This infernal life.
When the IBL's new, evil, one-game wild card elimination playoff got bumped to the Thursday of this week, I almost had a one-man riot. There was a prior commitment that I couldn't get out of, so I missed last night's game at Christie Pits.
As major league fans in Texas, Cleveland, Atlanta and Cincinnati will attest, losing a one-game playoff is brutal.
It's a long season, even a short one. You follow a club through its ups and downs, from one series to the next, and seeing your local nine play in a post-season series is what you look forward to the most.
But the one-game "play-in" format means that the entire season can come down to one bad start, one missed play, one blown call... and the guillotine comes down with sudden ferocity.
As the clock ticked past 7:30 and the Toronto Maple Leafs took to the field to face the Hamilton Cardinals, I started sneaking peeks at my phone. Probably the least enjoyable way to follow a game.
4-0 Hamilton. HORROR.
5-1 Hamilton. ANGUISH.
5-2 Hamilton. SURGE.
5-4 Hamilton. WIRED.
5-4 final, Maple Leafs eliminated. DEVASTATION.
Based on the boxscore, the Cardinals jumped to an early lead, the Leafs battled back, but the Cards held on to win it by one run.
Starter Marek Deska gave up 5 runs in 4 innings and got tagged with the loss. Justins Lawrence and Cicatello combined to pitch 5 scoreless innings as the Leafs mounted a comeback.
Damon Topolie got the Leafs on the board in the bottom of the 2nd with a solo home run.
Topolie drove in another run in the 6th, scoring Dan Marra, who had reached base ahead of him.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th, Raul Borjas hit a 2-RBI single that brought the Leafs to within one run of Hamilton.
Hamilton's starting third baseman Johnathan Solazzo came in to pitch the 9th, and he set the Leafs down in order, earning a save for himself as the Cardinals won and the Leafs season crashed to a sudden end.
Hamilton 5-11-0
Toronto 4-9-1
W - van Pelt (1-0)
L - Deska (0-1)
S - Solazzo (1)
BOXSCORE
Congratulations to the Hamilton Cardinals, well played, we wish you well, etc etc.
Thank you to the Toronto Maple Leafs, for all the ups and downs, heroics and antics. See you next year?
