The Toronto Maple Leafs brought the Will to Power to Hastings Stadium in Guelph last night -- the perfect time to face a Royals team that is trapped in a late-season swoon.
Full of dip and gas, the Leafs’ army of Nietzschean supermen took control early, extended their lead and held off a late surge for a 5-3 win. The final score may seem close, but the win never appeared in doubt.
Four pitchers combined to hold the Royals at bay: starter Jaspreet Shergill, Adam Garner, Christian Botnick and Justin Lawrence. They combined to give up a total of 9 hits and 3 runs while striking out seven.
Sean Mattson flashed both wood and wheels, churning out two triples and coming in to score after each one. He also drove in a run.
Darryl Pui returned from a brief absence and got two hits on the night, while driving in one run. The other two Toronto RBIs came from Dan Marra and Jon Waltenbury.
It was one of those games where the Leafs executed when necessary, and worked their way out of jams – as evidenced by the 15 stranded baserunners that Guelph left on the field.
With less than a week remaining in the IBL regular season, Barrie and London have locked up the first two places in the standings. Everything else is still in play. Only a few games are left for the remaining clubs to sort out the 3rd to 8th places. Six clubs are careening towards a violent and terrifying conclusion to the regular season, which is sure to end with the spilling of tears and protein powder before it’s all said and done.
Game Recap:
On a hot night in Guelph (and really, when isn’t a night in Guelph hot?), Gavin Free and Jaspreet Shergill took to the mound at Hastings Stadium.
Free pitched a 1-2-3 1st inning, but the Royals rapped a couple of singles and drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Shergill got out of it on a flyball and there was no score after one.
The Royals loaded the bases again in the 2nd inning, and another flyout got Shergill out of trouble.
Centerfielder Glenn Jackson singled for Toronto to start the 3rd inning, moved to second on a groundout by second baseman Grant Tamane, and scored on a double off the bat of shortstop Dan Marra. With leftfielder Jalen Harris up next, Marra stole third. Harris was walked, and rightfielder Jon Waltenbury was up next. He hit a sac fly to centerfield that allowed Marra to trot home and it was 2-0 Leafs.
Shergill continued to cruise along, stranding four more Royals baserunners through the 5th inning.
Waltenbury led off the top of the 6th with a walk, then moved to second on a putout by first baseman Damon Topolie. Third baseman Sean Mattson was the first batter to face Jason Martyn, who came on in relief of Free. Mattson whacked a triple that allowed Waltenbury to score. DH Darryl Pui then crushed a ground rule double that bounced over the fence in right field and Mattson scored to double the Leafs’ lead at 4-0.
Adam Garner pitched the 6th and 7th innings for Toronto. He gave up a solo home run to first baseman Justin Interisano in the 7th that made it 4-1 Leafs after seven innings, but that was all.
Both teams added a run in the 8th. Mattson led off with another pulse-pounding triple, then dashed home on a wild pitch from Martyn. Christian Botnick came on to pitch the bottom of the 8th for Toronto. He hit right fielder Brian Doran with a pitch, then gave up a single to pinch hitter Matt Forer. Centerfielder Tino Silvestri followed with a single that allowed Doran to come all the way home and it was 5-2 Leafs. The Royals managed to load the bases again, but Justin Lawrence came in and got second baseman Josh Garton to hit a popup to Marra and strand all three baserunners again.
Lawrence returned to the mound for the bottom of the 9th. He gave up another solo homer to Interisano (which travelled about two fields over). After that, Lawrence hunkered down and got the three outs he needed for the save and the 5-3 Toronto victory.
Toronto 5-7-2
Guelph 3-9-1
W - Shergill (2-3)
L – Free (4-4)
S - Lawrence (1)
BOXSCORE
The Maple Leafs are now 16-17 and part of a four-team logjam to sort out 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place before this year's playoffs. Kitchener, Brantford, Guelph and Toronto are all separated by a single game in the standings. Toronto's next game is in Barrie to face the Baycats on Thursday, July 24.
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