Calgary Vipers sting Edmonton Capitals in Game 1 of division finals

EDMONTON - The Edmonton Capitals seemed primed for the post-season after scoring 44 runs during their final five games of the North American Baeball Leaguue

http://www.ebuymarket.com/ regular season.


But that wasn’t the case Tuesday night at Telus Field, as the Capitals offence dried up in Game 1 of the best-of-seven North Division final series against the Calgary Vipers.


Calgary starting pitcher Mike Burns was stellar in the 9-3 win, surrendering only a single run while striking out five batters over eight innings to set the stage for a 1-0 series lead.


The Capitals clinched first place in the division by sweeping a doubleheader from the Vipers on the final day of the regular season on Sunday.


Tuesday’s game also marked the ninth meeting between the teams in just over a week’s time, meaning there were no surprises from either starting pitcher on this night, with Burns besting Edmonton starter Lou Pote.


Edmonton came into the series on a roll against their southern rivals, after winning four of their final five games, and sent Pote to the mound Tuesday hoping the Sherwood Park resident would continue his own winning ways against the Vipers.
Pote came into the playoffs with victories in each of his last two outings against the Vipers, including seven shutout innings on August 23.


Pote shut down the Vipers by tossing five more scoreless frames to start Tuesday’s game, but ended up surrendering three earned runs on 10 hits over 6-1/3 innings.


The Vipershttp://www.ebuymarket.com/jerseys-nhl-jerseys-c-65_98.html ended up outhitting the Capitals 16-6, providing Burns with all of the offence he needed.


Edmonton opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI-single through the right side of the Calgary infield off the bat of catcher J. D. Closser.


The Vipers took the lead in the sixth when Lino Garcia smacked a two-run single to score Jimmy Rohan and Chad Ehrnsberger. Calgary’s Drew Miller(notes) knocked in Garcia with a hotshot over Caps shortstop Rex Rundgren’s outstretched glove, making it 3-0 Calgary. That would prove to be more than enough run support for Burns.


Calgary added some more insurance in the eighth inning courtesy with a Wilver Perez run-scoring single, before C. J. Ziegler blew the game wide open with a grand slam off Capitals reliever Jorge Vasquez to make it 8-1. The dinger was Ziegler’s second four-run shot against the Caps in the last three days after blasting one in a 16-12 win Saturday night.


Calgary added one more run in the ninth to make it 9-1.


Edmonton http://www.ebuymarket.com/nike-shoes-c-236.htmlrallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth, including a solo homer by Todd Linden, but it was too little, too late.


Game 2 in the series starts at 7 p. m. Wednesday at Telus Field.