Maple Leafs Weekly Recap - July 10 to 16, 2023
Bullpen woes put the Leafs into a three-game slide in Week 9 in the IBL.
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| Jordan Castaldo waits for his soul to return to his body, after he hit a line shot that resulted in the Barrie Baycats turning a triple play on Wednesday night. |
If you ply your craft as a starting pitcher, this game of baseball can be diabolical.
You are the game's focal point. Everything begins (throw the ball) and ends (receive the ball) with you. All the action in between only happens when you decide it will happen.*
You conduct the proceedings from the very heart of the field, a place elevated above the rest, such is your importance.
You bust your ass facing a never-ending rotation of antagonists. Do well enough, and the reward is that you remain out there to face more of them.
Back in the day, a starting pitcher was expected to go the full nine and bask in the glory that followed the 27th out. More likely nowadays, the starter goes as long as his arm, his manager, or some stat nerd decides he can go.
Then the torture begins. You hand the ball over, take your seat on the bench and watch as the rest of the game unfolds without you. Your influence is gone. The final decision rests in the hands of others.
Sometimes your bullpen mates come through, shut the other side down, and make a winner of you. With baseball, it seems that for every such instance, there are a thousand instances when a disaster happens instead. And you, dear starter, can only watch in mute agony.
Three times this week, Toronto Maple Leafs starting pitchers experienced the diabolical side of the game.
And now here's the recap of Week 9 in Leafs baseball.
Monday, July 10, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox (RESCHEDULED RAINOUT)
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| The Leafs' sour week begins with Sucre, who struck out Ryan Burnside to end the game on Monday night. (image: Brantford Red Sox YouTube) |
Toronto Maple Leafs starting pitcher Marek Deska threw five sharp innings in Brantford on Monday night, then watched as the Red Sox made off with a win that should have been his.
In the top of the fourth inning, an RBI single by catcher Ryan Burnside put the Leafs ahead 1-0. That was the slender lead Deska bequeathed to his bullpen, and the Red Sox immediately went to town.
Their victim was James Wilson, who surrendered four runs off just one hit and two walks, and Brantford jumped ahead 4-1.
In the top of the eighth, a two-run double by centerfielder Ryan Santos brought the Leafs to within a run, 4-3.
Jeremias Sucre, who gave up the Santos double, returned to the mound in the ninth, and slammed the door on the Leafs. Deska's mute agony was probably deafening.
Toronto 3 9 1
Brantford 4 6 0
W - Howat (1-3, 4.80)
L - Wilson (0-1, 17.55)
S - Sucre (1)
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - Barrie Baycats at Toronto Maple Leafs
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| The Leafs loaded the bases twice in extra innings but could not get one measly run across the plate for a walk-off. |
Game of the year.
This Christie Pits Wednesday nighter had it all. Home run hitters, airborne defenders, eleven different pitchers, a triple play, extra innings, and a rivalry reborn.
At the start, it looked like it would be a wild, high-scoring affair between the Barrie Baycats and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Starter Sam Greene was victimized first, giving up three hits including two home runs as the visitors took a 3-0 lead after half an inning of play.
The Leafs punched right back in the bottom of the frame. Shortstop Jose Vinicio led off with a single and the almost obligatory two subsequent stolen bases. Catcher Justin Marra walked. A single by DH Garrett Takamatsu plated Vinicio. A wild pitch by Barrie starter Juan Benitez allowed Marra to score and make it a 3-2 game after one inning.
Greene did not surrender a hit after that. He went five innings and struck out eight along the way. The Leafs bullpen went into action, and continued the shutdown performance, putting blanks on the scoreboard through the sixth (Chris Nagorski), seventh (Taylor Lepard), eighth (Evan Elliott) and ninth (Dustin Richardson) innings.
Shoutout to Vinicio who went airborne more than once to snag hard hit balls and help keep the Baycats from adding to their lead.
Toronto evened the score in the bottom of the eighth. Takamatsu led off with a single and Yoichi Ishihara replaced him as a pinch runner. Second baseman Dan Marra advanced Ishihara with a sacrifice, and the Japanese import scored when a grounder by pinch hitter J.J. Dutton was played for an error.
With the teams deadlocked 3-3 through nine, it was on to extras and ghost runners.
In the 10th, relievers Adam Marra and Julian Valdez kept Barrie off the board. The Leafs loaded the bases but could not get one run across the plate.
In the 11th, Valdez blanked Barrie again. The Leafs loaded the bases again, but first baseman Jordan Castaldo hit a screaming liner straight to first. Justin Marra was caught off the bag and right fielder Ryan Santos, who was on third and broke for home, was thrown out at third. Triple play. As the Baycats bounded off the field, Castaldo stood near home plate, frozen still as if his soul had just left his body watching what unfolded before him.
After being shutout for ten straight innings, the Baycats finally added to their tally in the top of the twelfth. Three walks by Zach Sloan in the inning helped Barrie make it a 5-3 game. Plenty of mute agony to go around in this one.
The Leafs had no response in the bottom of the twelfth. Three straight outs ended the wildest game of the year at Christie Pits.
Barrie 5 5 1
Toronto 3 9 1
(12 innings)
W - Grieveson (3-0, 6.00)
L - Sloan (0-2, 11.64)
Saturday, July 15, 2023 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Brantford Red Sox -- RAINED OUT
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| (image: Brantford Red Sox) |
Sunday, July 16, 2023 - Welland Jackfish at Toronto Maple Leafs
It turned out to be a week of bullpen woes for the Leafs.
They battled the league-leading Welland Jackfish to a 4-4 draw after nine innings at Christie Pits yesterday, but lost their second-straight game in extras.
Starter Wilgenis Alvarado pitched six innings for the Leafs. He gave up three runs off six hits and five walks while striking out five. He walked off the mound boasting a 2.08 ERA on the season.
Catcher Justin Marra hit a two-run homer in the third two give the Leafs a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Santos hit an RBI double to tie the game 3-3.
The Leafs took a 4-3 lead when right fielder J.J. Dutton drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth.
Alvarado handed the lead over to his bullpen, and watched in mute agony as the lead evaporated. A sacrifice fly hit off reliever Julian Tymochko tied the game 4-4. It remained a tie game through nine and it was on to extras again.
Julian Valdez took the hard luck loss by giving up three Jackfish runs in the top of the 10th. Toronto went down in order and Welland made off with a 7-4 final score.
Welland 7 11 0
Toronto 4 5 2
(10 innings)
W - Mendez (3-0, 0.00)
L - Valdez (1-5, 8.24)
Week 9 of the IBL season saw the Leafs lose three in a row, dropping their record to 13-13. They are fifth in the standings, now seven games back of Welland.
The week ahead:
Saturday, July 22 - Toronto Maple Leafs at Guelph Royals, 7:30pm at Hastings Stadium
Sunday, July 23 - Brantford Red Sox vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 2:00pm at Christie Pits.
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