Canterbury Baseball Club
by Sean Callahan 04 December 2006
The Padres avenged their eight-inning loss to the Cardinals two weeks ago by overcoming a 4-2 deficit in the sixth inning to win 5-4. Nicholas Batchelor's two-out, two-RBI single turned a 4-3 into a 5-4 lead and handed his brother Josh a hard-luck loss.
Leading by two heading into the sixth, Joshua Batchelor (1-3) had a four-hitter and eleven strikeouts and quickly got the first two outs in the top of the sixth on five pitches. Makoto Saito started the rally with a single before Sean Callahan walked. Kunio Kamiya hit a rocket at Nanuoko Taniguchi, who smothered it but couldn't recover in time to get Kamiya as Saito scored to make it 4-3.
After an intentional walk, Nick Batchelor lofted a 2-2 pitch into right-center for a two-run single and gave the Padres their first lead since the top of the first inning.
Callahan (4-2) retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth and Josh Batchelor followed suit in the top of the seventh.
The bottom of the seventh got interesting. Callahan got a gift for the first out, sticking out his glove to snare Junichi Tomonaga's liner back through the box. Woyak hit a dribbler between the mound and first, and Callahan returned the gift by throwing the ball away to put the tying run on second.
An intentional walk to Josh Batchelor set up the force and brought up Tony Haerewa, who was already 2 for 3, with a couple of scorching line drives.
Woyak was running on the first pitch, but Haerewa fouled it off to send him back to second. After a ball, Batchelor strayed too far off first and was picked off for the second out, as Woyak advanced to third. It was a short-lived stay, as Haerewa struck out on a foul-tip to end the game.
The Cardinals had built their lead in the first inning with four hits. Hero Maeda jerked the first pitch he saw down the right-field line for a lead-off home run, erasing the Padres 1-0 lead. Woyak followed an error with a scorching RBI triple to right-center and then scored on Josh Batchelor's sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
The Padres cut the lead in half with an unearned run in the second but the Cardinals restored their lead to two in the fourth when Maeda scored from second on an infield ground out.
Notes: The Cardinals' aggressive running cost them in the fifth inning. Haerewa tried to go from first to third on Taniguchi's single to right, but was thrown out by Saito on the relay. As the Padres threw back to second to try to get Taniguchi, the ball sailed into right field. Saito relayed to (an out of-position) Callahan who relayed to Kamiya to get Taniguchi at the plate to end the inning.
Leading by two heading into the sixth, Joshua Batchelor (1-3) had a four-hitter and eleven strikeouts and quickly got the first two outs in the top of the sixth on five pitches. Makoto Saito started the rally with a single before Sean Callahan walked. Kunio Kamiya hit a rocket at Nanuoko Taniguchi, who smothered it but couldn't recover in time to get Kamiya as Saito scored to make it 4-3.
After an intentional walk, Nick Batchelor lofted a 2-2 pitch into right-center for a two-run single and gave the Padres their first lead since the top of the first inning.
Callahan (4-2) retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth and Josh Batchelor followed suit in the top of the seventh.
The bottom of the seventh got interesting. Callahan got a gift for the first out, sticking out his glove to snare Junichi Tomonaga's liner back through the box. Woyak hit a dribbler between the mound and first, and Callahan returned the gift by throwing the ball away to put the tying run on second.
An intentional walk to Josh Batchelor set up the force and brought up Tony Haerewa, who was already 2 for 3, with a couple of scorching line drives.
Woyak was running on the first pitch, but Haerewa fouled it off to send him back to second. After a ball, Batchelor strayed too far off first and was picked off for the second out, as Woyak advanced to third. It was a short-lived stay, as Haerewa struck out on a foul-tip to end the game.
The Cardinals had built their lead in the first inning with four hits. Hero Maeda jerked the first pitch he saw down the right-field line for a lead-off home run, erasing the Padres 1-0 lead. Woyak followed an error with a scorching RBI triple to right-center and then scored on Josh Batchelor's sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
The Padres cut the lead in half with an unearned run in the second but the Cardinals restored their lead to two in the fourth when Maeda scored from second on an infield ground out.
Notes: The Cardinals' aggressive running cost them in the fifth inning. Haerewa tried to go from first to third on Taniguchi's single to right, but was thrown out by Saito on the relay. As the Padres threw back to second to try to get Taniguchi, the ball sailed into right field. Saito relayed to (an out of-position) Callahan who relayed to Kamiya to get Taniguchi at the plate to end the inning.
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