ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT IN THE LAND OF CHEESE, KIESCHNICK GIVES BREW CREW WIN
Game-Tying PH HR, Scoreless IP, Walk-Off Single
MILWAUKEE, May 3 (AP) - Brooks Kieschnick had a game to remember. The
one-time outfielder, now pitcher, who was just recalled from the minor leagues
on April 30, hit a game-tying pinch hit three-run home run in the bottom of the
ninth, tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the top of the tenth, and
delivered a game-winning walk-off base hit in the bottom of the tenth as the
Milwaukee Brewers defeated the New York Mets, 7-6, at Miller Park.
Kieschnick (1-0) was the winning pitcher.
The Brewers spent virtually the entire game playing catch up. The Mets
scored a pair of runs in the first inning off Milwaukee starter Rueben Quevedo.
Roberto Alomar led off the contest with a home run and Roger Cedeno followed
with a double. Mike Piazza flied to deep center, advancing Cedeno to
third, and, after Cliff Floyd drew a walk, Tony Clark's fielder's choice
grounder plated Cedeno for a 2-0 New York lead.
The Mets added a third run in the second inning when Mets starter Jae Weong Seo
tripled with one out and Alomar followed with a base on balls. Cedeno
flied to shallow left for the second out but Piazza delivered a clutch base hit,
scoring Seo and upping the lead to 3-0.
The Brewers dented the scoreboard in the fifth when John Vander Wal led off with
a double and scored on Royce Clayton's two-out single. Milwaukee tied it
up in the sixth when Eric Young doubled with one out and rode home on Geoff
Jenkins' two-out, two-run homer.
But the Mets reclaimed the lead in the seventh. Cedeno singled with one
out, which led to Quevedo's departure in favor of Luis Vizcaino. Cedeno
stole second and when shortstop Clayton booted Piazza's ground ball, the Mets
had runners on the corners. Floyd followed with a single to left-center,
scoring Cedeno with the lead run and moving Piazza all the way to third.
Tony Clark drew a walk to load the bases and Ty Wigginton followed with a free
pass of his own, forcing home Piazza to give the Mets a 5-3 advantage.
Vizcaino escaped further damage, but the Mets had the upper hand.
New York added an insurance run when Piazza's two-out double scored pinch runner
Tsuyoshi Shinjo for a 6-3 lead.
That's how things stood entering the bottom of the ninth inning. The Mets
summoned closer Armando Benitez, who had successfully converted all nine of his
previous save opportunities, to the mound. Pinch hitter Scott Podsednik
opened the frame with a single to right and Eddie Perez drew a walk.
Clatyon was due up, but Brewers manager Ned Yost called on Kieschnick to pinch
hit. The left-handed swinger worked the count to 3-2 and unloaded on a
Benitez fastball, driving it over the wall in right-center to tie the
game. Benitez worked through the rest of the inning without further
scoring, but the Brewers had pushed the game to extra innings.
Kieschnick remained in the game to pitch the top of the 10th, and surrendered a
lead-off single to Shinjo. Alomar sacrificed the runner to second and
Cedeno's grounder advanced Shinjo to third with two outs. Piazza was
walked intentionally which brought up the pitcher's spot in the order following
an earlier double switch. Raul Gonzalez was brought on to pinch hit, but
rolled out to second to end the frame.
In the bottom of the 10th, Jason Middlebrook came on to pitch for the Mets.
He walked Jenkins to open the inning and Brady Clark sacrificed the runner to
second base. Podsednick was intentionally passed to set up the possible
double play, but Middlebrook then uncorked a wild pitch to move the runners to
second and third. With the infield in, Perez fanned for the second out,
but Kieschnick picked on the first pitch from Middlebrook and grounded the ball
sharply through the left side, driving home Jenkins with the game-winning run.
5/3/2003, NYM03-Mil03, Miller Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP 2003 Mets 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6 12 0 13 0 2003 Brewers 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 1 7 11 2 8 0 Mets AB R H BI AVG Brewers AB R H BI AVG Alomar,R 2b 4 1 1 1 .322 Sanchez,A cf 5 0 0 0 .254 Cedeno rf 6 2 2 0 .289 Cruz,E ss 0 0 0 0 .200 Piazza c 5 1 2 2 .237 Young,Eri 2b 4 1 3 0 .247 Floyd lf 4 0 1 1 .250 Sexson 1b 5 0 0 0 .250 Stanton p 0 0 0 0 .000 Jenkins lf 4 2 2 2 .452 Strickland p 0 0 0 0 .000 Vander Wal rf 3 1 2 0 .317 Lloyd p 0 0 0 0 .000 Clark,B ph 1 0 0 0 .111 Benitez p 0 0 0 0 .000 Helms 3b 3 0 0 0 .212 Gonzalez,R ph 1 0 0 0 .407 Vizcaino,L p 0 0 0 0 .000 Middlebrook p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ford,M p 0 0 0 0 .000 Clark,T 1b 4 0 1 1 .258 Podsednik ph 1 1 1 0 .326 Wigginton 3b 4 0 1 1 .300 Perez,ER c 4 1 0 0 .366 Perez,Ti cf 5 0 0 0 .349 Clayton ss 3 0 1 1 .160 Sanchez,R ss 5 0 1 0 .156 Kieschnick ph 2 1 2 4 .400 Seo p 3 1 1 0 .455 Quevedo p 2 0 0 0 .000 Phillips,JL ph 1 0 1 0 .429 Ginter,K 3b 2 0 0 0 .217 Shinjo pr 1 1 1 0 .192 39 7 11 7 43 6 12 6 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Seo 7.0 6 3 3 0 6 85 66 3.19 Stanton H 4 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 5 3 1.93 Strickland H 3 0.1 2 0 0 0 1 15 9 2.89 Lloyd H 4 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1.64 Benitez BS 1 1.0 2 3 3 2 1 29 14 2.63 Middlebrook L 0-1 0.2 1 1 1 2 1 16 5 2.45 9.2 11 7 7 4 10 153 99 Brewers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Quevedo 6.1 8 4 4 2 0 96 56 5.68 Vizcaino,L 0.2 2 2 1 2 0 30 15 5.54 Ford,M 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 36 23 2.04 Kieschnick W 2-0 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 12 5 1.50 10.0 12 6 5 5 2 174 99 NYM: Phillips,JL batted for Seo in the 8th Shinjo ran for Phillips,JL in the 8th Perez,Ti moved to lf in the 8th Shinjo moved to cf in the 8th Gonzalez,R batted for Benitez in the 10th Mil: Ginter,K inserted at 3b in the 7th Clark,B batted for Vander Wal in the 8th Clark,B moved to rf in the 9th Podsednik batted for Ford,M in the 9th Kieschnick batted for Clayton in the 9th Cruz,E inserted at ss in the 10th Podsednik moved to cf in the 10th Kieschnick moved to p in the 10th E-Clayton, Ginter,K. 2B-Cedeno(9), Piazza(3), Clark,T(3), Young,Eri(5), Vander Wal(3). 3B-Seo(1). HR-Alomar,R(2), Jenkins(6), Kieschnick(1). RBI-Alomar,R(12), Piazza 2(13), Floyd(19), Clark,T(4), Wigginton(16), Jenkins 2(20), Clayton(7), Kieschnick 4(4). SB-Cedeno(2), Young,Eri 2(6). K-Floyd, Clark,T, Sanchez,A 2, Sexson 3, Jenkins, Vander Wal, Perez,ER, Clayton, Quevedo. BB-Alomar,R, Piazza, Floyd, Clark,T, Wigginton, Young,Eri, Jenkins, Perez,ER, Podsednik. SH-Alomar,R, Clark,B. WP-Middlebrook. GWRBI: Kieschnick Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 28,894 Game Time: 3:27