Wild Card Round - Game 2 Recaps

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AL Wild-Card Round
Game 2 Recaps
#5 Salem @ #4 Fargo
Salem scored at least once in the first 5 innings, capping it off with a 4 run top of the 5th which saw Ivan Martis round up the scoring with a 2-run double. Jack Nicholas ran at will stealing 4 bases in as many attempts. Salem’s Al Valdes gave up 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run while striking out 5 en route to a complete game victory. 2B Phil Nomura was the lone bright spot for Fargo as he went 2-3 with Fargo’s only RBI.
* Salem defeats Fargo, 11-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the series going into Salem.

#6 New York @ #3 Florida
This one was quite the barnburner as Florida rode the solid pitching of Spud Jones, Blade Wright, and John Liang to a 6-4 advantage going into the 8th. Liang allowed hits to 2 of the first 3 New York batters in the 8th, including a Napoleon Saunders HR before Luis Diaz came in to lose the game for Florida. Scott Graham capped his evening with a grand slam to left field that put the exclamation point on New York’s victory. Jimmie Butler earned his first victory of the postseason with a 3 inning tightrope act that saw him put two men on in the bottom of the 8th and again in the bottom of the 9th.
* New York holds on to win 11-6 to tie the series at 1-1.

NL Wild-Card Round
Game 2 Recaps

#5 Scranton @ #4 Austin
After taking 53 outs to decide the first game, these two teams took about 18 to decide this second game. The middle of the Scranton order (Kohlmeier, Snow, and Cook) did all they could to lead their team to victory, collecting 5 hits and knocking in 2…unfortunately the rest of their team could only manage 3 hits off Austin pitching. Jose Javie, Carl Rossy (W), and Terry Jacquez (S) scattered 8 hits and 7 walks over the 9 innings while holding Scranton to just 2 runs. Austin 3B Francisco Sierra (2-3, HR, 2R, 1RBI) and SS Yorvit Castilla (2-3, HR, 1R, 1RBI) continued their hot hitting while CF Julio Cubillan hit a 3-run wall scraper in the bottom of the 4th that kept Austin in the lead for good.
* Austin defeats Scranton, 9-2, to take a 2-0 series lead.

#6 Detroit @ #3 Dover
After a day where a victory took at least 9 runs to pull off, it was nice to see a relative pitcher’s duel in the nightcap. Matthew Lennon justified that large contract by pitching 8 innings of 3-hit, 2-walk, 1-run ball to pick up the “W”. Nicky Drew picked up the save in an inning of work. Detroit pitcher Julio Johnson got the “L” despite a strong performance that saw him go 6 innings, scattering 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 9. The 5th inning was his undoing as he gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to 2B Charlie Spencer, and a batter later, a 2-run dinger to Russell Harris that proved to be the difference. Mitch Carter homered for Detroit in the 7th.
* Dover triumphs over Detroit, 3-1, to take a 2-0 series lead.