That's the way the ball bounces.

 

That was about the only way that Clinton and Quad-Cities could view their 10-inning Midwest League baseball game Tuesday night at Alliant Energy Field.

 

The LumberKings prevailed 3-2, scoring the winning run on a funny-hop fielder's choice with the bases loaded and nobody out.

 

"When it gets down to nip and tuck, you'll take them (like that)," Clinton's Brandon Cashman said.
 
The win kept the Lumber-Kings in second place in the Western Division standings with six games remaining. It left them two games ahead of the Swing, Burlington and Peoria for the first of two playoffs spots in the division.

 

Cashman drove in the winning run with a ground ball to first base that looked more like a shot with a pool cue.

 

"I've been practicing that one for a while shooting pool," Cashman joked.

 

That was fitting, because Clinton didn't get a ball out of the infield in the deciding inning.

 

"A couple of things went our way," Cashman said.

 

It started with Micah Furtado reaching on a four-pitch walk by Peter Tautor (2-5), who had just entered the game.

 

"When the leadoff hitter gets on, it's damage control (after that)," Quad-Cities manager Kevin Boles said.

 

It got worse for the Swing.

 

Dane Bubela tried to sacrifice Furtado to second base and bunted the ball so well he got a single, too. Justin Hatcher followed with another bunt. The Swing tried to make a play at third base, but Furtado was safe and the bases were loaded.

 

That brought up Cashman, who fell behind in the count  1-2, then squibbed a ball down the first-base line that looked as if it would be foul. But it took a late skip into fair territory. First baseman Brock Peterson had to backhand the ball in front of the bag, and his off-balance throw to home was too late to get Furtado.

 

"All of them," Boles said, when asked which of the plays in the 10th was most damaging.

 

But in some ways, Boles was happy just to get that far.

 

"We were lucky we were competitive," he said. "We had our pitchers throwing out of the stretch a lot."

 

The LumberKings left 13 runners on base. Meanwhile, the Swing managed just four hits off three Clinton pitchers.

 

Only one of those hits was in the first six innings, Scott Whitrock's one-out RBI double in the third.

 

Clinton pulled even in the fifth on Andrew Wishy's leadoff home run against starter Scott Tyler.

 

Clinton took the lead the following inning when Tyler, who struck out a season-high 12 batters, walked Bubela with two outs and Hatcher followed with a run-scoring double to left-center field that barely got past center fielder Denard Span on a sprint to the gap.

 

But Quad-Cities took advantage of an error and tied it in the seventh inning when Kyle Phillips singled off starter Jose Garcia to drive in Matt Moses.

 

"Both teams made some mistakes and were able to take advantage," Boles said.

 

Boles expects more close games between the teams, who finish the regular season with six more games against each other.

 

"It's fun to compete against clubs that get after it," he said. "It's odd (playing the last eight games against the closest rivals in the league), but it's fun for both of us because everything is on the line right now."

 

September 1st, 2004