DIVISIONAL ROUND: BROWNSVILLE VS YUMA GAME 1

Jose Abreu  was on fire in Game 1, lacing a homer and two doubles while driving in four

After escaping the Worcester Eliminators in three games, Grapefruit wild card winner Brownsville visited Cactus division champion Yuma for the first game of the best-of-5 divisional round. What followed was two evenly-matched teams giving fans in attendance some free baseball.

The Cutters, who hit the second-most home runs in BARB in 2017, came out swinging right away against Chris Sale in the top of the first. Sale recorded a couple quick outs before Aaron Judge jumped on a first-pitch fastball for a single to right. Jose Abreu took a ball, and the following hanging curve was deposited into the right field stands for an instantaneous 2-0 Brownsville lead.

Yuma came right back in the home half. Zack Greinke issued a pair of walks to open the frame, and Corey Seager cashed in with a double to score a run. Mookie Betts then grounded out to plate a second Firebird runner, and the game was knotted up at two runs apiece.

Both teams doubled their total in the third; Abreu doubled in a run before a Jedd Gyorko sacrifice fly for Brownsville and a Brett Gardner bases-loaded walk and Ian Kinsler infield single again matched the Cutters total on the Yuma side.

The 4-4 tie remained until the 8^th. Bryan Shaw entered to replace Sale, who completed seven innings with 11 strikeouts but six hits and four runs allowed. Judge kicked things off by beating out a trickler toward second, bringing up Abreu. The Cuban slugger continued his reign of terror, lacing a 2-2 offering to the gap in right-center to score Judge from first.

Brownsville added a run in the top of the ninth. Tyler Flowers and A.J. Pollock singled, with Pollock erased on a fielder’s choice. Flowers trotted home right after, as Manny Machado poked a single to right for a 6-4 lead going to the bottom of the 9^th.

Cutters closer Wade Davis trotted to the mound, just three outs away from a road victory in Game 1. What happened next could have been taken straight out of a Hollywood script. Betts tapped the ball on the ground toward first and beat out Abreu’s attempt to scamper back to the bag after picking up the ball. Davis, clearly shaken, balked Betts to second. The righty recovered with a ground out and strikeout, but Yuma pinch hitter extraordinaire Brian Dozier took a backup slider in the side to put the tying run on base with two down.

Kinsler, with a pair of hits in three trips to the plate, jumped on Davis’ first pitch. The ball shot toward left-center field and skipped off the turf all the way to the wall. Betts scored easily and leaped in the air as Dozier joined him to tie the game. Seeing Michael Taylor struggle picking up the ball, Kinsler endeavored to gain an extra 90 feet…but Taylor recovered and fired to Gyorko, with the relay hitting Machado’s glove in time to end the regularly-prescribed innings in a 6-6 deadlock.

The prospect of losing the game after a two-run lead in the ninth left the visitors stunned, and they were set down quietly by Steve Cishek in the top of the tenth. Davis, given another chance, put men on first and third with two out. Bruce Bochy called upon Will Harris to keep the game alive. He did just that, striking out Betts to send the game to the 11^th.

Flowers opened the second extra frame with a single through the 5-6 hole, prompting the Firebirds to call on…Johnny Cueto? The erstwhile starter allowed a line drive to center off Pollock’s bat, but it settled in Dexter Fowler’s glove for the first out. Cueto wasn’t as lucky on a full-count pitch to Scooter Gennett. The infielder, with newfound power in 2017, exhibited that improvement with a drive to right that sailed over the fence in a hurry, stunning the home crowd and giving Brownsville a brand-new two-run lead.

Harris was much more reliable than Davis in closing out Yuma. Three balls were put in play in the bottom of the 11^th, and all three times his defense made the play. In surprising fashion, the upstart Cutters had stolen Game 1 from 115-win Yuma.

FINAL: BROWNSVILLE 8, YUMA 6 (11)