Game 40  Leiter vs Baez
The Thespians welcomed the Eagles, the only team that Chico was able to sweep in the first half of the season.  Hoping for a replay of that luck was Dannys Baez who struggled enormously his last time out.  This time, Baez was able to find the strike zone, walking only two in 7 1/3 innings.  Chico plated three in the second inning when consecutive singles by Delgado, Wigginton and Cabrera loaded them up.  Flaherty got run #1 home on a sacrifice fly, and Jose Cruz, Jr. came up with the clutch single to drive home the other two.  Baez and two relievers made the runs stand up, allowing only a Garciaparra RBI single in the 8th.  Mike Fyhrie got Dye to hit into a double play, and Williamson did the same to Mench in the 9th to finish off the 3-1 victory.  The injury bug continued to follow the Eagles against the Thespians as Alfonzo Soriano collided with Cruz on a steal attempt.  The resulting injury will sideline the Eagles second baseman for six days (adjusted).

The essentials:
Game Day 47
Tupelo       000  000  010   1   6   1
Chico               030  000  00x   3   5   1

TupeloData:
Pitching – Leiter (L) 7, Powell 1
Catching – Barrett 8
Home Runs – None
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – Soriano (Collision, out 8 – 6 adjusted)
Ejections – None
Limits Used – None

ChicoData
Pitching – Baez (W) 7.1, Fyhrie 1, Williamson (Sv) .2
Catching – Flaherty 9
Home Runs – None
Stolen Bases – Cruz
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Wigginton (A), 3 AB vs LH, 1 AB vs RH

Other Info:
Night game, Temperature in the 90’s, Clear
Wind In 10-19
HP Umpire – Eddings (N)

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Game 41  Trachsel vs Sabathia
C.C. Sabathia, who pitched well enough to win only to see the bullpen give up the game in his last start, threw well again.  Chico staked him to a big lead in the second, again keyed by the bottom half of the order.  Guillen singled and scored on Cabrera’s double for the first run, and Wigginton made it 2-0 by driving in Cabrera with a single.  Cruz walked, and after a botched bunt attempt by Sabathia, Grissom singled, and Hillenbrand doubled to make it 5-0.  Vance Wilson doubled home Hillenbrand and the Thespians sent 11 men to the plate in their six run inning.  The Eagles got single runs in the third and fifth, both times scoring on RBI doubles by Kevin Mench.  A sacrifice fly by Cabrera in the 4th plated another Chico run, and both sides scored in the sixth to account for the 8-3 final.  The name of the game when these two teams play is injuries, and the bug hit three times in this game.  Hillenbrand left in the top of the third when he took a bad hop grounder in the face.  Van Poppel felt pain warming up, and had to be removed after a single pitch to Wigginton, and Benito Santiago took a foul ball off his throwing hand, ending his series.

The essentials:
Game Day 48
Tupelo               001  011  000   3  10  0
Chico                060  101  00x   8  15  2

TupeloData
Pitching – Trachsel (L) 2, Van Poppel 0, Santana 4, Paronto 2
Catching – Santiago 7, Barrett 1
Home Runs – None
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – Van Poppel (Arm 1 day), Santiago (Foul Tip 4 days)
Ejections – None
Limits Used – None

ChicoData:
Pitching – Sabathia (W) 7, Boehringer 2
Catching – Wilson 9
Home Runs – None
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – Hillenbrand (Face 3 days)
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Wigginton (A) 3 AB vs RH, Minor 1 AB R, Mackowiak 3 AB vs RH

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

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Game 42  Millwood vs Haynes
The somber Eagles took the field as their Chief Elvis was not in attendance due to a family emergency.  And to make matters worse, they were facing Thespians ace Kevin Millwood, owner of 19 consecutive scoreless inning streak.  By the end of the game, the streak was at 28, and the Eagles had failed to defeat Chico in their six games this season.  The Actors scored all the runs in the first inning on a leadoff home run by Doug Glanville, and a run of 4 hits in 5 batters plating three more and ending with a base running blunder when Vance Wilson over ran the bag.  Millwood gave up 10 hits and walked two, never pitched a perfect inning, and was helped by three double plays.  For the third consecutive day, the Eagles lost a player to injury.  Starting pitcher Jimmy Haynes came out with an arm injury in the third inning.  However, this time Van Poppel was ready, throwing 3 2/3 IP of scoreless relief.

The essentials
Game Day 49
Tupelo               000 000 000  0  10  0
Chico                400 000 00x  4   9   1 

TupeloData:
Pitching – Haynes (L) 2.1, Van Poppel 3.2, Paronto 2
Catching – Barrett 8
Home Runs – None
Stolen Bases – Macias
Injuries – Haynes (Arm 3 days)
Ejections – None
Limits Used – None

ChicoData:
Pitching – Millwood (W) 9
Catching – Wilson 9
Home Runs – Glanville (off Haynes, 1st, 0 on)
Stolen Bases – None
Injuries – None
Ejections – None
Limits Used – Wigginton (A) 4 AB vs RH, Mackowiak 4 AB vs RH

Other Info:
Day Game, Temperature in the 90’s, Clear
Wind Left to Right 10-19 mph
HP Umpire – Gorman (S)