Outlaws win tough road series in Salem
The Salem Cowtippers beats Flagstaff at a clip of nearly 60% over history, so when the Outlaws boarded their charter flight to the Northeast, it promised to be a hard-fought affair. Four one-run games, with two of those being extra-inning efforts, ended up being a testament to just that.
Game 1: Sale v. Strasburg – Chris Sale gets the upper hand early when Paul Goldschmidt and Travis Shaw each hit homers in the fourth inning (the 5th and 6th off of Stephen Strasburg in three starts), to take a 3-0 lead.
But Salem climbs back by answering with a Jayson Werth sac fly in the bottom of the 4th. Then Yoenis Cespedes pops a two-run homer in the fifth and we’re all tied up at Sam Adams Stadium.
Both starters would get through six, leaving the score frozen at 3-all. Then a parade of relievers would enter for both team, pushing the game deep into the night, culminating in a Gary Sanchez walk-off single that gives the Cowtippers a 4-3 victory.
W: Montgomery (2-0)
L: Yates (0-1)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Goldschmidt (1), Shaw (1); SAL – Cespedes (2).
Game 2: Greinke v. Quintana – With somewhat tired bullpens, both teams needed starters to go deep and both pitchers delivered. Jose Quintana pitched into the 7th, allowing a lone run, on a George Springer third-inning bomb, on 99 pitches. Zack Greinke was just as good, getting into the eighth, allowing the same lone run, on a Andrew Benintendi RBI double, on 110 pitches.
In the 9th, with the threat of extra innings looming, Salem trots on Rasiel Iglesias after he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings the previous night. As one might expect, it didn’t go great as Iglesias gave up a solo homer to Khris Davis to give Flagstaff the lead.
Former Cowtipper Blake Parker worked around a walk to former Outlaw Eugenio Suarez to lock down the save and even the series. Flagstaff 2, Salem 1.
W: Goody (1-0)
L: Iglesias (0-2)
Sv: Parker (3)
HRs: FLG – Springer (2); SAL – none.
Game 3: Wood v. Gray – Word is that the Salem concession team had to place a big order for Tums as the ‘Tipper fans had been choking them down over the first couple of games. Turned out to be a good decision.
Alex Wood pitched six innings of scoreless ball, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out six and left the game with a 1-0 lead on a Davis RBI single in the 4th.
John Gray also went six, striking out nine while giving up seven hits and two walks. Jonathan Holder relieved Gray to start the seventh and was greeted by Springer with a crush job of a homer.
In the 8th, Flagstaff decides to get Sam Tuivailala some outs, but Suarez comes through with a two-out double to score Jose Ramirez. Gary Sanchez comes off the bench to pinch hit, but Tuivailala decides to not let Sanchize beat him, so the four fingers go up and Sanchez trots to first. Tommy LaStella is called upon, but flies out to deep center and Flagstaff still holds the slimmest of margins.
Jake McGee and Parker matchup in the 9th with McGee getting the first two and Parker getting the final out and Flagstaff escapes with another 2-1 decision.
Game 4: Wacha v. Leake – Surely something had to give after this, but this series was destined to continue to be tight. Both teams would put up single runs here and there and after nine frames, the score is knotted at 3-3.
After a lockdown 10th from both closers, the 11th see Goldy reach with a one-out single. Aaron Judge follows with a 2-run homer to give Flagstaff the lead. But Parker had managed to get the last eight outs, forcing a change. Kirby Yates was called upon to get the save, but Sanchez greets him with a solo tater that gets the Cowtipper fans on their feet.
Yates strikes the next two batters out, but Miguel Cabrera draws a walk to extend the inning. Trea Turner comes on and flies out to right field to send the Salem fans hold sad, and Flagstaff wins a tough road series with a 5-4 extra-inning thriller.
W: Parker (1-0)
L: Iglesias (0-3)
Sv: Yates (1)
HRs: FLG – Nava (1), Judge (2); SAL – Sanchez 2 (3, 4).