS - None
HR - Martinez
INJ - Sheffield (5 days)
Ejections - None
Ineligibles - Coomer, Davis, Dempster, Jackson (DL), Walbeck

Adams vs Zito
FUBAR
Game 1 of the doubleheader hardly even resembled a baseball game. Rather than waste time I will recap the highlights or shall we say, lowlights of the game.

15 runs scored by the visitors.
27 baserunners for the visitors.
16 baserunners for the visitors reached base without even getting a hit.
11 free passes handed out by Cavman pitchers.
4 hit batsmen for the visitors.
3 HPB's for Mike freakin Kinkade.
6 rbi for Barry Bonds

Manager Toby Harrah had the following comments after the game. "I know I will probably be fined by the league, but I don't even care at this point. Miller is a disgrace to umpires and couldn't call balls and strikes if his life depended on it. As for Kinkade getting hit 3 times, too freakin bad. If he keeps standing out over the plate like that we will keep knocking him down".

Norsemen 300 444 000 15 11 1
Cavemen 121 040 000 8 14 1

Norsemen Data
Pitching - Adams 4+, Swindell 2 (W), White 3 (S)
Catching - Mirabelli 3, Posada 2 Torrealba 4
SB - None
CS - None
HR - Mirabelli, Bonds, Kinkade
INJ - None
Ejections - None
Limits Used - Ensberg 40%, Kinkade 2 ab vs L and 30%, Mirabelli 1 ab vs L, Torrealba 1 ab vs L

Cavemen Data
Pitching - Zito 3 1/3 (L), Koplove 1 2/3, Zerbe 3, Rincon 1
Catching - Hernandez 9
SB - Rollins
CS - None
HR - Hernandez, Mondesi
INJ - None
Ejections - None
Limits Used - None

Pineiro vs Hudson
Would anarchy reign again in the nightcap or would the two righthanders return some sense of normality to The Cave ?

The Cavemen drew first blood on a solo homerun from Rollins in the bottom of the 1st. The lead was short lived as Neifi Perez hit a 2 out triple to score Woodward in the top of the 2nd. With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the 2nd, Ben Broussard hit an rbi single in his first at bat of the season to drive in Martinez. Once again the Norsemen struck back in the 3rd with a 2 out rbi double from Barry Bonds and the game was knotted at 2. In the bottom of the 3rd Matt Stairs drove in Rollins with a single to center and the neanderthals were back on top 3-2.

After a shaky start, both pitchers settled into a groove in the middle innings. Dan Smith came on in relief for Pineiro in the 7th and pitched 2 scoreless innings keeping his team in the game. With Sasaki warming in the pen, Toby Harrah decided to give Hudson a shot at the complete game. After retiring Kinkade on a flyball, Dellucci reached base on a catcher interference call. With the tying run on base, the Cave's braintrust decided to bring in Sasaki and a new catcher to try and shut down the rally. Pokey Reese lined out to Polanco and it was all up to pinch hitter Morgan Ensberg to keep the rally alive. Ensberg grounded out as Sasaki and the Cavemen prevailed 3-2.

Norsemen 011 000 000 2 9 0
Cavemen 111 000 00X 3 9 2

Norsemen Data
Pitching - Pineiro 6 (L), Smith 2
Catching - Posada 8
SB - None
CS - None
HR - None
INJ - None
Ejections - None
Limits Used - Ensberg 40 % and 1 ab vs R, Kinkade 30% and 1 ab vs R

Cavemen Data
Pitching - Hudson 8 1/3 (W), Sasaki 2/3 (S)
Catching - Stinnett 8 1/3, Hernandez 2/3
SB - Kingsale 2, Rollins 2
CS - None
HR - Rollins
INJ - None
EJE - None
Limits Used - None