Outlaws end season with split, elimination of Las Vegas
After having all the important jockeying for playoff position taken care of, the Flagstaff Outlaws turned their mind to making sure players were well rested while still trying to play their best baseball. They finished the season with a home-and-home with the Las Vegas Flamingos, who needed to avoid as many losses as possible to stay in the Benes Division race.
Game 1: Sale v. Straily – After trading first inning runs, Las Vegas took the lead on RBI doubles from pitcher Dan Straily and shortstop Francisco Lindor. However, Flagstaff immediately rallies to re-take the lead behind a Paul Goldschmidt RBI single and a Khris Davis two-run homer.
Aaron Judge would tack on another run for Flagstaff with a solo homer in the sixth to make it a 5-3 game. In the eighth, the two teams would once against trade a single run.
But in the ninth, Flagstaff would break the game open with a three-run effort keyed by a Judge two-run double. Flagstaff wins, 9-4, to put the Flamingos within one game of being knocked out of playoff contention.
W: Sale (25-4)
L: Straily (8-17)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Andrus (20), Davis (39), Judge (46); LVF – Votto (31).
Game 2: Greinke v. Mejia – Fighting for their season, the Flamingos ran into a buzzsaw in Zach Greinke.
Both Greinke and Adaberto Mejia were in the strikeout mood as Mejia struck out the side over the first two innings and had totaled eight Ks over three innings. Greinke at one point had struck out six straight batters in a similar timespan, wracking up seven Ks in the first three frames.
The only blemish on the scoreboard was a solo homer from Elvis Andrus. But after that point, Flagstaff was able to get to Mejia, getting a run scoring on a double play in the fourth and a Goldschmidt two-run double in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Greinke continued to dominate. He would end up going eight innings, allowing just four hits and striking out 13. Flagstaff’s 5-1 victory ended Las Vegas’s hopes off a playoff spot, giving the South Loop Furies the Benes Division title.
W: Greinke (22-6)
L: Mejia (4-9)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Andrus (21); LVF – none.
Game 3: Cueto v. Wood – The series moves to Flagstaff, but it’s Vegas who jumps out front first behind a Wellington Castillo three-run bomb in the first inning.
But Flagstaff would follow with four solo homer in their first three innings at the plate and Khris Davis’s RBI single in the third would give the Outlaws a 5-3 edge.
The score was 6-3 after seven innings, when the normally reliable Outlaw bullpen faltered. Vegas got homers from Andrew McCutchen and Joey Votto in the eighth to close within a run. Then in the ninth, Blake Parker got the first two batters, but a Scooter Gennett single extended the inning. Robinson Chirinos came off the bench and crushed a two-run bomb to give the Flamingos the lead.
Craig Stammen and Daniel Coulombe teamed up to pitch a perfect ninth, giving the Flamingos a 6-5 rallying victory.
W: Cishek (3-2)
L: Parker (4-5)
Sv: Coulombe (1)
HRs: LVF – Castillo (21), McCutchen (36), Votto (32), Chirinos (20); FLG – Springer (39), Davis (40), Andrus (22), Goldschmidt (32).
Game 4: Liriano v. Wacha – The final game of the regular season for the Flagstaff Outlaws saw another full crowd at Purina Park, with lines at the ticket booth deep with people looking to secure playoff seats. Fan appreciation was in high gear between giveaways, food discounts and the like.
But the mood soured late as for the second straight night, the Outlaws blew a late lead and dropped the season finale to Vegas, 10-6.
With a 4-2 advantage after seven, another two-out rally saw Todd Frazier come off the bench to crank a three-run bomb to cap a four-run inning and give the Flamingos a 6-4 lead.
Not satisfied with that, Vegas would repeat the feat in the ninth, with Frazier’s two-run single capping that.
W: Pressly (8-1)
L: Parker (5-5)
Sv: None
HRs: LVF -McCutchen (37), Frazier (13); FLG – Davis (41).