Leafs win 7-1
Leafs lead series 3-2
One night after a sloppy performance in Brantford, the Toronto Maple Leafs turned things around at Christie Pits and are now one win away from advancing to the next round of the 2017 IBL playoffs.
Justin Marra and Marek Deska were the stars on the night.
For the second night in a row, Marra (above) crushed a massive, mind-altering home run to deep center. His blast electrified the Christie crowd and broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh. That set the Leafs on course for their easiest win of the series, 7-1 over the Brantford Red Sox.
On the mound, Deska delivered one of his vintage bulldog performances, holding the Red Sox to just one unearned run while giving up four hits and striking out five. Deska almost made it three complete games in a row for Toronto starters, going 8.1 innings before Zach Sloan closed out the night.
Deska and his counterpart Matt Martinow traded scoreless innings until the top of the third. As has been the case in each of the first five games of this series, Brantford scored first.
First baseman Nic Burdett singled to lead off the third. Shortstop Brandon Dailey's sac bunt was misplayed and he also reached base safely. A groundout moved Burdett to third, and he scored on a single by centerfielder Chris Dennis.
The Leafs punched right back in the bottom of the third. Shortstop Adam Odd singled, stole second, and then scored on an RBI single by DH Jon Waltenbury.
The score remained 1-1 until the fateful seventh. Centerfielder Connor Lewis drew a leadoff walk, then motored all the way around to third on a stolen base attempt, when the throw to second went shooting into the outfield. That brought Matt Betts into the game in relief of Martinow. It also set the stage for Justin Marra to stroll up to the plate and smash the first pitch he saw over the centerfield fence. The Leafs had their first lead of the night and the place went bonkers. Trying really hard not to go all "REGGIE JACKSON!!!!" over this!
Betts gave up successive singles to third baseman Johnathan Solazzo and rightfielder Zac Orchard, and his night was ended. Dalton Harvey came in to pitch for Brantford, and the Leafs' rally continued. First baseman Tyler Hardie stroked a single to score Solazzo, and then second baseman Dan Marra singled to drive in Orchard. The Leafs now enjoyed a 5-1 lead after seven innings.
Solazzo extended Toronto's lead in the bottom of the eighth by ripping a two-double double off reliever Tyler Soucie. That made it 7-1 Leafs with the Sox down to their final three outs.
Deska returned to the mound to great applause in the top of the ninth and recorded one out before turning the ball over to Sloan. The southpaw calmly induced a game-ending double play to seal the win for Deska and push the Red Sox to the brink of elimination.
Brantford 1-4-1
Toronto 7-13-1
W - Deska (1-1, 1.08)
L - Martinow (0-1, 1.42)
BOXSCORE
The Leafs could end this series tonight, as Game Six in Brantford is just a few hours away. So far in this series, the home team has won each game. In order to stave off a seventh game, the Leafs will need to break serve in Brantford. The largest contingent of Leafs fans yet is expected to descend upon the Telephone City to watch their boys WIN IT!
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