Red Sox win 8-6
Series tied 2-2
I have been re-reading some Shakespeare this summer. It's what people with degrees in English Literature do for mad fun.
With that in mind, I couldn't help but think of the scenes from last night's quarterfinal Game 4 at Arnold Anderson Stadium as downright Shakespearean. Drama, weirdness, tragedy, all there on a stage marked by basepaths and bound by outfield fences.
To begin, we begin where all Toronto Maple Leafs games in this series have begun. They fell behind early.
After being set down in order by Brantford Red Sox starter Christian Garcia, the Leafs took to the field in the bottom of the first. They were led by pitcher Pedro De Los Santos, who came out breathing fire. He promptly struck out the first two batters he faced, before surrendering a single to centerfielder Chris Dennis. DH Dan Jagdeo was up next. After getting Jagdeo to swing at a pitch, De Los Santos wound up to deliver another. Dennis broke for second. De Los Santos reared back awkwardly in an attempt to throw to second, but was called for a balk and Dennis was safe. Jagdeo then singled to drive him in. Jagdeo himself would be driven in on a single by leftfielder Andris Rizquez and the Red Sox led 2-0 after one.
In the bottom of the second, Brantford second baseman Benjamin Bostick (playing the series wearing Nolan Ryan's 1975 stirrups) drove in another run with a sac fly. That made it a 3-0 ballgame through two.
Momentum shifted to the Leafs in the third inning. A single and a walk put shortstop Adam Odd and leftfielder Grant Tamane on base. Third baseman Johnathan Solazzo then ripped a scorching double to left, driving in both runs. 3-2 Red Sox through three.
The visitors surged ahead in the fourth inning. Second baseman Dan Marra drew a walk, and Odd hit a double, setting the stage for centerfielder Connor Lewis. Smashing a double of his own, Lewis drove in a pair of runs. Tamane was up next, and he hit an RBI single to plate Lewis and give the Leafs a 5-3 lead.
Toronto let the lead slip away in the bottom of the fourth as Brantford punched back with three runs of their own to make it a 6-5 ballgame.
Catcher Justin Marra tied the game (above) by crushing a home run over the centerfield fence in the seventh inning. With the score now 6-6, the game looked to be headed towards another dramatic conclusion.
Little did we know what comedy of errors was about to unfold.
It was the bottom of the eighth when things unravelled for the Mapes. It was literally "a gobsmacking cock-up".*
With De Los Santos still on the mound, Rizquez led off with a single. Catcher Ricky Murray then stepped up to the plate and pushed a sac bunt up the third base line. Solazzo pounced on it like a jungle cat and threw to first... threw high and hard to first. The ball sailed past Zac Orchard, who sprinted after it as Rizquez rounded the bases and headed for home. "Oh fuckity fuck fuck fuck!"**
Orchard's throw home was too late to nab Rizquez. Marra caught the throw and spotted Murray trying to take third base on the play. Marra hurled the ball to third -- and that one sailed away too. "EUUURRRRRgh gurgle gurgle...."***
Murray turned a routine sacrifice bunt into a two-run round-trip thanks to two errors on the play, and Brantford took an 8-6 lead through eight innings.
Veteran Stefan Strecker put down the Leafs in the ninth to end the woeful pageant and tie this series at two games each. De Los Santos took the loss while reliever David Hatt picked up the win.
* I think that's a phrase from The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
** Probably from one of the soliloquies in Hamlet.
*** Most definitely Macbeth's final words.
Toronto 6-8-3
Brantford 8-9-1
W - Hatt (1-0, 10.12)
L - De Los Santos (0-1, 11.76)
BOXSCORE
This see-saw series continues tonight at Christie Pits, as the Leafs attempt to retake the series lead once again. First pitch is at 7:30.
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