Down 3-0, Cook County turned to its ace, Max Scherzer, on three days rest. His job was to extend the Maulers' season by one day, but he would need help from the Cook County offense, who has scored just a single run in each World Series game. Metropolis stayed with its standard rotation and sent Kyle Lohse to the mound.
The Mauler bats got to work right away, as Michael Cuddyer, Adam Jones, and David Ortiz hit consecutive singles in the first inning. Cuddyer scored ahead of Jayson Werth's throw to give Cook County a 1-0 lead. Jones moved to third on the throw and looked to add to the lead. Instead Lohse struck out Evan Longoria and Prince Fielder to end the threat.
Werth started the top of the second by drilling a ball down the right field line and sliding into third with a leadoff triple. Two pitches later, he tied the game when Bryce Harper singled. Carlos Quentin followed and hit a double into left center. Harper raced around the bases, but held at third. Scherzer had given up the lead and was still in trouble, with two runners on and no outs. However, Scherzer struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and then did the same to Jose Reyes. Jose Bautista worked a walk to load the bases and Robinson Cano hoped to put Metropolis in the lead with a clutch hit. Instead, Scherzer collected his third strikeout of the inning to retire the side and leave the bases loaded.
The Maulers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second. Metropolis pushed across another run in the top of the third behind a Chris Davis walk and back-to-back singles by Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper. Davis's run gave Metropolis a 2-1 lead, but Werth got a little greedy and tried to score on Harper's single, but centerfielder Adam Jones nailed him at the plate. That kept the lead to one and kept the Mauler faithful in the game.
The pitchers dominated through the middle innings. Lohse was perfect in the third, fourth, and fifth innings - nine up and nine down. Scherzer allowed just one runner in the fourth and fifth, but walked Harper to lead off the sixth. He was pulled for a reliever after giving up a single to Carlos Quentin, moving Harper to third with no outs. Given their offensive struggles, Cook County knew they had to keep the
score 2-1 as they couldn't count on scoring much against the Metropolis
bullpen.
The Maulers brought in Luis Avilan and the Avengers countered with pinch hitter Matt Wieters. Cook County brought the infield in for a play at the plate and that's just what they got when Wieters hit a sharp grounder to third. Evan Longoria fielded it cleanly and caught Harper trying to score. Jose Reyes followed the fielder's choice with a clean single, but Metropolis had learned its lesson and held Quentin at third to load the bases. Avilan kept them loaded by striking out Jose Bautista and retiring Robinson Cano to end the inning. The Maulers were lucky to be down just 2-1, as Metropolis had stranded six runners through six innings, in addition to the two runners gunned down at the plate.
Despite having retired 14 batters in a row, Kyle Lohse turned the game over the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth. Metropolis brought in righty Kenley Jansen to face the top of the order. He quickly got into trouble when he put the tying run on base by walking Shin Soo Choo. He got out of any trouble by getting a double play from Michael Cuddyer and retiring Adam Jones to end the inning.
Harper and Quentin led off the eighth inning with singles, but Tyler Clippard got a double play from Wieters and struck out Reyes to avoid any more damage and keep the game 2-1. Despite being down just one run, most in the stands seemed to think the game and series were all but over. The Avenger bullpen had been overpowering in the World Series, pitching 15 1/3 innings with just a four hits and one run, for a 0.59 ERA.
Jansen stayed in for the eighth and got two outs around a walk to JJ Hardy. Jansen then walked Choo again, moving Hardy into scoring position for Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer had a 2-2 count and knew he would get another cutter from Jansen. He got that cutter and slugged a deep fly ball into left-center field. McCutchen and Harper went back, but they could only watch as it cleared the wall for a homer and a 4-2 Mauler lead.
The home crowd went crazy, but the Maulers still need to get through the top of the ninth, with Metropolis sending Jose Bautista, Cano and McCutchen to the plate. Reliever Jim Henderson was up to the task, getting all three hitters in order to record the save and give Cook County their first win of the series.
With the series now 3-1, Metropolis was scheduled to send Clay Buchholz to the mound. Cook County's starter was unclear, as they could choose to send Chris Sale on short rest (following his 10-inning loss in Game Two) or lefty Cole Hamels. Either way, the home team and crowd would be energized following Cuddyer's heroics and hope to extend the season one more day.
The Mauler bats got to work right away, as Michael Cuddyer, Adam Jones, and David Ortiz hit consecutive singles in the first inning. Cuddyer scored ahead of Jayson Werth's throw to give Cook County a 1-0 lead. Jones moved to third on the throw and looked to add to the lead. Instead Lohse struck out Evan Longoria and Prince Fielder to end the threat.
| Cook County called on Scherzer with short rest. |
The Maulers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second. Metropolis pushed across another run in the top of the third behind a Chris Davis walk and back-to-back singles by Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper. Davis's run gave Metropolis a 2-1 lead, but Werth got a little greedy and tried to score on Harper's single, but centerfielder Adam Jones nailed him at the plate. That kept the lead to one and kept the Mauler faithful in the game.
 |
| Longoria's play kept the score 2-1. |
The Maulers brought in Luis Avilan and the Avengers countered with pinch hitter Matt Wieters. Cook County brought the infield in for a play at the plate and that's just what they got when Wieters hit a sharp grounder to third. Evan Longoria fielded it cleanly and caught Harper trying to score. Jose Reyes followed the fielder's choice with a clean single, but Metropolis had learned its lesson and held Quentin at third to load the bases. Avilan kept them loaded by striking out Jose Bautista and retiring Robinson Cano to end the inning. The Maulers were lucky to be down just 2-1, as Metropolis had stranded six runners through six innings, in addition to the two runners gunned down at the plate.
Despite having retired 14 batters in a row, Kyle Lohse turned the game over the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth. Metropolis brought in righty Kenley Jansen to face the top of the order. He quickly got into trouble when he put the tying run on base by walking Shin Soo Choo. He got out of any trouble by getting a double play from Michael Cuddyer and retiring Adam Jones to end the inning.
 |
| Cuddyer's homer was a shocker that not only won the game, but also extended the Maulers' season. |
Jansen stayed in for the eighth and got two outs around a walk to JJ Hardy. Jansen then walked Choo again, moving Hardy into scoring position for Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer had a 2-2 count and knew he would get another cutter from Jansen. He got that cutter and slugged a deep fly ball into left-center field. McCutchen and Harper went back, but they could only watch as it cleared the wall for a homer and a 4-2 Mauler lead.
The home crowd went crazy, but the Maulers still need to get through the top of the ninth, with Metropolis sending Jose Bautista, Cano and McCutchen to the plate. Reliever Jim Henderson was up to the task, getting all three hitters in order to record the save and give Cook County their first win of the series.
With the series now 3-1, Metropolis was scheduled to send Clay Buchholz to the mound. Cook County's starter was unclear, as they could choose to send Chris Sale on short rest (following his 10-inning loss in Game Two) or lefty Cole Hamels. Either way, the home team and crowd would be energized following Cuddyer's heroics and hope to extend the season one more day.
BOXSCORE: 2014
Metropolis Avengers At 2014 Cook County Maulers 11/5/2014
Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG Maulers AB
R H RBI AVG
R.Cano 2B 5
0 0 0 .262
S.Choo LF 2 1
0 0 .186
A.McCutchen CF 5
0 0 0 .317
M.Cuddyer RF 4 2
2 3 .353
C.Davis 1B 3
1 1 0 .205
A.Jones CF 4 0
1 0 .148
J.Werth RF 4
1 2 0 .235
D.Ortiz DH 3 0
1 1 .241
B.Harper LF 3
0 3 2 .237
E.Longoria 3B 3 0 0 0 .231
C.Quentin DH 4
0 3 0 .288
P.Fielder 1B 3 0
0 0 .200
J.Saltalamacchia C 2
0 0 0 .313
R.Martin C 3 0
0 0 .095
A-M.Wieters
PH,C 2 0
0 0 .286 J.Hardy SS 2
1 0 0 .230
J.Reyes SS 4
0 1 0 .200
D.Lemahieu 2B 2 0
0 0 .075
J.Bautista 3B 3
0 0 0 .115
B-R.Raburn PH 1 0
0 0 .205
C-D.Murphy 2B 0 0
0 0 .091
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 35
2 10 2 Totals 27
4 4 4
A-Pinch Hit For
Saltalamacchia In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For
Lemahieu In 8th Inning
C-Subbed
Defensively (2B) For Raburn In 9th Inning
Avengers........
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 2 10 0
Maulers.........
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
- 4 4 0
Avengers
(11-4) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
K.Lohse 5 3
1 1 0
4 0 3.60
A1 B9
K.Jansen L(0-1)
BS(2nd) 3 1
3 3 3
3 1 2.70
C1
Totals 8 4
4 4 3
7 1
Maulers
(9-8) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
M.Scherzer 5 7
2 2 3
8 0 2.27
A1 C6
L.Avilan 2 3
0 0 0
2 0 1.72
C7 D6
T.Clippard
WIN(1-0) 1 0
0 0 0
1 0 1.35
D7 D8
J.Henderson
SAVE(2nd) 1 0
0 0 0
0 0 4.50
D9
Totals 9 10
2 2 3
11 0
ATTENDANCE-
47,622 DATE- Wednesday, November 5th 2014 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Dale
Scott, Bill Hohn, Ron Kulpa, Dan Iassogna
T- 2:36
LEFT ON BASE-
Avengers: 9 Maulers: 2
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Avengers: 1 Maulers: 1
DOUBLES-
C.Davis(2nd), C.Quentin(6th)
TRIPLES-
J.Werth(1st)
HOME RUNS-
M.Cuddyer(4th)
RBIs-
B.Harper-2(6th), M.Cuddyer-3(8th), D.Ortiz(8th)
WALKS- C.Davis,
B.Harper, J.Bautista, S.Choo-2, J.Hardy
STRIKE OUTS-
R.Cano-2, A.McCutchen, C.Davis-2, J.Saltalamacchia-2, J.Reyes-2,
J.Bautista-2, A.Jones-2, D.Ortiz,
E.Longoria-2, P.Fielder,
R.Raburn
GIDP- M.Wieters,
M.Cuddyer
2-out RBI-
M.Cuddyer-3
RLISP 2-out-
P.Fielder, R.Cano-4, C.Quentin, J.Werth, J.Reyes
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