Needing a win to stay alive, the
Brownsville Cutters exploded and excited the home crowd…until a stunning late
implosion. Could they survive and send the series back to Yuma?
Explode, the
Cutters did. Facing Yuma ace Chris Sale, Javier Baez got things started with a
leadoff homer in the bottom of the 1st. After a single and a pair of
strikeouts, Jedd Gyorko got into the act with a two-run shot for a 3-0
Brownsville lead.
After Yuma
plated a run on a Corey Seager double down the line in the 3rd, the hosts went
back to work. With Aaron Judge aboard after an infield single, Gyorko launched
his second two-run blast. Next up was Michael Taylor, who also pulled the ball
into the left field bleachers. In the span of three turns at bat, Brownsville
had scored six runs against the southpaw Sale, and the third would be his last
inning of work.
Yu Darvish, on
the mound for the Cutters, hadn’t been too successful keeping the Firebirds off
the bases in the first three innings, and his issues spilled over into the 4th.
Brandon Crawford, who had lasered an opposite-field double with one out, scored
easily on an Ian Kinsler ground ball up the middle. With two out, pinch hitter
extraordinaire Brian Dozier was called upon, taking Sale’s place. Proving the
fables true, Dozier put on a massive upper cut on a 1-1 Darvish slider. The soaring
drive seemingly didn’t come back to earth (in reality, it landed at the top of
the Cockerton Field bleachers). When he finished his trot, Yuma had pulled
within two.
With the
ballgame close, Baez got back to work in the bottom of the 4th. Behind
in the count at 0-2, Baez shortened up and lined a single to center. He then
stole second base and took third on a deep fly out from Manny Machado. A Judge
double presented an easy opportunity for Baez to waltz home, and the lead was
extended to 7-4.
From there, it
was almost all Brownsville. Two runs scored off Gerrit Cole in the fifth, both
coming on a bases-loaded single from Baez. Cole, relegated to a mop-up role for
the playoffs, continued to eat innings and save the bullpen for an impending
Game 5…but in the process he allowed a pair to cross in the Cutter 6th,
the final of those on a single by the opposing RELIEF pitcher, Cam Bedrosian.
Fast forward
to the top of the 9th. Brownsville, cruising with an 11-4 lead, tossed
Fernando Salas on the mound. Surely the seasoned reliever could handle a
seven-run advantage, right?
RIGHT???
WRONG.
In what must
have seemed a nightmare for the fans in attendance, Salas couldn’t find the
plate after inducing an Anthony Rendon groundout to open the frame. Crawford
got ahead in the count before singling. Kinsler walked on four pitches, as did
pinch-hitter Nomar Mazara. Ben Zobrist grabbed a bat to hit for Cole, but he
didn’t need it. A 3-1 offering skipped off the dirt, forcing in a run. Dexter
Fowler fell behind 0-2, saw Tyler Flowers fail to stop a breaking ball for a
run-scoring passed ball, then fouled off four pitches while taking three more
balls for another free pass.
After all of
that, the score was still 11-6. But with Joey Votto stepping up, and Seager and
Mookie Betts behind him, Bruce Bochy had to be roused from his nap on the end
of the bench. The bullpen heated up as Votto worked the count full before a
seeing-eye single to center to plate an additional two Firebirds.
One out, two
hits, four walks, six runs on 36 pitches? Yeah, that was it for Salas. Seager,
representing the potential tying run, was the first to greet Will Harris. The youngster
wasted no time in driving the ball up the middle to score Fowler. Betts? Just a
first-pitch single down the left field line. Votto, across the plate. Seager,
to third base. A huge advantage for the home team had crumpled in a matter of
minutes, and just a few more hits would put their season on the brink.
Remember, Brownsville needed a win to keep the series alive.
The next
hitter was the only one who had made an out in the frame. Rendon, with the full
force of his boisterous dugout behind him, was confident he would get the hit
to tie the game – or take the lead. He went ahead, two balls and a strike, then
swung all-out at a fastball!
But the ball slowed
and dropped. It was a changeup. Rendon’s eyes bulged as the ball hit the bottom
half of the bat and skidded right to Harris. The veteran spun and calmly
delivered the ball to Gyorko covering second. Rendon’s speed put pressure on
the play, but Gyorko was accurate to first for the final out as the Cutters
fans gasped a collective exhale.
FINAL:
BROWNSVILLE 11, YUMA 10
A game which
appeared in hand since the early going turned into a nailbiter, but Brownsville
prevailed against the battle-hardened Firebirds to send the series to a fifth
and deciding game at Yuma, with the winner advancing to the BARB World Series.
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