I was back at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark with my friends Saturday night, so I didn’t get to see Johan Santana’s gem. I did get to see the Bears’ third straight walk-off win, though.
At first, I thought the Somerset Patriots had the game in the bag. Kelvin Villa gave up three runs, though he mostly managed to dodge out of trouble. The problem was Somerset starter Brian Adams. He struck out 10 batters in six innings, and I think he had better stuff than Joe Newby did when he threw the no-hitter on Wednesday.
When Sparky Lyle went to the bullpen, the Bears tied the game on a solo home run by Carl Everett and a two-run shot by Eric Munson. The game went to the bottom of the ninth as a 3-3 tie.
Munson led off the inning and was hit by a pitch. Gabe Suarez sacrificed him over to second base, but Randy Gress was unable to advance him any further. With two out, Pablo Ozuna hit a line drive to center that fell in in front of Tim Raines Jr.
Raines made a great throw to catcher Jason Belcher that beat Munson to the plate, but Munson bowled over the Somerset catcher and managed to knock the ball loose. The home plate umpire signaled “Safe” and the Bears began celebrating.
We’ll be back later today to watch Newark try to complete the sweep. If they can keep playing like this, I’ll believe they have a true chance to make the playoffs.
Just one thing, guys — it’s ok to score the winning run before the ninth inning. 🙂
Always good to beat those Patriots in dramatic fashion. Maybe the team is finally pulling it together; it would be nice to see a playoff run.
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