NALB 2008 World Championship Series - Game 4

K. Fields
2009-10-30T18:29:38-04:00
Baseball

Unwilling to admit it publicly, the Vancouver Wild knew game 4 was a must win game. They liked their chances at home with playoff phenom Tony Martell (19-9, 3.39 ERA) on the mound. Brooklyn had confidence in their starter, Bob Wiesner (17-7, 3.65 ERA), as well.

After pitching 18 scoreless innings in the playoffs, Martell suddenly looked fallible in game 4. He opened the game with a base on balls. With one out, the Knights tagged him with three straight singles. The Wild were behind 3-0 and their confidence was clearly shaken. Steve Naktenis scored Vancouver’s first run in the second inning after drawing a walk from Wiesner. Naktenis struck again in the fourth with a solo home run. Down only 3-2, the Vancouver crowd was back into the game. A Dan Kelley single in the fifth extended the Knights’ lead to two runs. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Wild tied the game on a two run, 430 foot blast by Norberto Salguero.

With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Knights sent in veteran closer Jeff Ramirez to hopefully force the game into extra innings. Leading off the inning was former Brooklyn left fielder Tim Aase. He tripled off of Ramirez. Spud Naktenis came through yet again with a deep fly ball that scored Aase on a sacrifice fly. Vancouver won the game and tied the Series.

Final score: Vancouver 5, Brooklyn 4