2015 NLDS Game Three - Metropolis at North Georgia

Rookie Masahiro Tanaka
made the start for North Georgia.

The North Georgia Yellow Jackets find themselves in a 2-0 hole in their NLDS matchup with the Metropolis Avengers. However, the Yellow Jackets are hoping the hometown fans and their rookie righty Masahiro Tanaka (8-6, 3.78 ERA) can combine to give them the advantage in Game Three. Metropolis sends their own young righty to the mound, Collin McHugh (13-5, 2.69).

Metropolis CF Andrew McCutchen didn’t let Tanaka get too comfortable, as he launched the game’s fourth pitch over the left field wall for a leadoff homer and a quick 1-0 Avenger lead. Robinson Cano followed with a single, but Tanaka settled down and kept the deficit to one.

North Georgia’s leadoff hitter Erick Aybar didn’t hit a homer, but he did single to start a rally. Leonys Martin moved him to third with a single of his own and the Yellow Jackets were in business. Slugger Jose Abreu hit a rocket to center field, but McCutchen tracked it down for the first out as Aybar trotted home with the tying run. McHugh struck out Adam Jones and Torii Hunter to finish the inning, with the game tied 1-1.

Jayson Werth had two doubles and four RBIs.

The game stayed tied into the fourth, when Cano singled to start the inning. After two strikeouts, Steve Pearce walked and brought Bryce Harper to the plate, who singled home Cano to break the tie. Jayson Werth then lined a double into the gap, scoring Pearce and Harper for a 4-1 Metropolis lead.

Metropolis used the same formula in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring runs on a McCutchen solo homer and Werth double, which gave the visitors a 6-1 lead. McHugh had settled down after his shaky first inning. He refused to let North Georgia start a rally and allowed single baserunners in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

Avenger flamethrower Aroldis Chapman took the ball for the bottom of the eighth with the top of the order coming up. He struck out Aybar and Martin with nothing but fastballs and then gave the ball to Zach Putnam who retired Abreu on a sharp ground ball to end the inning.

Robinson Cano collected a homer and four hits on the night.

Metropolis padded their lead in the top of the ninth when McCutchen singled and Cano launched a high fly ball to right which carried over the wall for a two-run homer. Those two stars have been the offensive stars for Metropolis teams from their arrival in 2012 and this game proved they haven’t lost a step. McCutchen and Cano combined to go 7-10 with three homers and four RBIs.

Putnam stayed on for the bottom of the ninth and finished off the Yellow Jackets, putting them in a deep, 3-0 hole. North Georgia will send Dan Haren (11-5, 3.42 ERA) to the mound, hoping to extend the series one more game. Metropolis counters with mid-season acquisition Anibal Sanchez, who was just 3-3, but had a 1.65 ERA in his seven starts for the Avengers.

BOXSCORE: 2015 Metropolis Avengers At 2015 North Georgia Yellow Jackets 10/11/2015

  Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Yellow Jackets     AB  R  H RBI AVG

  A.McCutchen CF      5  3  3  2 .462     E.Aybar SS          4  1  2  0 .270 

  R.Cano 2B           5  2  4  2 .429     L.Martin LF         4  0  1  0 .200 

  J.Bautista 1B       4  0  0  0 .100     J.Abreu DH          3  0  1  1 .344 

  P.Sandoval 3B       5  1  1  0 .111     A.Jones CF          3  0  0  0 .226 

  S.Pearce DH         4  1  0  0 .182   C-J.Schafer PH        1  0  0  0 .000 

  B.Harper LF         4  1  2  1 .400     T.Hunter RF         4  0  0  0 .250 

  J.Werth RF          4  0  2  3 .444     L.Duda 1B           2  0  0  0 .241 

  J.Reyes SS          3  0  2  0 .500     E.Gattis C          4  0  1  0 .185 

  C.Iannetta C        4  0  0  0 .100     C.Davis 3B          2  0  0  0 .200 

                                          B.Zobrist 2B        2  0  0  0 .261 

                                        A-C.Coghlan PH        1  0  0  0 .200 

                                        B-W.Bloomquist 2B     0  0  0  0 .400 

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

         Totals      38  8 14  8                 Totals      30  1  5  1

A-Pinch Hit For Zobrist In 7th Inning

B-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Coghlan In 8th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Jones In 9th Inning

Avengers........ 1 0 0  3 1 1  0 0 2  -  8 14  0

Yellow Jackets.. 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  1  5  0

Avengers (3-0)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.McHugh WIN(1-0)         7       5   1   1   2   7   0   1.29  A1 C9

A.Chapman                 0 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   0.00  D1 D2

Z.Putnam                  1 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  D3

Totals                    9       5   1   1   2   9   0

Yellow Jackets (4-4)     IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

M.Tanaka LOSS(1-1)        5 2/3   8   6   6   1   4   2   5.11  A1 C6

S.Carroll                 2 1/3   4   0   0   1   2   0   2.81  C7 D8

C.Young                   1       2   2   2   1   1   1   9.00  D9

Totals                    9      14   8   8   3   7   3

ATTENDANCE- 46,191 DATE- Sunday, October 11th 2015 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad

UMPIRES- Marty Foster, Derryl Cousins, Angel Hernandez, Eric Cooper

T- 3:00

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 6  Yellow Jackets: 6

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 1  Yellow Jackets: 2

DOUBLES- J.Werth-2(2nd), J.Reyes(2nd)

HOME RUNS- A.McCutchen-2(3rd), R.Cano(1st)

RBIs- A.McCutchen-2(3rd), R.Cano-2(2nd), B.Harper(2nd), J.Werth-3(5th),

      J.Abreu(6th)

STOLEN BASES- L.Martin(2nd)

SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Abreu

WALKS- J.Bautista, S.Pearce, J.Reyes, L.Duda, C.Davis

HIT BY PITCH- L.Duda

STRIKE OUTS- A.McCutchen, J.Bautista-2, P.Sandoval-2, S.Pearce, B.Harper,

             E.Aybar, L.Martin-3, A.Jones-2, T.Hunter, E.Gattis, C.Davis

GIDP- A.McCutchen, J.Bautista, A.Jones

2-out RBI- B.Harper, J.Werth-3

RLISP 2-out- T.Hunter, J.Reyes, C.Iannetta, C.Coghlan

TEAM RISP- Avengers: 3 for 6  Yellow Jackets: 0 for 2