Flyers go up 2-1 with easy 10-4 win

Unlike Game 1 and 2 of this year's best-of-five Swiss Finals, Game 3 was a clear affair as the Therwil Flyers rolled on to take a 2-1 Series lead with a 10-4 victory.

	Jose Valdez was one of four Challenger regulars who went hitless.

The Challengers started well and profited from two early errors by the Flyer defense to score an unearned run off starter Alain Kurz for a 1-0 lead.

But in the bottom half of the inning, Reto Siegel led off and hit an easy ground ball to second baseman Chris Palatinus who let the ball roll through his legs and enabled Siegel to reach second base. Starter Thomas Landis managed to retire two of the next three batters that would have ended the inning, but the Flyers didn't stop there and got an RBI-single from Kurz himself and a two-run double by his brother Richi Kurz.

Another throwing error by Landis put the Flyers up 5-1 at the end of the first frame.

The Challengers managed to creep closer on a passed ball by Roy Allenspach that enabled Anubis Benitez to score from third base, and in the top of the fifth, Benitez added a solo homer, his 12th of the season, to cut the Flyers' lead to 5-3.

	Thomas Landis went the distance, giving up ten runs - six of them unearned - on ten hits and six walks while striking out seven.

Landis, meanwhile, shut down the Flyers' offense completely. They threatened in the bottom of the fourth as they loaded the bases, but Landis retired Alain Kurz on a fly out to end the inning.

Reto Siegel led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double and was sacrificed to third by Seppi Zwyer. Daniel Eichenberger followed with a base-on-balls, and Landis then threw a curveball inside to Allenspach who took the pitch and drilled it over the left-field fences for a three-run homer to put his team up 8-3.

The Flyers then added two more runs in the next inning on Zwyer's RBI-single and a passed ball by Tobias Siegrist for a 10-3 lead.

The Challengers couldn't find an answer to that, and managed to put only a single runner on base in the sixth, seventh and eight innings.

	Manny Marchant was the only Challenger to have two hits.

Before Manny Marchant singled with two outs in the top of the ninth, Alain Kurz had retired eight batters in a row. He also did the same from the third through the fifth inning prior to Benitez' solo homer.

And Marchant's single ignited a little Challenger rally. Palatinus followed with a single, and Armin Blickenstorfer">Armin Blickenstorfer plated Marchant with the third consecutive single off Alain Kurz.

Before that three-hit rally, the Challengers had only three hits off Alain Kurz the entire game.

Up came pinch-hitter Joe Cox who was benched for disciplinary reasons by coach Chad Smith. He struck out to end the game and put the Flyers on brink of their first Championship trophy since 1995.

Game notes: The six hits by the Challengers were a season-low. ...Benitez broke the franchise record for hits and runs scored in a single season as he homered in the top of the fifth inning. He now holds both records with 67 hits and 69 runs scored. He also broke his personal season-high for homers, being that his 12th round-tripper of the season. ...Jose Valdez grounded out in the third inning in his 100th at-bat of the season. ...Palatinus tied his career season-high of 83 total bases as he singled in the top of the ninth inning.