It was a night of dominant pitching, timely groundballs and a controversial finish that saw one affiliate wrap up their series, another take the series lead and one affiliate set up a deciding game this afternoon. I won’t give up which affiliate was involved in which game, until after the jump, but my only clue is that Drew Hutchison took the mound last night.
New Hampshire 1 @ Reading 0 – Boxscore
The remarkable ascent of Drew Hutchison continued, as he pitched 6 fantastic innings against the Reading Phillies. Hutchison surrendered two hits and no walks and struck out six. Both hits he allowed were singles and he retired 8 of the 11 batters on balls in play via groundballs. Ronald Uviedo pitched a scoreless 7th and Clint Everts struck out two in the eighth inning. Bobby Korecky allowed a single in the ninth, but otherwise escaped unscathed and picked up his second save of the postseason, preserving Hutchison’s win and the 1-0 victory.
Reading showed up with some pretty good pitching of their own and limited the Fisher Cats to four hits, although Phillies pitchers also walked three. Travis d’Arnaud was the standout performer at the plate with a 2-for-4 game. Mike McDade and Kevin Howard also singled in consecutive at-bats. Howard’s single advanced McDade to third with one out and Dan Perales came up and did his job, sending a sac fly to left that cashed the first baseman. Perales also drew a walk. Anthony Gose and a rehabbing Colby Rasmus, playing DH, were each 0-for-3 with a walk. Rasmus struck out twice and Gose stole a base.
New Hampshire now leads the Eastern Division Championship Series two games to one, with game four going tonight. Yohan Pino will start for the Fisher Cats against Reading’s Tyler Barrett.
Dayton 3 @ Lansing 4 – Boxscore
It was the middle of the lineup that powered the Lugnuts’ victory last night. The first two batters in the lineup, Jonathan Jones and Oscar Dominguez, combined to go 0-for-7 with a walk. Jake Marisnick also put up an 0-fer, but he drew a walk, stole a base and scored a run. Michael Crouse was 1-for-4 with a run scored, a stolen base and was also caught stealing third. Marcus Knecht was 2-for-3 with a double, a solo homer and a walk. Knecht scored twice and drove in two runs. Carlos Perez was 2-for-3 with a walk. K.C. Hobson was 0-for-4 and Matt Nuzzo was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two strikeouts. Fast-moving Peter Mooney was 0-for-2 with a walk, batting ninth.
Marcus Walden started for the Lugnuts. Walden surrendered seven hits and two earned runs over 5 innings. He struck out six, didn’t walk a batter and left with Lansing holding a 4-2 lead. Brandon Berl came in and pitched a scoreless sixth, but allowed the first two hitters he faced in the seventh to reach base on a single and a hit-by-pitch. Dayton Martze entered the game and speedster Billy Hamilton promptly dropped a bunt single to load the bases with none out. In danger of losing the lead and possibly their season, Martze was able to induce a ground ball to second. Unable to turn two, Lansing got the force at second and allowed Dayton’s third run to score. However, then Martze was able to get a second groundball, with Lansing playing for the double play. This time the Lugnuts pulled off the twin killing and escaped the inning with the one run lead intact. The ball was then handed to Daniel Webb and Danny Barnes, who each threw a scoreless inning to preserve the one-run lead and the victory.
After winning the deciding game of the playoff quarterfinals, Lansing will now face the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the Eastern Division Championship Series.
Tri-City 5 @ Vancouver 3 – Boxscore
Blake McFarland’s tough postseason continued, as he took his second loss of the second season. McFarland went 3.1 innings and allowed four hits and three walks which led to three runs, two earned and one scoring because of a Shane Optiz error. McFarland left the game with two runners on base, but Tyler Ybarra escaped the frame unscathed. Ybarra also went 3.1 innings and also allowed four hits. He walked one, struck out two and allowed Tri-City’s last two runs to count. Philip Brua pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief and Alex White struck out three in the ninth, keeping Vancouver in the game.
Vancouver actually outhit Tri-City 11-9, but the Canadians couldn’t find a way to push those runs across the plate. Jonathan Berti and Nicholas Baligod both went 2-for-4 with Berti adding an RBI. Backup catcher Chris Schaeffer came through with a big game, going 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two runs scored before being lifted for pinch-hitter Stephen McQuail who drew a free pass. Shane Optiz was a pest at the bottom of the lineup, knocking a double, scoring a run and drawing two walks. While the bottom of the Canadians’ lineup was getting on base, the middle of the lineup wasn’t able to post timely production. Roan Salas, Matt Newman and Balbino Fuenmayor all went 1-for-4. Cleanup hitter Kevin Patterson went 0-for-4 and Kevin Pillar, batting second and without a regular season at-bat for Vancouver, was 1-for-4.
There was some controversy at the end of the game, as the Canadians loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Berti hit a hot shot up the middle that the Dust Devils shortstop was able to field and throw to second to force Optiz. With the fourth run crossing the plate on the play, the second baseman relayed the ball to first in an attempt to turn two. The umpire called Berti out, but apparently replays suggested he beat the throw. If Berti was called safe, it would have brought up Pillar with two out, two on and a one-run deficit. In any case, it was a nail-biter and there may be more thrills this afternoon at Nat Bailey Stadium. The best-of-three series is tied at one game apiece and game three goes Sunday afternoon. Jesse Hernandez will take the hill for the Canadians.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Chris Schaeffer, 2-for-3, 2 R, HR, RBI, 5 TB
2nd Star – Marcus Knecht, 2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB, 6 TB
1st Star – Drew Hutchison, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20110911051227578