Borealis Sweep Dinos, Renew Bears Rivalry
Borealis Sweep Dinos, Renew Bears Rivalry
Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger
October 8, 2014: Aurora, Colorado – Aurora‘s troubles with Fargo have long been noted. The teams split their 12-game series this year, but you’d never know it by Aurora’s convincing sweep of the Dinosaurs.
Now Aurora faces their long-time nemesis, Bakersfield. The Bears are locked and loaded with the Sovereign League’s top pitching staff. They own a convincing 12-6 series win over Aurora this season. With playoff stud Markus Hancock (career 9-3, 2.30 ERA in the post-season) poised to pitch Games 1, 4 and possibly 7, Aurora is all too familiar with the tough task at hand.
First off, let’s look at the series with Fargo. Both teams came into the playoffs on a serious September roll, but the Borealis jumped all over Fargo starter Bill Lewis in Game 1 with a pair of runs in the first on run-scoring singles by Cory Pierce and John Knight. Little would we know that’s all Aurora would need. Kojima was masterful, going into the 7th and giving up three hits. A two-out walk brought Kelly Burns in to finish the game with 2.1 IP, 1 H and 3 K. Aurora battered Lewis and greeted reliever Roberto Montaño with the same fervor on their way to a 12-0 shellacking of the Great Lakes champion.
Game 2 saw Aurora once more take an early lead, scoring three in the first on an RBI 2B by Steve McDonald and a 2-R HR from Al Edwards. With Artie Tillman on the mound, you’d think Aurora would be in good shape, but Tillman gave up a three run 5th, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back doubles by Sugimoto, Fowler and Potts that helped tie the game at four. Meanwhile Armando Gallegos settled down and pitched into the 8th, where, with two down, Bob Keller singled and Brad Cain hit a 2-R HR to give Aurora a 6-4 lead that Bryant Burris held in the 9th to send Aurora back to the Front Range up 2-0.
Game 3 at Aurora promised to be another victory in the eyes of Borealis’ fans as Francisco Chávez took the mound. There has arguably been no better pitcher in September the past two seasons than Chávez, and Franky didn’t disappoint the crowd. Aurora once again jumped out to a quick lead, this time scoring three in the second on back-to-back HRs by Cain (a 2-R shot) and Keller – really a deadly combination for Fargo this series. Aurora plated two more in the fourth as Cain and Keller struck again. Cain opened the inning with a 2B and Keller followed with his second HR off Chandler Davis, sending him to an early shower. In 3+ innings of work, he gave up five runs on eight hits. This time, Montaño held Aurora and gave Fargo a shot to come back. A two-out, 2-R HR by Mendoza – after fouling off three 0-2 pitches – brought Fargo within three, but Garza and Suárez held the Dinos to a single hit in the 7th and 8th, and Burris held on for his second save of the series.
So Aurora will travel to a familiar place: Bakersfield, CA, were the Borealis were 3-6 for the year, winning only a single game in all three series played there. The Bears advanced after being down 2-1 to the wounded Sandgnats by holding the Gnats to single runs in the last two games behind Fireworks (on short rest – again) and Okazaki. The Bears catch a break in that the three days off between series gives Hancock an extra day between starts. Bad news for most teams, but for Aurora, it may be more annoyance. If there is a team that can score off Hancock – at least during the regular season – it is Aurora. His 4-1 record vs. Aurora may be more due to Borealis pitchers’ failure to stop the Bears than his ability to stop the Borealis. Hancock has given up 35 H in 34.1 IP and 13 R for a pedestrian (for him) 2.62 ERA. Aurora’s history against Hancock has been a mixture of days they chase him early and days where they are dominated. With the likelihood of facing Markus at least twice, Aurora no doubt will look for a split – and run with it to the bank.
Aurora’s battering of Fargo lefties Lewis and Davis hopefully bodes well, as they face two formidable Bears lefties in Okazaki and Benjamin. Okazaki, in particular, has been brutal on Aurora, leading Bakersfield to four one-run victories, including two consecutive 1-0 shutouts over the tough Borealis lineup. This includes his June 18 one-hit shutout where he struck out nine. The big question: Will Bakersfield pitch Okazaki on short rest in Game 5 or push him back to Game 6 on full rest? I suspect that will have a lot to do with how the series stands (read: How did Markus do?).
Fred Benjamin had an impressive rookie campaign, going 18-6 with a 2.85 ERA, but after a mid-April outing where he held Aurora to one run, the Borealis beat him up pretty good in two late-season starts in which he gave up 16 H and 11 runs in 7.2 IP. How the Bears do in this series may very well hinge on how they use these two outstanding lefties. Needless to say, how Aurora does may hinge on how they hit these two. Assuming they make four combined starts, Aurora’s moving on to the PEC might very well ride on taking all four games – a very tall order!
Offensively, Aurora struggled to find the fences – not surprising when you consider Yum! Field. Aurora managed just 5 HR against the Bears, not a one at Yum!. Three came off the bat of Bob Keller, who’s swinging a hot one at the moment, going 8-11 in the Fargo series with 6 R and 4 RBI to accompany his 2-HR day. Orlando López (.361 in nine games), José Rivera (.327), Steve McDonald (.333) and Al Edwards (.297) have been the most effective hitters for the Borealis in their games with the Bears. Pierce (who’s struggling thus far in the post-season), En-guo, Cain and Mark Richardson have all been ice cold vs. the Bears this year. Aurora will need to improve on their .242 average if they plan on returning to the PEC after a two-year hiatus.
John Knight only hit .234 vs. Bakersfield this year, but Aurora will have to make do without the 2013 Royal Raker, who was placed on the DL with a strained quad after a collision on a play at the plate in Game 3. Aurora will move Cory Pierce to LF. After some discussion, Aurora has brought up Ken “Doll” Coleman, who tentatively will fill the DH spot Pierce vacated. Coleman began 2013 strong. He was hitting .352 on April 24, but once the league caught up to him, he struggled mightily. A month and change later, his average had plummeted 100 points. He struggled to make contact and was shipped back to AAA. Back at Thornton, Coleman found his stroke (.321 and 14 HR), and when he got a brief call-up at season’s end, he went 5-8. Best of all, he has a hit off Hancock. Maybe that will give him that iota of confidence to make the difference.
Aurora led the PEBA in stolen bases and by a margin of 100+ over Bakersfield, but they may have to cool their jets in this series. Bears rookie catcher Richard Wymer has thrown out 43% of the potential base stealers he’s faced. In a series where every out will have the value of gold, Aurora can’t afford to be giving them away. Where they may use their speed is advancing bases. With the weak arms Bakersfield has in the outfield – Cal Edwards and José Martínez, in particular – the steals that don’t happen may be made up by aggressive advancement on base hits. Assuming Aurora gets any hits!
Bakersfield’s offense is led by 1B Miguel Salinas, who hit .323 with 17 HR and 72 RBI. Against Crystal Lake, Salinas managed just four hits in 18 AB, though he did drive in four. Aurora must contain the man at the top of their lineup, their Steve McDonald: Artie Marsh. Marsh hit .297 for the year and is the Bears’ main SB threat with 19. Marsh only had two hits vs. the Gnats, but he has long been a thorn in Aurora’s side. This year was no exception, as he hit .345 against the Borealis. If Marsh has a big series, the Bears will likely be playing for the Rodriguez Cup.
What story about Bakersfield would be complete without mentioning Mr. Bear? Pat Lilly missed half the season due to injury, but he still managed to hit .297 with 14 HR and 44 RBI. His .279 AVG and 3 HR in 12 games vs. Aurora seems average by his standards. With a 5-15 post-season thus far, Lilly could be poised to repeat his fine 2013 playoff run, this time leading his team to the next step.
We will not venture a guess on how this series will go. Aurora took down a very good Fargo team, employing an explosive offense against a pretty good pitching staff. They face a Bears team with stellar pitching that gets just enough offense and that just held a good (albeit injured) Crystal Lake team to two runs in two potential series-clinching games. This much we can say: Kojima will have to pitch much better than he has against the Bears this year. He needs to shut them down and give his team a chance. Cory Pierce needs to find his post-season stroke – .154 ain’t going to cut it! Put those clippers away fans; you’ll need every millimeter of nail to chew on for this series!
