2013 NLCS Game Five - Metropolis vs. Fleetwood

James Shields hoped to wrap
up the NLCS for Fleetwood

Metropolis took game one in the NLCS best-of-seven, but Fleetwood won the next three and was looking to close out the series in Game Five and thus avoid a trip back to the Hall of Justice for Game Six.  They were facing the Avengers’ fourth starter, Kyle Lohse and sent their own #2, James Shields, to the hill.

Andrew McCutchen put
Metropolis up 1-0

Shields looked energized for the top of the first as he struck out leadoff hitter Carlos Ruiz and number two hitter Robinson Cano.  Looking for three straight K's, Shields tried to throw a fastball pass Andrew McCutchen, but the centerfielder was ready for it and drove it high to straight-away center.  Walker centerfielder Mike Trout thought he had a play on the ball, but it kept carrying – over the wall for a quick 1-0 lead for the visitors.

Fleetwood looked to get the run back in the bottom of the second, putting two on with one out for their best hitter, Miguel Cabrera.  Lohse, who is known more for his control than his strikeouts, fooled Cabrera with an off-speed pitch and got the slugger on a called third strike.  David Wright failed to pick up Cabrera and grounded out to end the inning, stranding Nick Markakis and Carlos Quentin. 

David Freese barely beat the throw to score in the second

David Freese led off the second with a single and Metropolis looked to add to their lead.  Andy Dirks struck out, but Freese moved to second when Jose Bautista grounded out.  Jose Reyes followed with a sharp single over Chase Utley’s head.  Freese is probably the slowest runner in the Metropolis lineup, but he cut hard at third base and was looking to score all the way.  Right fielder Torii Hunter fielded the ball cleanly and made a strong throw to the plate, but it was slightly to the first base side of home and Freese slid in just before catcher Chris Ianetta swept his glove across the plate.  Just like that, Metropolis was up 2-0.

Lohse was a little shaky in the bottom of the second, giving up singles to Utley and Asdrubal Cabrera, but Nick Markakis stranded them both when he hit a fly ball to end the inning.

The Walkers put the first two runners on in the third, when Trout singled and Quentin walked to bring Miguel Cabrera to the plate.  Lohse got ahead 1-0 and then threw him a slider, which Cabrera hit to Freese for a 5-4-3 double play.  Once again, Wright couldn't drive home the runner Cabrera left him, flying out to end the inning.

The game stayed 2-0 as it moved to the top of the fifth, when Jose Reyes struck out to lead off the inning.  He was followed by rookie outfielder Bryce Harper, who took two pitches and then uncoiled on a Shields fastball, driving it on a line into the rightfield stands for a solo homer and a 3-0 Metropolis lead.  The Avengers weren't done and Carlos Ruiz singled on the next pitch to try and start a rally.  Shields threw a changeup past Robinson Cano to get the second out, but then hit McCutchen with a breaking ball that didn't break.

Andy Dirks cleared the
bases in the fifth

With two on and two out, Fleetwood's bullpen was active and Metropolis had lefty Alex Gordon coming to the plate.  The Walkers left Shields in the game and he fooled Gordon on a changeup.  It didn't matter, though, as Gordon placed a dribbler perfectly between Shields and Wright for an infield single.  Freese followed with a single that scored Ruiz to extend the lead to 4-0. 

Fleetwood, which had been aggressive in using its bullpen during its wins in games two, three, and four, still stayed with Shields against lefty-hitting Andy Dirks.  Dirks made the Walkers pay, ripping a line drive down the first base line, past Cabrera and into the right field corner.  Dirks coasted into second, all three runners scored, and Metropolis had a commanding 7-0 lead.

Kyle Lohse was nearly perfect down the stretch and
surprised everyone by shutting out the Walkers in Game Five

Lohse, who had escaped a few jams early in the game, got a long rest during the top of the fifth and was then nearly perfect with his large lead.  He retired the home-town Walkers in order in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings.  Chase Utley singled to lead off the seventh, but Lohse erased him with a double play ball.  At that point, it seemed as though the Fleetwood hitters were looking to the trip to Metropolis, as they didn't even put up a fight.  Lohse went 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth to close out the game.  Metropolis had added two insurance runs in the eighth to make the final score 9-0.  

Fleetwood, which had been shut out only five times all season, picked a bad time to make it six.  Lohse, who entered the game as the Avengers' fourth starter, tossed an unexpected gem against a great hitting team and retired 19 of the last hitters 20 he faced.  He only struck out two guys all game, but he allowed just eight base runners and was helped by some good defense and two double plays behind him.    

Coming Up - Lohse was better than anyone could have expected and gave Metropolis a boost of adrenaline as they head home.  Fleetwood still has the upper hand, three games to two, but Metropolis has to like the Game Six matchup between Kris Medlen, and Chris Capuano.  Medlen was 8-0 for Metropolis while Capuano won 15 games for Fleetwood, but his 4.66 ERA was more than twice as high as Medlen's 2.06. 

BOXSCORE: 2013 Metropolis Avengers At 2013 Fleetwood Walkers       10/26/2013

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

  C.Ruiz C            5  1  2  0 .275     N.Markakis LF       3  0  0  0 .226 

  R.Cano 2B           5  0  0  0 .300     M.Trout CF          4  0  1  0 .289 

  A.McCutchen CF      3  3  1  1 .343     C.Quentin DH        3  0  1  0 .320 

  A.Gordon LF         5  2  3  0 .333     M.Cabrera 1B        4  0  0  0 .325 

  D.Freese 3B         4  2  2  1 .333     D.Wright 3B         4  0  0  0 .289 

  A.Dirks DH          5  0  1  4 .391     C.Utley 2B          3  0  2  0 .324 

  J.Bautista 1B       5  0  1  1 .120     T.Hunter RF         3  0  0  0 .175 

  J.Reyes SS          5  0  2  1 .229     C.Iannetta C        3  0  0  0 .261 

  B.Harper RF         3  1  1  1 .160     A.Cabrera SS        3  0  1  0 .147 

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

         Totals      40  9 13  9                 Totals      30  0  5  0

Avengers........ 1 1 0  0 5 0  0 0 2  -  9 13  0

Walkers......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  5  0

Avengers (6-3)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

K.Lohse WIN(1-0)          9       5   0   0   2   3   0   0.00  A1

Totals                    9       5   0   0   2   3   0

Walkers (7-4)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

J.Shields LOSS(2-2)       4 2/3   9   7   7   0   8   2   3.76  A1 C6

S.Johnson                 1       1   0   0   1   3   0   9.95  C7 D2

S.Casilla                 1 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  D3 D8

G.Kontos                  1 1/3   1   2   2   2   0   0   6.00  D9 E6

J.Howell                  0 1/3   1   0   0   0   1   0  18.00  E7

Totals                    9      13   9   9   3  13   2

ATTENDANCE- 47,455 DATE- Saturday, October 26th 2013 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good

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

T- 2:47

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 8  Walkers: 5

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 2  Walkers: 0

DOUBLES- C.Ruiz(3rd), A.Dirks(1st), J.Bautista(1st)

HOME RUNS- A.McCutchen(4th), B.Harper(3rd)

WALKS- A.McCutchen, D.Freese, B.Harper, N.Markakis, C.Quentin

HIT BY PITCH- A.McCutchen

STRIKE OUTS- C.Ruiz-2, R.Cano-3, D.Freese-2, A.Dirks-2, J.Bautista, J.Reyes-3,

             M.Cabrera, T.Hunter, C.Iannetta

GIDP- M.Cabrera, C.Iannetta

2-out RBI- A.McCutchen, J.Reyes, D.Freese, A.Dirks-3, J.Bautista

RLISP 2-out- D.Wright-2, B.Harper, N.Markakis, A.Gordon, J.Bautista,

             A.McCutchen-2, J.Reyes-2