YUMA TAKES BATTLE OF BARB ORIGINALS

The only two founding BARB teams to remain in their original location fought tooth-and-nail, but two-time defending champion Yuma prevailed in three games.

GAME ONE:

In the only home game for lower-seeded Brooklyn, the hosts held a 5-3 lead into the sixth before their pitching collapsed.

Anthony DeSclafani, a mid-season trade pickup, got the start and pitched through solo home runs in the first and fourth innings. He didn’t quite make it far enough to qualify for a win, allowing one run and leaving with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth. Alex Reyes came on in relief – nary an appearance in the regular season, but he was still put on the playoff roster – and induced a groundout to keep Brooklyn in the lead.

The advantage at that point was 4-3. A second-inning run tied the score and Jose Bautista homered to left in the third to put two more on the board before Jung-Ho Kang added a solo shot in the fourth. The Moab lead extended back to a pair in the bottom of the fifth on a Marcell Ozuna double.

That was all for Brooklyn, but Yuma was just getting started.

The top of the sixth inning turned into one of the biggest on the year for the visiting Firebirds. Reyes came back out to start the frame and promptly allowed a Joe Panik double and Brandon Crawford triple before losing the strike zone to two straight batters as the legendary Harry Doyle again uttered his famous line: “Ball four…ball eight…” Reyes didn’t make it to walking the bases loaded on twelve straight pitches, as Mychal Givens was handed the ball.

Givens didn’t fare any better. In the span of eight pitches, Yuma plated four runs (a two-run Corey Seager single and Andrew McCutchen doubling in another pair) for an 8-5 lead. The righty seemed to settle down, getting a strikeout and groundout, but a walk and two more singles added two runs and brought Sonny Gray out of the bullpen to face the 12^th (and final) batter of the inning.

Moabs fans must have been thinking, “Enough’s enough!” Yuma’s scoring didn’t stop, but it did slow to a trickle the final three innings. A walk and two wild pitches allowed Joey Votto to be in position to score on a McCutchen single in the seventh, and the slugging Canadian put the finishing touches on a 4-for-4, five runs scored night with his second solo blast of the game in the ninth.

Chris Sale, Yuma’s starting pitcher, had a night to forget after allowing five earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings.

GAME TWO:

For the second straight night – this time on the road – Eric Caskey’s side roughed up a Yuma lefty.

David Price was called upon in an attempt to sweep and give the Firebirds two days of rest before facing New England in the divisional round, but one early swing of the bat and clutch pitches from Carlos Martinez and three relievers would force a third and deciding game.

Price, coming off a stellar 16-9, 2.93 ERA campaign, allowed singles on each of his first two pitches before Rougned Odor pulled a full-count pitch inside the Safeco Field foul pole for a three-run blast. The Firebird faithful had yet to sit down and fell silent as the team they had cheered to four BARB titles was immediately trailing by a crooked number.

The lineup put together by Chris Melkonian picked up where they left off in Game One by smashing the ball to the outfield, but this time it seemed every rocket found Brooklyn leather. Four straight Yuma hitters, in fact, pestered Moabs left fielder Christian Yelich between the second and third innings; the spry fly-catcher ran them all down with ease.

Martinez mostly cruised until the bottom of the sixth, when with two away and Denard Span on third McCutchen hammered a ball 10 rows back in left field to pull the home team within one.

Zach Britton was inserted to start the seventh – it seems the anti-Buck Showalter is in charge of the Moabs – and he and Roberto Osuna combined for three scoreless innings to put Brooklyn on the board in the best-of-three by a 4-2 final.

GAME THREE:

Yuma’s hurler for the rubber match was a righty, Marcus Stroman, but the Firebird-leaning crowd again exhibited blank stares after a big Brooklyn first.

Yelich, David Dahl and Odor all singled to score one and Troy Tulowitzki walked to load the bases. Jake Lamb’s swinging bunt plated a run despite an out call on a close play at first, and Bautista made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Stroman, however, clamped down as the Yuma offense started scratching back in the second. Mookie Betts singled and advanced on a Rick Porcello wild pitch before Buster Posey brought him around with a line drive.

The Moabs continued to put men on but could not add to their lead, which hurt when the Firebirds sent nine men to the plate in a five-run fifth.

Panik got it started with a bloop to left and stolen base. Brian Dozier doubled with one out, Span was nailed by a fastball and Votto laced an RBI single to tie the game. Seager came up next with the big hit, hitting a no-doubter to left center for a 6-3 lead and knocking Porcello out of the game.

The five-run frame took all of the air out of the Brooklyn offense. They managed to put only one runner on base in their final four trips to the plate, and A.J. Ramos hurled a perfect ninth to clinch the Cactus wild card series and a visit to Grapefruit champion New England.