Venom vs Angels
The Venom’s inaugural 2008 season kicks off with a two game series against the Los Angles Angels of Anaheim at their ballpark.
Game 1: The Angels had their ace Roy Halladay up against the Venom’s Justin Verlander. After back to back hits by Alfonso Soriano and Endy Chavez in the top of the 3rd inning, Prince Fielder smacked a 3 run homer to right field making it 3-0 Venom. Then in the bottom of the 4th, Angels catcher John Buck knocked in a run to make it 3-1 Venom. Two innings later, in the bottom of the 6th Mike Lowell hit a solo home run, making it 3-2 Venom. Venom closer Jose Valazquez entered in the 9th, but gave up a run when Angels shortstop Julio Lugo grounded out, allowing the runner on 3rd base to score and sending the game into extra innings with a 3-3 tie. Despite his blown save, Velazquez was kept in by the Venom, only to give up a walk off homer to Mark Teixeira in the bottom of the 10th. Final score: 4-3 Angels.
Box Score:
Alfonso Soriano: 0-4, BB
Endy Chavez: 1-5
Robinson Cano: 1-4
Prince Fielder: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI
Mike Lamb: 1-4, K
Alex Rios: 2-4, SB
Craig Counsell: 0-3, Sac Bunt, K
Ramon Castro: 1-4
Angel Chavez: 3-4
Pitchers:
Justin Verlander: 6 IP, 8 H, 1 K, 2 ER, 1 HR
Great Thompson: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 0 ER
Jose Velazquez (Loss): 1 IP, 3 H, 0 K, 2 ER, HR
Game 2: The pitching matchup for game 2 was Venom’s solid second man Cole Hamels against Greg Maddux of the Angels. The Venom came out firing in the top of the 1st, with Alfonso Soriano getting a leadoff double followed by a walk to Endy Chavez. Then, Robinson Cano hit a single to drive in Soriano. Prince Fielder was also walked before Mike Lamb drove in 2 runs with a single, to make it 3-0 Venom. In the bottom of the 4th, Angels second baseman Orlando Hudson drove a solo homer into the left field stands and then, after a groundout by Mark Teixeira, Victor Martinez also went yard, which made it 3-2 Venom. The next half inning, the top of the 5th, Alfonso Soriano hit a solo homer for himself, which prompted the Angels to bring in reliever Lenny DiNardo. DiNardo retired the next 2 Venom batters to keep the score at 4-2 Venom. In the top of the 6th, Prince Fielder hit his 2nd homerun in 2 games with a solo shot to center to make it 5-2 Venom. In the bottom half of the 6th, Orlando Hudson hit his second consecutive homer, another solo shot, Followed immediately by a Mark Teixeira homer. After the back to back drives, the Venom decided to bring in reliever Chad Bradford, who finished out the inning safely. In the top of the 7th, Alfonso Soriano hit another solo homer to give him two on the day as well. In the bottom of the 8th, Mark Teixeira hit a double followed by a homer from Victor Martinez, who became the third person with 2 home runs on the day, tying the game at 6-6. In the top half of the 10th Mike Lamb smashed a double with the bases loaded to give him another 2 RBI, followed by a 3-run dinger by Alex Rios. Jose Velazquez was able to uphold the lead this time, despite allowing a run across the plate, and the Venom won the slugfest. Final score: 11-7 Venom.
Box Score:
Alfonso Soriano: 3-6, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI
Endy Chavez: 1-4, BB
Robinson Cano: 2-5, RBI
Prince Fielder: 1-4, 1 HR, BB, RBI
Mike Lamb: 2-5, 2B, 4 RBI
Alex Rios: 1-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Craig Counsell: 2-4, Sac Bunt
Ramon Castro: 3-5
Angel Chavez: 1-5, K
Pitching:
Cole Hamels: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 K, 4 ER, 4 HR
Chad Bradford (Hold): 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 K, 0 ER
Jason Hammel (Win): 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 HR
Jose Velazquez: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER
|
