Outlaws sweep over Infidels
During this month, the Ravenswood Infidels have been playing spoiler, taking series from the Las Vegas Flamingos and the Salem Cowtippers. But when the Flagstaff Outlaws rolled into town, it was the Infidels who got spoiled.
Game 1: Sale v. Samardzija – On the fifth pitch of the game, George Springer cranked a Jeff Samardzija pitch down the left-field line for a leadoff home run.
From that point, Chris Sale and Samardzija would put up zeroes with Samardzija giving up just two more hits while Sale was working on a one-hitter.
In the sixth, the Outlaws get to Samardzija again, this time on a Paul Goldschmidt single followed by an Aaron Judge bomb.
After Sale finished his six innings, Bryan Shaw and Jake McGee worked through the next two innings and Blake Parker nailed down the ninth and Flagstaff shuts out Ravenswood, 3-0.
Overall, Ravenswood managed two lone singles, sending just 29 batters to the plate in this one.
W: Sale (24-3)
L: Samardzija (11-11)
Sv: Parker (49)
HRs: FLG – Springer (35), Judge (41); RAV – none.
Game 2: Greinke v. Odorizzi – Ravenswood’s bat stayed cold, doubling their hit total from the previous game to four, but their run total stayed consistent at zero, getting shutout for the second straight night. Flagstaff 8, Ravenswood 0.
Ravenswood’s best chance to score came in the seventh inning when they were already down, 7-0. Pedro Baez was called on to relieve Zack Greinke after two-hitting the Infidels over the first six innings. J.T. Realmuto started with a single and a walk to Miguel Rojas put Ravenswood in business. Baez struck out David Freese for the first out, but a walk to Marcus Seimen loaded the bases. Nick Markakis whiffs and Brandon Phillips grounded out to short to end the threat.
Flagstaff put up a four spot in the second to essentially put the game away, capped by Springer’s two-run single.
W: Greinke (19-6)
L: Odorizzi (3-6)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Davis (36); RAV – none.
Game 3: Wood v. Foltynewicz – Flagstaff struck first again, this time on a Foltynewicz wild pitch with the bases loaded. However, Caleb Joseph grounded out and the threat was over.
After being held scoreless for 20 innings, Ravenswood’s offense woke up. Gorkys Hernandez doubled to start the third inning and he would score on Dexter Fowler’s sacrifice fly.
Not content to just tie the game, Ravenswood took their first lead in the fourth when Brandon Phillips hit another sac fly followed by an RBI single from Markakis to put the Infidels up, 3-1.
But in the fifth, Flagstaff countered off of Foltynewicz. With two outs, three straight singles plated a run. Then J.P. Crawford came off the bench to double in another run. Then Alex Wood helps him with a two-run double to give himself a 5-3 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Fowler strikes again, this time with a solo homer off of Wood to close the game within a run.
But from that point, each bullpen kicked in and zeroes were the order of the day for the rest of the game. Blake Parker became the 9th player in BDBL history with 50 saves thanks to a perfect ninth. Flagstaff scrapes out a 5-4 victory.
W: Wood (13-4)
L: Foltynewicz (3-8)
Sv: Parker (50)
HRs: FLG – none; RAV – Fowler (16).
Game 4: Ramirez v. Garcia – One start after throwing Flagstaff’s first complete game of the year, J.C. Ramirez steps up and repeats the feat to give Flagstaff the sweep with a 5-1 win.
Ramirez allowed six hits and four walks, striking out just three, but managed to wiggle out of jams all night and only allowed a single unearned run in the eighth when Elvis Andrus bobbled a grounder that would have gotten the Outlaws out of a bases-loaded pinch.
The Outlaws offense could string together any big innings, but nickled and dimed Ravenswood to death, scoring a lone run in five innings, including three straight innings. All five runs scored in different ways: a bases loaded wild pitch, a bases loaded walk, RBI double, solo homer, and a sac fly.
W: Ramirez (9-2)
L: Garcia (6-6)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Hernandez (5); RAV – none.