The night was hot.
The Maple Leafs took to the field at Christie Pits to play the first of four games in five days. On this night, the Hamilton Cardinals were in town.
An important game to be sure. The Leafs needed a win after dropping their previous two. The Cardinals were a half game behind Toronto in the standings. Fifth place and the "easiest" opening round playoff matchup were at stake.
Contrary to recent trends, the Leafs did not fall behind early. Rather, they jumped ahead. One run, just one run in the 1st inning, but a lot better than falling into a hole right off the bat.
The Leafs looked good early and starter Troy Marks was sharp. He rolled through the Cardinals' batting order en route to putting up seven scoreless innings. His opposite, Hamilton starter Matt Martinow did not have as good a night. In the 3rd inning, the Leafs sent nine men to the plate and mauled Martinow for five hits and five runs.
After four innings, it was 7-0 Leafs. They were pounding pitches and scoring almost at will. And yet, the Hamilton bullpen remained quiet. It was, in fact, completely deserted. Hamilton was playing with a short roster. When they were out on the field, it looked like they had only five extra players in uniform, in total - and the bullpen was empty.
So Martinow was left out there to eat up some innings. He was taking one for the team.
Everyone who has ever hurled a ball in anger knows how rotten it is when you have to tough it out - to take one for the team. When you've been knocked around, and it feels like every opposing batter is coming up there with a caveman club in his hands and a grin on his face. It's hell. But Martinow hung in there and went out for a fifth, even a sixth inning. When his ordeal was over, he had been beaten up for 14 hits and 10 runs, and his ERA had gone up by almost an entire run. Still, for all that shellacking, he kept his cool and gained a measure of respect from the people at the Pits this night.
For the Maple Leafs, when it was all said and done they had racked up 18 hits and 12 runs. Marks pitched a gem and prevented the Cardinals from ever threatening. It was the kind of game that had to leave the club owner grasping to find something to grouse about. (I just checked the official club recap - no grousing!)
Unofficial blogger recap:
The Toronto Maple Leafs came to play this night.
Starter Troy Marks got things going by striking out the Hamilton Cardinals' leadoff batter, centerfielder Andris Rizquez. He gave up a single to rightfielder Dre Celestijn next, and struck out the next man up, DH Daniel Jagdeo. A single to center by first baseman Zack Ranta looked promising, until Celestijn rounded for third and was gunned down there on a throw in from Raul Borjas.
In the bottom of the 1st, Borjas singled and moved to second on a walk to first baseman Jon Waltenbury. It was Borjas' turn to be out at third when he was caught trying to steal the bag. A walk to DH Sean Reilly followed, then third baseman Sean Mattson drove in Waltenbury with a single. 1-0 Leafs after 1.
Marks got through the first three innings quickly, and the Leafs enjoyed a big inning in the bottom of the 3rd. Shortstop Branfy Arias singled, and then scored on a roaring RBI triple by Borjas. A putout by Waltenbury allowed Borjas to score the second run of the inning. With the bases clear again, Cardinals starter Matt Martinow proceeded to give up three straight singles to Reilly, Mattson and right fielder Rob Gillis. A groundout by catcher Damon Topolie allowed Reilly to score, and then a grounder by left fielder Steve Coates ended up scoring Mattson and Gillis when Cards shortstop Michael Gottschalk made a throwing error to first. 6-0 Leafs after the 3rd inning.
Waltenbury tacked on another run with a booming solo homer in the bottom of the 4th that made it 7-0.
The Leafs added three more runs off the bat of Mattson, who hit a massive 3-run homer over the right field fence that made it a 10-0 rout after 6 innings of play.
Marks continued rolling along, pitching a shutout through 7 innings and striking out eight Cardinals.
The Leafs kept piling it on in the bottom of the 7th. A single by Topolie was followed by a double from Coates. A single by second baseman scored Topolie, and a single by Arias scored Coates. 12-0 Leafs after the 7th inning.
Conor Lillis-White relieved Marks to start the 8th, and he gave up a solo home run to Celestijn that broke up the shutout.
Justin Cicatello came on to pitch the 9th, and he gave up a two-run homer to third baseman Johnathan Solazzo. But the Cards could do no further damage and the Leafs went on to win big, 12-3 on the hottest night of the summer. Marks got the win.
The Leafs are now 13-17 and in fifth place, 15 games behind the Brantford Red Sox who clinched the league pennant on this night. Their next game is July 18, back up north against the Barrie Baycats.
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