After a barn-burner Game 3, in which 11
total relievers were used, Yuma and St. Francis had to re-assess starting pitcher
availability for Game 4. The answers? For Yuma, Johnny Cueto, who threw the
final inning-plus of Game 3. St. Francis turned to their ace, Stephen Strasburg
– ready for action despite just three days of rest following his Game 1
shutdown of the Firebirds.
As you might
expect, Cueto and Strasburg were saddled with markedly different expectations.
In a hostile environment, Yuma simply wanted a few good frames from Cueto to
give their offense time to solve Strasburg. A St. Francis victory off a strong
Strasburg start, on the other hand, would put the Kansans in prime position to
take their first BARB title. And taking the ball this game gave Strasburg as
much time as possible to rest in case he was needed for a Game 7.
After scoring
just one run in almost seven innings while striking out 11 times against
Strasburg in Game 1, the Firebirds seemed ready for revenge in Game 4. They jumped
on the slender righty immediately, with Joey Votto doubling and Mookie Betts
blasting a two-out, two-run bomb in the first. Amazingly, that was Yuma’s only
threat in Strasburg’s five frames. He retired the next nine in order before a
pair of singles opening the fifth, after which a double play and harmless
pop-up put any more run-scoring hopes to death for the visitors.
Meanwhile, St.
Francis supported their starter with a second-inning rally against Cueto that
resulted in a run, and a couple of hits strung together in the fourth to knock
out the right-hander and tie the game. Wilson Ramos, like Strasburg a trade
pickup by the Kansans, drove both runs in with singles.
If the crowd
at The Monastery was expecting another offensive outburst, they were
disappointed. The 2-2 tie lasted for long after the starting pitchers were out
of the game. Reliever after reliever entered and encountered trouble (only one
half-inning from the sixth-inning on didn’t see a runner reach base), but still
no one could break through. The hosts came close a couple times, putting
runners on third base in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings, but each time
the runner was stranded just 90 feet from paydirt.
Especially
frustrating for Scott Hatfield and crew was the bottom of the ninth. Needing
just a run to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, they loaded the bases
with one out. Brandon Morrow came to the mound for Yuma and induced a grounder
from Marcell Ozuna on which Jose Altuve was retired at the plate, then Kevin
Kiermaier struck out to give the fans free baseball.
The Kansans
again threatened in the 10th, with a pair of two-out singles putting
runners on the corners, but Justin Turner couldn’t capitalize. In the top of
the 11th, it appeared Yuma would break through. They loaded the
bases with none out against new pitcher Trevor Cahill, and the Kansans brought
on ace reliever Andrew Miller. The southpaw earned a good chunk of his $9
million salary for the season with two strikeouts and a groundout from the middle
of the Firebirds order.
Miller worked
a perfect 12th but was removed for Rich Hill as the top of the 13th
began. The top of Yuma’s lineup licked their chops as the wily veteran’s curve
didn’t exhibit its normal depth. Dexter Fowler doubled and Votto singled,
plating the first run in the game since the fourth inning. A Corey Seager walk
was followed by Betts popping up a bunt, but Anthony Rendon redeemed himself
from multiple errors in the playoffs with a deep drive down the right field
line, safely inside the foul pole! A three-run BOMB, and a 6-2 Yuma lead!
All that was
left was for Ryan Dull to finish it out, and he did just that with only nine
pitches in the home half of the 13th. In possibly the longest game
in BARB playoff history, the Firebirds came away with the victory of the
bullpens and drew into a 2-2 tie in the World Series!
FINAL: YUMA 6, ST. FRANCIS 2 (13)
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