A sticky afternoon at Christie Pits saw things get stickier for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as their season-long rollercoaster ride continues to take them to strange, unexpected places.
Instead of romping over the cellar dwelling Burlington Bandits, they fell behind -- way behind -- and were unable to battle back today.
Weird scenes under grey skies. Glenn Jackson (above) got hit by a pitch three times. Tarun Malik, the 5th(?) catcher on the roster got in the lineup as DH. Evan Wolf pitched his usual solid start, but things got out of hand in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings as the Bandits took an 8-0 lead. The Leafs began to mount another amazing comeback, but ran out of outs. The skies finally opened up during the 9th inning and the Bandits made off in the rain with a 9-5 win.
The Leafs just didn't have a third walk-off win in them this week. Today's loss sees them slip deeper into 6th place in the IBL standings.
Their last 10 games have yielded the following results: L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-L. Unless the Leafs can go on a tear in their final four games, they risk landing a spot in the one-game playoff of doom (maybe I should stop calling it that).
As for these Bandits, they find themselves just two games back from landing the other spot in that game. With five games left to play, the Burlingtonians just might pull it off.
Game Recap:
Under grey skies at Christie Pits, The Burlington Bandits wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. After a leadoff out, starter Evan Wolf gave up three straight singles to DH Jeff MacLeod, second baseman Robert Tavone and first baseman David Marcus. Catcher Tyler Hardie was the next man up, and his grounder was misplayed by Dan Marra, allowing MacLeod to score. 1-0 Bandits after one.
Both starters -- Wolf for Toronto and Rich Corrente for Burlington -- cruised through the next three innings and the game moved fast.
In the top of the 5th, the Bandits got to Wolf. Shortstop Tyler Fata drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a single by right fielder Dan Franceschetti. A bunt attempt by centerfielder Peter Bako was thrown wide of first by Wolf. The ball rolled into shallow right field and by the time second baseman Tyler Mitchell tracked it down, Fata and Franceschetti had scored. MacLeod followed with a single, and another single by Tavone scored Bako. A double by Hardie scored MacLeod and the Bandits were off to a 5-0 lead after the 5th.
The Bandits scored again in the 6th. Fata doubled and moved to third on a putout by Franceschetti, then Bako drove him in with a sac fly. 6-0 Bandits after the 6th.
The Bandits struck again in the 7th. Solo home runs by first baseman David Marcus and Hardie knocked Wolf out of the game and gave Burlington an 8-0 lead.
The comeback was on in the bottom of the 7th. Left fielder Jalen Harris led off with a walk, then DH Tarun Malik singled. Centerfielder Glenn Jackson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Mitchell then hit a single to score Harris. Right fielder Jon Waltenbury followed that with a single that scored Malik and Jackson and it was 8-3 Burlington after the 7th.
The Bandits added a run in the top of the 8th. Fata doubled off of reliever Christian Botnick, then came home on a single by Franceschetti. 9-3 Bandits.
In the bottom of the 8th, first baseman Damon Topolie singled off reliever Kyle Bolton. The next two batters were retired, then catcher Tony Alvarez banged his 4th home run of the season over the left field fence. 9-5 Bandits after the 8th.
Dylan Perego came in to pitch the 9th for Burlington, and the Leafs were unable to score any more. Burlington wrapped up the 9-5 win as the rain that held off all afternoon finally came down.
Burlington 9-15-0
Toronto 5-8-2
W - Corrente (1-4)
L - Wolf (2-1)
BOXSCORE
The Maple Leafs are now 15-17 and down to 6th place, 11.5 games behind the Barrie Baycats. Their next game is on the road against the Guelph Royals on Tuesday, July 22.
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