Hernandez: Would four hits, one run, seven strikeouts be good enough for the win?
October 3: In his best start in months, Felix Hernandez shut
down the Casselton Horned Toads into the eighth inning in an attempt to keep
his Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels alive in the playoffs. His offense,
however, was equally stymied by Horned Toads starter Tanner Roark. Would the
series move on to Game Four, or could Casselton clinch their first World Series
birth?
Coming off two short outings by their
starting pitchers, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels needed an ace
performance from the hurler who had assumed that title for years. In his last
12 starts of 2014, Hernandez was a pedestrian 5-5, 4.92 as his team won the
division title seemingly in spite of his pitching.
His opposite number, of the visiting
Casselton Horned Toads, was righty Tanner Roark. The rookie phenom, coming off
a 14-6, 2.50 campaign, was nearly the first to crack. In the third inning, Evan
Longoria stepped up with two out and two on and drove a ball to the left-center
field gap. With good speed on the bases Frostbite was in position to be up two
runs, but left fielder Khris Davis used every inch of his arm to spear the ball
just before it sailed past him to the fence.
The Squirrels put together another rally
in the fifth, and this time they went on the board. Leonys Martin and Wilson
Ramos reached on soft singles before Jose Reyes beat out a nubber down the line
on which Martin crossed from third. As there were none out at that point, the
inning could have been much bigger. But Roark turned in a clutch performance by
retiring Frostbite’s 2-3-4 hitters in succession.
The Casselton offense, meanwhile, couldn’t
touch Hernandez. Through six innings only two runners reached base before two
outs in an inning, and one of those was promptly picked off first. In the
seventh Edwin Encarnacion notched a rare leadoff single, though he was erased
by a force at second on an Adrian Gonzalez grounder. Jay Bruce made enough
contact to put the ball 10 feet in from of home plate, where Ramos grabbed and
fired DOWN THE FIRST BASE LINE! Gonzalez hustled to third and Bruce took
second. Had the play been made, there would have been two out when Neil Walker
pinch-hit and grounded out to third. But with only one away, in a home game
with the lead, the defense played back and allowed Gonzalez to score.
In a tie game, both sides put together
furious chances in the final few innings. Miguel Montero walked to lead off the
eighth before advancing on a wild pitch and then a groundout. However, Al
Alburquerque came in from the bullpen and struck out Adrian Beltre to end the inning.
Craig Stammen set down Frostbite Falls in the bottom of the eight, and when he
quickly retired the first two hitters in the last half of the ninth it appeared
the fans would see free baseball. Albert Pujols, though, made solid contact on
a first-pitch fastball for a single. At that point, Flying Squirrels manager
Mike Noakes had a choice: keep Pujols and his solid base running acumen and
playoff experience (over 70 BARB playoff games) in the game, or put in younger,
faster Sean Rodriguez, who had only one career playoff appearance on his
ledger. The choice was Rodriguez. Martin was the next hitter, and he hit a
sinking line drive to right. Bruce rushed in and slid, but the ball clearly hit
the grass.
Rodriguez, however, only stood on second
after the play. No one was sure what happened—with two out, he should have been
running on contact, and especially with Bruce going to the ground and being in
no position to throw, there was little doubt Rodriguez could have reached
third. Even while celebrating the potential winning run reaching scoring
position, some people on the Frostbite bench, notably Noakes and Pujols, seemed
stymied at the baserunning.
Rodriguez’s move was magnified on the
third offering to Ramos—a wild pitch, on which the winning run would have
scored. But Ramos grounded harmlessly to short and the game went to extras.
Antonio Bastardo had recorded the final
two outs of the Casselton ninth, so he came back out for the tenth. Alex
Gonzalez led off and engaged in a nine-pitch battle before drawing the walk.
Bastardo then fell behind Davis, 2-0, and grooved a fastball that didn’t come
back. The fans at Rocky Top, who had been raucous just moments before, fell
silent as their team was suddenly trailing by two. The next three batters went
down quietly and the Horned Toads trotted back to the field just three outs
from the World Series.
Just as in the first two games, when the
Flying Squirrels fell behind late their bats woke up. Reyes led off and
launched the ball to right field. It carried back—BACK—Bruce leaped at the
fence—AND ROBBED IT! A sure homer, brought back! One away! Mike Trout made sure
his frozen rope didn’t get caught, as it stayed low to the ground and sped to
the right-center field fence as he motored to third. Jason Kipnis plated Trout
with an extra base hit of his own off new hurler Tom Milone, this a double to
left-center. the Squirrels had pulled within a run, and with one out and a man
on second they were chomping at the bit for more. Longoria, however, continued his
playoff flailing (.091 batting average) by popping out to the catcher.
Bryce Harper was due up next, but
right-handed slugger Wilin Rosario was sent up to face the lefty Milone. After taking
two called strikes and a ball, Rosario put all of his muscle into a breaking
ball and stung it in to the ground, destined for center field and a tie game,
until…Milone stuck out his glove and…SNARED IT! Three steps toward first, a short throw,
and the Casselton Horned Toads had clinched their first World Series berth!
FINAL:
CASSELTON 3, FROSTBITE FALLS 2
As the visitors stormed the field, the
home crowd simply slumped in disbelief. For the first time in BARB’s 12-year
history, and in their ninth playoff appearance, the Flying Squirrels had been
eliminated in the first round. Clearly not pleased with the early exit, owner
Andrew Haynes vowed a multitude of changes—possibly involving the high-priced but
under-performing starting rotation—for the coming season. “The pitchers didn’t
live up to their salary, and they know that. We may need some new blood in here
to rejuvenate for our next championship run.”
Casselton, meanwhile, was enjoying the
pleasure of the sweep of the defending champions—but it meant a date with
perennial power Yuma for the title.
MVP:
CARLOS GOMEZ
The center fielder came up clutch in the
field and at the plate, where he hit .429 with a home run and four RBI.
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