Leafs win 18-7
The owner was losing his mind.
It was the top of the first and the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting kicked around Christie Pits by the Burlington Herd. They put four hits, two errors, and five runs on the board before the Leafs even came to the plate.
Verbal lightning bolts shot out of the blue box perched at the top of the Pits.
The Leafs responded in the home half of the inning by going down 1-2-3.
In the top of the second, Herdsman Justin Gideon blasted a two-run homer off starter Trevor Caughey. That put the Leafs down 7-0.
We began to wonder if the owner would survive this one.
Caughey is a newcomer to the Leafs, and in his previous start he'd been battered by the Hamilton Cardinals, giving up nine earned runs. However, the Leafs rallied then and he hung around long enough to make off with a canny win.
Maybe it's a wiley veteran thing. Caughey found himself in a similar hole, down by seven runs, but he showed no signs of panic or surrender.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Amazin' Mapes began a comeback. Not just a common or garden comeback, but one of those grand Christie Pits epics that fans will talk about for years to come. As the Herd had in the first, the Leafs put five runs on the board off four hits. That made it 7-5 through three and it was a ballgame again.
After a scoreless fourth, the Leafs went on an absolute rampage in the bottom of the fifth. They corralled the Herd, roped 'em, sheared 'em and branded 'em with a maple leaf logo. Fifteen men came to the plate. They got four hits and two runs off starter Christian Hauck, knocking him out of the game. They then went to town on reliever Ben Braun, who took to the mound with the bases loaded. His first pitch of the game was to leftfielder Grant Tamane, who blasted a grand slam to put the Leafs ahead. Tamane was greeted at home plate by his teammates (above) as the Pits went into a frenzy. The Leafs weren't even done yet, knocking Braun for five more hits and three runs. When the inning was done, the Leafs had taken a seven-run lead after being down 7-0.
The Leafs added to the blowout in the bottom of the seventh, courtesy of home runs by shortstop Ryan White and second baseman Dan Marra.
Eighteen unanswered runs, kolossal!
Caughey earned his second improbable win of the season after Adam Garner and Pedro De Los Santos each pitched one inning to close the game out.
Tamane's big blast was the moment of the game, but White and Marra were right up there. White went 5 for 5 on the day and drove in two runs. Marra notched six RBIs off four hits. Tamane had four ribbies, Damon Topolie had three, and Daniel Szpik and Adam Odd each drove in a run.
Final score: 18-7 Leafs. The Christie Mystique claimed another victim. And everybody lived!
Burlington 7-8-0
Toronto 18-20-4
W - Caughey (2-0, 7.28)
L - Hauck (2-2, 5.50)
BOXSCORE
Today's big win gives the Leafs a 15-16 record on the season, and they remain in 4th place in the IBL standings. They will embark on a three game road trip this week, starting with a game at Arnold Anderson Stadium on Tuesday night against the Brantford Red Sox.
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