NLDS Metrpolis vs. Fleetwood - Game Five

Doug Fister hoped to extend
Metropolis's season.

The hometown Fleetwood Walkers rode a three-game winning streak into game five in hopes of putting the visiting Metropolis Avengers away and avoiding a return trip to the Hall of Justice.  The Walkers sent Colby Lewis (20-6, 3.27 ERA) to the mound in what appeared to be a perfectly even match-up with Doug Fister (21-5, 3.28).

The first inning was quiet but the Avenger hitters got to work in the second.  Jose Bautista led off with a single and Corey Hart reached on a one-out walk, bringing Lucas Duda to the plate.  Duda doubled into the right-field corner and gave the Avengers a lead they desperately needed.  Catcher Matt Wieters drove home a second run on a sharp ground ball to second which also moved Duda to third.  Lewis thought he was out of the inning after Hafner popped into foul ground, but catcher Alex Avila dropped the ball and gave Hafner a second chance.  He didn't waste it, and two pitches later Hafner drove a high fastball deep into the right field stands for a homer and a 4-0 Avenger lead.

Walker catcher Alex Avila after he dropped
a Travis Hafner popup

Avila was clearly upset about the play after the game.  "That's on me," he said.  "Nothing to say about it other than I've got to catch it."

The Avengers tacked on a fifth run in the top of the third when Alex Gordon, who had been 2-12 in the series, doubled home Andrew McCutchen.  Lewis was throwing hard and struck out the side in the third, but he found himself behind 5-0.

Carlos Beltran's homer put
Fleetwood on the board

Fleetwood didn't give up and the heart of the order delivered in the fourth.  Dustin Ackley hit a leadoff single and MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera followed with a double.  After a quick visit from the Metropolis pitching coach, Fister got ahead of right fielder Carlos Beltran 1-2.  Then Beltran turned on a sinker that Fister left above the belt and turned it into a three-run homer that silenced an already nervous Metropolis crowd.

Next up, Avila tried to make amends for his earlier error that led to Hafner's homer.  Avila hit a ball off the end of his bat that Bautista struggled to collect and then threw away, putting Avila on second with a single and error.  Fister was still looking for the first out of the inning, but David Wright wasn't going to help.  He looped a single just out of the reach of a charging Gordon and Avila came home to make it 5-4.  Fister finally pulled himself together and retired the next three Walkers to get out of the inning.

Beltran's three extra-base hits
weren't enough for Fleetwood.

The Walkers rallied again in the bottom of the fifth when Nick Markakis singled to lead off the inning.  Beltran came to bat two outs later and came through again.  This time he merely doubled, but that hit brought home Markakis and knotted the game at 5-5.

Two innings later Beltran once again came up with runners on base.  This time he doubled off relief pitcher Marc Rzepczynski, driving the ball beyond McCutchen's reach in left-center field.  Beltran drove home Markakis with the go-ahead run and had the Walkers looking for more.  Craig Kimbrel, however, came in and struck out Avila and retired Wright to end the inning.  Beltran's heroics brought the Walkers all the way back from a 5-0 deficit and put them in the lead 6-5 as the game moved to the eighth inning. 

Cabrera's errant throw turned a
great play into an bad one.

Fleetwood called on Jason Grilli to face the bottom of the Avenger order in the eighth.  He retired Corey Hart for the first out but then allowed a single and two walks to Duda, Wieters and Hafner to load the bases for the top of the order.  Jose Reyes hit a sharp ground ball directly to Dustin Ackley who easily threw out Duda at home, preserving Fleetwood's one run lead and putting them one out from escaping the eighth.  McCutchen had a different idea, however, as he hit pulled a grounder deep into the hold at shortstop.  Asdrubal Cabrera made a tremendous diving play just to get to the ball, but a wild throw from his knees went well wide of first baseman Miguel Cabrera.  Scored as a single and error, Duda and Wieters scored the tying and go-ahead runs, giving the Avengers new life and shocking the Walkers who were just four outs from winning the series.

Craig Kimbrel finished out the rest of the game and secured the Avenger's win.  Beltran couldn't have been better but the series now heads back to Metropolis with Fleetwood ahead 3-2.  Game six in the Hall of Justice will see Avenger Kyle Lohse (15-7, 3.50 ERA) facing off against Walker Scott Baker (14-3, 3.05 ERA). 

 

BOXSCORE: 2012 Metropolis Avengers At 2012 Fleetwood Walkers       10/14/2012

  Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG

  J.Reyes SS          5  0  1  0 .435     N.Markakis CF       5  2  2  0 .222 

  A.McCutchen CF      4  1  1  1 .300     D.Ackley DH         4  1  1  0 .143 

  R.Cano 2B           5  0  1  0 .091   A-C.Iannetta PH,DH    1  0  0  0 .462 

  J.Bautista 3B       3  1  2  0 .412     M.Cabrera 1B        3  1  1  0 .171 

  A.Gordon LF         5  0  1  1 .143     C.Beltran LF        4  1  3  5 .297 

  C.Hart RF           3  1  0  0 .294     A.Avila C           5  1  1  0 .136 

  L.Duda 1B           5  1  3  1 .200     D.Wright 3B         5  0  1  1 .162 

  M.Wieters C         3  1  1  1 .188     M.Joyce RF          4  0  0  0 .222 

  T.Hafner DH         3  2  1  2 .286     A.Cabrera SS        3  0  2  0 .257 

                                          H.Kendrick 2B       4  0  1  0 .222 

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     

         Totals      36  7 11  6                 Totals      38  6 12  6

A-Pinch Hit For Ackley In 8th Inning

Avengers........ 0 4 1  0 0 0  0 2 0  -  7 11  2

Walkers......... 0 0 0  4 1 0  1 0 0  -  6 12  2

Avengers (3-2)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

D.Fister                  5 2/3   9   5   4   1   5   1   4.63  A1 C8

S.Strasburg               0 2/3   1   1   1   1   2   0   2.45  C9 D3

M.Rzepczynsk              0       1   0   0   0   0   0   ----  D4 D4

C.Kimbrel WIN(2-0)        2 2/3   1   0   0   2   4   0   0.00  D5

Totals                    9      12   6   5   4  11   1

Walkers (6-4)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.Lewis                   3       4   5   3   2   5   1   9.64  A1 B6

R.Webb                    3       3   0   0   1   3   0   0.00  B7 C9

D.Oliver                  1       1   0   0   1   0   0   0.00  D1 D5

J.Grilli L(0-2) BS(2nd)   1       2   2   1   2   0   0   7.20  D6 E3

H.Bell                    1       1   0   0   1   0   0   2.45  E4

Totals                    9      11   7   4   7   8   1

ATTENDANCE- 48,514 DATE- Sunday, October 14th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average

UMPIRES- Jerry Meals, Bill Miller, Paul Emmel, Gary Darling

T- 3:16

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 9  Walkers: 9

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 1  Walkers: 2

ERRORS- R.Cano, J.Bautista, A.Avila, A.Cabrera

DOUBLES- J.Reyes(3rd), A.Gordon(1st), L.Duda-2(2nd), M.Cabrera(2nd),

         C.Beltran-2(3rd), A.Cabrera(2nd)

HOME RUNS- T.Hafner(1st), C.Beltran(1st)

WALKS- A.McCutchen, J.Bautista-2, C.Hart-2, M.Wieters, T.Hafner, M.Cabrera-2,

       C.Beltran, A.Cabrera

STRIKE OUTS- J.Reyes, A.McCutchen, R.Cano-2, J.Bautista, A.Gordon, C.Hart,

             M.Wieters, D.Ackley, A.Avila-2, D.Wright-2, M.Joyce-3, A.Cabrera,

             H.Kendrick-2

GIDP- L.Duda, T.Hafner, N.Markakis

BALKS- R.Webb

2-out RBI- T.Hafner-2, A.Gordon, C.Beltran, A.McCutchen