Ripping Up the Script

Game 20: Kitchener Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs, July 25, 2018 (rescheduled rainout)

Panthers win 9-6

There has been a pattern to games between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kitchener Panthers throughout the 2018 IBL season.

It goes like this: the Black Cats take an early lead and they stretch it out a mighty distance. The Leafs battle back like scrappers and legends, but fall just short of victory. Four games in a row have followed this script.

Last night at Christie Pits, they ripped up the script but the result was the same.

The Leafs arrived bearing an eight-game losing streak on their backs, their longest skid in years. As the players emerged from the clubhouse, I asked some of them to describe what their approach would be against Kitchener. They were all business, no panic.

"Start earlier," said Grant Tamane with a nod to the Panthers' habit of jumping ahead.

"Keep putting pressure on them," said R.J. Page. "Put the ball in play and get baserunners."

"We've got to grind tonight," said Zach Sloan. "We play well against the best teams, so we have to step it up."

Pedro De Los Santos toed the rubber for the Mapes against Jonder Martinez. The game had barely gotten underway before it was halted by Toothpickgate. A personal trademark of Martinez's is that he pitches with a toothpick in his mouth. As the sun set over the Pits, it lit up the toothpick and it became a distraction. Catcher Justin Marra requested that Martinez remove it. An unexpectedly long sequence of conversations took place between the umpires, the Kitchener starter and his manager Luke Baker before the game resumed and Martinez went pickless.

The early innings flew by as a pitchers' duel ensued. De Los Santos and Martinez both completed five scoreless before it even got dark.

The Panthers finally pounced in the top of the sixth. They racked up six hits and scored four runs. De Los Santos was relieved by Will Newton, who got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

The Leafs punched right back in the bottom of the inning. Rightfielder Marcus Knecht drew a walk off Martinez, and first baseman Garrett Takamatsu followed with a single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a two-run single by DH Damon Topolie. That made it 4-2 Panthers through six.

Nick DaSilva pitched a perfect top of the seventh for Toronto, and then the Pits went to full throttle for the bottom of the inning. The crowd reacted noisily as leftfielder Daniel Szpik led off with a roaring double. Boisterous cheers rang down from the hillsides and the Panthers were momentarily rattled. A couple of fielding errors put centerfielder Connor Lewis and shortstop Aaron Hornostaj aboard, and allowed Szpik to score. A sac fly by second baseman Dan Marra drove in Lewis to tie the game. Walks to Justin Marra and Knecht loaded the bases with one out. Takamatsu then grounded to third and the Panthers made their third error of the inning. Takamatsu was safe at first, Hornostaj scored, but Marra was out on the play. A wild pitch by reliever Mike Schnurr let Knecht race home with another run and when the dust finally settled, Toronto had taken a 6-4 lead, koo koo roo.

He's been the "Sunday Starter" for most of the season, but Sloan came out of the bullpen in the top of the eighth. He pitched a scoreless inning, and the stage was set for a decisive final frame. 

And it was brutal. All nine men came to the plate for Kitchener, and they knocked out five runs on five hits, including league-leader Tanner Nivins' eleventh home run. Brutal, just brutal.

Closer Miguel Lahera took the mound for the bottom of the ninth, and the Leafs went down in order for a 9-6 FINAL. Schnurr with the win, Sloan with the loss. Despite drafting up a new script, the Leafs lost their ninth in a row as the Panthers swept the season series.


Kitchener 9-14-6
Toronto 6-8-0

W - Schnurr (3-0, 0.26)
L - Sloan (6-4, 4.06)
S - Lahera (7)


BOXSCORE


The 13-17 Leafs find themselves tied with the Hamilton Cardinals for 4th place in the IBL standings, 9 1/2 games behind the Barrie Baycats. They hit the road for two games to end the week. Tonight they play the league-leaders in Barrie, and on Friday night they visit Brantford for a tilt against the Red Sox.