Late-Game Comeback Bites Bronx as Stuyvesant Wins Second in a Row
By Brian Mangan and Christos Plakas, correspondents
New York(JT) - The 2002 Stuy-Bronx Science series is beginning to look one sided. A complete game by starter Christos Plakas and a 3-hit effort by leftfielder Larry Siu, overshadowed three Bronx homeruns, as Stuy defeated Bronx in the second game of the 2002 Series 14-11.
The Bronx team jumped out to an early lead, but Stuy scored 10 runs after the 5th inning and never looked back. With the score 9-7 in favor of Bronx, Stuy tied the game in the bottom of the 6th on a clutch two-out, bases loaded single by Plakas, then took a 14-9 lead in the next inning on RBI hits from Jeff Hsu, Lloyd Mebane and Larry.
Plakas was able to keep Bronx off the scoreboard from the 6th through the 8th after being given the lead. He allowed a two-run homer to Jose in the top of the ninth to bring Bronx within three, then loaded the bases before striking out Joe to end the game.
“I wasn’t coming out. This was my game to win or lose,†said Plakas. His teammates echoed his sentiments. “There were times when Chris looked hittable, but we knew he wasn’t going to do anything to take us out of the game,†said shortstop Brian Mangan, whose two doubles were his first hits of the season. “We had confidence that he could finish.â€
The complete game was quite a feat in this league - only twice has a starter remained in past the sixth inning, a 7 inning effort by Wilson Ramirez in week one of this season, and an 8 inning game pitched by Joe Lee in the first Stuy vs. Bronx game. None had the total control that Plakas exhibited during this exhibition.
He lowered his season ERA to 1.80, fully three runs lower than the nearest pitcher, and walked only four. Although he depended on his fielders a lot ( only 9 outs were by strikeout ) and he surrendered 3 bombs, it was more than enough for the powerful Stuyvesant offense to protect.
Bronx Science had a lead early on, thanks to the heart of their order, Scott Schiffman and Mark Rubin. Schiffman went 4-4 with a double and a walk, raising his season batting average to a ridiculous .875. As part of his 1-4 effort, Rubin launched a three-run bomb to deep centerfield against Plakas in the third inning. Bronx led 4-1 at that point, and held a commanding lead of 9-4 in the middle of the fifth inning.
But that was all Bronx had to write home about, as Plakas buckled down and Stuyvesant’s offense finally produced. Bronx starter Lee, who had been cruising, ran into trouble in the fifth, giving up three runs before being forced to leave due to the recently enacted hit-by-pitch rule. The rule, a topic of heated debate before the game, helped to ensure the safety of the batters. When Lee hit his second batsman, he was forced to leave the mound. There was a scuffle ensuing after he plunked Hsu, and Mangan charged the mound from first base. In the process of knocking down Lee, Mangan injured his knee but remained in the game.
Reliever Schiffman looked out of place on the mound. In the bottom of the sixth inning, a clutch two-out double by Plakas knotted the score, and Stuyvesant went ahead for good with a big seventh. Although gifted with a good throwing arm, Schiffman allowed 5 hits, including doubles to Mangan and Lloyd Mebane, and five runs before leaving in the seventh.
The story of the league, Little Jose, came on in relief of Schiffman. With an incredible 3 HR in 8 at-bats, he’s seemingly unstoppable at the plate. Although he has only 8 official at-bats, he has an unheard of 2.917 OPS and has been the best pitcher for Bronx, notching a 5.40 ERA. There was controversy about his participation in the game as he was inserted into the Bronx lineup in the fourth inning. After a delay, the game continued and he hit his second and third homers.
Despite a solid mound effort from Jose, Bronx was never able to gain much momentum against Plakas again. There was some excitement provided in the ninth inning, as Bronx faced a 14-9 deficit, but staged a mini-rally. After one out, Plakas surrendered a single before Jose’s second long ball, that narrowed the lead to three. After Sunny reached on an error, there was controversy again as Girish grounded back to the pitcher. He turned and tossed the ball to Mangan, who seemed to complete a beautiful 1-6-3, game-ending double play, but Stuyvesant conceded the call at first and play resumed. Schiffman singled and Rubin walked, putting the winning run at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.
With both teams on edge, Plakas ended the game with an exclamation point as he reared back for his 9th and final strikeout of the night.
**News and Notes**
Bronx is beginning to look more and more like a feast-or-famine offense – Scott, Jose, and Mark went a combined 7-10 (.700) with 3 HR, 8 RBI and only one strikeout, while the rest of the Bronx offense managed to bat only 7-34 (.205) with no extra-base hits … Stuyvesant has outscored Bronx Science 38-25 in the two games thus far, including 15-4 from the 7th inning on … Stuyvesant racked up the extra base hits in this contest – Siu had two doubles and a triple, Plakas, Mebane and CF Kevin Chau all doubled, Jason Cohen doubled and tripled, and Mangan doubled twice … The 8-11 spots in the Stuyvesant batting order, Hsu, newcomer Bobby Liaw, Jose Cornier and Mebane, went only 2-13 … Chau has been streaky thus far, recording 1, 5, and then 1 hit in each of his games. He currently has a zillion game hit streak, and has yet to strike out in 19 plate appearances … Rubin has three home runs on the season, but never more than one in a game. He is also averaging one RBI per at-bat. … Ten players have 2 doubles on the season, none with more.
