The NLCS moves to Game Five, with the home town Fleetwood
Walkers down 3-1 and desperate to extend the series. The visiting
Metropolis Avengers hope to close out the series and move to the Brassball
World Series.
Metropolis started a rally in the top of the second inning,
when Pablo Sandoval and Steve Pearce started the inning with singles. One out
later, Jayson Werth singled to load the bases and put the pressure on Iwakuma.
The bottom of the Avenger order failed to come through in the clutch, as Jose
Reyes popped out and Chris Iannetta hit an easy fly ball to end the inning and
strand three runners.
 |
| Desmond Jennings started the scoring with a double. |
Fleetwood had its own rally in the bottom of the inning as
Derek Norris and Chase Utley singled to start the frame. Carrasco struck out
David Wright and Jean Segura and needed just one more out to keep the game
scoreless. Desmond Jennings did not cooperate and instead drilled a double in
the gap, scoring Norris and sending Utley to third. Seth Smith stranded them
there, but the Walkers were ahead 1-0 in their fight to send the series back to
Metropolis.
The top of the Avenger order got the run back in the top of
the third. Once again they got two singles to start the inning, this time by
Andrew McCutchen and Robinson Cano. McCutchen was on third when cleanup hitter
Pablo Sandoval hit a deep fly ball. With a little more wind it would have been
a three-run homer, but it was easily deep enough to score McCutchen with the
tying run.
 |
| Chris Iannetta's homer gave Metropolis the lead. |
The game was still 1-1 as it moved to the fifth inning.
Iannetta led off the inning and surprised everyone by connecting with Iwakuma’s
second pitch of the inning for a home run down the left field line. The solo
shot put Metropolis in the lead 2-1 and took some of the air out of the
hometown Walker faithful.
The Avengers held their 2-1 lead into the seventh inning,
when Carrasco gave the ball to reliever Zach Putnam. Fleetwood countered that
move with pinch hitter Marwin Gonzalez. It was clearly the right call, as
Gonzalez singled off Putnam and quickly stole second to move the tying run into
scoring position. Fleetwood seemed to be playing for the tie, as Jean Segura
bunted Gonzalez to third, sacrificing the first out of the inning to do so.
Fleetwood sent Alex Avila to hit for Jennings, hoping to tie the game.
Metropolis brought in reliever Joaquin Benoit to face Avila, but he didn’t get
to do so. Instead, Fleetwood called Avila back and sent rookie Mookie Betts to
bat. Benoit struggled against Betts and walked him on just five pitches. That
put the go-ahead run on base, but also created an opportunity for an
inning-ending double play, with the top of the order coming up.
Leadoff hitter Seth Smith came to the plate. Smith had struggled thus far in the
NLCS, going just 1-14 with one RBI. He didn’t break his slump here, as he hit a
shallow fly ball which was an easy out and not nearly deep enough to score Gonzalez.
That meant it was up to Mike Trout to drive in the tying run, or more.
Unfortunately for the Walkers, Trout hit another fly ball, this one to left
fielder Bryce Harper for the last out of the inning.
Fleetwood called on Roman Mendez to pitch the eighth inning
and keep their deficit at one. Jose Bautista greeted Mendez with a line drive
single up the middle. He then moved to second with some aggressive running on a
ball in the dirt which was scored a passed ball. Steve Pearce gave Metropolis
an insurance run when his single drove home Bautista, putting the Avengers
ahead 3-1.
 |
| Jean Segura looks surprised after lining out to end the eighth. |
Fleetwood, however, wasn’t done. Miguel Cabrera and Cervelli
both reached with one out in the bottom of the eighth. That brought Utley to the plate as the go-ahead run.
Utley was one of the hottest Walkers, but he swung through a Benoit pitch and
struck out for the second out of the inning. Gonzalez followed with a single to
load the bases and drive Benoit from the game. The tension inside the stadium
built as Craig Kimbrel came in from the bullpen and took his warmup pitches
before facing Segura. Segura was 0-2 on the day, with a strike out, a foul out
and a sacrifice bunt. Kimbrel didn’t give him much chance to get comfortable,
as he started him off with a 96 MPH fastball on the inside corner for strike
one. Segura took another fastball just a bit inside for a ball to even the
count. Having seen two fastballs, Segura was ready for a third. He put a good
swing on a 97 MPH heater and stroked a solid line drive between second and
third. However, Jose Reyes had him played perfectly and barely needed to move
to snag the liner out of the air for the third out, stranding three runners and
silencing the Walker fans.
Metropolis threatened to add another run in the top of the ninth
inning, but Tom Wilhelmsen stranded the two runners he had walked, keeping the
score 3-1. Fleetwood was down to its last three outs, but it did have Mookie
Betts leading off, followed by the top of its order.
Kimbrel stayed on for the ninth, but lefties Aroldis Chapman
and Fernando Abad were warming in the bullpen. They weren’t needed, as Kimbrel
used just one pitch to retire Betts on a soft line drive and two pitches to
retire Seth Smith on a ground out to Pablo Sandoval. Mike Trout put up more of
a fight, working the count to 2-2 before swinging over a Kimbrel slider for
strike three for the last out of the inning, the game, and the series.
 |
| Craig Kimbrel closed out Metropolis's fourth-straight NLCS win. |
Trout walked back to the dugout as Iannetta sprinted out to
embrace Kimbrel moments before the rest of the Avengers joined in. Their
celebration was enthusiastic, but not as lengthy as it may have been for
another team. This was the fourth-straight NLCS victory for the Avengers, who
are seeking their third World Series title in four years and their fourth
overall.
The Walkers, on the other hand, head into the off-season
wondering what else they’re supposed to do. They have averaged 110.5 wins over
the last 10 seasons and made the playoffs each of those years. They made it
to the NLCS six times, but haven’t been able to take the next step to the World Series. Fleetwood looks like one of the strongest contenders for the 2016 World Series, but they first need to get over the hurdle that is the NLCS.
BOXSCORE: 2015
Metropolis Avengers At 2015 Fleetwood Walkers 10/26/2015
Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG Walkers AB
R H RBI AVG
A.McCutchen CF 3
1 1 0 .400
S.Smith DH 5 0
0 0 .194
R.Cano 2B 5
0 1 0 .341
M.Trout CF 5 0
0 0 .200
J.Bautista 1B 4
1 1 0 .129
K.Kiermaier RF 4 0
1 0 .200
P.Sandoval 3B 3
0 1 1 .133
M.Cabrera 1B 3 0
1 0 .200
S.Pearce DH 4 0
2 1 .219 D.Norris C 2
1 1 0 .462
B.Harper LF 4
0 0 0 .176
A-F.Cervelli PH,C 0 0
0 0 .111
J.Werth RF 4
0 1 0 .345
C.Utley 2B 3 0
1 0 .306
J.Reyes SS 4
0 0 0 .212
D.Wright 3B 2
0 0 0 .171
C.Iannetta C 3
1 1 1 .080
B-M.Gonzalez PH,3B 2 0
2 0 .318
J.Segura SS 3 0
0 0 .294
D.Jennings LF 2 0
1 1 .150
C-A.Avila PH 0 0
0 0 .167
D-M.Betts PH,LF 1 0
0 0 .222
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 34
3 8 3
Totals 32 1
7 1
A-Pinch Hit For
Norris In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For
Wright In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For
Jennings In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For
Avila In 7th Inning
Avengers........
0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
- 3 8 0
Walkers.........
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 1 7 0
Avengers
(8-1) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
C.Carrasco
WIN(2-0) 6 4
1 1 1
4 0 2.04
A1 C6
Z.Putnam
HOLD(1st) 0 1/3 1
0 0 0
0 0 0.00
C7 C8
J.Benoit
HOLD(1st) 1 1/3 2
0 0 2
2 0 2.25
C9 D7
C.Kimbrel
SAVE(1st) 1 1/3 0
0 0 0
1 0 1.08
D8
Totals 9 7
1 1 3
7 0
Walkers (5-5) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
H.Iwakuma
LOSS(0-2) 6 2/3 6
2 2 1
4 1 3.71
A1 C9
J.Howell 0 1/3 0
0 0 1
0 0 0.00
D1 D2
R.Mendez 1 2
1 0 0 1 0
0.00 D3 D7
T.Wilhelmsen 1 0
0 0 2
0 0 2.70
D8
Totals 9 8
3 2 4
5 1
ATTENDANCE-
46,110 DATE- Monday, October 26th 2015 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Fieldin
Culbreth, Jim Reynolds, Tim Timmons, Gary Cederstrom
T- 2:49
LEFT ON BASE-
Avengers: 9 Walkers:10
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Avengers: 1 Walkers: 0
DOUBLES-
D.Jennings(1st)
HOME RUNS-
C.Iannetta(1st)
RBIs-
P.Sandoval(3rd), S.Pearce(2nd), C.Iannetta(2nd), D.Jennings(2nd)
STOLEN BASES-
M.Gonzalez(1st)
SACRIFICE HITS-
J.Segura
SACRIFICE FLIES-
P.Sandoval
WALKS-
A.McCutchen-2, J.Bautista, C.Iannetta, F.Cervelli, C.Utley, M.Betts
HIT BY PITCH-
M.Cabrera, F.Cervelli
STRIKE OUTS-
A.McCutchen, S.Pearce, B.Harper-3, S.Smith, M.Trout, K.Kiermaier,
D.Norris, C.Utley, D.Wright,
J.Segura
GIDP- D.Wright
2-out RBI-
D.Jennings
RLISP 2-out-
C.Iannetta-2, S.Smith-2, M.Trout, J.Segura-2, J.Bautista
TEAM RISP-
Avengers: 2 for 8 Walkers: 2 for 9
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