2000 Fehr Divisional Playoffs
San Juan vs Rosehaven; Rio Salado vs Madiba
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Bums overcame two early Piazza homers and gritted their way back from a 4-1 deficit with one in the seventh and two in the eighth. But the Bums bullpen faltered, too, as Greg Norton's pinchhit single in the eighth put the River Dogs up 5-4. Piazza followed with a single to make it 6-4 and all looked well for Rosehaven. But it wasn't. With two outs and nobody on, the Dogs bullpen snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. A double and two walks brough up Todd Hundley, whose salami sealed the deal.

           123 456 789   R  H E 
Bums       001 000 125   9 12 0
River Dogs 101 011 020   6 12 0
SJB - Brown, Mecir (7), Nen (8)(W,1-0), Telford (9)(S,1); RRD - Park, Tam (8)(BS,1), Worrell (9)(H,1), Leskanic (9)(L,0-1)(BS,1), Weathers (9). HR - SJB: Hundley (1); RRD: Reese (1), Piazza 2(2)

Game 2 - San Juan at Rosehaven
David Wells (12-8) vs Woody Williams (10-5)

Bums got three quick ones in the first, surrounding Ellis Burks' triple, but largely the bats went quiet after that. Rosehaven struggled to catch up, and finally took the lead, with heroics from some of their lightest bats. Pokey Reese sac fly in the 5th, and RBIs from Darren Lewis and Derek Jeter (on Nen's bases loaded walk) in the 6th put Rosehaven ahead, and an insurance RBI single by Brian Hunter in the 8th provided the last run. Four errors by San Juan proved their undoing. Series tied 1-1 heading to Puerto Rico.

           123 456 789   R  H E 
Bums       300 000 000   3  5 4
River Dogs 100 012 01x   5  9 1
SJB - Wells (L,0-1), Nen (6), Mecir (8); RRD - Williams, Manzanillo (6)(W,1-0), Painter (7)(H,1), Tam (8)(S,1). HR - none

Game 3 - Rosehaven at San Juan
Makato Suzuki (18-5) vs Tim Hudson (18-11)

Bums got four in the first, capped by Todd Hundley's three run homer, but only could manage two lonely singles after that. Rosehaven narrowed to 4-3 in the second on Palmiero's home run, and then rallied for two runs with two outs in the fifth to take the lead. Sammy Sosa's double tied it, and Jim Edmond's 3rd RBI of the game won it. Sosa homered for an insurance run in the 8th.

           123 456 789   R  H  E 
River Dogs 210 020 010   6  7  0
Bums       400 000 000   4  5  0
RRD - Suzuki (W,1-0), Worrell (8)(H,1), Tam (9), Weathers (9)(S,1); SJB - Hudson (L,0-1), Telford (7), Sauerback (8), Mecir (9) HR - Palmiero (1), Sosa (1), Hundley (2)

Game 4 - Rosehaven at San Juan
Hideo Nomo (11-8) vs Kevin Brown

Rosehaven took a 3-1 series lead off Kevin Brown, pitching on three days rest. Jeter, Sosa, Edmonds, Rolen, and Palmiero each had at least two hits. Edmonds started things out with a 2 run homer to cap a 3 run first, and San Juan couldn't do all that much with Hideo Nomo.

            123 456 789   R  H  E 
River Dogs 300 120 300   9 13  0
Bums       000 110 000   2  8  1
RRD - Nomo (W,1-0), Manzanillo (8), Painter (9); SJB - Brown (L,0-1), Telford (5), Embree (7), Rose (7). HR - RRD: Palmiero (2), Edmonds (1)

Game 5 - Rosehaven at San Juan
Tomu Okha (5-1)  vs David Wells

Will Clark's two run double started the Bums off, and two home runs by Jay Bell and one by Todd Hundley provided insurance as San Juan avoided being swept at home by three Japanese starting pitchers. Between Jeter's home run in the 3rd and RBI single in the 9th, Rosehaven faired poorly against starter David Wells, who allowed just two singles and two walks in that period.

           123 456 789   R  H E 
River Dogs 021 000 001   4  8 1
Bums       310 002 01x   7 10 0
RRD - Ohka (L,0-1), Painter (4), Manzanillo (7), Leskanic (9); SJB- Wells (W,1-1), Nen (S,1). HR: RRD Jeter (1); SJB - Hundley (3), Bell 2(2)

Game 6 - San Juan at Rosehaven
Kurt Bottenfield (7-8) vs Park

Tom Goodwin's double in the bottom of the 5th broke open a scoreless tie, and Mike Piazza added a two run single. San Juan got one back in the 6th on Hundley's sacrifice fly, but Ventura and Neifi Perez were retired. The series was lost in the 8th when Rosehaven rallied for four more. Palmeiro and Norton singled in runs, and then Nen and Sauerbeck walked another 4 batters. Rosehaven wins their first playoff series in three years.

           123 456 789   R  H E 
Bums       000 001 001   2  7 0
River Dogs 000 030 04x   7  9 0
SJB - Bottenfield (L,0-1), Mecir (7), Nen (8), Sauerbeck (8); RRD - Park (W, 1-0), Tam (8)(H,1), Worrell (9) HR - none

MVP: Jim Edmonds, closely over Rafael Palmeiro. Edmonds went 8-21 vs 9-21 for Raffy, but delivered more key hits and drove in a team high 7 runs. Todd Hundley was the major offensive force for the Bums with 3 HR and 10 RBI, but aside from that and Jay Bell's 2 HRs in game 5, the San Juan offense was dormant.... Hundley allowed 10 SB in 12 opportunities... Rob Nen walked 8 batters in his three innings of work (four appearances), including 2 intentional... San Juan walked eight intentionally in the series, more than the other seven teams first round teams combined. Rosehaven went 2-6 with a sac fly following those intentional walks (one baserunner went astray, accounting for the either instance).

Jorge Posada hit a three run homer in the bottom of the second and the rout was on. Brian Giles added a three run shot in the fifth, making it 9-1, erasing any doubt. All of the United starters had at least one hit.

           123 456 789  R  H E 
Scorpions  010 000 011  5 11 1 
United     050 042 21x 14 16 0
RIO - Vazquez (L,0-1), Strickland (5), Simas (7), Hasegawa (8) MAD - Leiter (W,1-0), White (7)(H,1), Ponson (8) HR - MAD: Giles (1), Posada (1)

Game 2 - Rio Salado at Madiba
Kevin Appier (10-6) vs Jon Lieber (15-9)

Shannon Stewart homered in the first, and United got four before the inning was done. Jeff Kent added another two in the 2nd, and Lieber allowed 5 hits and struck out 9 in eight innings. Posada had another 4 RBIs, making 7 in the first two games. Given Leiter's win and Vazquez's game 1 loss, the pre-season trade, measured directly, doesn't seem like a Scorpion success.

           123 456 789  R  H E 
Scorpions  000 010 000  1  5 1
United     420 000 030  9 10 0
RIO - Appier (L,0-1), Osuna (7) MAD - Lieber (W,1-0), Barcelo (9) HR - MAD: Stewart (1), Kent (1)

Game 3 Madiba at Rio Salado
Bruce Chen (13-5) vs Esteban Loaiza (8-10)

Loaiza spotted United four in the first, with Giles and Posada each picking up two RBIs. The Scorps got 2 back in the bottom of the inning on four singles and a walk, but the United pitching collapsed over innings 3 and 4. Chen walked three in a row after a leadoff double, and a sac fly and Bordick error opened a 6-4 lead. After the next inning it was over, with bases loaded walks, triples, errors, etc. Overall, United walked 11, committed three errors, and gave up 15 hits in a well deserved loss.

           123 456 789    R  H E 
United     400 001 000    5  9 3
Scorpions  204 800 40x   18 15 0
MAD - Chen(L,0-1), Ponson (4), White (8); RIO - Loaiza (W,1-0), Hasegawa (8) HR - none

Game 4 -Madiba at Rio Salado
Darren Dreifort (18-5) vs Kris Benson (15-5)

Dreifort allowed four hits in six innings and helped his own cause with a third inning homer. Benson's wildness in the 4th contributed to two more United runs. Scorps got close when Konerko homered in the 7th to make it 3-2, it was followed by Alicea's triple one out later. But Paul Wison and Rich Garces finished, allowing the minimum, and aided by a Carlos Delgado two run insurance single in the 9th.

           123 456 789   R  H  E 
United     001 200 002   5  9  0
Scorpions  000 001 100   2  5  0
MAD - Dreifort (W,1-0), Wilson (7)(H,1), Garces (9)(S,1) RIO - Benson (L,0-1), Strickland (7), Simas (9) HR - Dreifort(1), Konerko (1)

Game 5 Madiba at Rio Salado
Leiter vs Brian Anderson (18-7)

United defense was terrible, like in game three, and two throwing errors in the first inning by Richard Hidalgo paved the way for a 7 run inning. Anderson gave up a lot of extra base hits, but his control was sharp, and the result was an easy 11-6 win for Rio Salado. Down, 3-2 the Scorpions go back on the road, where they haven't been all that successful.

            123 456 789   R  H E 
United      020 110 020   6 12 3
Scorpions   730 001 00x  11 12 0 
MAD - Leiter (L,1-1), Jiminez (5), White (8) RIO - Anderson (W,1-0), Sasaki (8) HR - MAD: Delgado (1), Posada (2), Canseco (1), RIO: Kapler (1), Kreuter (1), Sexson (1)

Game 6 - Rio Salado at Madiba
Vazquez vs Lieber

The bottom of the Scorpion lineup erupted for 5 in the 4th, taking a 6-2 lead over United, but Vazquez couldn't hold it. The bottom of the United lineup, Posada and Bordick, contributed key hits in overturning the margin to 7-6. Rio Salado tried to rally in the 6th. Alicea drilled a single to center to lead off, making him 2-for-2. Miller squibbed to Lieber, moving Alicea to 2B.  O'Leary (another lefty) came on to pinch hit for Vazquez and, with 1B open, Madiba put him on intentionally.  Then Lieber walked Stynes unintentionally... so Madiba brought in White. Cameron, 2-for-2 plus a sac fly at that point, hit a screaming liner to 3B.  Hansen picked off the line drive and stepped on 3B. United piled up some more insurance runs in the late innings, while the Scorpions won quietly.

           123 456 789  R  H E 
Scorpions  010 500 001  7 10 1
United     020 230 31x 11 15 0
RIO - Vazquez (L,0-2), Osuna (6), Simas (8) MAD - Lieber (W,2-0), White (6)(H,2), Garces (8), Ward(9) HR - MAD: Stewart (2), Hidalgo (1), RIO: Kapler (2)

MVP: Posada... who went 13 for 22, with 7 doubles, 2 homers, 4 runs, *18* RBI, and 2 walks, for a .591 BA, .625 OBP, and 1.182 SLG. In the three Madiba home games, he had 13 RBIs... Gabe Kapler had a good series, going 7-13 with a couple of home runs... Rio Salado had a lot of trouble with their middle relief, with Simas and Osuna sporting double digit ERAs. That probably led to holding onto a tiring Vazquez in game 6... Like the Antioch/New Jersey series, this was a 6 game series notable for a lack of close games. Here the margins were 3,4,5,8,9, and 13 runs; in the Antioch series 4,4,5,7,9, and 9 runs.