Fresh off a win in Burlington the night before, the Toronto Maple Leafs travelled to London to face the Majors.
They got off to a good start, plating two runs in the first inning. Glenn Jackson had himself an adventure around the basepaths. It began when London starter Deinys Suarez walked him. He moved to second on a passed ball, stole third, then came home on an error by the catcher. Hot hitting Damon Topolie followed with an RBI single that made it 2-0 Leafs to start.
Marek Deska was on the mound for the Leafs, and he got touched for three solo home runs in each of the first three innings.
The Majors carried a 3-2 lead into the 5th, before Justin Gianfrancesco tied the game with a leadoff home run.
After five innings, London went to their bullpen. In short order, John Waltenbury joined the home run derby with a solo blast of his own, and gave the Leafs a 4-3 lead. Topolie and Dan Marra continued to hit well on the night. Topolie eventually scored on a wild pitch and Marra was driven in by Gianfrancesco.
Deska completed six innings and handed a 6-3 lead to Christian Bottnick. Unfortunately, Bottnick gave up four straight hits and two runs that brought the Majors to within one run.
Christian Botter came in with still nobody out in the 7th. A sac fly tied the game 6-6 and stuck Deska with a no-decision.
In the top of the 8th, the Leafs took advantage of shaky relief pitching to load the bases, but they failed to get a run across.
In the top of the 9th, Raul Borjas led off with a walk, then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch to Jon Waltenbury, who also walked. Both runners advanced on a groundout by Topolie, and then the Silent Assassin struck. Bam! Dan Marra singled in two runs and the Leafs were back ahead 8-6.
The Majors retaliated with one run in the bottom of the 9th, but closer Justin Cicatello held on for the save and nailed down the 8-7 win for Toronto.
Toronto 8-10-1
London 7-13-1
W - Botter (2-0)
L - Skavinsky (0-1)
S - Cicatello (4)
BOXSCORE
The Maple Leafs are now 8-7 and 3.5 games behind the Barrie Baycats. Their next game is back home at Christie Pits against the Hamilton Cardinals on June 15.
No comments:
Post a Comment