'Rakers walk away with stunning victory in Fall lid-lifter

CONCORD -- Like a Hollywood hack slaving away in a West L.A. bungalow, the Muckrakers have discovered that once you hit on a winning script, you stick to it for all it’s worth.

Having ended the Summer League season in dramatic fashion, the ‘Rakers decided to do it all over again, mounting another bottom-of-the-last-inning rally, this time beating the Brown Sox 15-14 in the opener of the Fall League on Thursday on Field 1.

Using a mixture of key hits and Brown Sox free passes, the Men of Muck plated seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and came away with the win. And, following the script to a ‘T,’ the plot’s hero was Mike Yurkus, who delivered his second-consectutive walk-off blow. This time it was his sacrifice fly that sent manager Chris Wagnon (3-for-4) racing home with the winning run.

The 'Rakers were very clutch in the dramatic sixth -- both in swinging the bats and not. Of the 13 walks they gratefully accepted over the course of the game, six came in the final stanza. But Yer Raksters did more than watch pitches miss the strike zone. Randy Striegel hustled out a clutch double, Bob Brindley laced a key hit, Matt Knauff broke the Brown Sox's heart with his two-RBI triple, and Wagnon singled in a run in the frame. Tony Hicks and Yurkus plated runs with sacrifice flies.

So look out, you D-League Fall Leaguers. The Muckrakers have found a script they like, and they're following it like a bunch of DeNiros.