Flagstaff nearly sweeps Wilkie-leading Slyme

The Southern Cal Slyme held a two-game lead in the Wilkie Division of the Eck League with a 37-19 record and started their interleague schedule off against the below .500 Flagstaff Outlaws. Naturally, that means the Outlaws would get nearly every break in this series and would come a few innings away from sweeping the Slyme.

Game 1: Gonzalez v. Wood – Harrison Bader gets this started for Southern Cal with a solo bomb down the left-field line in the top of the first.

Flagstaff gets even with three straight singles in the second. Then Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge link up in the third with a triple-double combination to give the Outlaws the lead. Jonathan Villar then swats a solo home run and Flagstaff leads, 3-1.

The score is 4-2 in the ninth when Flagstaff turns the game over to their trusty closer, Ryan Pressly. A walk and a Ryan Braun home run later and Pressly has his first blown save of the season in 17 tries.

In the bottom of the tenth, Goldy bails out Pressly when he launches an Edwin Jackson offering into the Purina Park stands, walking off the Outlaws, 5-4.

W: O’Day (3-0)
L: Jackson (1-2)
Sv: None
HRs: SCA – Bader (7), Braun (9); FLG – Villar (6), Goldschmidt (10).

Game 2: Newcomb v. Chirinos – This one starts with four scoreless, but in the bottom of the fourth, Flagstaff explodes for four runs.

Sitting at the top of the lineup, Denard Span and Andrelton Simmons hit back-to-back bombs off of Sean Newcomb to put the Outlaws on the board. A stunned Newcomb then manages to walk the bases loaded despite getting two more outs. Andrew Knapp hits a clutch single that scores two more runs.

Former Outlaw Eugenio Suarez tries to keep the Slyme in the game with a two-run bomb in the sixth, but a Simmons one-out triple pays dividends when Goldy drives him with a productive ground-ball out.

Southern Cal get a Rhys Hoskins homer to draw back with two runs, but Flagstaff rallies for three runs off of Adam Conley in the eighth, putting the game away and giving the Outlaws a mini-sweep at home, 8-3.

W: Chirinos (4-5)
L: Newcomb (4-4)
Sv: None
HRs: SCA – Suarez (15), Hoskins (9); Span (6), Simmons (6).

Game 3: Richards v. Manaea – The series moves to Southern Cal, but the luck stays with Flagstaff.

Flagstaff jumps out a 3-0 lead in the second on a Jarrod Dyson two-run single followed by a Simmons RBI single.

Fast forward to the eight and Flagstaff holds a 6-2 lead. Lucas Giolito starts his second inning of long relief and absolutely falls apart. He loads the bases with no outs and get a sac fly to record the first out. But then the next five batters reach base, including two different bases-loaded walks. Flagstaff posts six runs, turning this one into laugher.

Outlaws 14, Slyme 3.

W: Richards (1-1)
L: Manaea (6-4)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Simmons (7); SCA – none.

Game 4: Tropeano v. Greinke – Nick Tropeano starts off shaky, walking two in the first inning, setting the stage for a Ryan Braun RBI single to give the Slyme their first lead since the first inning of Game 1.

Tropeano gets revenge in the fifth as we manages to single in two runs in the top of the frame. However, Southern Cal answers right back when Yoan Moncada triples to start the bottom of the inning and scores on a ground ball from Justin Upton.

In the sixth, the combination of Panik and Plawecki gives the Outlaws a 4-2 lead as they each contribute RBI hits. A Jose Abreu sac fly in the bottom of the sixth gets the Slyme back within a run.

The seventh sees the Outlaws put two more runs on the board, this time from back-to-back homers from Span and Goldy to give Flagstaff a 6-3 lead. However, the Slyme decide to do the same thing as Suarez and Braun also go back-to-back, scoring three times and knotting the score at 6-6.

From there, the game tightens up and it goes into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Luis Cessa comes on for Flagstaff and walks Moncada to start the frame. However, Mallex Smith follows with a ball that is driven over Springer’s head in center and Moncada races home on the walk-off triple to give the Slyme a 7-6 victory.

W: Hirano (3-2)
L: Cessa (0-1)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Span (7), Goldschmidt (11); SCA – Suarez (16), Braun (10).