Mookie Betts hit a big two-run homer as Yuma tried to tie the series
After surviving
to take Game 1 on the road, the Brownsville Cutters entered the second game at
Yuma smelling blood – a second win on the road in the best-of-five series would
all-but guarantee the Grapefruit wild card advanced to the BARB World Series.
True to the
story, Kyle and Kory Brown’s troops struck first. In the top of the 2nd,
Manny Machado lined the first Carlos Carrasco offering of the frame into the
gap in left-center, and he cruised into second base with a double. Two pitches
later he crossed the plate, driven in by a Mark Reynolds single.
The Brownsville
power show from Game 1 continued in the third, as Scooter Gennett launched a
solo blast to right-center for a 2-0 advantage.
Corey Kluber,
unavailable for Game 1 after kicking off the wild card round, took the ball on
full rest in Game 2 and dominated through four innings, allowing just a single
and a runner on an error. But in the fifth the Firebirds struck and tied the
game in the span of four pitches. Anthony Rendon doubled and scored on a Brett
Gardner single, and Brandon Crawford’s double drove in Gardner. A potential big
inning was short-circuited, however, when Crawford attempted to take third on
the throw home but was cut down by 10 feet. Two of the next three hitters
singled, but they were both stranded when Joey Votto struck out looking.
Kluber’s day ended
just the next inning, when he bookended a pair of outs with singles to put
runners on the corners. Brownsville called upon lefty Felipe Rivero, who
induced an inning-ending lineout from Brandon Crawford to keep the game tied,
2-2.
In the top of
the 7th, Carrasco faltered. Jay Bruce led off and took a mighty cut
at the 3-1 pitch, the ball soaring over the right field fence for a 3-2 Cutters
lead. With one out, Jose Abreu lined a single to left and Sean Doolittle
appeared from the Firebirds bullpen. Yuma’s top lefty matched his counterpart
Rivero, getting out of the inning without any additional runs scoring.
Rivero set
down the hosts in order in the bottom of the seventh, putting the game right
back in the hands of his offense. A single and intentional walk put two on with
two out, but Bryan Shaw entered his second game in a row and retired
pinch-hitter Michael Taylor to keep Yuma’s deficit at one.
Votto led off
the home half of the 8th and immediately grounded to short, but
Corey Seager pulled a hanging 0-2 curve into the gap in right-center. With two
right-handed batters due up next, young Carl Edwards was brought in for the
visitors. Mookie Betts, working on a 0-for-3 day after a 2-for-6 Game 1, fell
behind at a ball and two strikes. The next Edwards pitch was decent, but the
dangerous Betts dug it out and drove the ball toward the fence in left. Taylor
rushed toward the fence and leaped, but the ball skimmed off his glove and into
the bleachers for a 4-3 Yuma lead.
Stunned,
Brownsville couldn’t muster even a runner against Shaw in the ninth, and the
series fell into a 1-1 tie headed to the Cutters’ Cockerton Field for the next
two contests.
FINAL: YUMA 4, BROWNSVILLE 3
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