Flagstaff opens up play against Eck League with series victory
In the offseason prior to the 2003 season, the BDBL passed the “Radical Realignment” plan and the then Silicon Valley CyberSox were born and moved to the Ozzie League as the Great Lakes Sphinx took their place in the Eck League. Because of that, this year’s matchup between the two team was only the sixth ever, with Flagstaff winning four of the previous five meetings.
With Flagstaff moving to a five-man rotation and Collin McHugh spot starting, the Outlaws ended up throwing their 6th and 5th pitching against the Sphinx on the road. The upshot is that Flagstaff got to start #1 and #2 at home.
Game 1: McHugh v. Sabathia – Former Outlaw Josh Donaldson starts the series off with a solo blast in the bottom of the first to put Great Lakes up.
In the third inning, Enrique Hernandez singled in Elvis Andrus to tie the score, but that would be short-lived when Donaldson blasted another homer in the bottom of the frame. Later, Kole Calhoun doubled in Josh Reddick and Great Lakes takes a 3-1 lead.
Flagstaff would get a run back in the fifth on a George Springer homer. In the sixth, a two-out hit chases C.C. Sabathia whose pitch count was at 99. Joaguin Benoit would relieve but Andrus would greet him with a two-run blast to put the Outlaws on top, 4-3.
Collin McHugh starts to falter in the sixth as well, giving up a single and double with out one. Ryan Buchter would come in and walk pinch-hitter Matt Holliday intentionally to try and set up the force at any base. But D.J. LeMahieu doubled in two runs and gave the Sphinx a 5-4 lead.
Things would get out of hand in the eighth as reliever Cody Allen would manage a solo homer while Giancarlo Stanton would blast a two-run shot and Great Lakes takes the opener, 10-4.
The bad news for Great Lakes and they lost Josh Reddick to a strained hamstring as well as Manny Machado to a tweaked knee. Reddick would return in Game 4, but Machado was lost for the series.
W: Benoit (1-0)
L: McHugh (0-3)
Sv: Allen (1)
HRs: FLG – Springer (16), Andrus (7); GLS – Donaldson (17, 18), Allen (1), Stanton (28).
Game 2: Ramirez v. Fiers – Both teams trade runs in the third inning on a RBI groundout and a wild pitch on ball four that let a run score from second.
In the top of the fourth, the Sphinx get more bad news and Mike Fiers comes up lame after getting Khris Davis to ground out to start the inning. Benoit would come out to finish the inning, but he is asked to start the fifth and gives up a walk and a pair of singles to load the bases.
Paul Goldschmidt would step into the box but gets drilled in the ribs by a 1-1 fastball to force in a run and break the time. Benoit would strike out Aaron Judge for the first out. Then Odalis Perez would come in to face Travis Shaw, but his 2-1 offering knicks Shaw, forcing another run in and Flagstaff takes a 3-1 lead.
In the seventh, both teams would trade runs on a Goldy and Yasmany Tomas each hit RBI singles. In the eighth, Kirby Yates gets two righties, but Stanton managed to pull the Sphinx within a run when he homers. But Jake McGee gets Sterling Marte to groundout to end the inning.
McGee would get the first two outs of the ninth before turning the last out over to Blake Parker, who strikes out Matt Wieters to preserve the 4-3 Outlaw victory.
W: Ramirez (4-1)
L: Benoit (1-1)
Sv: Parker (22)
HRs: FLG – none; GLS – Stanton (29).
Game 3: Sale v. Perez – The series shifted to Flagstaff and this game would be highlighted by a boneheaded decision by Flagstaff’s manager. Chris Sale had been absolutely dominant through six innings, allowing just a lone walk to Stanton in the first. The Outlaws hold a 4-0 lead as the seventh starts, but new Outlaw reliever Bryan Shaw trots to the mound instead of Sale and a ripple of concern goes through the stands.
Shaw is perfect in the seventh and McGee gets the eighth, but Tomas doubles with two outs to end the no-hitter. Shaw gets Freddy Galvis to end the threat.
Flagstaff ends up completing the shut out, 5-0.
When asked in the post-game press conference, the Flagstaff manager feigned ignorance. “We knew Sale walked one, but we were so focused on conserving Sale’s workload that we didn’t even notice there were no hits on the board.”
W: Sale (9-2)
L: Perez (3-6)
Sv: None
HRs: GLS – none; FLG – none.
Game 4: Shields v. Greinke – Hanley Ramirez singles in Marte in the first inning to start things off for Great Lakes, but that would be the only run on the Sphinx tally. Meanwhile, Aaron Judge would crank a three-run homer in the third that would be the only blemish on James Shields account, but it was a doozy.
Zack Greinke would go 6 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and striking out eight while the bullpen comes through with a lone hit and Flagstaff gets 4-1 series-winning victory.
W: Greinke (11-1)
L: Shields (1-4)
Sv: Parker (23)
HRs: GLS – none; FLG – Judge (18).