2013 NLCS Game Four - Metropolis vs. Fleetwood

Fleetwood entered Game Four with a 2-1 lead in the NLCS against defending champs Metropolis.  The Walkers sent their ace, Zack Greinke to the mound and were matched with the Avenger ace, R.A. Dickey.  The two starters had also matched up in Game One, which Dickey won despite giving up three solo homers. 

The Avenger hitters came to Game Four in a real funk.  They scored just one run in the last 18 innings, and they couldn’t expect it to get any easier against Greinke, known for both his raw stuff and his control.  As expected, Greinke started the game strong, retiring Metropolis in the first while surrendering only a single to Andrew McCutchen.

Torii Hunter's three-run homer put  Fleetwood
up 5-0 and drove Dickey from the game

Fleetwood jumped on Dickey in the bottom of the first, and they didn’t settle for solo homers this time.  Mike Trout singled with one out and scored when Carlos Quentin took a Dickey knuckleball over the wall for a two-run shot.  Dickey then lost Miguel Cabrera on a walk to restart a rally.  David Wright got a pitch to hit, but kept it in the ballpark for a long fly ball and the second out of the inning.  Chase Utley ripped a line drive into right for a single, sending Cabrera to third and bringing Torii Hunter to the plate.  Hunter was a

trade-deadline acquisition and earned his paycheck when he caught a Dickey knuckleball on the fat part of the bat for a three run homer and a five-run Walker lead. 

That was all Metropolis needed to see and Dickey was sent to the showers, having given up two homers and five runs in ju

st two-thirds of an inning.  Fleetwood stayed hot against reliever Alexi Ogando, with Chris Ianetta and Asdrubal Cabrera collecting quick singles off the reliever.  Ogando finally got out of the inning by striking out Nick Markakis, who made two outs in the inning.

Avenger ace R.A. Dickey lasted
just 2/3 of an inning.

With a quick five-run lead, Fleetwood was hoping their ace could cruise for a few innings, but Metropolis had other plans.  David Freese, Andy Dirks, and Jose Bautista each hit singles to lead off the top of the second and cut the lead to 5-1.  Jose Reyes hit a sharp ground for a fielder’s choice, sending Dirks home with another run.  Bryce Harper hit the ball hard, but Walker second baseman Utley snared it for the second out of the inning.  Avenger catcher Carlos Ruiz leaned into a Greinke pitch and suddenly the tying run was at the plate in the form of Robinson Cano.  The second baseman squared up a ball, but it only went for an RBI single, shaving another run off the lead.  Greinke then struck out MVP candidate McCutchen to end the inning.  Fleetwood had taken the Avengers’ best punch but kept retained their lead, 5-3.

The hometown Walkers got two runs back in the bottom of the third on consecutive hits by Wright, Utley and Hunter, the last of which came off reliever Huston Street.  Those runs pushed the score to 7-3 and gave Greinke some more breathing room.  That came in handy when Cano laced another RBI single in the top of the fourth, making the score 7-4.

Greinke walked Alex Gordon to lead off the fourth and Fleetwood got their bullpen active.  They called on reliever Darren Oliver after another walk to Andy Dirks put two on with one out.  Seeing this as a chance to put some runs on the board, Metropolis sent pinch hitter Jesus Guzman to hit for Jose Bautista against the lefty.  Oliver won the battle with a little help from his middle infield, as they turned a Guzman grounder into an inning-ending double play. 

Tom Wilhelmsen reacts after escaping a bases-loaded jam.

Metropolis tried to rally again the next inning, loading the bases when reliever Tom Wilhelmsen hit McCutchen with two outs, following singles earlier in the inning by Reyes and Cano.  Gordon failed to get the clutch hit, however, stranding all three runners when he grounded out to the first baseman.

Meanwhile, Avenger relievers were busy locking down the Fleetwood hitters.  Kenley Jansen, Raul Valdes and Craig Kimbrel kept the Walkers off the board, if not off the bases.  Unfortunately for those relievers, Fleetwood’s pen did the same.  The Walkers used seven relievers following Greinke’s 4 1/3 innings.  They were each up to their job and they kept the score 7-4.  The last hitter of the game was Avenger rookie Yoenis Cespedes, who had two runners on when he faced George Kontos.  Cespedes took a big cut at a Kontos slider, likely trying to tie the game, but instead striking out to end the game and give Fleetwood a 3-1 lead in the series.

Coming Up – Fleetwood looks to finish out the series and take their first-ever National League pennant.  James Shields gets the call for the Walkers, who would like to beat Avenger fourth starter Kyle Lohse and avoid returning to Metropolis for game six.  

BOXSCORE: 2013 Metropolis Avengers At 2013 Fleetwood Walkers       10/25/2013

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

  C.Ruiz C            4  1  2  0 .257     N.Markakis LF       4  0  1  0 .250 

  R.Cano 2B           5  0  3  2 .343   B-M.Joyce RF          1  0  0  0 .417 

  A.McCutchen CF      4  0  1  0 .344     M.Trout CF          5  1  1  0 .293 

  A.Gordon LF         4  0  1  0 .273     C.Quentin DH        5  1  1  2 .318 

  D.Freese 3B         5  1  1  0 .313     M.Cabrera 1B        3  1  0  0 .361 

  A.Dirks DH          4  1  2  0 .444     D.Wright 3B         4  1  3  0 .317 

  J.Bautista 1B       2  0  1  1 .100     C.Utley 2B          2  2  2  0 .290 

A-J.Guzman PH,1B      3  0  2  0 .250     T.Hunter RF,LF      3  1  2  5 .189 

  J.Reyes SS          5  1  2  1 .200     C.Iannetta C        3  0  1  0 .300 

  B.Harper RF         3  0  0  0 .136   D-J.Segura PH         1  0  0  0 .000 

C-Y.Cespedes PH,RF    2  0  0  0 .375   E-A.Avila C           0  0  0  0 .417 

                                          A.Cabrera SS        4  0  1  0 .129 

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

         Totals      41  4 15  4                 Totals      35  7 12  7

A-Pinch Hit For Bautista In 5th Inning

B-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Markakis In 7th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Harper In 7th Inning

D-Pinch Hit For Iannetta In 7th Inning

E-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Segura In 8th Inning

Avengers........ 0 3 0  1 0 0  0 0 0  -  4 15  1

Walkers......... 5 0 2  0 0 0  0 0    -  7 12  2

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

R.Dickey LOSS(3-1)        0 2/3   4   5   5   1   0   2   6.87  A1 A7

A.Ogando                  1 1/3   4   2   2   0   1   0   7.71  A8 B6

H.Street                  1       2   0   0   0   2   0   3.00  B7 C2

K.Jansen                  2       1   0   0   0   4   0   1.42  C3 D1

R.Valdes                  1       0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  D2 D4

C.Kimbrel                 2       1   0   0   1   2   0   0.00  D5

Totals                    8      12   7   7   2  10   2

Walkers (7-3)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

Z.Greinke                 4 1/3   8   4   3   2   5   0   7.71  A1 C6

D.Oliver WIN(2-0)         1 1/3   2   0   0   0   0   0   2.45  C7 D2

T.Wilhelmsen HOLD(2nd)    0 2/3   2   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  D3 D7

C.Perez HOLD(1st)         0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   9.00  D8 D8

S.Casilla HOLD(3rd)       0 1/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  D9 E1

J.Howell HOLD(1st)        0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0  27.00  E2 E2

S.Johnson HOLD(2nd)       1       0   0   0   0   1   0  11.81  E3 E5

G.Kontos                  0 2/3   2   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  E6

Totals                    9      15   4   3   2  10   0

ATTENDANCE- 46,953 DATE- Friday, October 25th 2013 TIME- Day WEATHER- Average

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

T- 3:47

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers:14  Walkers: 8

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 0  Walkers: 1

ERRORS- J.Bautista, A.Cabrera, T.Wilhelmsen

DOUBLES- C.Ruiz(2nd), D.Wright-2(3rd), C.Utley(3rd)

HOME RUNS- C.Quentin(2nd), T.Hunter(1st)

SACRIFICE HITS- T.Hunter

WALKS- A.Gordon, A.Dirks, M.Cabrera, C.Utley

HIT BY PITCH- C.Ruiz, A.McCutchen, C.Utley

STRIKE OUTS- A.McCutchen-2, A.Gordon-2, D.Freese, J.Bautista, J.Reyes, B.Harper,

             Y.Cespedes-2, N.Markakis, M.Joyce, M.Trout, C.Quentin, M.Cabrera,

             T.Hunter, C.Iannetta-2, A.Cabrera-2

GIDP- J.Guzman

PASSED BALLS- C.Iannetta

2-out RBI- T.Hunter-3, R.Cano-2

RLISP 2-out- N.Markakis, A.McCutchen-2, J.Bautista, M.Trout-2, R.Cano, C.Utley,

             T.Hunter, A.Gordon-2, Y.Cespedes-4, A.Cabrera-2