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The Toronto Maple Leafs experienced a lousy month of July.
As they embarked on a road trip to Barrie and Brantford over the past two nights, their record showed only two wins for the entire month. The last time a baseball team in Toronto won fewer than two games in the month of July was probably 1968, when there was literally no baseball team in Toronto.*
The good news is that the team has showed no signs of negativity during all of this. In talking to the players, they projected confidence in themselves and their teammates. Better to go through a dark patch now than when the playoffs begin in a couple of weeks.
Better to hurl around some clichés than to panic. And so, with the Baycats on the menu first, the boys looked to keep their heads high, step it up, grind it out, play their game, and other things too.
Game 33: Toronto Maple Leafs at Barrie Baycats, July 26, 2018
Baycats win 15-10
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On Thursday night at Coates Stadium, the Leafs exploded out of the gate against the Barrie Baycats.
They battered starter Santos Arias for five runs, and his night ended after one inning. That did not slow the team at all, as they continued pounding Barrie pitchers all night long. The Leafs blistered the scorekeeper's fingers with a total of 15 hits and 10 runs in a ferocious display of aggression and power.
The Barrie Baycats scored 15 runs.
Yes, it was that kind of night. This rivalry always features high-scoring slugfests and this game was no exception.
Garrett Takamatsu led Toronto's scoring with three hits and three RBIs. Grant Tamane (above) got three hits and two RBIs. Zac Orchard got two hits and two RBIs. Damon Topolie capped it off with his third home run of the season, one of his two hits on the night.
R.J. Page took the brunt of Barrie's offensive response. He pitched into the third inning, giving up 10 runs before Adam Marra came on in relief. Marra and Jackson Jones pitched the final 5 1/3 innings. The Leafs managed to tie the game 10-10 before Barrie piled on five runs off Jones in the bottom of the eighth to seal a 15-10 win.
Toronto 10-15-1
Barrie 15-11-1
W - Hawes (2-1, 5.52)
L - Jones (0-1, 10.45)
BOXSCORE
Game 34: Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox, July 27, 2018
Leafs win 2-0
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Friday night at Arnold Anderson Stadium, one run got it done.
After the previous game's offensive explosion, the Toronto Maple Leafs engaged in a tense, low-scoring affair against the Brantford Red Sox. The clubs entered the game on a combined 16-game losing streak, so something had to give.
Toronto's win came off the bat of Connor Lewis with the noblest of plays, the sacrifice. With a man on third in the top of the fifth inning, Lewis hit a sac fly to drive in the first run of the game.
Toronto earned an insurance run on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth. By that point in the game, starter Justin Cicatello had whirled a gem. Cicatello went eight innings, giving up seven hits while striking out five and walking two. Most importantly, he kept the Red Sox off the board the entire night.
As a light sprinkle turned into rain, Dustin Richardson (above) took to the mound for the ninth. The former Boston Red Sox pitcher struck out the side to lock down a 2-0 win for Toronto and earn his second save of the season.
After a heinous 10-game losing streak, the Leafs were victors once again and the month of July got brighter at last.
Toronto 2-4-2
Brantford 0-7-2
W - Cicatello (3-1, 2.61)
L - Leyer (1-6, 4.19)
S - Richardson (2)
BOXSCORE
At 14-18, the Leafs have stopped sliding down that gigantic chute and can start climbing the ladder again. They are tied with the Hamilton Cardinals for 4th place in the IBL standings, 10 games behind the Barrie Baycats. They return to Christie Pits this Sunday to take on the London Majors.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League were sold and relocated after the 1967 season. The Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty League began play in 1969.
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