Leafs win 8-2
Brett van Pelt pitched the game of the year, maybe the game of his whole damn life.
Last night at Christie Pits, Game 4 of the semifinal between the Toronto Maple Leafs and London Majors began as a blowout and escalated into an all-consuming barn burner. When the final embers faded, the Leafs emerged with an 8-2 triumph to tie this semifinal series up at two games to two.
Van Pelt delivered eight innings of work spread over three-and-a-half hours of real time. This included sitting through a one-hour-plus delay in the game. After the pause he picked up right where he left off. All told, he held the Majors to two runs while striking out six. In the bottom of the sixth, he found himself making a plate appearance, and laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to advance two baserunners who eventually scored.
That's him in the photo above -- Toronto's starting pitcher batting again in the bottom of the eighth inning, in a league with a DH. That wasn't even the strangest image of the night.
This is the story of how we got there.
Game Recap:
A sunny afternoon gave way to a cloudy evening at Christie Pits. Darkness settled in shortly after sunset, as the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the London Majors for Game 4 of their semifinal series.
Game 1 starters Brett van Pelt and Elis Jimenez made the start for Toronto and London, respectively.
Van Pelt induced three groundouts to start the game, and the Leafs went to work in the bottom of the 1st.
Leftfielder Grant Tamane led off with a single. First baseman Jon Waltenbury followed with a single. Catcher Justin Marra continued the rally with an RBI single that scored Tamane. DH Sean Mattson was up next, and he blasted a Jimenez pitch over the fence in center for a three-run home run. Four hits, four runs and a 4-0 lead for the Buds after one inning of play.
Van Pelt and Jimenez traded scoreless innings in the 2nd and 3rd.
In the top of the 4th, van Pelt recorded two quick outs. He then walked London centerfielder Byron Reichstein and gave up a single to rightfielder LeJon Baker. DH Brett Sabourin was next up, and he hit a single to right field. Reichstein rumbled around to score on the play, well ahead of the throw to Justin Marra at the plate. Sabourin took a turn at first and headed for second. This forced Baker -- who had been tracking back to second -- to break for third. Marra snapped a throw to Johnathan Solazzo. Baker came in hard but Solazzo tagged him out.
Both players popped up and things escalated. They glared at each other, then jawed, eye-to-eye and chest-to-chest. Nearby players and coaches circled around. Light the match and watch the fire. Someone said something and Solazzo replied with a shove. Some Majors shoved back. The benches emptied and an infield shoving match ensued. No punches were thrown, but London manager Roop Chanderdat alleged that someone had uttered a racist epithet during the skirmish.
Both teams returned to their benches as Chanderdat spoke with the umpires. He did not appear to be pleased with the outcome of the conversation. He huddled his players together, then they packed up and walked off the field. As Toronto's fans and players looked on, the Majors trudged to their clubhouse, changed and boarded their bus.
A lengthy pause followed. Fans on the Christie hillside wondered if London had forfeited. If so, why no announcement? Toronto players chilled out by their bench, discussing the incident.
At this point in the game, London's number one starter had given up four runs and a potential rally had been snuffed out by a baserunning blunder. After taking an early lead in the series, London was watching it turn into a best-of-three with the momentum all on Toronto's side.
The minutes ticked by. Events ground to a halt, the players cooled down and the Pits fell quiet. Was it an appropriate protest? There are two sides to every story, and a million facets to those sides.
Over an hour went by before London's players climbed back off their bus, re-dressed in their clubhouse and returned to the field.
According to a report in the London Free Press, IBL Commissioner John Kastner was in communication with both clubs and the umpires during the delay. He urged that the game be completed, despite London's walkout having exceeded the time limit for a forfeit.
After a 65-minute delay, we expected to see new pitchers in the game. However both Jimenez and van Pelt returned to the mound.
Lingering tensions were immediately evident as play resumed in the bottom of the 4th. Damon Topolie was at the plate, subbed in for second baseman Dan Marra who had been ejected following the skirmish. Topolie chopped at a pitch from Jimenez and hit a soft grounder. The bat flew from his hands and landed in the infield. Topolie was thrown out at first, then thrown out of the game by the home plate umpire. Incredulous reactions, but at the end of it the Leafs' bench was down another player. Nothing else came of the inning and it remained 4-1 Toronto through four.
With Dan Marra and Topolie out of the game, the Leafs rotated players like a volleyball team. DH Mattson moved to third base. Third baseman Solazzo moved to first. First baseman Waltenbury moved to left field. Leftfielder Tamane moved to second. Meanwhile, Jimenez and van Pelt traded goose eggs in the 5th.
Van Pelt continued snuffing out London scoring opportunities, as he negated a one-out double by Reichstein in the top of the 6th.
The Leafs extended their lead in the bottom of the 6th. Solazzo walked and shortstop Ryan White singled. That brought van Pelt to the plate, Toronto having surrendered its DH. On the first pitch from Jimenez, van Pelt laid down a perfect sac bunt. The kind of bunt that makes a coach beam with pride. A bunt that moved Solazzo and White into scoring position. Rightfielder Brendan Keys was up next, and he delivered a two-run single that cashed in both baserunners and made it a 6-1 lead for Toronto through six.
Justin Marra padded the Leafs' lead with a solo home run off Jimenez in the bottom of the 7th, making it 7-1.
London shortstop Keith Kandel replied with a solo home run of his own in the top of the 8th to make it 7-2 Toronto.
The home run derby continued in the bottom of the 8th as Solazzo blasted an offering from reliever Todd Leavitt over the fence. 8-2 Leafs through eight.
Van Pelt remained on the Toronto bench at the start of the 9th inning and received a loud round of applause from the Christie faithful for his amazing effort.
Adam Garner came in to pitch the 9th, and there was still more controversy to come. Garner surrendered a leadoff single to Baker, and then a one-out single to pinch hitter Kyle Gormandy. He struck out the next man up, bringing leftfielder RJ Fuhr to the plate. Garner worked the count to 1 and 2. As he wound up for his next pitch, the umpire threw his hands up for a time out. Garner continued through his delivery, to which the umpire took great umbrage. He threw Garner out of the game, prompting another round of incredulous reactions from the locals. It fell to birthday boy Marek Deska to come in and throw a called strike to end a nearly four-hour game and secure an 8-2 FINAL for Toronto.
London 2-7-0
Toronto 8-9-0
W - van Pelt (2-1, 3.66)
L - Jimenez (2-1, 4.30)
BOXSCORE
The semifinal series continues with Game 5 on Friday night, August 26 at Labatt Memorial Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment