Canberra shows it's never over until its over. Letting George do it wasn't enough for Melbourne.
CANBERRA 1, BRISBANE 0 IN CANBERRA (GAME 1--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Twins: Logan Wade (Brisbane) was 0-for-3.
Brisbane: Justin O'Connor was 1-for-2 with a walk and a double. Alex Kaminsky pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Canberra: Jeremy Barnes was 2-for-3. Brian Grening pitched 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
The game: It was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh. With two out, Mike Crouse (Toronto) singled, went to second on a balk, took third on a passed ball, and scored on an Aaron Sloan single.
CANBERRA 8, BRISBANE 7 IN CANBERRA (GAME 2)
Twins: Logan Wade (Brisbane) was 2-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.
Brisbane: Joey Rickard (Tampa Bay) was 2-for-4 with a walk and a double, scoring twice and driving in one. David Sutherland was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and four RBIs. Tim Brechbuehler pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and no walks with one strikeout.
Canberra: Jon Berti (Toronto) was 2-for-5 with a walk and a double, scoring once and driving in two. Casey Frawley was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Nick Pugliese struck out three in two perfect innings.
The game: Brisbane led 2-1 after three, but Canberra scored seven in the fourth. A walk, five singles, a double, and another single produced the runs, all of which scored after two were out. Brisbane fought back, scoring four in the fifth on a walk, two singles, and a three-run homer by Sutherland. An RBI double by Rickard made it 8-7 after six, but that was it, as the last ten Brisbane batters were retired.
PERTH 4, MELBOURNE 2 IN PERTH
Melbourne: Darryl George (Tampa Bay) was 2-for-4 with a double and a two-run homer. Jared Schlehuber (Kansas City) was 2-for-3 with a walk. Joe Burns (Texas) struck out eight in six innings, allowing one run on four hits and no walks.
Perth: George Barber was 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs. Luke Hughes was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Anthony Claggett pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
The game: George hit his two-run homer in the fourth to give Melbourne a 2-0 lead. Barber homered in the sixth to make it 2-1. In the eighth, Tucker Nathans singled in the tying run and Brandon Tripp singled in the go-ahead run. A bases-loaded walk produced an insurance run. Melbourne got the tying run up to bat with none out in the ninth.