Showing posts tagged “playoffs”
Kate Shefte ·
17 Mar 2010, 2:07 AM ·
Comment
The Wizard couldn't make the magic happen tonight against the Bruins. Photo by Peggy Boone, IndyWeekBlogs
Just when it looked as though the Hurricanes were turning the corner in the recovery process, the team reverted back to its old tendencies in back-to-back smarting losses against the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-0, and more recently, the Boston Bruins, 5-2. The Bruins looked like a hungry team barely hanging on to eighth place in the Eastern Conference while the Hurricanes looked like a bunch of guys that thought, hey, it might be nice to beat the Bruins tonight maybe…if it doesn’t take too much effort. Carolina sank to ten points back from eighth, in other words, not exactly mathematically eliminated but circling the drain.
Despite these dramatically different outlooks on the rest of the spring, the ‘Canes kept it close through two and a half periods, largely thanks to Erik Cole, who scored goals seven and eight of the year to keep Carolina within reach. But the Bruins cracked the game open midway through the third and never looked back.
“There were a lot of uncharacteristic things that we haven’t been doing the last several games,” Cole said. “It feels as bad as it did early in the year at the moment, and it’s a feeling we haven’t had in this room for quite a while.”
Carolina lost its second straight on home ice after rattling off eight in a row in Raleigh. Saturday night, it was clear the ‘Canes really missed center Brandon Sutter, who sat out the game while nursing a “lower body injury.” Indy was at the game and probably should have posted a game recap, but honestly, it would have been really short and pretty boring, something along the lines of four paragraphs describing each of Phoenix’s goals and one about how listless Carolina was beneath the headline “Bryzgalov 4 Vezina!!!” Even starting goaltender Justin Peters, who absorbed the 4-0 loss, called it a boring game. He would know.
The ‘Canes have fallen back into that bad habit of letting in a few deflating goals early and it happened again Tuesday. Patrice Bergeron deflected a puck past Manny Legace 23 seconds in with assists from two ex-Hurricanes, Mark Recchi and Dennis Seidenberg.
Continue reading »
Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey Boston Bruins, Eastern Conference, Erik Cole, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jamie McBain, Johnny Boychuk, Manny Legace, Mark Recchi, playoffs, Tuukka Rask
David Fellerath ·
28 Sep 2009, 8:10 AM ·
2 Comments
RailHawks midfielder Joseph Kabwe plays the ball as Ansu Toure defends. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—Bummer. It was a lovely evening for soccer, sunny and mild in early fall. Just as it’s a little early for the leaves to change color and drop from the trees, it was a little early for the RailHawks’ remarkable season to end.
But end it did, as an exhausted and increasingly desperate squad failed to put the ball in the net against the seventh-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps, finishing with a nil-nil draw. The RailHawks needed a 1-0 victory just to get to penalty kicks, but the Cary XI closed their season by failing to score in 180 minutes and two home-and-home legs against a bigger and more experienced, playoff-hardened Vancouver side.
By the end, the RailHawks were in a 4-4-2 and throwing everyone forward. “We had chances in the first half and didn’t take them,” coach Martin Rennie said. “It made it a little more difficult. We started to go more direct.
“When you go more direct, you need the ball to bounce your way and it didn’t—which usually isn’t the way we play,” Rennie said. “We’re usually much more thought-through, much more precise. But once we weren’t getting the goal, I think maybe we began to panic a little bit, which made it more difficult to break them down.”
“You’ve got to credit Vancouver,” center back and captain Mark Schulte said. “They knew what they had to do: They had to shut us down—they sat in [on us].”
In truth, the RailHawks showed little of the squad that scored 43 goals in USL-1 league play. They launched 12 shots, but Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly only needed to make four saves.
It was one save in particular that would prove to put the kibosh on the season. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Amir Lowery, Andriy Budnyy, Brad Rusin, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Daniel Paladini, Greg Shields, Gregory Richardson, Jay Nolly, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Joseph Kabwe, Josh Gardner, Lyle Martin, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson, Matthew Delicate, playoffs
David Fellerath ·
27 Sep 2009, 1:30 PM ·
Comment
Daniel Paladini, seen Sept. 18 against the Montreal Impact, will need to be on form this afternoon. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
After the RailHawks lost 1-0 Thursday night at Vancouver, they’re in the unenviable position of needing a two-goal victory margin to move on in the USL-1 playoffs without throwing themselves into the crapshoot of a penalty-kick finish. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park. Tickets here.
Against the Whitecaps on Thursday, the RailHawks attack was notably punchless despite having Matthew Delicâte in the striker role for much of the game. Of the seven shots mustered, only a second-half look from close range by John Cunliffe posed any real danger to Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly.
However, the RailHawks would likely have shown more pace and threat in the final third if Joseph Kabwe and Gregory Richardson had been selected for the match. Although the USLLive.com commentators speculated that Richardson, a Guyanese international, had encountered visa problems, he did not make the trip (nor did Kabwe, Sallieu Bundu or Amir Lowery).
What’s apparent, then, is that coach Martin Rennie decided to keep some of his best legs in reserve for this afternoon’s return leg. He’ll need all the pace he can put on the field: The RailHawks have only been in one PK tiebreaker this season, and it was a dismal one, the sour finish at the end of Wilmington’s shocking equalizer at the last gasp of extra time in the U.S. Open Cup second round.
Prior to Thursday’s match, I looked at the RailHawks’ record of scoring goals on the road against the six other playoff teams. I discovered that the ’Hawks had been notably unprolific in this regard, notching only four goals in 10 games (although they extracted 10 points from those contests).
Unhappily, the RailHawks would not change this pattern against Vancouver last Thursday.
However, I got an interesting note from Tim Candon, RailHawks blogger and a far more astute observer than I am, in which he argued that I was paying insufficient attention to the quality of the RailHawks’ performances on the road. With his permission, I’m publishing his response here:
I like your deeper look at the RailHawks road record, but I will counter by saying look at more than just the results. Look at the performance, too, because that’s the focus for Martin. If the performance is up to snuff, the result takes care of itself.
Of the road matches against the other USL-1 playoff teams:
1. PORTLAND: The RailHawks got screwed in the first game. Josh Gardner was pulled down in the box in the 2nd minute. Not only was a penalty not awarded, but the ball was cleared off the line as it was about to trickle into the goal. If that call goes the other way, it’s a completely different game. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Gregory Richardson, John Cunliffe, Joseph Kabwe, playoffs, Sallieu Bundu, Vancouver Whitecaps
Adam Sobsey ·
23 Sep 2009, 5:00 AM ·
7 Comments
ESPN 2—And that’s that: the Durham Bulls took a 4-0 lead early, squandered it in the middle, and got help at the end to beat the Memphis Redbirds, 5-4, in 11 innings and claim the Triple-A Championship. It’s kind of amazing, really. (What’s really great is that the Bulls’ own Web site has the winning run in Memphis’s row in the linescore.) The Bulls, who are the first International League team to win the crown, are officially the best Triple-A baseball team in America, which by extension makes them the best team in the entire minor leagues. They could probably also take six of 10 from the Pittsburgh Pirates, if they had Winston Abreu—which they don’t, not anymore, but that’s for well after the jump.
Did you know, by the way, that 2009 is the Year of the Bull? A game report and some final thoughts follow.
Continue reading »
Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Brandon Yarbrough, Calvin Medlock, Carlos Hernandez, Charlie Montoyo, Jason Cromer, Jeremy Hellickson, Joe Bateman, Julio DePaula, Memphis Redbirds, Michel Hernandez, Mitch Talbot, Oneli Perez, playoffs, Rashad Eldridge, Ray Olmedo, Sean Rodriguez, Triple-A championship, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
22 Sep 2009, 12:00 AM ·
4 Comments
You can still watch a few highlights of the Bulls’ dramatic championship-clinching win over Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre on the team Web site. Those clips drive home (so to speak) just how crazy the last inning really was. Justin Ruggiano’s diving catch of Reegie Corona’s sinking slice down the left-field line was not only great per se; it also saved the game, because the ball was ruled fair (but was it fair?) by the umpire. At the end of that play, though, second baseman Ray Olmedo made a poor relay throw to first base in an attempt to turn a game-ending double play, a throw he shouldn’t have attempted at all under the circumstances. He was fortunate that after the ball sailed well to the left of first baseman Joe Dillon, it bounced straight off the railing where it was picked up by pitcher Julio DePaula, who was properly backing up the play and made a quick recovery of the ball in foul territory.
To top things off, DePaula himself nearly blew the game, catastrophically, on the very last play: Doug Bernier’s bouncer back to the mound was easy enough for DePaula to field, and you could understand his excitement in running the ball all the way to first base himself rather than make an easy toss to Dillon. But DePaula decided to make a big puddle-jump onto the bag, and the hop-step he indulged in slowed him down so much that Bernier, hustling all the way, nearly beat DePaula to first base. As it was, DePaula won the race by about three quarters of a step, but it was a scarily close play. Had Bernier been safe due to DePaula’s grasshopper insouciance, the game would have been tied. As it was, the Bulls are champions. (Champions! It’s really extraordinary, when you think about it, after all that.)
A few more notes follow on the game, the season, and the final ballgame to come. If you’re deplaning here, one thing to take away with you: Tyler’s, the pub/eatery right by the DBAP, is hosting a viewing party (the game will be televised nationally on ESPN 2) of Tuesday night’s Triple-A championship game between the Bulls and the Memphis Redbirds, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and winner of the Pacific Coast League. Game time is 7:00 p.m. and it will be a lot of fun to watch it right by the ballpark, surrounded by Bulls fans, in a place that serves something like 712 different beers. Come on out, and do drop by my table to say hello, to buy me a beer or to pour one over my head. I’ll be the guy with black (going gray) hair, the black button-down shirt, the blue jeans, the bandanna, and Heather.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Allen Craig, Calvin Medlock, championship, David Freese, Desmond Jennings, Governor's Cup, Heath Rollins, Jaime Garcia, Jeremy Hellickson, John Jaso, John Rodriguez, Juan Miranda, Julio DePaula, Justin Hoffpauir, Justin Ruggiano, Memphis Redbirds, playoffs, Ray Olmedo, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Triple-A championship, Tyler Greene
David Fellerath ·
19 Sep 2009, 11:40 AM ·
Comment
Matt Watson during practice earlier this season. Watson broke his fibula in the early minutes of last night's game. (Photo by D.L. Anderson)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—We began the evening with an early dinner at the home of friends in the countryside outside Chapel Hill. We lingered a little long and then arrived at Wake Med just in time to witness the unsettling image of RailHawks midfielder Matt Watson writhing in pain on the visitor sideline, attended by four or five trainers and staff.
Watson looked utterly stricken—he had the collar of his shirt in his teeth—but he may have been reacting also to the dread of a second debilitating injury to his wheels this season. While John Cunliffe took his place in the 17th minute, the stretcher was sent away and Watson went off the field on crutches and, apparently, to an ambulance. Word came later that his fibula was broken and his season, which was also disrupted by a knee injury, is apparently over.
It was an unfortunately sour note to an otherwise workmanlike, convincing 2-0 victory over the Montreal Impact. [Stat box here.] This result, combined with a near-simultaneous draw by the Charleston Battery, means that the RailHawks finish in second place and have the home advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Their first-round opponent will be the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the first of two legs will be played Thursday, Sept. 24 at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver.
Andriy Budnyy started again at striker in Martin Rennie’s 4-5-1 formation, and it was evident that the game plan was to play long balls over the top to him. Delivery after air-mail delivery soared his way. In the 36th, for example, Mark Schulte launched a ball from a position in the back, which Budnyy met with his head at the far post.
That ball went straight to Montreal keeper Matt Jordan, but the crowd was roused—including Cary soccer parents sitting near us who valiantly kept redirecting their kids’ attention to the game for teachable moments. And there were teachable moments: In the 27th, for example, the parent-coaches thrilled to the one-two-one-two combo between Daniel Paladini and Greg Shields down the right flank, although it only resulted in a cross just out of Budnyy’s reach.
On the evidence of the night, the RailHawks are fully in the second stage of their Gregory Richardson tactical evolution. The word is out around the league that the ball should be kept away from the dazzling Guyanese left winger, so we saw the RailHawks effectively exploit the rest of the pitch—especially in the middle where the hard-working Budnyy trolled for a ball he could put in the back of the net. The Ukrainian was caught offside several times, mistimed a few runs and had two goals disallowed. For the game, the RailHawks were caught offsides six times, to none for the Impact.
But it only takes one converted opportunity, and that moment came in the 57th minute when Budnyy took yet another long ball, from John Gilkerson, and was hacked in the area by defender Stefano Pesoli. Up came the red card and off went Pesoli.
After some disagreement between Paladini and Richardson about which up-and-comer would do the honors, Paladini ended up over the spot. Jordan went to his left, Paladini went to his left and the RailHawks had the only goal they needed. 1-0. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Brian Plotkin, Daniel Paladini, Greg Shields, Gregory Richardson, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson, Matthew Delicate, Montreal Impact, playoffs
Adam Sobsey ·
17 Sep 2009, 11:43 PM ·
6 Comments
Hot off the radio, sportsfans: The Durham Bulls have just beaten the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3-2 in 12 innings, to claim the Governor’s Cup, their first since 2003.
The bottom of the 12th was a sweaty-palmed affair after the Bulls plated the go-ahead run on the top of the inning on a double by John Jaso. Durham closer Winston Abreu, the most dominant pitcher in the league, came on seeking his third save in as many nights. He issued a four-pitch leadoff walk to Juan Miranda, discovered a bloody popped blister on his finger, and left the game.
Julio DePaula came in, making his third appearance in as many nights. DePaula is the only Bull to have been on the active roster all season long. He got Cody Ransom to fly out to left field on the first pitch he threw. Then he walked John Rodriguez. It was the 11th walk of the night allowed by Durham pitchers. The next batter, Reegie Corona, sliced a looper down the left-field line. Justin Ruggiano chased after it and made a diving, game-saving catch. The Roodge threw into the infield, where Ray Olmedo fielded the ball and tried to double Rodriguez off of first—but his throw was wild. Both runners advanced. Ruggiano crouched in left field, in pain. In the previous inning, Desmond Jennings, who had tied the game in the eighth inning with a slump-breaking, two-out, two-run single, had apparently injured himself a little bit on a big swing. He stayed in the game. The Bulls were going down, man by man, before our eyes ears.
With two outs now, the tying run was on third and the winning run on second. Doug Bernier, one of those pesky slap hitters, stepped in. He got ahead 2-1, then DePaula evened it at 2-2. Bernier hit a comebacker toward the mound. DePaula speared it. Rather than risk a throw, he ran the ball to first himself, stepped on the bag for a 1u putout (it brought to mind a funky 1u putout he made earlier this season when he ran down a man in the shortstop hole), and with their only wire-to-wire player taking the final out into his own hands, the Bulls were champions of the league. They’ll play in the Triple-A Championship game in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, against the winner of the Pacific Coast League championship series between Memphis and Sacramento.
I’ll be back with more later, perhaps not until tomorrow. But for now: Congratulations, 2009 Bulls, from Triangle Offense and the Independent Weekly. It’s been a helluva season.
Baseball, Durham Bulls Cody Ransom, Desmond Jennings, Doug Bernier, Governor's Cup, John Jaso, John Rodriguez, Juan Miranda, Julio DePaula, Justin Ruggiano, playoffs, Ray Olmedo, Reegie Corona, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, The Roodge, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
15 Sep 2009, 1:00 AM ·
2 Comments
This one is a tad easier than previewing the Bulls’ first-round series against the Louisville Bats. Before that series, Durham and Louisville hadn’t played each other in nearly two months, which is about two years in Triple-A time. The Yankees, on the other hand, visited the DBAP August 14-17, and although both teams have seen plenty of changes since then, anyone who attended some or all of those games will recognize the visitors when they return on Tuesday night.
And the visitors will recognize the Bulls’ starting pitcher. Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson has already faced Scranton/Wilkes-Barre twice this season, and he’s done very well both times. He went 7 1/3 against them on August 15, struck out seven, and allowed only two hits. Unfortunately, those two hits were both solo homers, by Juan Miranda and John Rodriguez, who remain the two most dangerous hitters in the Yankees’ lineup. The two lefty power bats have hit 33 homers between them this season. Back on July 30, Hellickson pitched six inning of three-hit, shutout ball at Scranton.
His opponent tonight will be Romulo Sanchez, a very large, hard-throwing right-hander who is probably not to be confused with Humberto Sanchez, even though Sanchez is a Yankees pitcher who is also very large, right-handed, and hard-throwing. Together, they are about 13 feet and 550 pounds of Sanchez. The difference between them is that Romulo, despite his mid-90s fastball, has low career strikeout numbers (although they’re higher this year), and Humberto has high ones. Also, Humberto is a reliever, and is recovering from years of injuries. The Bulls hitters, who are a fairly selective bunch, will need to be patient against Romulo, who has walked 34 hitters in 64 Triple-A innings this season. That’s a very poor rate.
Game Two and beyond follows. I also highly recommend Chad Jennings’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees blog, which has head-to-head matchups and is much more thorough overall than my preview.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Anthony Claggett, FNG, Governor's Cup, Humberto Sanchez, Ian Kennedy, Ivan Nova, Jason Cromer, Jeremy Hellickson, John Rodriguez, Juan Miranda, Justin Ruggiano, Kei Igawa, Matt Joyce, Mitch Talbot, Paul Phillips, playoffs, Romulo Sanchez, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Sean Rodriguez, Winston Abreu, Zach Kroenke, Zach McAllister
Adam Sobsey ·
14 Sep 2009, 4:00 AM ·
1 Comment
After the Bulls lost on Saturday at Louisville to set up a two-men-enter-one-man-leave Game Five in their International League division playoff series, manager Charlie Montoyo was philosophical. “I don’t feel pressure because the worst thing that can happen is that I will see my family the next day,” Montoyo said. “I preached that to my players. We had the best division this year in the league and it took 83 wins to win the division. So just to get to this point and to be playing a fifth game against a good team like Louisville is just awesome. It’s awesome for my club.”
You could also read that assessment as a secret hope for a loss on Sunday, which would have ended the long, hard road that has been the Bulls’ 2009 season. Montoyo could hardly be blamed for harboring a desire to have done with it all: his family has had an unbelievably trying year, he misses them terribly, and his team has been thoroughly picked over by the Tampa Bay Rays’ front office, leaving him with a patchwork lineup, bullpen and (especially) rotation, which features just two bona fide starters. On Saturday, one of the replacements, just-up-from-Montgomery Rayner Oliveros, was bombed, lasting just one full inning in what ended up a 10-7 loss. (All 10 runs were allowed by three pitchers who came into the game with a grand total of six combined Triple-A appearances.)
On Sunday, Montoyo sent Paul Phillips to the mound. Phillips is yet another newbie, called up just over a week ago. He throws hard and throws strikes, and he did that again against Louisville for five innings yesterday, getting credit for an unlikely win as the Bulls survived the Bats, 5-3. It was the fourth time in the last 12 seasons that the Bulls have knocked the Bats out of the playoffs in the first round, and the third in the last seven. The Bats haven’t beaten Durham in the playoffs yet.
Continue reading »
Baseball, Durham Bulls Alex Montoyo, Charlie Montoyo, Ebstein's Anomaly, Governor's Cup, Justin Ruggiano, Louisville Bats, Luck, Paul Phillips, playoffs, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Sean Rodriguez, The Roodge, Winston Abreu, Yonder Alonso
Adam Sobsey ·
10 Sep 2009, 4:00 AM ·
Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—Only one thing about the Durham Bulls’ 8-4 win over the Louisville Bats last night made it seem like a playoff game: the size of the crowd. The attendance, 1,809, must have been the smallest of the year to date, and that’s about normal for a playoff game at the DBAP. It’s as if fall comes along and snatches four out of every five spectators from the stands. You can pretty much sit anywhere you want for the most important games of the season each September. Not sure if it’s the playoffs? Just cock your head and listen to the unsettling silence all around you, occasionally disrupted by the home plate umpire saying “Ball Two!” so loudly that you’re startled by it.
But the fans who came were into the game in a way that regular-season crowds at the DBAP rarely are, and their intensity made up for their fellow citizens’ abandonment of their team. It was fun to watch the game with them. They cared. They were in it. The Bulls rewarded them by taking a 1-0 lead in this best-of-five series.
But they did it in a game full of bad baseball. Yes, there was clutch hitting and good fielding, another double-digit strikeout game by Jeremy Hellickson, and a fine performance by his counterpart, the Bats’ highly regarded left-hander Travis Wood. But both starters’ performances had substantial flaws, as well; there were seven errors (and could easily have been an eighth—games at the DBAP have lately been plagued by poor glovework); there were three errors by Sean Rodriguez alone; a total meltdown by a Bats reliever; a lot of pitchers struggling to get ahead in the count and hitters failing to make them pay for it—and also pitchers getting ahead in the count and then failing to finish off hitters, who did make them pay for it. The Bulls took a comfortable lead into the ninth inning, but for a moment, it suddenly looked to be in grave danger, and a game that should have been over-and-done managed to get sticky at the end.
And for the first three innings, it barely seemed like we were watching an official game at all. When Juan Francisco creamed a Jeremy Hellickson fastball off the Triangle Orthopedics sign way out in left-center field for a two-run homer, you felt like you were watching a big strong young prospect take batting practice. “Wow,” you said to yourself, “that kid can really hit.” The ball thwacked off the sign with a resounding crack and landed back on the outfield grass. Justin Ruggiano trotted over to it as though he was just out there shagging flies.
But in fact it was 2-0, Louisville, in Game One of the playoffs. Bats, of course, are nocturnal, and dusk was fading to dark when Francisco hit his homer. But apparently, your late-inning Bulls are creatures of the night, too. They awakened in the middle innings, first needing some tapping on the shoulder from the Bats, who should have let sleeping Bulls lie.
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Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls Charlie Montoyo, Federico Baez, Jeremy Hellickson, Juan Francisco, Louisville Bats, Mitch Talbot, playoffs, Ray Olmedo, Sean Rodriguez, Travis Wood, Winston Abreu
