Steeltown Steamrolled

Game 23: Hamilton Cardinals at Toronto Maple Leafs, July 1, 2018

Leafs win 13-1

The hottest weekend of the year saw the Toronto Maple Leafs complete a home-and-home sweep of the Hamilton Cardinals.

Fresh from a 13-5 win at Bernie Arbour Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Leafs returned to Christie Pits and steamrolled the Cards a second time, 13-1.

The Leafs launched some early Canada Day fireworks, as Justin Marra, Marcus Knecht and Grant Tamane lit up the scoreboard with three home runs.

In keeping with an unfortunate habit, I once again missed seeing Tamane's homer in the eighth and got no photos. The game was well in hand by that point, so some visiting American friends and I had departed for cooler temperatures indoors. Sorry Grant, hit more!

One thing we were all there to witness was Zach Sloan pitching his way to a sixth win this season, tying him for the IBL lead. Sloan went five innings, striking out eight while giving up just one run in the top of the first.

It was all Leafs after that.

They scored runs in bunches. Three in the first, two in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth. When Tamane hit his three-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth, that made the score 13-1.

Garrett Takamatsu led the scoring assault, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Knecht drove in two with his homer, and Justin Marra, Johnathan Solazzo, and Aaron Hornostaj notched one RBI each.

Pedro De Los Santos (above) pitched two scoreless innings in relief, as did Andrew Simonetti, nailing down the 13-1 final score.

Overall it was a small but festive Canada Day crowd at the Pits. Strings of Canadian flags were up around the ballpark, and some familiar faces paid a visit, like Leafs shortstop Ryan White (who is not playing this season). Happy folks, huge score, great day.


Hamilton 1-7-1
Toronto 13-9-0

W - Sloan (6-1, 3.34)
L - Howard (0-2, 19.95)


BOXSCORE


The 12-8 Leafs currently sit in 4th place in the IBL standings, 2 1/2 games behind the Kitchener Panthers. Their next game will be tonight at Arnold Schwarzenegger Thunderdome in Brantford, where they will take on the 5th place Red Sox. First pitch at sundown.