CACTUS WILD CARD GAME 2

Eddie Rosario 's home run and two RBI were instrumental in keeping Brooklyn alive

A pair of former Frostbite Falls rotation-mates matched up in the second game of the three-game set. Would Julio Teheran pitch the visiting Flying Squirrels into a matchup with St. Francis, or would the spotlight shine on Carlos Martinez, who was dealt before the 2016 season for Paul Goldschmidt, trying to extend the series for Brooklyn at The Launch Pad?

The first few innings passed quietly, with both teams stranding runners on second base. In the bottom of the third, with two out and the bases empty, Teheran issued a pair of walks to bring up Francisco Lindor. The shortstop shot the first offering into right field. Bryce Harper picked up the ball and rifled a throw home. Christian Yelich, hustling the moment the bat connected, was waved home. Harper’s cannon sent the ball on a line toward Gary Sanchez, in tim…NO! DROPPED! They Flying Squirrels had Yelich dead to rights but couldn’t quite complete the putout, and the host Moabs took a 1-0 lead.

After Frostbite put two men on in the fourth but suffered a pickoff and double play, Eddie Rosario blasted his first home run of the playoffs, a solo shot, to give Brooklyn a two-run advantage.

Ender Inciarte duplicated Rosario’s feat with a leadoff bomb in the fifth, and with Martinez continually stranding single runners, it appeared all but certain this series would go to a rubber match.

That possibility was cemented in the bottom of the eighth. Joe Musgrove, in his second inning of work, allowed back-to-back screamers from Lindor and Freddie Freeman before issuing a walk and giving up a single that got him pulled from the game. Adam Ottavino induced a slow groundout, but a Rosario line drive caught in medium-deep center brought in Brooklyn’s sixth run.

Frostbite Falls made the game interesting in the top of the ninth, when a pair of walks and two-out Josh Reddick triple knocked Martinez from the contest. Jeurys Familia got the call and allowed a run-scoring double to Alex Bregman, bringing the game to 6-3. Even though the potential tying run was still in the on-deck circle, Brooklyn management went to their closer. Roberto Osuna was tasked with facing one of the best players in the game and the Flying Squirrels leadoff hitter, Mike Trout. The battle lasted five pitches, with Trout eventually chasing a high fastball in a 2-2 count to secure the Moabs victory.

So the Cactus Wild Card series, just like the Grapefruit series, would see a third and deciding game the next day to determine who moved on and who went home.

FINAL: BROOKLYN 6, FROSTBITE FALLS 3