NALB - 2023 World Championship Series Game 1

K. Fields
2023-09-17T14:17:25-04:00
Baseball

In 2023, two teams clearly emerged as the league's best—the Brooklyn Knights (113-49) and the Vancouver Wild (98-64). The Knights ranked second in scoring, first in pitching, and first in fielding. The Wild were first in scoring, second in pitching, and League 2's top fielding team. After winning their respective League Series in six games, they now meet in the World Championship Series. This is the first time since 2018 that NALB's two winningest teams will play in the WCS.

Veteran starter Anastasio Urbáez (13-15, 3.22 ERA) was the Wild's pitcher for game one. The Knights had their own veteran, Marcos Delgadillo (17-6, 2.02 ERA), on the mound.

Marcos Delgadillo is known for his pinpoint control and poise on the mound. Unfortunately for Brooklyn, the 36-year old didn't look sharp. He gave up hits to the first three batters of the game and then walked the cleanup hitter to force in the game's first run. Thanks to some good defense, the Knights were only down 1-0 after two innings. Delgadillo continued to struggle in the third, however. After a Viladina single, Castro and Brown hit consecutive doubles. The Wild stretched their lead to 3-0. After a scoreless fourth inning, Delgadillo struggled to survive the fifth. He gave up one more run and was pulled after two outs. Takanobu Kishita came on in relief to finish the inning. Kishita began the sixth by walking the first two batters. A wild pitch and sac fly ensued and Vancouver extended the lead to 5-0. The Knights finally showed signs of life in the sixth inning. Shimohira was hit by a pitch to leadoff. Singles by Gosden and Hartz led to Brooklyn's first run. In the bottom of the seventh, Estevan Portillo hit a solo homer and the Knights were only down 5-2. With closer Joe Farrell on the mound in the ninth, the Knights still had a chance. Joe Lindsey got on via a base on balls. Portillo singled and the tying run came to the plate with two outs. The comeback was extinguished when Farrell struck out Shimohira swinging.

Final score: Vancouver 5, Brooklyn 2

             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H  E
Vancouver    1 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0   5 11  0
Brooklyn     0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0   2  7  0

W: A. Urbáez
L: M. Delgadillo

Player of the game: Anastasio Urbáez