Mudville came into this series on a 6 game losing streak, by far their longest of the year...and New York came into it on a 2 game winning streak, by far their longest of the year. Doughnut fans sparsely populated the Polo Grounds hoping both trends would continue.

Mud: Jason Schmidt
NY: Randy Johnson
Riding that 2 game winning streak, the Doughnuts came home and had Randy Johnson on the mound, sparking fantasies of something so far-fetched, Doughnut fans dare not speak of it...a 3 game winning streak.

It didn't look so far fetched when New York took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning, thanks to a 2 out rally consisting of a single and back to back doubles by the 6-7-8 spots in the order. The machine knows as the Doughnut offense was rolling again...those 2 runs ran the tally of runs scored in our last 38 innings to 42 runs.

Mudville's Vladimir Guerrero homered in the 4th to put the Spiders on the board, and an inning later they tied it thanks to their own 2 out rally. Three straight singles scored the tying run, with Jose Vidro getting the RBI single.

Tied in the 8th, Guerrero came up with 2 down for Mudville, and he put the capper on his 4-4 day with his 2nd HR of the evening, giving Mudville a lead they would not relinquish.

And that "machine" known as the Doughnut offense? Well, in the last 7 innings, they combined for 1 single and 1 hit batsman.

June 24
Mudville 000 110 011 - 4 10 0
New York 020 000 000 - 2 4 0

Spiders info:
Pitching: Schmidt 8 (W), Stanton .1, Dotel .2 (SV)
Catching: Krueter 9
HR: Guerrero 2
Injuries/Suspensions: none
Limits: Hudson (I), Infante (I), Krueter 2 ab-L, 1 ab-R

Doughnuts info:
Pitching: Johnson 8 (L), Mesa 1
Catching: JLopez 9
HR: none
Injuries/Suspensions: none
Limits: Hafner (I)

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Mud: Mike Maroth
NY: Barry Zito
Barry Zito made his first start in Doughnut Blue and Yellow, hoping his struggles in Collin County would be cured by a change of scenery. Plus players usually like when they are traded from a team contending, to a team that is happy when it wins 2 in a row.

This game had a playoff intensity, with each team playing chess with the bench and bullpen, even though this was game 1 of a doubleheader. This of course differed from most Doughnut games this year, which have had the intensity of a Christopher Cross concert.

Even though New York had men on in each of the first 3 innings, Mudville took the first lead, when Paul LoDuca tripled in Jeff Bagwell in the 4th inning.

The rest of the game was played as if the schedule date was June 1903.

New York tied it in the 5th, when Ray Durham singled, advanced to 2nd on a groundout that was a sure DP if not for Durham running with the pitch, and scored on a Juan Gonzalez single.

Mudville re-took a 1 run lead in the 6th, when Paul Loduca scored on a squeeze bunt by Rafael Furcal.

New York then sent had the top of the order due up in the 7th, facing Ray King, who stayed in the game for Mudville after squashing a Doughnut rally in the 6th. But King's 1st 2 batters faced in the 7th, Durham and Catalanotto, singled and walked. Mudville brought in Giovanni Carrera to face Juan Gonzalez, and he got him to fly to center. Durham though, tagged and went to 3rd, and he scored on a single by Javy Lopez. Rondell White was up next and he singled as well...Catalanotto tried to score, but he was thrown out by Kearns.

The Doughnuts had the bottom third of the order due up in the 8th, but the inning got off to a good start for the home team when Boone singled. He went to 2nd on a ground out, then went to 3rd on a passed ball by Chad Krueter. Mike Stanton was brought in by Mudville to face Abe Nunez, who is horrid from the right side. But Stanton could not find the plate and walked him, setting up corners and only 1 out for Durham. And in a brilliant display of stealing what worked for the opposition, Durham squeezed home Boone, giving the Doughnuts a 3-2 lead.

That 3-2 lead became a 3-2 win when Mesa closed out the 9th.

June 25
Mudville 000 101 000 - 2 6 1
New York 000 010 11x - 3 10 0

Spiders info:
Pitching: Maroth 5, Banks .1, King .2, Carrera 1.1 (L), Stanton .1, Cogin .1
Catching: LoDuca 7, Krueter 1
HR: none
Injuries/Suspensions: none
Limits: Hudson (I), Infante (I), Bragg 1 ab-R

Doughnuts info:
Pitching: Zito 6, Worrell 2 (W), Mesa 1 (SV)
Catching: JLopez 7, Barajas 2
HR: none
Injuries/Suspensions: none
Limits: Hafner (I)

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Mud: Brett Tomko
NY: Aaron Harang
With neither Randy Johnson (L) and Barry Zito (ND) registering a W in the first 2 games of this series, New York turned to its true ace, Aaron Harang, to finally get a W for a starting pitcher.

And of course, that is exactly what happened.

The Doughnuts matched their run output in this game with the combined 2 previous games of this series, and by the time Harang left the game after the 6th inning, it was 5-2 New York...and that's how it ended.

So for the 2nd consecutive time, New York wins a series...and we are now 5-2 in our last 7. Maybe it's the crack talking, but 11 or 12 more wins in a row, and we're back in it.

An odd occurrence happened in the 2nd inning while the Doughnuts were up. Juan Gonzalez came up and hit the pitched ball...the ball then sailed over the left field wall and into the seats. Everyone in the crowd was stunned. What just happened? Is there a ground rule for something like this? Well, the Doughnut research and historical teams were consulted, and as it turns out, what Juan Gonzalez did was called hitting a "home run." And it was also discovered that a run is to be awarded when a batted ball flies over the wall without bouncing. Furthermore, any runners on base also score. This was fascinating to learn about, because it had been 46 innings since the last Doughnut homerun. The newer generation of fans had not seen such a play. You never know what you'll see when you head on out to the old ballpark.

And how bad did the doubleheader go for Mudville? Their lone break came when Spiders CF injured himself chasing a Wendell Magee fly ball. Two runners scored on that double, and it gave the Doughnuts a 3-0 lead. So what was the big break fro Mudville, you ask? Jones had to be taken out of the game, but Dr. Guard said the injury was minor, and he could play in the next Spiders tilt.

Maybe someone who Dr. Guard wishes was injured was Austin Kearns...Kearns went 0-4, hit into TWO double plays, and with 2 on and 2 out in the 5th (score 3-1 NY), he popped out to 3rd.

June 25
Mudville 000 011 000 - 2 10 1
New York 010 220 00x - 5 7 0

Spiders info:
Pitching: Tomko 4 (L), Carrera 2, Stanton 1, Dotel 1
Catching: LoDuca 5, Krueter 3
HR: none
Injuries/Suspensions: Jones hurt 1
Limits: Hudson (I), Infante (I), Krueter 1 ab-R, Romano 1 ab-R, Bragg 1 ab-R

Doughnuts info:
Pitching: Harang 6 (W), Silva 3 (SV)
Catching: Barajas 9
HR: JGonzalez
Injuries/Suspensions: none
Limits: Hafner (I)

Mudville minors:
O Hudson
O Infante
A Ramirez
B Duckworth
G Stechschulte (the G is to avoid confusion with all the other Stechschultes)

New York minors:
T Hafner
M Benard
K Gryboski