The final finals are underway.

ADELAIDE 3, PERTH 2 IN ADELAIDE

Perth:  Tim Smith (Atlanta) was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Allan de San Miguel was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.  Mike McClendon (Colorado) struck out six in six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks.

Adelaide:  Mitch Dening was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Stefan Welch (Boston) was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Morgan Coombs pitched seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

The game:  Smith homered in the first to give Perth a 1-0 lead and Rene Tosoni singled in Luke Hughes in the fourth to make it 2-0.  It stayed that way until the seventh, when Welch, Tom Brice, and Dening led off the inning with consecutive home runs to make it 3-2 Adelaide.  Perth got the tying run to third with one out in the ninth but could not tie the score.

Series status:  Adelaide leads the best-of-three series one game to none.

TODAY'S TILT

Perth at Adelaide