Outlaws open 2019 with road victory in Kansas City
As the 2019 BDBL season gets underway, the Flagstaff Outlaws found themselves opening their Division title defense on the road against the Boulevards of Kansas City.
These two foes placed first and second in the division last season, with Flagstaff besting Kansas City by 20 games, but 12 of those were because of a 14-2 head-to-head advantage by the Outlaws. But 2019 is a different story.
Game 1: Wacha v. Nola – Flagstaff starts the season with Michael Wacha toeing the rubber for the Outlaws, opposed by Aaron Nola.
Christian Yelich drives in a pair with an RBI single and a solo homer in the third to get to Wacha early. In the fourth, Daniel Robertson ups the ante with his own RBI single and Kansas City takes a 3-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Aaron Nola throws seven dominant innings, holding the Outlaws scoreless on five hits and two walks. However, Nola starts the eighth by giving up a leadoff single to Andrelton Simmons. Fearing Nola tiring as he reached 100 pitches, Kansas City brought out Joe Kelly. Kelly gets his first batter, but a walk to Paul Goldschmidt sets the stage for Aaron Judge to blast a ball deep into the Boulevard bleachers, tying the score at 3-3.
The score stays tied through regulation, but the Outlaws cash in the 10th. Daniel Mengden started his second inning of work, but allowed three straight batters to reach, including George Springer’s go-ahead RBI single. Jonathan Villar followed with a sacrifice fly and the Eduardo Nunez his a chopper that is slow enough to let Springer beat the throw home.
With the first save situation of the season in place, the Outlaws turn to new closer Ryan Pressly who works around a two-out single to Dee Gordon to lock down the Flagstaff victory, 6-3.
W: Smith (1-0)
L: Mengden (0-1)
Sv: Pressly (1)
HRs: FLG – Judge (1); KCB – Yelich (3).
Game 2: Chirinos v. Chacin – Once again, Kansas City starts off with an early lead and once again, Flagstaff ties it up.
Yonny Chirinos makes his Outlaw debut on the mound, but Edwin Encarnacion hits into a run-scoring out when the Outlaw can’t turn a double play. Then Dee Gordon adds a single that drives in Max Kepler who reached on an error and KC has an early 2-0 lead.
In the third, Flagstaff’s Denard Span doubles in a pair to even the score. Kansas City strikes back when Gordon singles in two more in the fourth.
In the sixth, Chacin tires and the Outlaws capitalizes. Joe Panik singles in Springer and then scores on Chirinos’s clutch two-out single to tie the game at 4-4.
In the top of the ninth, Simmons hits a big two-out homer off of Wander Suero to put the Outlaws on top. The brings on Pressly for his second shot at a save and a perfect outing give him that. Flagstaff 5, Kansas City 4.
W: O’Day (1-0)
L: Suero (0-1)
Sv: Pressly (2)
HRs: FLG – Simmons (1); KCB – none.
Game 3: Johnson v. Happ – With two disappointing losses, the Boulevards bust out the lumber and end up cranking six home runs to pace Kansas City to a 14-2 blowout.
Brain Johnson’s debut in Flagstaff gets off to a rocky start when Evan Longoria hits a two-run single to start off the fireworks. In the third, Wilson Ramos cranks a two-run shot to double the Boulevard advantage.
Then in the fourth, it gets out of hand. Edwin Encarnacion cranks a grand slam followed by a Longoria solo shot to make it 9-0, chasing Johnson.
Yelich and Gordon get into off of long reliever Nick Kingham, each contributing a two-run jack. Marcell Ozuna caps the Boulevard night off with a solo homer in the seventh.
Flagstaff escapes the shutout when Simmons leads off the top of the ninth with a solo shot. Kevin Plawecki adds a run-scoring out to cap the night.
W: Happ (2-0)
L: Johnson (0-1)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Simmons (2); KCB – Ramos (2), Encarnacion (3), Longoria (2), Yelich (4), Gordon (1), Ozuna (2).
Game 4: Romero v. Leake – In a series of pitching debuts, Flagstaff turns to Fernando Romero to give his first pass as a starter. The Outlaw offense gives Romero a good start before even throwing a single pitch, as a Span triple is followed by a Goldy single and Judge two-run shot.
In the third, the Boulevards start trouble with a Robertson walk and a Jose Peraza double. But Romero is able to get a couple of fly outs that score both runners, but keep any further damage from occuring.
Flagstaff gives Romero insurance with a Goldy double in the fifth. In the seventh, Flagstaff loads the bases, bringing Heath Hembree to the mound to face Springer. On a 1-1 count, Hembree fails to come to a complete pause and a balk is called, forcing in the fifth Outlaw run.
In the eighth, Joe Smith was called on to hold the lead, but it was an eventful hold. Peraza homered with one out. Ozuna doubled with two outs and Encarnacion was intentionally walked, as Flagstaff didn’t want him to be the guy to beat them. The move paid off as Colin Moran flies out.
In the bottom of the ninth, Pressly os once again called upon and while he gave up a pair of singles, he would escape the jam, giving the Outlaws a 5-3 victory and a series win.
W: Romero (1-0)
L: Leake (0-1)
Sv: Pressly (3)
HRs: FLG – Judge (2); KCB – Peraza (1).