Outlaws overthrow Sovereigns with barrage of solo homers; gets 50th win of season
Coming into the 2018 BDBL season, the St. Louis Apostles were seen as the class of the Eck League, but after two months of play, it was the Buckingham Sovereigns that led the EL in winning percentage. That made this a matchup between the top winning percentages from each league.
Game 1: Sale v. Lynn – A pitching matchup between a 9-2 Chris Sale and a 9-0 Lance Lynn starts off with a George Springer lead off homer, pushing the Outlaws out to an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, Buckingham seems poised to answer when Peter Bourjos and Marwin Gonzalez start their half of the frame with singles. Mike Trout steps up and lines a ball up the middle, but Joe Panik was playing Trout that way and snags the liner and steps on second before alertly firing to first to catch Gonzalez frozen, completing the Outlaws first triple play since 2003.
The solo homer barrage would continue as Elvis Andrus would hit one in the third while Aaron Judge added one in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Buckingham would get a run when Gonzalez was plunked by Sale. Follow-up singles by Trout and Justin Upton would push Gonzalez across, giving Flagstaff a 3-1 edge.
Sale leaves after six, Lynn after seven, but the score remains the same. But a five-run eighth inning off the Buckingham bullpen seals this one away as Flagstaff wins going away, 8-1.
W: Sale (10-2)
L: Lynn (9-1)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Springer (18), Andrus (8), Judge (18); BKS – none.
Game 2: Greinke v. Chatwood – A Flagstaff home run would once again be the first tally on the scoreboard, but it would Manny Pina’s first of the season in the fifth inning this time. The Sovereigns would tie it up in the bottom of the inning thanks to an uncharacteristic error by Joe Panik that would put runners on first and second for Cameron Maybin, who singled in Evan Longoria.
Tyler Chatwood starts the seventh inning for Buckingham, but he is greeted by a Khris Davis solo homer. Two outs and two singles later, Chatwood is done and Zack McAllister is called on to end the threat. But Springer singles in Travis Shaw and Flagstaff moves out to a 3-1 lead.
McAllister then gives up back-to-back solo homers to Davis and Pina in the eighth to extend the lead to 5-1 Outlaws.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Sovereigns rally. Jake McGee allows a Trout single followed by Max Moroff walk, giving the home crowd some life. But Longoria grounds into a rally-killing 6-4-3 double play. McGee strikes out Tucker Barnhart to give Flagstaff a road mini-sweep, 5-1.
W: Greinke (12-2)
L: Chatwood (5-4)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Pina (1, 2), Davis (14, 15); BKS – none.
Game 3: Lester v. McHugh – Collin McHugh continues to struggle as spot starter for Flagstaff. After getting immediate run support on another Springer lead off bomb, McHugh gives it up in the third. Barnhart and Maybin start off with doubles while Rajai Davis would single later to give Buckingham their first lead of the series, 2-1.
In the sixth, McHugh walks Gonzalez to start but gets Trout to fly out. Logan Morrison singles and Longoria doubles both in. Then Barnhart singles Longoria in and the Sovereigns have a 5-1 lead.
However, the Outlaws answer back in the bottom of the sixth. Andrus starts off with a double and scores on Paul Goldschmidt’s single. Judge strikes out, but Enrique Hernandez cranks a 2-run homer to get Flagstaff within a run. Davis and Caleb Joseph each draw walks to extend the inning, but Jon Lester induces a 4-3 double play from pinch hitter Yunel Escobar and the Sovereigns cling to a one-run lead.
McAllister is perfect in the eighth, but Joe Johnson starts the ninth, making all Buckingham fans nervous. Johnson retires Joesph, but is quickly replaced by Chris Rusin who gives up a single to Pina. Panik strikes out. Brock Stewart trots out and gets Springer to whiff and Buckingham escapes with a 5-4 victory.
W: Lester (3-3)
L: McHugh (0-4)
Sv: Stewart (2)
HRs: BKS – none; FLG – Springer (19), Hernandez (3).
Game 4: Estrada v. Wacha – Marco Estrada did not wake up with his “A” game. Travis Shaw gets to Estrada with a two-run single in the bottom of the first. Logan Morrison homers to get one run back, but Estrada falls apart in the second.
Pina singles and Michael Wacha bunts him over to second. Then a single, double, triple and single follows, plating four runs. Judge grounds into a 4-6-3 twin killing to end the inning, but Flagstaff holds a 6-1 advantage.
The Sovereigns get a couple of runs back in the fourth, but Flagstaff pulls away for a 9-3 series-winning victory.
W: Wacha (5-1)
L: Estrada (6-5)
Sv: None
HRs: BKS – Morrison (19); FLG – Springer (20).