Masahiro Tanaka got the nod for visiting Sewell while Michael Fulmer started for Surprise. Sewell got off to a good start as all-time favorite big Papi hit a solo homer in the first!
The bottom of the 2nd had a weird sequence when Chirinos was hit by a pitch and injured, and Surprise used Zach Grienke to pinch run. That's not the weird part.... the weird part is Grienke actually stole second off Yadier Molina! And it was a big steal, as he went on to score (80% safe chance!) from second on Lorenzo Cain's 2-out single. The game was tied but Sewell cut and Cain was nailed at second (50% safe chance) to end the inning.
Sewell came right back in the top of the 3rd with a Papi double and a Braun homer making it 3-1!
Tanaka was cruising while Fullmer had an ugly inning in the top of the 5th. 8 and 9 hitters Cozart and Inciarte both singled and Fullmer wild pitched Cozart home from third! Cedeno came on and was able to retire Molina and Ortiz but then Braun greeted Corey Kluber with a 2-out RBI single, 3 RBI game for him. Kluber then settled in to pitch two scoreless innings, and the Sewell offense wouldn't get another hit the rest of the game. But would their 5-1 lead stand up?
Tanaka got into trouble in the 6th with a walk to Turner, a single+error off Cruz's bat that put runners on second and third, and then a Zobrist single (blown 1B-x play) that scored both runners and fatigued Tanaka! With Zobrist on first and nobody out, Craig Kimbrel came on and got the game's only double play to get through the inning with no further damage, but got into trouble of his own in the 7th. The inning started with two singles, followed by two huge punchouts of Marte and Votto. But then Justin Turner walked to load the bases and fatigue Kimbrel! On came Roberto Osuna to face Nelson Cruz- and walked him to make it 5-4!
But then you know what Osuna did? Clinging to a one run lead, he retired the next seven batters in order (including Votto for the last out) to save the game!
The defense on both sides was less than stellar- Sewell made two errors, Surprise made one plus the run-scoring wild pitch, and several of the hits on both sides were the result of X plays. In the end, the LOB tells the story- Sewell homers twice and only strands 3 runners while scoring 5, Surprise fails to homer and strands 7.
Congratulations to Eric on a great season- with 121 regular season wins it feels a bit wrong that his season would end like this. Only a bit wrong, mind you, since he has the 2016 banner with which to dry his tears. Oh, and the 2015 banner. Oh, and the 2014 banner....
