AL East Round 2: FTC powers to series win; Biv falls to 0-4 in Rubber Games

Biv is still looking for this first big break of the season after his Harrison Cougars dropped two of three to the Finer Things Club (Chad East) on Sunday afternoon. Biv-owned teams are 0-4 in rubber games of a series, and is 1-2 in all five series played so far.

For FTC, the bullpen was the savior in a series in which it was missing key 3B Mike Lowell and the starters went 2 2/3 (injury), 4 2/3 (limited) and 5 2/3 innings (fatigued).

Game 1: FTC 13, Harrison 1.
W-J.Frasor (1-0), L-J.Lester (0-1).
B.J. Upton, Robinson Cano and Frank Thomas each homered, and the trio combined for eight hits and nine RBIs in a blowout. Ryan Raburn's two-run single was the key blow in FTC's four-run first. No. 4 FTC starter Jake Westbrook was removed for a 7-game injury in the third, bringing on Jason Grilli and Jason Frasor to clean up.

Game 2: Harrison 3, FTC 0.
W-D.Cabrera (1-0), L-J.Jurrjens (0-1), S-R.Perez (2).
Ivan Rodriguez delivered a bases-loaded, two-run single in the second and that was all the Cougars needed to support No. 5 starter Daniel Cabrera. FTC laced eight hits, three by Thomas, but could not string anything together. Joel Zumaya and Rafael Perez slammed the door with four terrific innings of relief.

Game 3: FTC 7, Harrison 4.
W-J.Verlander (2-0), L-A.Burnett (0-2), S-R.Betancourt (2).
Ryan Garko returned from an injury to record his first hit of the season -- a two-run homer -- to lift FTC to a series victory. Cano and Upton also went deep. Harrison made things interesting in the sixth, getting a two-run single from Jacoby Ellsbury off specialty reliever Joba Chamberlain. But Rafael Betancourt entered with two outs in the seventh and went the rest of the way for a hard-earned save.

Series note: Despite several key injuries, Finer Things Club is off to a fast start, boasting a team batting average of .292, a slugging percentage of .498 and a team ERA of 2.55. Top pick Jorge Posada is already paying off, with 10 hits through six games.

Up next:
Harrison Cougars (2-4) at Bob Loblaw (3-0)*
Surly Nausicians (2-1)* at Finer Things Club (4-2)