The NLCS moved to Fleetwood for Game Three, with the
hometown Walkers hoping to win their first game and start digging out of the
0-2 hole they find themselves in. The visiting Avengers, on the other hand,
hope to push the Walkers to the brink of elimination with another win.
Fleetwood sent Phil Hughes to the mound to start the game and Metropolis
countered with rookie Collin McHugh.
 |
| David Wright's double put Fleetwood up 4-0 |
The Walkers came out swinging in the bottom of the first, as
Seth Smith singled and Mike Trout doubled to start the game. A Kevin Kiermaier
ground out and Alex Avila sacrifice fly plated runners for a quick 2-0
Fleetwood lead, but they weren’t done. David Wright delivered a clutch double
with two outs and two runners on to score Miguel Cabrera and Marwin Gonzalez as the third and fourth runs of the inning.
The Avengers weren’t going to simply roll over and die,
despite the Walkers’ first-inning explosion. The score was still 4-0 as Metropolis
batted in the top of the third inning. Hughes retired the first two hitters of
the inning, which turned the Avenger lineup over and brought leadoff hitter
Andrew McCutchen to the plate. McCutchen swung at the first pitch and lifted a
flyball into right-center. The ball kept carrying and cleared the fence for a
surprising homer and the first Metropolis run. Three pitches later, Robinson
Cano hit a ball to nearly the exact same place for another homer, cutting the
deficit to two runs.
 |
| Jose Bautista capped back-to-back-to-back homers for Metropolis |
Hughes still had a lead, but back-to-back homers have a way
of rattling any pitcher. Avenger cleanup first baseman Jose Bautista followed
the blasts and worked the count full at 3-2. He then launched a soaring flyball
deep into the left field stands for the Avengers third straight home run to cut
the lead to just a single run.
Fleetwood answered back in the bottom of the third. Alex
Avila led off with a single, but McHugh retired Gonzalez and David Wright and
looked to get out of the inning. However, he never would get the final out of
the inning. Chase Utley singled and Robbie Grossman walked to load the bases
and bring up the top of the order. McHugh lost his command and walked Smith to
force in a run before hitting Trout with a pitch to force in another. That put
Fleetwood up 6-3 and they were still looking for more. Kiermaier singled to
drive in two more runs before Metropolis finally went to the bullpen. Zach
Putnam came in to face Miguel Cabrera, but promptly buried a slider
in the dirt for a wild pitch, allowing Trout to score the fifth run of the
inning.
 |
| Jonathan Broxton closed out the game |
Despite hitting three home runs in the third inning,
Metropolis ended the frame in an even bigger hole, behind 9-3. Fleetwood’s
explosion in the bottom of the inning seemed to take the fight out of the visiting
Avengers, who went quietly in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.
Metropolis did rally in the top of the seventh when Michael
McKenry doubled, McCutchen walked, and Cano singled to load the bases with two
outs. Fleetwood brought Jonathan Broxton in to face Bautista with the tying run
in the on-deck circle. Broxton got the best of the matchup and Bautista
grounded out easily to shortstop Jean Segura.
That was Metropolis’s last chance to make a game of it and
Fleetwood added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings. The game
finished when Broxton struck out Cano with two runners on in the top of the
ninth to close out the 11-3 Fleetwood win.
Both teams had defended their home ballparks through the
first three games and Fleetwood hoped to do so again in Game Four. They have
righty Daisuke Matsuzaka scheduled to face Avenger Anibal Sanchez in the game
which will either tie the series or give Metropolis an imposing 3-1 lead.
BOXSCORE: 2015
Metropolis Avengers At 2015 Fleetwood Walkers 10/24/2015
Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG Walkers AB
R H RBI AVG
A.McCutchen CF 4
1 2 1 .419
S.Smith DH 3 2
1 1 .240
R.Cano 2B 5
1 2 1 .344
D-M.Betts PH,DH 1 0
1 1 .231
J.Bautista 1B 3
1 1 1 .083
M.Trout CF 4 2
1 1 .219
P.Sandoval 3B 4
0 0 0 .125
K.Kiermaier RF 4 0
1 3 .179
S.Pearce DH 3
0 1 0 .208
M.Cabrera 1B 4 2
2 0 .188
B.Harper LF 4
0 0 0 .231
A.Avila C 2 0
1 1 .167
J.Werth RF 4
0 1 0 .391
B-D.Norris PH,C 2 0
2 1 .455
J.Reyes SS 4
0 0 0 .269
M.Gonzalez SS 4 2
1 0 .250
M.McKenry C 3
0 1 0 .500
C-J.Segura SS 1 0
0 0 .364
D.Wright 3B 5 0
1 2 .172
C.Utley 2B 4 2
2 0 .321
R.Grossman LF 2 1
0 0 .091
A-D.Jennings LF 1 0
0 0 .071
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 34
3 8 3
Totals 37 11 13 10
A-Subbed
Defensively (LF) For Grossman In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For
Avila In 6th Inning
C-Subbed
Defensively (SS) For Gonzalez In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For
Smith In 7th Inning
Avengers........
0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 3 8 3
Walkers.........
4 0 5 0 0 0 1 1
- 11 13 0
Avengers
(6-1) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
C.McHugh
LOSS(1-1) 2 2/3 7
9 9 4
4 0 9.31
A1 C3
Z.Putnam 3 1
0 0 0
2 0 0.00
C4 D4
A.Chapman 1 1/3 3
1 1 0
0 0 4.50
D5 E3
R.Choate 1 2
1 1 0
0 0 9.00
E4
Totals 8 13
11 11 4 6 0
Walkers
(5-3) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
P.Hughes
WIN(1-0) 6 2/3 6
3 3 1
4 3 3.18
A1 C9
A.Bastardo 0 1
0 0 1
0 0 0.00
D1 D2
J.Broxton 2 1/3 1 0
0 1 2 0 0.00
D3
Totals 9 8
3 3 3
6 3
ATTENDANCE-
46,200 DATE- Saturday, October 24th 2015 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad
UMPIRES- Marty
Foster, Derryl Cousins, Angel Hernandez, Eric Cooper
T- 2:58
LEFT ON BASE-
Avengers: 8 Walkers: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Avengers: 1 Walkers: 1
ERRORS-
J.Bautista-2, P.Sandoval
DOUBLES-
A.McCutchen(2nd), M.McKenry(2nd), M.Trout(1st), M.Cabrera(1st),
D.Wright(3rd), C.Utley(5th)
HOME RUNS-
A.McCutchen(5th), R.Cano(2nd), J.Bautista(1st)
RBIs-
A.McCutchen(6th), R.Cano(3rd), J.Bautista(1st), S.Smith(2nd),
M.Betts(3rd), M.Trout(3rd),
K.Kiermaier-3(8th), A.Avila(1st),
D.Norris(2nd), D.Wright-2(6th)
SACRIFICE FLIES-
A.Avila
WALKS-
A.McCutchen, J.Bautista, M.McKenry, S.Smith, K.Kiermaier, M.Cabrera,
R.Grossman
HIT BY PITCH-
S.Pearce, M.Trout
STRIKE OUTS-
R.Cano-2, P.Sandoval, S.Pearce, J.Werth, J.Reyes, S.Smith,
M.Trout-2, M.Cabrera-2, C.Utley
GIDP- J.Werth,
D.Wright
WILD PITCHES-
Z.Putnam, A.Chapman
2-out RBI-
D.Wright-2, A.McCutchen, R.Cano, J.Bautista, S.Smith, M.Trout,
K.Kiermaier-2, M.Betts
RLISP 2-out-
C.Utley, M.Cabrera, A.Avila, R.Cano-2, M.Gonzalez, J.Bautista-2,
K.Kiermaier-2
TEAM RISP-
Avengers: 1 for 5 Walkers: 5 for 12
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