Robertson and Machado Lead Bats
Nine Knot Series
In what some are calling the Slugfest in Slimeville, the Yellow Springs Nine fanned the flames of hope in fan’s hearts, drubbing Louisville pitching for 11 runs in an victory today that drew the club even at 2-games-2 in the Cartwright Series. George Robertson and Jose Machado led the hit parade with four and three hits each, both including homers. Lucas McNeill and Juan Lopez also homered.
Starter Luis Colon wasn’t brilliant, but was stable enough to go six innings to collect the victory. Rookie reliever Tiernan O’Macken went three scoreless for the save.
“It was great out there,” O’Macken said. The lefty had been expected to spend the season in AAA, but who burst on the scene so strongly in spring camp that he couldn’t be left behind. “I never would have believed it at the beginning of the year.”
The Nine jumped on Louisville starter Armando Feliciano for five tuns in the first two innings, and never looked back. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the 45 pitches Feliciano threw puts him into the gray zone of being able to start game 6 rather than game 7—though some wonder if Slugger manager Waldemar Buddenberg would prefer to keep Feliciano back for a game seven if needed, anyway.
“My guess is that it would depend on whether the team wins game five in Louisville,” said Baseball Maven reporter Gayle Combs.
The victory was greeted as a double-edged sword back home. With the series tied 2-2 again, some fans find themselves thinking the impossible think—that the club could possibly advance as far as the Landis before being dashed this year. “I’ve got a bet on them losing in the last series,” said Langley Howard, an AI attendant at the Mclaine battery recharge center. “So all that’s good.”
There exists a certain sense of fate hanging around the city today, though, the victory has created a weird surge of emotion that feels like the faithful might be thinking “is this the year?”
And yet, you can also hear Sisyphus warming up in the bullpen.
That’s baseball, after all.
Especially for Yellow Springs fans in October.
