Wild Night in the Baker Bowl

What a game Downsouth. The Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars (20-22), struggling to get back to the .500 mark, added another tick mark to the laundry list of the problems plaguing the Downsouth Brews (15-27). After scoring three runs in the bottom of the 8th to break a 4-4 tie and perhaps propel the Brews to an all too scarce win, their bullpen blew the game giving up 5 runs of their own in the top off the 9th.

Duane Ward came in to pitch the the last frame but was blitzed despite retiring two of the first three batters. Catcher Carlton Fisk went down easy enough on three straight pitches but Ward coughed up a ground ball single to the left side by .320 hitter Fred Lynn. He then retired Will Clark for the second out and the game seemed in hand, but 5 consecutive All Star hits ended that line of thinking.

Pinch hitting, Ken Caminiti doubled down the first base line, putting runners on the corners. With the tying run at the plate, the Brews elected to intentionally walk the feared Barry Bonds (his 5th walk of the night!) but this backfired as the next batter, Frank Thomas, singled home both Lynn and Caminiti, making the score 7-6.

That was all for Ward, and the manager summoned Fred Beene from the pen to face Willie Stargell. Batting .218 with 8 HR's, the right fielder has been all or nothing for much of the season. He got all of Beene's first pitch fastball, drilling the ball deep into the night, well over the right center field wall. Three runs scored and the Brews could not recover.

Still, the line of the game belonged to Barry Bonds. 0-0, R, 5 BB, 3 IBB. Bonds has 11 HR and 29 RBI on the season.