2016 NLDS - Metropolis vs. Sacramento - Game Five

Corey Kluber took the ball for Metropolis.

The Sacramento Senators came into Game Five of the NLDS needing to win three straight to earn a trip to the National League Championship Series. But they needed to win one game first. Sacramento sent their ace, Carlos Martinez, to the mound hoping to out-duel Corey Kluber and send the series to Metropolis for Game Six.

Martinez, who won Game One of the series, had a rough start in Game Five. He walked Andrew McCutchen to start the game and then gave up a single to Bryce Harper, putting runners at the corners with no one out. Avenger three hitter Giancarlo Stanton crushed a double deep to center field to score McCutchen. Harper held at third base on the play, trusting the Metropolis hitters to drive him in, rather than risking being thrown out at the plate. Martinez, however, collected himself and struck out Chris Davis and Danny Valencia before retiring David Ortiz on a groundout to end the inning and strand Harper on third.

Kluber breezed through the first inning but faced trouble in the second when McCutchen misplayed an easy fly ball for a two-base error to start the inning. Unfortunately for the Senators, they stranded Prince Fielder at second base and Metropolis held on to their one-run lead.

Both Martinez and Kluber lived up to their "ace" title from that point on. Kluber allowed just two baserunners total after the McCutchen error and Martinez was nearly as good and kept the game 1-0 into the late innings. The Senator starter began to tire in the eighth inning, however. Nick Hundley started the frame with a single and McCutchen walked to put two on with nobody out. Sacramento went to its pen and called on Mark Melancon, who quickly retired Harper and Stanton. Chris Davis, however, drew a walk to load the bases. Danny Valencia came through in the clutch and singled home Hundley to give Metropolis a 2-0 lead. Melancon retired Ortiz to leave the bases loaded, but the Avenger scored a critical insurance run.

Sacramento tried hard to rally in the eighth inning. Freddy Galvis singled to start the inning, but Zach

Manship struck out Nelson Cruz in the eighth.

Britton induced a double-play grounder from Kevin Pillar to wipe Galvis off base. Jason Kipnis singled to try and restart a rally and Britton hit Alex Gordon with a pitch to put the tying run on base. Nelson Cruz, easily the most dangerous hitter in the Sacramento lineup, came to the plate and Metropolis called on righty Jeff Manship for what may have been the most important at bat of the series to that point. The Avenger righty was up to the challenge and he struck Cruz out on a backdoor slider to end the inning and strand two runners.

Kevin Pillar struck out to end the series.

Manship stayed on to start the ninth inning and immediately got into trouble. Fielder singled to start the inning and Chris Carter walked to bring the winning run to the plate. Surprisingly, Metropolis stayed with Manship in the clutch, and he struck out Yunel Escobar and induced a fly ball from Colby Rasmus.

Avenger closer Craig Kimbrel then came into the game, hoping to get the last out of the game, and series. Instead, Galvis welcomed Kimbrel with a single to load the bases and put the tying run in scoring position. That put the game in Kevin Pillar's hands. Pillar hit a surprising homer in the first game of the series, but Kimbrel won this battle and struck out the Senator outfielder to leave the bases loaded and send the Avengers into the National League Championship Series for the fifth year in a row.


BOXSCORE: 2016 Metropolis Avengers At 2016 Sacramento Senators     10/14/2016

  Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Senators           AB  R  H RBI AVG

  A.McCutchen CF      2  1  0  0 .389     J.Kipnis 2B         4  0  1  0 .300 

  B.Harper RF         3  0  1  0 .158     A.Gordon LF         2  0  0  0 .147 

  G.Stanton LF        4  0  1  1 .158     N.Cruz RF           3  0  0  0 .162 

  C.Davis 1B          3  0  0  0 .235     P.Fielder DH        4  0  1  0 .270 

  D.Valencia 3B       4  0  1  1 .278     L.Morrison 1B       2  0  0  0 .103 

  D.Ortiz DH          3  0  0  0 .250   A-C.Carter PH,1B      1  0  0  0 .143 

  J.Iglesias SS       4  0  1  0 .158     Y.Escobar 3B        4  0  0  0 .156 

  R.Cano 2B           4  0  1  0 .235     Y.Gomes C           3  0  1  0 .152 

  N.Hundley C         4  1  2  0 .417   B-C.Rasmus PH         1  0  0  0 .000 

                                          F.Galvis SS         4  0  2  0 .250 

                                          K.Pillar CF         4  0  0  0 .273 

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

         Totals      31  2  7  2                 Totals      32  0  5  0

A-Pinch Hit For Morrison In 7th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Gomes In 9th Inning

Avengers........ 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 1 0  -  2  7  2

Senators........ 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  5  0

Avengers (4-1)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.Kluber WIN(1-0)         5 1/3   1   0   0   1   4   0   1.74  A1 B9

X.Cedeno HOLD(1st)        0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  C1 C2

M.Albers                  0       0   0   0   1   0   0   ----  C3 C3

Z.Britton HOLD(2nd)       2       2   0   0   0   2   0   0.00  C4 D2

J.Manship HOLD(1st)       1       1   0   0   1   2   0   6.75  D3 D7

C.Kimbrel SAVE(1st)       0 1/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   5.40  D8

Totals                    9       5   0   0   3  10   0

Senators (5-5)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.Martinez LOSS(3-1)      7       6   2   2   4   9   0   1.53  A1 D1

M.Melancon                2       1   0   0   1   2   0   2.45  D2

Totals                    9       7   2   2   5  11   0

ATTENDANCE- 48,830 DATE- Friday, October 14th 2016 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good

T- 2:53

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 7  Senators: 9

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 2  Senators: 3

ERRORS- A.McCutchen, G.Stanton

DOUBLES- G.Stanton(1st)

RBIs- G.Stanton(4th), D.Valencia(6th)

WALKS- A.McCutchen-2, B.Harper, C.Davis, D.Ortiz, A.Gordon, N.Cruz, C.Carter

HIT BY PITCH- A.Gordon

STRIKE OUTS- A.McCutchen-2, G.Stanton, C.Davis-3, D.Valencia-2, R.Cano,

             N.Hundley-2, J.Kipnis-2, A.Gordon, N.Cruz-2, C.Carter, Y.Escobar,

             Y.Gomes-2, K.Pillar

GIDP- G.Stanton, J.Iglesias, R.Cano, P.Fielder, K.Pillar

BALKS- C.Martinez

2-out RBI- D.Valencia

RLISP 2-out- D.Ortiz-4, Y.Gomes, B.Harper, P.Fielder, N.Cruz, K.Pillar-2

TEAM RISP- Avengers: 2 for 11  Senators: 1 for 10

WEB GEMS- Bot 6th: Jose Iglesias robbed Prince Fielder of a base hit.