After the flurry of activity finally resulted in the arrival of all new personnel, the Thespians welcomed the Jailbirds to Chico, Delgado back to their team, and Giambi and Piazza only had to switch dugouts.

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Game 25 Roa vs Rupe
The sight of Carlos Delgado making his first start in a Chico uniform, a start delayed by an off-season trade, sent the crowd into a frenzy. Two batters later, the home team trailed 1-0, as Junior Spivey’s double was followed by a Jim Edmonds double. Jason Giambi, in his first at-bat against the Actors an out later, grounded into an inning-ending double play, prompting the Con’s manager to question whether or not the Giambino had been associating with Manny Ramirez. Giambi couldn’t comment as there is litigation pending.

Joe Roa lived dangerously in the first two innings. Fernando Vina, in his first Thespian at bat singled, and after Delgado walked, Karim Garcia singled. Thinking they got a speedy defensive minded player, third base coach George Knox sent Vina, who was nailed at the plate by Shannon Stewart. In the second, Orlando Cabrera singled, only to get picked off by Roa. Rob Mackowiak singled, but despite his stolen base, Rupe struck out to end the inning. After Ryan Rupe got out of a touch of trouble himself in the third, the Actors took the lead on a crowd-pleasing two run homer by Delgado, and an inning later, light hitting speedster Dave Roberts duplicated the feat, to give Chico a 4-1 lead. Rupe dodged trouble into the sixth when it finally caught up with him. The inning started with a solo home run by Edmonds, and two outs later, Ellis Burks singled and Eric Hinske doubled scoring Burks. An intentional pass to Piazza brought in Chad Bradford to face newly reacquired Con, Mark McLemore. Bradford won the battle, keeping the score 4-3

After the Jailbirds got out of the 4th, they turned to their bullpen, and Rafael Soraino and Arthur Rhodes did not disappoint, holding the Actors to one hit over the last four innings. But the Chico pen was up to the task, even without closer Scott Williamson, out after pitching in all three games in the previous series. Bradford totaled 2 1/3 innings, coming out after allowing his only hit to Hinske, but Brian Boehringer entered the game and got Mike Piazza to ground into a double play, and struck out McLemore, and the first game went to Chico.

The essentials:
Game Day 28
Missouri 100 002 000 3 9 1
Chico 002 200 00X 4 11 0

Missouri Data:
Pitching – Roa (L) 4, Soriano 2, Rhodes 2
Catching – Piazza 8
Home Runs – Edmonds (off Rupe, 6th, 0 on)
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Phelps (A), Palmeiro 1 AB R

Chico Data
Pitching – Rupe (W) 5.2, Bradford 2.1, Boehringer (Sv) 1
Catching – Wilson 9
Home Runs – Delgado (off Roa, 3rd, 1 on), Roberts (off Roa, 4th, 1 on)
Stolen Bases – Mackowiak, Roberts
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Garcia (A), Mackowiak 3 AB R, 1 AB L, Roberts 4 AB R

Other Info:
Night game, Temperature in the 90’s, Clear
Wind light at 0-9 mph
HP Umpire – Runge (N)

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Game 26 Martinez vs Walker
With the all of the transactions, the Thespians were forced to turn to long reliever Pete Walker to face the Jailbird ace, and after pitching out of a jam in the first inning, the Thespians struck for a run against Pedro. With one out, Vina singled, and Shea Hillenbrand was plunked. Delgado continued his clutch hitting with a double scoring Vina, and Hillenbrand was gunned down at the plate by Ellis Burks. Garcia couldn’t come up with the clutch hit, and the Actors could only say “what if” with their 1-0 lead. And in the third inning, Burks gave the Cons all the offense they would need. A one-out hit by pitch of Stewart, and a two out walk to Hinske preceded Burks shot over the left field wall. The Jailbirds led 3-1.

Pedro Martinez did his job the rest of the way, with the exception of hanging a curveball to, you guessed it, Carlos Delgado. Delgado took it over the train tracks in right for his second shot of the series, but Pedro was golden the rest of the way, finishing with 10 strikeouts in 8 innings. Armando Benitez, whiffed two in the 9th in picking up the save, and nailing down the 3-2 final.

The essentials:
Game Day 29
Missouri 003 000 000 3 7 0
Chico 100 100 000 2 4 1

Missouri Data
Pitching – Martinez (W) 8, Benitez (Sv) 1
Catching – Piazza 8, Widger 1
Home Runs – Burks (off Walker, 3rd, 2 on)
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Phelps (A), Widger 0 AB, Palmeiro 1 AB R

Chico Data:
Pitching – Walker (L) 5, Fyhrie 3, Boehringer 1
Catching – Wilson 9
Home Runs – Delgado (off Martinez, 4th, 0 on)
Stolen Bases – Vina
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Garcia (A), Minor 1 AB R, Roberts 4 AB R

Other Info:
Night Game, Temperature in the 90’s, Clear
Wind Out 10-19 mph
HP Umpire – Reilly (N)

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Game 27 Ohka vs Sabathia
Newly-arrived C.C. Sabathia was sent out to the mound before the home crowd. The Thespians needed a quality start with their bullpen in tatters. This is one need that went unmet.

A breeze of a first inning for Sabathia, and an unearned run in the bottom of the first gave Sabathia too much confidence. The top of the second found a double by Burks, a walk to Perez, and Piazza hit by a pitch to load the bases. Spivey grounded to second, but the double play could not be turned this time, and the score was tied. Consecutive singles by De Rosa and Ohka led to a 3-1 lead, and an out later, Giambi doubled home another run. An inning later, the Cons were back at it again. Burks walked, and two outs later, Spivey singled and an error by Cabrera put runners at second at third. Sabathia was able to talk pitching coach Billy Chapel into letting him pitch to De Rosa. The Con shortstop tripled to clear the bases. But the point was moot a batter later as Ohka ripped a double for his second hit and second RBI in as many innings. The lead was 7-1.

Then it became Home Run Derby. Leading the Thespian charge was, of course, Delgado, who celebrated his return to the organization with homers in each of his first three games. Spivey evened the Derby in the 5th. Cabrera, attempting to make up for his two errors in the series, hit a two-run shot in the 6th. And Giambi knocked out his 12th homer of the year in the 8th, and first this season as Jailbird to tie the Derby at 2. As the home run derby was tied, we’ll let the number of runs determine the winner. The Jailbirds won that battle 9-4.

The essentials
Game Day 30
Missouri 043 010 010 9 13 1
Chico 100 102 000 4 7 2

Missouri Data:
Pitching – Ohka (W) 9
Catching – Piazza 9
Home Runs – Spivey (off Sabathia, 5th, 0 on), Giambi (off Eischen, 8th, 0 on)
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Phelps (A), Perez 2 AB L

Chico Data:
Pitching – Sabathia (L) 5, Boehringer 2, Eischen 2
Catching – Wilson 9
Home Runs – Delgado (off Ohka, 4th, 0 on), Cabrera (off Ohka, 6th, 1 on)
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Garcia (A), Roberts 4 AB R

Other Info:
Night Game, Temperature in the 80’s, Clear
Wind light at 0-9 mph
HP Umpire – Kellogg (L)

Stats to follow tomorrow night…