After losing the first two games of the NLDS at
Metropolis, Parkland was hoping a few nights in their own beds could turn the momentum in their favor. The Game Three matchup paired
Green lefty Jon Lester (14-7, 4.45 ERA) and Avenger right-hander Doug Fister (12-4,
2.86 ERA).
 |
| Coco Crisp rounds third after his solo home run. |
The hometown Green got to work right away, as Dexter Fowler
and Joey Votto hit back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the
first. Fister coaxed a double-play
grounder from Dustin Pedroia, but Fowler scored the first run as the Avengers let him score in exchange for the twin-killing.
Things didn’t get any easier for Fister in the second,
as Green left fielder Coco Crisp lined a home run and shortstop Jed Lowrie
followed with a solo blast of his own.
That put Parkland up 3-0 and everyone in the park felt momentum shift to the home-town team.
 |
| Jed Lowrie's homer put the Green up 3-0. |
To start the bottom of the third, Avenger left fielder
Yeonis Cespedes misplayed a Joey Votto flyball into a single and a two-base
error, putting Votto on third with none out. Parkland was looking to add to extend their lead, which Pedroia did as he lifted a Fister
fastball into center field for a sacrifice fly and a 4-0 Green lead.
While the Parkland bats were putting up runs, Lester held Metropolis in check. He was hitting his spots in the early innings and the Avengers failed to put any pressure on him. Lester's only mistake was to Metropolis right fielder and lefty-masher Franklin Gutierrez. Gutierrez didn’t miss a changeup that got too much of the plate and he hit it into the right field stands for a solo homer in the
top of the fourth.
Parkland added a run and Lester took a 5-1 lead into
the top of the seventh. He retired Jonny
Gomes for the first out but then walked Jesus Guzman, bringing Cespedes to the
plate. Green manager Tom Keenan quickly
went to his bullpen, which had been deep and reliable all season. Ernest Frieri (4-1, 1.75 ERA in 46 innings)
got the call but couldn't find the plate. He walked Cespedes and Jose Reyes and suddenly the Avengers had loaded the
bases without collecting a hit in the inning.
That brought the tying run to the plate and the Green
faithful had gone eerily silent as leadoff hitter Carlos Ruiz adjusted his batting gloves. Ruiz had come to Metropolis in a July trade
with the West Hills Bravos and supplanted Reyes as the leadoff man for the
National League Division Series. Ruiz doesn't have the speed of a traditional leadoff hitter and Frieri was hoping his infield would turn a
ground ball into a double play to escape the inning.
 |
| Carlos Ruiz stunned the Green fans with his grand slam. |
Ruiz had other plans and hit a Frieri fastball high
into left field. Crisp backpedaled and seemed like he expected to make the catch, but the ball kept carrying in the
Parkland night. The outfielder looked
shocked as his path took him to the wall and the ball kept going. Ruiz made the Green pay for their three walks
in the inning and the game was tied, but the inning wasn't over.
That was all for Frieri, but the Avengers now
had the momentum. Robinson Cano singled off reliever Wesley Wright and then Andrew Mccutchen singled off Pedro Strop.
Keenan next called on Aaron Crow in his search for any reliever that
could simply get Parkland out of the inning.
Crow did strike out pinch hitter Alex Gordon and coaxed David Freese
into a very weak dribbler in front of the plate, which looked like the third out. Parkland catcher Martin Maldonado quickly
pounced on the ball, but twice failed to pick it up as McCutchen was speeding home behind him. At the same time, Freese was hustling down the
first base line and, by the time Maldonado could even think about making a throw, everyone was safe and Metropolis had the lead.
The Green had been cruising to what looked like an easy win, but they were now behind 6-5 - the victim of three walks, a grand slam and an error on a ball that went less
than 20 feet. With the Avenger hitters giving the team new life, the Metropolis bullpen
was not going to led that lead go. Craig Kimbrel and Raul Valdes easily controlled
Parkland in the seventh and eighth innings, each allowing just a single baserunner.
 |
| Jose Bautista's homer capped the Avenger comeback and sealed their Game Three win. |
Joe Nathan came on to start the ninth inning and quickly got the first out, but then the wheels fell off. Nathan walked Cano and McCutchen and advanced each of them by throwing a wild
pitch to Alex Gordon. He then
intentionally walked Gordon and tossed another
wild pitch. After three walks, two wild pitches and a single, Nathan finally gave way to Greg Holland, with two on and Jose Bautista at the plate. If there had been any hope in the Parkland dugout, Bautista extinguished it when he crushed a Holland fastball for a long, three-run homer and an 11-5 Avenger lead.
Alexi Ogando closed out Game Three by retiring Scott
Rolen, Yasmani Grandal and Dexter Fowler in order, giving the Avengers a
commanding 3-0 lead and leaving Parkland to wonder what happened in a game they
led 5-1 in the seventh inning.
BOXSCORE: 2013
Metropolis Avengers At 2013 Parkland Green 10/11/2013
Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG Green AB R H
RBI AVG
C.Ruiz C 5
1 1 4 .231
D.Fowler CF 5 1
1 0 .302
R.Cano 2B
4 2
1 0 .167 J.Votto 1B 2
1 2 0 .367
A.McCutchen CF 4
1 3 0 .545
D.Pedroia 2B 3 0
0 1 .268
F.Gutierrez RF 3
1 2 1 .600
N.Swisher RF 4 0
0 0 .405
A-A.Gordon
PH,LF 1 1 0 0 .333
C.Crisp LF 4 1 1 1 .114
D.Freese 3B 5
0 0 0 .231
J.Lowrie SS 3 2
2 1 .211
J.Gomes DH 4
0 0 0 .143
M.Maldonado C 3 0
1 0 .263
D-A.Dirks
PH,DH 1 1
1 2 .750 S.Rolen 3B 4
0 1 1 .176
J.Guzman 1B 2
1 0 0 .000
Y.Grandal DH 4 0
1 0 .286
C-J.Bautista
PH,1B 1 1
1 2 .200
Y.Cespedes LF 2
1 1 0 .500
B-B.Harper
RF 2 0
1 0 .125
J.Reyes SS 4
1 2 0 .273
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 38 11 13
9 Totals 32
5 9 4
A-Pinch Hit For
Gutierrez In 7th Inning
B-Subbed
Defensively (RF) For Cespedes In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For
Guzman In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For
Gomes In 9th Inning
Avengers........
0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 5
- 11 13 2
Green...........
1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
- 5 9 1
Avengers
(3-0) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
D.Fister 5 2/3 7
5 4 3
5 2 6.35
A1 C7
C.Kimbrel
WIN(1-0) 1 1/3 1
0 0 1
2 0 0.00
C8 D3
R.Valdes
HOLD(2nd) 1 1
0 0 0
0 0 0.00
D4 D7
A.Ogando 1 0
0 0 0
1 0 0.00
D8
Totals 9 9
5 4 4
8 2
Green (4-6) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
J.Lester 6 1/3 7
2 2 1
7 1 8.53
A1 C7
E.Frieri 0 1
3 3 2
0 1 8.31
C8 D1
W.Wright
LOSS(0-1) 0 1
1 0 0
0 0 8.44
D2 D2
P.Strop 0 1
0 0 0
0 0 3.38
D3 D3
A.Crow 1 2/3 0
0 0 1
2 0 2.70
D4 D9
J.Nathan 0 2/3 1
4 4 3
1 0 21.60
E1 E6
G.Holland 0 1/3 2
1 1 0
1 1 2.45
E7
Totals 9 13
11 10 7
11 3
ATTENDANCE-
48,866 DATE- Friday, October 11th 2013 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Bill
Hohn, Ron Kulpa, Dan Iassogna, Dale Scott
T- 3:17
LEFT ON BASE-
Avengers: 7 Green: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Avengers: 2 Green: 2
ERRORS-
J.Bautista, Y.Cespedes, M.Maldonado
DOUBLES-
A.McCutchen(1st), S.Rolen(1st), Y.Grandal(1st)
HOME RUNS-
C.Ruiz(2nd), F.Gutierrez(1st), J.Bautista(1st), C.Crisp(1st),
J.Lowrie(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING-
J.Reyes
SACRIFICE FLIES-
D.Pedroia
WALKS- R.Cano,
A.McCutchen, A.Gordon, J.Guzman, J.Bautista, Y.Cespedes, J.Reyes,
J.Votto-2, J.Lowrie, M.Maldonado
STRIKE OUTS-
C.Ruiz, F.Gutierrez, A.Gordon, D.Freese-3, J.Gomes-2, J.Guzman-2,
J.Reyes, D.Fowler-4, D.Pedroia,
N.Swisher, C.Crisp, Y.Grandal
GIDP- R.Cano,
J.Reyes, D.Pedroia, S.Rolen
WILD PITCHES-
J.Nathan-2
2-out RBI-
S.Rolen, A.Dirks-2, J.Bautista-2
RLISP 2-out-
D.Fowler, F.Gutierrez, D.Freese-2, J.Gomes, M.Maldonado, A.Dirks-2
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