Around the ABL: September 20-September 26

Alfredo Yánez

September 20: Carolina 10, So Cal 11. The Crush dash out to a 4-0 lead, but Bill Smith's grand slam knots the game back up. Carolina re-takes the lead—Jeremy Gleave hits a home run, and Francisco Solano triples and scores—but So Cal takes it right back: Smith singles in a run, Alfredo Yánez hits a solo home run to tie it, and a Wilson Anaya sac fly gives the Republic the lead, 7-6. Yánez extends the lead with a second home run—a three-run blast in the seventh. The Crush tie it back up, 10-10: in the eighth, Justin Wallace triples with the bases loaded, and Greg Beard singles in Wallace. Finally, in the bottom of the eighth, Freddy Castillo doubles in Charles McConnell, and the Republic defeat their division rivals.

September 20: San Francisco 1, Jersey 0. Conor Nodder (4-14) and Tom Owens pitch dueling shutouts for seven innings. In the top of the eighth, Doctor Watson homers off of reliever Javíer González.

Travis James

September 21: Dallas 0, New York 7. Travis James (14-12) strikes out seven, walks one, and shuts out the Texans. The win gives New York a five-game lead over Dallas with nine games remaining.

September 21: Cabo San Lucas 7, Boston 8. Earl Weaver Division rivals collide. Torero Keiran Simmons hits a home run and doubles in two runs. Cardinal Alex Austin goes 4-for-6: in the 12th, he doubles and scores the winning run.

Jamie Perkins

September 21: Georgia 0, Jacksonville 1. Jacksonville's Jamie Perkins (7-11) had his knuckle curve working: he tosses 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out six and walking one. In the fifth, Woody Matthews singles in John Kinnult for the game's only run.

September 22: Montgomery 9, Seattle 13. The Cats looked like they might make a late surge for the wild card, but the Sasquatch complete a three-game sweep, leaving Montgomery six games back with seven games to go. Steve Frend hits two home runs (giving him 41 on the year). Dane Moore, Blake Reynolds, and Leon Oditón chip in with home runs of their own.

Lorenzo
Rodríguez

September 23: Dallas 5, Ann Arbor 6. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, and Dallas leads, 5-4. Roberto Guzmán walks, and Lorenzo Rodríguez steps to the plate. Z-Rod hits a rocket into the right-field bleachers. After his 54 home run season a year ago, Z-Rod's 2013 appears disappointing. But a down season for Z-Rod is a career year for most players: he's batting .321 with 31 home runs and 93 RBI.

September 23: San Diego 5, Montreal 6. In the bottom of the ninth, a ground ball goes between the legs of Charlie Jackson and Tom Becker comes around to score the winning run. The Montreal Bandits win their 100th game. They will be the only team to reach the century mark this season.

Rich Sweet

September 24: So Cal 11, Seattle 8. The Sasquatch take a lead, 8-3, but the Republic come back. In the seventh, Rich Sweet hits a grand slam. The slam gives the rookie 30 home runs and 101 RBI on the season. In the eight, Bob Osborn singles in one run, and Freddy Castillo scores the leading run on an Alfredo Yánez ground out.

Eric McSwan

September 24: Maple 8, San Francisco 1. Maple's Eric McSwan is hot, hot, hot! After hitting a grand slam on Saturday, after homering and driving in three on Sunday, McSwan tonight goes 3-for-4 with two home runs. He now has 37 home runs and 102 RBI on the season.

September 24: Dallas 5, Ann Arbor 6. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, and Dallas leads, 5-2. Roberto Guzmán comes to the plate with two aboard and crushes a home run deep into the right-field bleachers, taking the game to extra innings. In the 10th, Michael Frost hits a walk-off solo home run.

September 25: Montgomery 6, Carolina 8. Justin Wallace goes 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, and the Crush clinch a spot in the playoffs.

September 25: Kansas City 8, Eureka 2. The Tornadoes take the Anderson Division lead. Lloyd Bray (acquired from So Cal in July) hits a bases-loaded triple. Howard Lawrence and Armando Rodríguez hit solo home runs in the fourth, and Ricardo Marquis hits a two-run homer in the seventh. José Ramírez (15-11) pitches 5 2/3 shutout innings and gets the win.

September 25: Minnesota 4, Washington 5. In the ninth, P.J. Baker ties the game by singling in Bob Knight. With Baker on third and two outs, Steven McDonald grounds to third, but Félix Longoria can't handle the short hop. He tries to gather the ball and throw to first, but McDonald easily beats the throw and Baker comes home with the winning run.

Dennis
Crawford

September 25: Cabo San Lucas 6, Jacksonville 5. The Jacks score five in the first: Nick Parks hits a three-run homer. For most of the evening, it looks like that will be enough. The Jacks take a lead, 5-3, into the ninth. Dennis Crawford (owner of a 19-game hitting streak) doubles in Dave Carlisle, Carlos Martínez doubles in Crawford to tie the game, and Keiran Simmons singles in Martínez for the winning run. The Toreros win, and the win clinches the Earl Weaver Division title!

September 26: Kansas City 3, Eureka 4. After losing the first three games of their series, Eureka comes into tonight one game behind Kansas City in the standings. In the fourth, Dan Stewart doubles in two runs, Jesús González doubles in Stewart, and Clement Milford doubles in González. The Hornets win, and Eureka and Kansas City remain tied atop the Anderson Division with three games to go.

September 26: Jersey 2, South Carolina 3. Jester Bill Flynn triples and Ed Shannon doubles him in, tying the game in the ninth. In the 11th, Bomber Dave Collins doubles and Ángelo Casas singles him in for the win.

September 26: Mile High 12, Las Vegas 10. Roberto Mendoza wins the game with a two-run homer in the ninth inning.

Jorge Mora

September 26: Nottinghamshire 5, New York 6. The Mafia come into the game looking to clinch the division with a win. The offense gets right to business, batting around and scoring five runs in the first. The Outlaws score one in the third and then four in the fifth: Danny Burris hits a two-run double, and Leslie Whitney singles in the tying run. The game remains a tie, 5-5, going into the bottom of the ninth. Guess who comes to the plate? Jorge Mora! Let's review:

• On April 22 against Jacksonville, Mora wins the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the 11th.
• On June 12 against Eureka, Mora wins the game with a three-run home run in the bottom of the 12th.
• On July 31 against Dallas, Mora wins the game with a 10th-inning grand slam.
• On August 2 against Nottinghamshire, Mora ties the game in the ninth with a two-run home run, then wins the game with a two-run home run in the 11th.
• On September 10 against Las Vegas, Mora wins the game with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.

So it was only appropriate that Jorge Mora, in the bottom of the ninth, hits a home run and clinches the Tommy Lasorda Division for New York!