Once again, we were treated to a nail-biter as the Saskatoon Amigos defeated the Seattle Monarchs 3-2 in 10 innings. It's the fifth one-run game of the series (out of five) and the third to be decided in extra innings. The victory gives the Amigos a 3-2 lead in the Cecil Cup series.
It started out with a bang in the first inning when Gregorio Reyna hit a one-out single to right. After Alberto Granado struck out swinging, Brian Frison hit a line-drive double down the right field line. Right fielder Maximo Rodriguez returned the ball to the infield too late to get Reyna as he crossed the plate, but managed to nail Frison for the third out as he tried to take third base.
Seattle's one run lead lasted exactly three batters. In the bottom of the first Albert Peavy led off with a full-count base on balls against Nicolas Vargas. Luis Ramon followed that up with a single, sending Peavy to third with Ramon himself taking second on the throw to third. Gregorio Marzano then lifted a sac fly to left bringing Peavy home.
The score stood at 1-1 until the Saskatoon half of the fourth. After retiring Gregorio Marzano on a grounder to short, Vargas gave up an infield single to Rufus Murray. Vargas then got Rodriguez to strike out. Following Rodriguez was Royal Wilson. Wilson hit a double to right, leading to a replay of what we saw in the first inning, this time with Saskatoon being the victim. Murray scampered home and Wilson tried to take third on the throw, being thrown out for the third out.
This time it was Seattle's turn to play catch-up, which they did in the top of the sixth. Reyna led off with a single. Four pitches later, Thomas Cohen uncorked a wild pitch, sending Reyna to second. Alberto Granado advanced him to third on a groundout. With two out, Bas Bijkerk came up and hit a line drive single to second, bringing Reyna home again, and tying the score at 2-2.
That's how things stood until the bottom of the tenth when Seattle had Dalton Davis pitching in relief. The lead-off batter, pinch hitter Daniel Burdine, not normally known for his power, launched a 405 foot homerun to right-center field to win the game for the Amigos.
Game 6: Monday night.
Zev
(Note: I was unable to post a game review of Game 5 because Blogger was down on Thursday night and Friday morning).
Well this series has certainly slipped away from my Monarchs in a hurry. It's hard to win a series when you're scoring less than three runs per game.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side, the games now move back to Seattle and the home team has won every game so far in this series. I also have Placencia and Hester on full rest for the final two games (if two get played). Can't ask for more than having two must-win games played at home with your two best starting pitchers ready to go.