The Budd Bay Buffleheads clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs by taking two out of three from Margo Adams Fan Club this weekend at Margo’s adopted home in San Francisco. The change in venue allowed Buffleheads’ Manager Arne Olson to commute to work via the N-Judah streetcar line. Minions of Jobu can match the Buffleheads’ 35-13 record with a sweep of the East Dayton Hilljacks, but the Buffleheads win the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-1 series win in February. The Buffleheads will face the winner of this week’s Margo – Spahn series.
Game 1: Margo 6, Buffleheads 1
C.C. Sabathia broke out of his season-long slump by allowing only two hits through 6.1 innings and striking out eleven Buffleheads as Margo won the opener. Jhonny Peralta’s lead off homer was the only blemish for Sabathia. But Margo struck back in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs on four hits and a walk off Jered Weaver (3-3). Margo scored two more in the bottom of the 5th on a solo homer by Travis Hafner and an RBI single by Orlando Cabrera. Grady Sizemore, Jorge Posada, Nick Markakis and Carl Crawford each had two hits for the home team, and Francisco Rodriguez retired all seven batters he faced in relief of Sabathia (3-4).
Game 2: Buffleheads 4, Margo 1
Tim Wakefield scattered eight hits over 6.2 innings and Travis Hafner doubled and homered twice to lead the Buffleheads in Game 2. The visitors got single runs on solo homers from Mike Napoli and Hafner off the recently-recalled Ervin Santana (0-1). Hafner’s line shot just inside the foul pole in right scored J.D. Drew to make it 4-0 Buffleheads. The home squad put plenty of men on base, but couldn’t break through against Wakefield (5-1) until Kevin Youkilis’ two-out single plated Carl Crawford in the bottom of the 7th and put runners on first and third for Carlos Pena. But Rafael Perez came on and got Pena to pop out to end the threat. Jon Papelbon pitched the 9th for his 10th save.
Game 3: Buffleheads 7, Margo 5
Buffleheads’ ace Roy Halladay took the mound in Game 3 looking to record his league-leading 8th win against Joe Saunders. The Buffleheads got on the board early when Jason Varitek doubled to lead off the game and came home on Mike Lowell’s RBI single. The Ducks got two in the 4th on Adam Jones’ two-run homer, and Asdrubal Cabrera’s three-run blast gave the Buffleheads a 6-0 lead after five. Halladay cruised through the first six innings, but ran into trouble in the 7th when a walk and two singles loaded the bases with no outs. Margo manager Igor Greenwald then sent Alex Rios out to pinch hit for Grady Sizemore against Ducks’ reliever Rafael Perez. Sizemore was surprised, to say the least, but the gamble paid off when Rios lined a single to left center to score two. After Perez popped up Kevin Youkilis and struck out Carlos Pena, Mike Lowell bobbled a ground ball off the bat of Travis Hafner to allow another run to score. Varitek’s third
homer got a run back in the bottom of the frame. The home squad made things interesting in the top of the 9th when four consecutive singles off Mariano Rivera brought the winning run to the plate with no one out. But after Hafner struck out, Jon Papelbon came on to fan Jorge Posada and Nick Markakis to pick up his 11th save.
