After having lost their last 2 and 6 of their last 7, fans at the Trail in Multnomah quickly feared the streak would live on after the Lumberjacks fell behind quickly 6-0 to division rival Sacramento. The Mad Popes got to Lumberjacks starter Terrence Kelly early and often, scoring 1 in the first, 2 in the second, and 3 more in the 4th that prompted Portland manager Pedro Medina to go to his bullpen earlier than he had wanted on this night. But to Medina's credit, and to the good fortunes of the team, the bullpen of Nick Snyder, Pedro Rocha, and Luis Marquez kept the Mad Popes at bay and off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, giving the team a fighting shot at a comeback.
Andrew Gallagher brought the Lumberjacks back from the dead in the 6th inning with his two-run homerun that cut into the deficit. Marcos Gonzalez cut the lead even more when his solo homerun cleared the wall in leftfield, and just like that Portland cut the lead in half to 6-3. That's where the game stayed until the 9th inning.
The Mad Popes called on their lefty "stopper" Marco "Big Cheese" Vitalle to put the final nail in the Lumberjacks coffin on this night, but the Portland squad had other thoughts. Vtialle had trouble finding the strike zone. A Juan Mendoza single on a 1-2 pitch was sandwiched around a pair of walks and the Lumberjacks were in business with the bases loaded and no one out. That was followed with a Marcos Gonzales single. Then an Aaron Stone single. A Hector Vazquez single later and all of a sudden the game was tied and the score board still read no outs and the bases were juiced. Vitalle, already at 31 pitches, begged to come out of the game but his cries were left unanswered. Vitalle had pitched a clean 8th inning already, but was clearly out of gas in the final frame. However, he found enough in the tank to strikeout Pedro Gomez and give his team hopes of a double play ending play to force extra innings. He would need that from Andrew Gallagher.
Entering the game, Gallagher had already grounded in a pair of double plays on the short season so the possibility was there. Gallagher, one of the big trade pieces in the Robert Menzies trade, was off to a solid start to the season. Having already homered earlier in the game, Gallagher had hit 4 homeruns already on the season but was only hoping to plate Mendoza at third somehow, someway, to give his team to win.
"I was just looking for a pitch I could elevate and get Juany in from 3B" said Gallagher after the game. "Whatever I could do to get the winning run is all I hoped for." Gallagher got more than he bargained for.
After taking a ball on a curveball and then a called strike on a fastball, Vitale went back to the well with the curveball on a 1-1 pitch. The pitch hung a little too much for the big lefty, and Portland's big right handed bat was ready for it.
"I was sitting on the curveball right there" Gallagher said, "he missed earlier in the count and I figured he'd go back to it. He did!"
Gallagher connected on the pitch and as soon as he did he knew he'd gotten it. The 6 foot 5 Texas native stood at home plate and admired his handy work. The ball, traveling towards left center field, was a no doubter. The ball traveled an estimated 418 feet and Portland had completed the miracle comeback. The Lumberjacks scored 7 runs in the inning on 5 hits. Gallagher ended the game with 2 hits, both homeruns, and 6 runs batted in.
The odds of winning graph says all you need to know about this game, and the attitude of the Mad Popes on this night.
