Pitchers rule in Block 4 debut

Finer Things Club (Chad East) took two of three from the Harrison Cougars (Biv East) in a late-night battle of the top two teams in the division.

The brisk 50-minute series featured fine pitching all around:

Game 1: Finer 3, Harrison 2
W-Verlander (6-3), L-Burnett (5-4), S-Chamberlain (1)
Justin Verlander took a shutout into the ninth, where the Cougars, down 3-0, made it interesting. With two outs and a man on second, Jorge Velendia delivered a pinch-hit double to make it 3-1. Joba Chamberlain entered to face pinch-hitter deluxe Timo Perez, but the hitter stroked an RBI single off his card for a 3-2 score. But Joba got Matt Stairs to roll out to short to end the game. FTC's three runs came in the third in cheap fashion. B.J. Upton converted a 1-6 single, Jorge Posada reached on a curious infield hit to Placido Polanco (2e0) and Frank Thomas rolled low on a ballpark homer (1-7) for a three-run shot against A.J. Burnett.

Game 2: Finer 6, Harrison 3
W-Halladay (6-3), L-Shields (2-3), S-Downs (3)
Marcus Thames launched a clean three-run shot in the second, and leadoff man Upton followed with a (clean) solo smash (his team-high 12th) to give FTC all it needed. But the game got tense before Scott Downs entered to record the final five outs for his third save. Interesting stat: The top eight hitters in the Cougars' lineup each had at least one hit, but only Polanco (two) had more than one.

Game 3: Harrison 3, Finer 0
W-Matsuzaka (5-1), L-McGowan (3-3)
This one was all about Dice-K, who went 8 2/3 scoreless innings for his fifth win. Harrison got all three of its runs in the sixth, with the big blow a two-run double by Sean Casey. Rafael Perez retired Ryan Garko, who represented the tying run, on a flyout to center to end the game and record his JKSA-best 14th save.

Up next:
Surly Nausicians (18-20)* at Finer Things Club (30-15)
Harrison Cougars (26-19) at Bob Loblaw (22-20)