Inning: 9th Deficit: 2 Type: walkoff Method: RBI SingleHero:
SS Fadeuka Hadonov Goat: P Giustino Modica
Game Log Sometimes, a walkoff is defined by what came before. Such is the case for candidate #4. With Nashville in Vancouver, the stars aligned for a doozy of a pitchers' duel. Nashville starter Jim Ploughman has not had the most impressive of seasons, but he set that aside on June 8th and pitched 8 innings allowing no runs and 4 hits with 5 strikeouts and no walks. Vancouver only stranded a man on base 3 times in those 8 frames. On the home side, Vancouver starter Kinzo Iwamoto matched his counterpart shutting out the Bluebirds over 8 innings allowing only 2 hits while walking three and fanning 5. Thus, the game reached the 9th inning tied 0-0 and both teams had to feel like one run would decide the game. It didn't. Vancouver rewarded Iwamoto for his outing, and made a smart move, by sending him back out to the bump to start the frame. But after he allowed his 3rd hit of the night, a single after recording a fly out, the Mounties turned to closer Jesús García to shut down any threat. He immediately made that a potentially fateful decision allowing a single to 1B Fernando Sánchez and a double to 3B Francisco Calderón. The double scored 2 Bluebirds: 1B De-shi Kuo and Sánchez. It also tagged Iwamoto with his only earned run of the evening. After walking a hitter, García found his footing and struck out 2 Mounties to end the top half of the frame. After the performances from Ploughman and Iwamoto, a 1-run lead would probably feel like a winner so a 2-run lead surely felt like a blowout.
Unlike the Mounties, the Bluebirds immediately turned to closer Giustino Modica. Probably the right call given the score and the fact that Ploughman had used 101 pitches to reach the 9th unscathed. Things had to look promising for the Bluebirds when, after giving up a leadoff single, Modica struck out a Mountie and coaxed a flyout to have one runner but two outs...though the tying run was coming to the plate. Modica then allowed a single to C Mitchell Goater which advanced LF Greg Clover to 2nd and the tying run was now in scoring position. But the Bluebirds still had 2 outs so no reason to panic, right? Sure, no reason. At least until RF Zhi Li laced a double to the RF gap scoring Clover from 2nd and Goater all the way around from 1st. But there wasn't much time for Modica to worry about this one getting away before he allowed an 0-1 , line-drive single to Mounties SS Fadeuka Hadonov. It was the final dagger as Li scored the walkoff run coming around from 2nd base.
