NLCS Metropolis vs. Springfield - Game Three

Springfield acquired C.J. Wilson to pitch and win playoff games.

The NLCS moved to Springfield tied at one game each.  Metropolis called on Kyle Lohse to give them the series lead while Springfield countered with lefty C.J. Wison.  Neither starter had his best stuff, but both worked out of jams and, for the most part, kept runners from from turning into runs.  Metropolis went to the pen first, and that may have been the difference in their winning the game 3-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Robinson Cano's broken bat
ground out stranded three Avengers.

The Avenger hitters got to work right away, as Jose Reyes singled and Jose Bautista walked to lead off the top of the first.  Wilson struck out Alex Gordon and Andrew McCutchen, but then walked catcher Matt Wieters to load the bases for Robinson Cano.  Cano stranded all three runners, breaking his bat and hitting routine ground ball to second base to end the threat.

Melky Cabrera hustled down the line but
still got doubled-up to end the first inning.

Lohse found himself in an even tighter jam in the bottom of the inning.  After getting the first out, Lohse gave up a single to Todd Helton and then walked Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence.  Mid-season pickup Melky Cabrera hit a sharp ground ball the other way, which Reyes and Cano turned into a textbook double play to end the inning.  The two starters combined for six baserunners in the first inning, but the score remained 0-0. 

Metropolis put together another rally in the second, behind a Corey Hart walk and another Reyes single.  With two outs, Bautista hit a rocket down the right field line.  Helton made a spectacular play to knock it down, but then threw wildly as Wilson raced to cover the bag.  The official scorer gave Bautista a hit and Helton an error on the throw, but it appeared a good throw likely would have retired the batter and ended the inning.  Hart scored easily on the play for game three's first run and a 1-0 Metropolis lead.

Avenger starter Kyle Lohse was
pulled with one out in the fourth.

Springfield put runners base in the second and third innings, but couldn't break through.  In the fourth, Cabrera and Marco Scutaro both singled with one out.  Metropolis showed a quick trigger and called on Sergio Santos to help Lohse out of his latest jam.  He did, retiring Ryan Zimmerman on a fly ball and striking out Jorge Posada to end the inning.

McCutchen's third homer in three
games gave Metropolis a 2-0 lead.

Springfield struggled to break through, but
the crowd felt like it was only a matter of time due to the runners they put on base.  However, Avenger center fielder Andrew McCutchen silenced the hometown fans when he led off the fifth inning with his third home run of the series.  This one went the other way and just inside the right field foul pole to put Metropolis up 2-0.  Metropolis threatened to score more, but Jesus Guzman struck out and Jonny Gomes grounded out to end the inning and strand two runners.

Todd Helton struck out when a
fly ball would have tied the game.

Santos remained in the game for Metropolis longer than expected, as he cruised through the sixth inning while allowing just one baserunner.  Zimmerman led off the seventh with a single with Santos appearing to tire.  His day was done after he hit Posada with a pitch and Stephen Strasburg came in from the bullpen.  Strasburg got the first out, but pinch hitter Carlos Quentin singled home Zimmerman and put the tying run on third with one out.  Strasburg needed a strikeout and he got one, punching out Helton with a changeup.  Berkman popped up, leaving two runners on and the Isotopes down by a run.

Bautista immediately got the run back in the top of the eighth off, crushing a fastball deep into the stands off Springfield reliever John Axford.  The Avengers once again led by two runs, which was more than enough for their bullpen.

Ryan Zimmerman also struck out in a key spot.

Strasburg gave way to Kenley Jansen, who proceeded to start his own fire, allowing two of the first three hitters reach base and bringing Zimmerman to the plate as the go-ahead run.  Jansen struck out him out on four pitches and then got Posada on three straight to end the rally.  Jansen finished out the ninth inning in order, securing the 3-1 lead for Metropolis.

Metropolis takes  a two-game winning streak into game four.  Both teams have their game one starters scheduled - Doug Fister for the Avengers and Tim Lincecum for the Isotopes.

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BOXSCORE: 2012 Metropolis Avengers At 2012 Springfield Isotopes    10/23/2012

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

  J.Reyes SS          5  0  2  0 .326     N.Morgan CF         3  0  1  0 .308 

  J.Bautista 3B       4  1  3  2 .412   G-C.Quentin PH,LF     2  0  1  1 .292 

  A.Gordon LF         5  0  1  0 .143     T.Helton 1B         5  0  1  0 .200 

  A.McCutchen CF      5  1  1  1 .289     L.Berkman DH        3  0  0  0 .212 

  M.Wieters C         1  0  1  0 .222     H.Pence RF          3  0  1  0 .237 

A-T.Hafner PH         0  0  0  0 .222     M.Cabrera LF,CF     4  0  2  0 .235 

B-J.Sands PH          1  0  0  0 .000     M.Scutaro SS        3  0  1  0 .216 

C-I.Rodriguez C       1  0  0  0 .000     R.Zimmerman 3B      4  1  2  0 .412 

  R.Cano 2B           5  0  1  0 .100     J.Posada C          3  0  0  0 .188 

  C.Hart RF           2  1  0  0 .235     J.Hairston Jr 2B    2  0  0  0 .190 

  J.Guzman 1B         4  0  0  0 .125   E-R.Doumit PH         0  0  0  0 .500 

  J.Gomes DH          3  0  0  0 .000   F-M.Downs PH,2B       2  0  0  0 .071 

D-L.Duda PH,DH        1  0  0  0 .229                                         

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

         Totals      37  3  9  3                 Totals      34  1  9  1

A-Pinch Hit For Wieters In 6th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Hafner In 6th Inning

C-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Sands In 6th Inning

D-Pinch Hit For Gomes In 7th Inning

E-Pinch Hit For Hairston Jr In 7th Inning

F-Pinch Hit For Doumit In 7th Inning

G-Pinch Hit For Morgan In 7th Inning

Avengers........ 0 1 0  0 1 0  0 1 0  -  3  9  0

Isotopes........ 0 0 0  0 0 0  1 0 0  -  1  9  2

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

K.Lohse                   3 1/3   5   0   0   2   3   0   0.84  A1 B6

S.Santos                  2 2/3   2   1   1   0   2   0   8.10  B7 C8

S.Strasburg HOLD(3rd)     1       1   0   0   0   1   0   2.45  C9 D3

K.Jansen WIN(2-0)         2       1   0   0   1   3   0   1.54  D4

Totals                    9       9   1   1   3   9   0

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

C.Wilson LOSS(1-1)        5 1/3   5   2   2   6   5   1   2.37  A1 D1

S.Casilla                 0 1/3   2   0   0   0   1   0   1.35  D2 D4

T.Patton                  0 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   8.10  D5 D6

A.Alburquerq              1       0   0   0   1   1   0   0.00  D7 E1

J.Axford                  2       1   1   1   0   3   1   4.76  E2

Totals                    9       9   3   3   7  10   2

ATTENDANCE- 47,594 DATE- Tuesday, October 23rd 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad

UMPIRES- Tim Tschida, Jim Joyce, Jeff Nelson, Mark Carlson

T- 3:17

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers:14  Isotopes:10

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 2  Isotopes: 0

ERRORS- T.Helton, R.Zimmerman

DOUBLES- M.Wieters(2nd)

HOME RUNS- J.Bautista(4th), A.McCutchen(3rd)

WALKS- J.Bautista, M.Wieters-2, C.Hart-3, J.Guzman, L.Berkman, H.Pence,

       M.Scutaro

HIT BY PITCH- J.Posada

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

             L.Duda, T.Helton-2, H.Pence, M.Cabrera, R.Zimmerman, J.Posada-3,

             J.Hairston Jr

GIDP- L.Berkman, M.Cabrera

PASSED BALLS- J.Posada

2-out RBI- J.Bautista