A's sweep Sox in battle for first place

Belcher ignites offense in 10-5 win, Dodson dominates with 3-hitter in 4-2 victory

Few could have guessed the A's could have lived up to their potential and beyond expectations so greatly, but the A's pulled out their 10th and 11th straight victories to stand all alone atop the REBL American League. With first place on the line against the longtime rival Silversox the A's put together two complete games with pitching, hitting, defense, baserunning and unity to sweep the Sox 10-5 and 4-2.

The Sox (9-4) stayed in both games behind the pitching of Larry Hendrickson and Scott Walls, but the A's (12-1) equaled their pitching with strong outings by Kevin Kennedy, Billy Dodson and Jon Breidinger and showed superior defense and clutch hitting.

Reluctant ripper Roland Belcher dusted off the cob webs again to wake up the A's offense with a clutch RBI single up the middle in the opener to drive in Brodie Nissen, who singled. Keith Lederer, who singled, scored on an error and Belcher scrambled home on a passed ball, instinctively he deducted the ball was just far enough away from the catcher and slid in safely though the ball was less than 20 feet from home.

"I really thought Roland's hit was key for us," said Nissen.

The A's would never lose their 3-0 lead, but the Silversox kept the pressure on to the end. The A's added two runs in the third, with Ryan Metcalfe breaking out of his slump with a solid single to left center. Clinton Yeager took over for Metcalfe on the bases, stealing second and scoring on a single by Dodson, who made the lead 5-1 on a single by Breidinger. The A's added three more runs in the fifth started by a double by Yeager and a bunt single by Metcalfe. Mike Mastro' followed with an RBI triple and he scored on a sac fly by Breidinger to make the lead 8-2.

The Sox rallied with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 8-5. They put more pressure on the A's and Kennedy in the sixth by loading the bases, but the A's snuffed out the fire, turning an inning-ending double play starting by Mastro at third, who threw home to Nissen, who fired to first in time to gun down Tony Schmitz, one of the top hitters in the REBL this decade. Kennedy allowed 13 hits, but was supported by three double plays and two runners thrown out at the plate. Dodson started double plays in the second and third to aid Kennedy. The As' got some extra breathing room in the seventh with Yeager singling, stealing second and Dodson and Mastro following with singles to make the lead 10-5.

The A's trailed early in the nightcap with a run in the first, but the A's quickly tied it after Metcalfe walked, Yeager stole second in his stead and scored on a sac fly by Mastro. The Silversox took a 2-1 lead in the third, scratching out an unearned run. The A's answered again with a two-out single by Brent Everett and an RBI double by Yeager to tie the game at 2-2 in the third.

The A's finally took the lead with two runs in the fourth without the aid of a hit. Some sloppy defense and tremendous hustle enabled the A's to score. Dodson led off with a walk and caused enough of a distraction to help Mastro reach first on a grounder. Dodson scored on a grounder by Nissen, but the rally looked dead when Keith Lederer hit a two-out grounder to short. Despite a sore knee, Lederer hustled all the way and barely reached first in time to beat the throw after the shortstop bobbled the ball, allowing Mastro to score.

"That was a huge run for us and he never would have made it if he stopped hustling," Metcalfe said. "That showed a lot of heart because you could tell he was hurting."

After Dodson gave the A's five solid innings, allowing three hits and one earned run, the A's turned to the bullpen, where Breidinger provided plenty of thrills and just enough to pick up the save. He picked off two runners to get out of the sixth and walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh. With Schimitz at the plate he was in big trouble, but Breidinger got him to pop out and struck out the last two batters to end the game.

The A's can clinch the top seed in the AL playoffs, by winning out their final five games.

Mike Mastro hit a big RBI triple in the fifth to give the A's an 8-3 lead. He finished the day with 3 RBIs and made a spectacular diving stab at third.

Roland Belcher used his smooth stroke to hit the key RBI hit in the second and scrambled home on a wild pitch to give the A's a 3-0 lead.

Billy Dodson was spectacular in his in his first start of the season, holding the Silversox to 3 hits in five innings. He collected 3 hits and scored 3 times.

Ryan Metcalfe rediscovered his swing in time to slap 3 hits. Pinch runners Clinton Yeager & Kevin Metcalfe scored 3 times in his place for him.

Belcher- MVP    Dodson - MVP

Brawny and all the fine paper products from Georgia Pacific are proud to support the A's. Game 12 & 13 MVPs Roland Belcher and Billy Dodson with a roll of paper towels. Rumor has it Roland would prefer a package of Quilted Northern toilet paper.
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