Last Week's Best: The Top-Five Games (June 23-June 29)

The list returns after a one-week absence due to my being out of town last weekend.

An interesting variety of games this week, from the unusual to the dramatic to the merely important.

Take heart, German fans—your team has won something.

5. MLB: Pirates 4, Rays 3 (June 28)

Once again, the Pirates won a crucial game to break up a potentially devastating string of losses. Once again, the Pirates won in dramatic fashion in extra innings. And once again, offensive stalwart Jason Bay was the hero.

Bay’s walk-off home run against Tampa’s Jason Hammel in the 13th inning gave the Pirates the victory. But, surprisingly, it was actually their pitching that was the catalyst for their victory.

Three AAA-pitchers—Ty Taubenheim, John Van Benschoten, and T.J. Beam—were the stars. Taubenheim was starting in place of the injured Ian Snell, while the other two had recently been called up to provide much-needed bullpen depth in the wake of injuries to several Pittsburgh pitchers. The three combined to allow two runs in nine innings.

For Tampa Bay, the loss was merely a small hiccup in what has been an unbelievable season. For Pittsburgh, the victory was another step in what at times appears to be an endless ascent towards the .500 mark.

4. Soccer, Euro 2008 Finals: Spain 1, Germany 0 (June 29)

The days of underachievement are over. Spain finally came through on the international stage, beating Italy, Russia, and then Germany to capture their first European championship in 44 years.

Fernando Torres provided the margin in the first half, beating the entire German defense to the ball before cleverly chipping over a sliding Jens Lehmann into the left corner of the German net.

It was all his country would need, as the Spanish side was better throughout. Torres struck the woodwork a few minutes prior to his goal, and in the second half, Sergio Ramos and Marco Senna both wasted golden opportunities to pad the lead. Germany, on the other hand, never threatened.

It was a fitting coronation for a worthy champion—Spain was the best team all tournament, winning all six games it played and not conceding a goal in three games in the knockout round.

A shame the final game of such a fantastic tournament could not have been more competitive, but the winners played a stellar game. They were passing and moving better than perhaps any side in football can, and their dazzling style can only be a good thing for the sport.

3. NCAA Baseball, College World Series Championship Series, Game Two: Fresno St. 19, Georgia 10 (June 24)

Two-and-a-half innings into this second game of the best-of-three championship series, the clock appeared to be striking midnight on Fresno State's Cinderella story. Having already lost Game One, they trailed 5-0 heading into the bottom of the third.

Nine outs and 15 runs later, Fresno St. was alive and kicking again, to say the least. They suddenly led Georgia by nine runs and were on their way to an easy 19-10 victory. Once again, Fresno’s incredible offense bailed the team out.

The next night, Fresno St. would become the lowest-ranked NCAA team to win a championship, ever, in any sport—the Bulldogs were the No. 89 team in the RPI heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Multiple times—practically every other game, it seemed—Fresno State was on the verge of being knocked out of the tournament. Every single time, they responded with an offensive flurry. There was no better example of this resilience than that 19-run performance against Georgia.

2. MLB: Dodgers 1, Angels 0 (June 28)

The Dodgers didn’t tally a single hit in this game—I’m sorry, I meant they didn’t tally a single hit in this victory. But the Angels didn’t throw a no-hitter, either.

Confused? Because the Dodgers were the home team, they did not need to bat in the ninth inning. According to the MLB rulebook, the offense must bat in at least nine innings for a no-hitter to be official.

Thus, Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo’s combined no-hitter was all for naught—and truly for naught, seeing as Weaver was credited with a loss for his efforts. At least the outcome was partially Weaver’s fault, as it was his error on a Matt Kemp groundball in the fifth inning that led to the sole run of the game.

Nonetheless, it was hard luck for Weaver, who was pulled in the top of the seventh for a pinch hitter—hard for a manager to think about the no-hitter when his team is trailing. He can only hope he didn’t miss his one shot at baseball immortality.

1. Soccer, Euro 2008 Semi-Finals: Germany 3, Turkey 2 (June 25)

A much more exciting game than the final, this matchup that should have been a mismatch provided more than its share of drama.

Three goals in the last 11 minutes, including two in the last four, concluded a back and forth match that eventually saw the Germans on top—barely.

Not that they deserved it. Turkey was the better side throughout, although Germany was not dominated nearly as much in the second half as they were in the first, when they were more than lucky to escape with the score line at 1-1.

The quality of play was not particularly high—each keeper made a gaffe in the final stretch that led to a goal—but sometimes beauty can be disregarded and suspense has its own value.

And when Philip Lahm’s 90th minute run led to the game-winning goal, the Germans were more than happy to cast all notions of quality aside. Their failings had not caught up to them—at least, not until their fateful meeting with Spain four days later.