NALB 2012 World Championship Series - Game 4

K. Fields
2013-09-17T19:19:42-04:00
Baseball

The Richmond Slam were down 3-0 in this series. Needless to say, game four was a must win game for them. Pre-game rumors had the Slam starting their ace, Hap Bedford, on short rest. However, manager Rurik Bonner opted to rest Bedford and instead pitch his number four starter, Adney Buntain (6-12, 5.30 ERA). Buntain’s 99 mph fastball can be fearsome. Unfortunately, he has been inconsistent and often lacks control. His decent outing in the League 2 Series against the Corals gave his team some confidence. The Brooklyn Knights had no such pitching dilemma. Their starter was the well-rested Ronaldo Mijangos (15-7, 2.82 ERA). The Knights had another bit of good news for game four. Hsiao-lou Yeh was back in the lineup after missing the last two games due to asthma attacks.

The Knights wasted no time against Buntain. They started with a leadoff walk and two singles to score the first run of the game. Another walk and a ground out put a second run on the board. Catcher Alvino Flores hit a line drive to center field and two more scored. The Knights were up 4-0. The Slam ignited their own attack in the second inning. Héctor De Echevarría hit a solo homer to give Richmond its first run. With two men on, Bonner pulled Buntain for a pinch hitter. Pyeong-kyu Pae came in and hit a double to left field. Richmond was within one run, down 4-3. The Slam continued hitting in the third. Again, a solo home run got things started. This time, it was a leadoff blast by Edmundo Ovelha. Tony Rodarte and Yuan Li followed with a double and a single. The Slam went ahead 5-4 when De Echevarría hit an RBI single, scoring Rodarte. In the top of the fifth, Kid Detherage was awarded first base when he was hit by a pitch by Chun-hua Zhou. Mijangos helped his own cause when he drew a base on balls. Lariel Gómez put the Knights back on top when he drove in Detherage to make it 6-5. The game remained close into the seventh inning. Alvino Flores was on first. With lefty Hang-fu Cui pitching, the Knights sent Michael Duhon in to pinch hit for Kid Detherage. Duhon blasted a two run homer to give the Knights some much needed insurance runs. Relievers Bruce MacOmish, Xerxes Scaife, Lonnie Bennett, and Craig Bella held Brooklyn’s lead until the ninth inning. Bernard Gastelu came in to close the game. Pitching in his seventh game of the postseason, he was marvelous once again. After a ground out to first base, he struck out the next two batters to save the win. It was his fifth save of the 2012 postseason. He pitched seven innings and gave up only three hits and zero walks while striking out ten.

Final score: Brooklyn 8, Richmond 5

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

W: R. Mijangos
L: C. Zhou
S: B. Gastelu