2060.15 Disaster strikes on opening day

[Krathan]

Everything had lined the way they had hoped. Charlotte manager Angelo Jimenez and his staff felt great going into the top of the 9th inning.

There were nearly 50,000 fans in the ballpark.

Buwono Mainaky had pitched exactly how you want your opening day starter to pitch: 7 shutout innings with no real threats since he got out of a jam in the top of the 1st.

New team member Miguel Montero made a strong first impression by throwing a runner out at home plate with his rocket arm to end the top of the 1st and then driving in a run with an RBI single in his first at bat.

Jim Thompson pitched a clean 8th inning to get the ball to your closer.

All-Star closer Alejandro Chávez coming into the game with a 2 run lead looking to close things out.

The crowd was roaring as Chavez jogged to the mound with the lights flashing and music blaring. He took his warm-up pitches and prepared to face Brooklyns new 3B, Jorge Canó, looking for his first save of the season.

With the count full, Chavez threw a splitter that dropped just below the zone. Cano started to swing but stopped just in time and the Robins had their leadoff man aboard.

In the radio booth, Krathan Garrickes said something about leadoff walks never being a good thing and Wilson Prieto strode to the plate representing the tying run.

Chavez fell behind 2-1. He threw a good pitch. Prieto took a great swing. He hit the ball just out of the reach of Flyers shortstop Elvan Masûkî for a single.

Chavez stepped off the mound and took a deep breath before returning to his position. Don Moore stepped into the batters box. He had singled earlier in the game and was looking to drive a ball into the gap to tie the game. Thats exactly what he did. He crushed the ball into right center field, bringing both Cano and Prieto home to even the score. Moore made it to third for a triple.

The roar of the crowd gave way to silence as the stunned masses tried to make sense of what they just saw.

Jimenez put up four fingers in the dugout and the left-handed youngster Chao Yuan walked to first without a pitch.

Brooklyns rookie catcher Aurelio Gonzáles was called back to the dugout and Juan Schorr was announced as the pinch hitter. Schorr is a guy who rarely strikes out. The situation called for contact and he was the right man for the job. The veteran infielder destroyed a 2-1 fastball, hitting it to almost the same exact spot the Moore had, and with the same result. Two runs scored and Schorr ended up on third base.

That was it for Chavez. Angelo Jimenez took a slow walk to the mound as his perfectly aligned game had become an almost certain loss. Chavez shook his head and handed the ball to his manager.

Qing-lai Ou-yang came in and recorded three outs but did allow the runner from third to score.

The Flyers now trailed 5-2. Charlotte managed to get a baserunner in the bottom of the 9th but could not overcome the deficit.

The crowd left the ballpark in a daze and the Flyers start the year 0-1.