NLCS Metropolis vs. Springfield - Game Two

The home town Metropolis Avengers sent Alexi Ogando to the hill needing a win to avoid a 2-0 deficit in their NLCS against the visiting Springfield Isotopes.  The Isotopes matched Ogando with Freddy Garcia.

The bullpens dominated in game two, as both teams' relievers combined for nine shutout innings, with three hits, zero walks and 11 strikeouts.  Luckily for the Avengers, they had a 4-2 lead when the bullpens took over, allowing them to hold on and win game two by that same 4-2 score.

Berkman's homer put Springfield ahead.

Springfield drew first blood in the top of the first when cleanup hitter Lance Berkman hit a solo shot into the Hall of Justice stands.  After the game, Avenger catcher Matt Wieters said, "we knew Berkman was their guy, so we focused on trying to keep the guys in front of him from getting on base.  We did that, but he still knocked himself in."  Ogando retired Hunter Pence to end the first, but the Avengers found themselves down by a run before they had even come to bat.

Jose Bautista's shot tied the game 1-1.

Luckily for Metropolis, they have their own slugger - Jose Bautista.  Bautista matched Berkman's solo homer with a line drive that cleared the left field wall and tied the game 1-1.  Bautista led the Avengers during the season with 39 homers and 138 RBI, but has been moved to the second spot in the lineup for the last three games.  "I'm not really sure why," he said after the game, "but I'll hit wherever they put me."

Scutaro's error allowed a run.

 
Metropolis added a run in the second with more than a little help.  Lucas Duda doubled and moved to third on a ground out.  With two outs, Travis Hafner hit a sharp ground ball into the hole that should have ended the inning.  Shortstop Marco Scutaro fielded it cleanly, but his throw pulled first baseman Todd Helton off the bag and allowed Duda to score the Avengers' second run. 

McCutchen's second homer of the series put Metropolis up 4-1.

Metropolis had the same 2-1 lead in the third, when cleanup hitter Andrew McCutchen hit his second homer of the NLCS.  Bautista led off the third with a double and McCutchen hit a Garcia fastball deep into the left-center field stands for a two-run shot.  McCutchen took over the cleanup spot with Bautista's move to second in the order for game seven of the NLDS against Fleetwood.  "Hey, I'm a cleanup hitter now," McCutchen said after the game.  "This is new to me, but so far it's working out."

Ogando cruised after Berkman's homer, facing the minimum in the second, third and fourth innings.  With one out in the fifth, Wieters misplayed a dribbler in front of the plate, allowing Scutaro to reach base.  A Jerry Hairston double drove Scutaro home and sent Ogando to the showers, one out short of qualifying for an NLCS win.

Garcia had already given way to the Isotope bullpen in the bottom of the fourth.  Edward Mujica, Santiago Casilla and Troy Patton did their best to keep Springfield in the game, combining for 4 2/3 innings and allowing just three hits with no walks.

Unfortunately for the Isotopes, the Avenger bullpen was even better.  Sergio Santos, Stephen Strasburg, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel flat-out dominated.  The four relievers threw 4 1/3 perfect innings and struck out nine Isotope hitters.  Kimbrel finished off the Isotopes by striking out four of the five hitters he faced to end the game and lock down down the 4-2 win.

Ogando and the Avenger bullpen struck out 13 hitters and didn't allow a walk, sending the series to Springfield tied at one.  The game three starters will be Kyle Lohse for Metropolis and C.J. Wilson for Springfield.

BOXSCORE: 2012 Springfield Isotopes At 2012 Metropolis Avengers    10/21/2012

  Isotopes           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG

  N.Morgan CF         4  0  0  0 .300     J.Reyes SS          4  0  0  0 .316 

  T.Helton 1B         4  0  0  0 .200     J.Bautista 3B       4  2  3  1 .367 

  L.Berkman DH        4  1  1  1 .233     R.Cano 2B           4  0  0  0 .086 

  H.Pence RF          4  0  0  0 .229     A.McCutchen CF      3  1  2  2 .303 

  M.Cabrera LF        3  0  0  0 .200     A.Gordon LF         4  0  0  0 .135 

C-M.Downs PH          1  0  0  0 .083     C.Hart RF           4  0  1  0 .250 

  M.Scutaro SS        3  1  0  0 .206     L.Duda 1B           4  1  1  0 .235 

  R.Zimmerman 3B      3  0  1  0 .400     M.Wieters C         2  0  0  0 .192 

  J.Thole C           3  0  1  0 .429     T.Hafner DH         3  0  0  0 .222 

  J.Hairston Jr 2B    2  0  1  1 .211                                         

A-J.Posada PH         1  0  0  0 .231                                          

B-M.Cairo 2B          0  0  0  0 .375                                         

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

         Totals      32  2  4  2                 Totals      32  4  7  3

A-Pinch Hit For Hairston Jr In 8th Inning

B-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Posada In 8th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Cabrera In 9th Inning

Isotopes........ 1 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0  -  2  4  1

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

Isotopes (5-3)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

F.Garcia LOSS(1-2)        3 1/3   4   4   3   2   0   2   4.22  A1 B8

E.Mujica                  3 2/3   2   0   0   0   1   0   3.18  B9 D3

S.Casilla                 0 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   1.42  D4 D6

T.Patton                  0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   9.00  D7

Totals                    8       7   4   3   2   2   2

Avengers (5-4)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

A.Ogando                  4 2/3   4   2   1   0   4   1   4.15  A1 B9

S.Santos                  0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0  27.00  C1 C1

S.Strasburg HOLD(2nd)     1       0   0   0   0   1   0   2.84  C2 C4

K.Jansen HOLD(1st)        1 1/3   0   0   0   0   4   0   1.86  C5 C9

C.Kimbrel WIN(2-0)        1 2/3   0   0   0   0   4   0   0.00  D1

Totals                    9       4   2   1   0  13   1

ATTENDANCE- 45,772 DATE- Sunday, October 21st 2012 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good

UMPIRES- Dale Scott, Bill Hohn, Ron Kulpa, Dan Iassogna

T- 2:25

LEFT ON BASE- Isotopes: 3  Avengers: 6

DOUBLE PLAYS- Isotopes: 0  Avengers: 1

ERRORS- M.Scutaro, L.Duda, M.Wieters

DOUBLES- J.Hairston Jr(1st), J.Bautista-2(2nd), C.Hart(2nd), L.Duda(3rd)

HOME RUNS- L.Berkman(1st), J.Bautista(3rd), A.McCutchen(2nd)

STOLEN BASES- A.McCutchen-2(2nd)

WALKS- A.McCutchen, M.Wieters

STRIKE OUTS- N.Morgan, T.Helton, L.Berkman, H.Pence-2, M.Cabrera, M.Downs,

             M.Scutaro, R.Zimmerman-2, J.Thole-2, J.Hairston Jr, J.Bautista,

             A.McCutchen

GIDP- N.Morgan

PASSED BALLS- J.Thole

2-out RBI- L.Berkman, J.Hairston Jr

WEB GEMS- Bot 4th: Marco Scutaro robbed Travis Hafner of a base hit.