Another cliff hanger, nail biter with some of the best defense any two teams could possibly play in this league. And guts. Injuries galore with both teams stepping up and playing through them.
Ron Lochner of the Marlins was the second coming of Brooks Robinson. Two spectacular plays kept Giants off the bases and runs off the board.
But our game ball went to Jerry Solomon. The 58-year-old pitcher went the distance, but it was his perseverence that allowed us to overcome a 3-0 deficit after 1 inning.
Chuck Sohl started for the Marlins, but had to leave the game I believe in the 4th inning with a foot injury, giving way to Jim Ansel.
Giants tallied 3 in the 5th to tie it and one in the 6th to win it.
Both teams hit the ball hard all night.
This is where Girard comes in with a professional recap.
Game 3 Thursday 6:30 at Clifton Commons.
I also heard that the Cubs beat the 'Birds. Confirmation?
Gutsy performance by the entire Giants team. The game started very poorly for the Giants, as Miles, Craft, and Girard led of the game with consecutive hits. All three would score as Lochner and Coons picked up big RBI singles. The Marlins extended the lead to 4-0 in the top of the third on a double by Ron Lochner and an RBI single by Mike Patnaude. Things looked grim for the Giants at this point, but they still had their ace in the game and he was settling in. The worm turned in the bottom of the third when Marlins starter, Chuck Sohl, limped off the mound with a strained arch with two outs and a runner on third. Jim Ansel took the ball and gave up an RBI single to Mike Hicks, driving in Carlos Llera, would had doubled with one out. Jim got out of the inning without further damage and the score was 4-1. Jim Ansel is not and has never been a reliever. He took the ball anyway and did a credible job. The Giants hit the ball hard in the fourth, but came up empty, as Mr. Ansel made some quality pitches to an injured Mario Arduini and got him to fly to center with two outs and runners on first and second. As the bottom of the fifth inning started, now first base coach Mario was heard to say: "We need to stop hitting the ball so hard. We need to start hitting some dinkers and dunkers." VERY PROPHETIC! The Giants bunched two dinkers and one dunker with a walk to scratch out three runs to tie the game. Hey Mario, I want to borrow that crystal ball Saturday when I go to the Travers. With two innings to go and the score tied at 4, the tension mounted and Jerry Solomon got stronger. After those first three batters got hits and scored, Jerry scattered five hits and one walk, while striking out 4. Three of those four strike outs were in the sixth and seventh innings, when most pitchers are getting tired. Not Jerry! The winning rally started in the bottom of the sixth with a sharp single by Wayne Phillips. He was sacraficed successfully to second by Rob Malakowski. Danny Maguire then drag bunted toward first. Jim Ansel got down off the mound and flipped the ball toward first, but the fleet footed Maguire was too far down the line and the ball hit him in the back. Next up was Mario. He laced a line drive to center field that drove in Wayne Phillips with the go ahead run. Billy Smith then tried to bunt (with one out and a runners on first and second?) and missed the ball. Curt Coons threw behind the runner at first for the second out. Ansel then K'ed Smith for the final out. The Marlins were ready for a seventh inning rally, but Jerry struck out the first two hitters, to make the job more difficult. Randy Craft then singled to left (Randy was 3-3 and a walk) to give the fish some hope. It didn't take long for Mr. Solomon to snuff out the rally, as he induced Mike Girard to fly to center on the first pitch (Oh Surprise!). Two great games in the books and one to go. Tonight at the Clifton Commons at 6:30pm. Come out and join us if you aren't doing anything. It should be a classic!!!
