58.23 Blazers Outlast Spuds, Walk It Off in 19th

[Bob Breum]

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Montreal as Blazers starter Juan Cruz threw the first pitch at 4:10 PM in front of a sellout crowd. Over six and a half hours later, Montreal finally triumphed with three home runs in four at-bats to claim a 9-7 victory.

Entering the game, Boise’s rotation sported the best ERA in the league at 3.82. Montreal was second best at 4.22. Boise is also tops in defense, with Montreal ranked third. No one should be surprised if a pitchers’ duel breaks out when these two teams meet, especially at Ubisoft Field, a notorious pitcher’s park.

Montreal claimed the early lead with a 2-run shot by DH Aarnoud Budding in the second inning. The Spuds battled back, scoring once in the fourth, then chasing Cruz in the sixth inning after scoring four more. The Blazers tied it in the eighth as the sun went down. Then the bullpens took charge. For ten innings, a steady parade of relief pitchers threw scoreless inning after scoreless inning.

In the top of the nineteenth, Boise broke through against Rule 5 draft pick Nolan Miller, who was in his third inning of work. With one out, Spuds first baseman Tracy Allison doubled into right center. The next batter grounded out to first, moving Allison to third with two outs. Blazers’ manager Ernesto Zamoro called for catcher Sergei Bobrovsky to be put on, bringing up shortstop Robert Hooper. He drew a five-pitch walk, loading the bases. In a dramatic at-bat, Boise left fielder Sebastian Fradesso worked the count full. With the payoff pitch, all the runners went in motion and Fradesso delivered a single to shallow right that scored Allison and Bobrovsky. That was it for Miller, who was replaced by the veteran Ricardo Rivera. He retired the final batter of the inning with a routine flyball to center field.

Down by two runs, Montreal had their 5-6-7 hitters due up. Leading off the inning was slugging second baseman Miguel Martinez, who was leading the league with 20 home runs. On the second pitch, he homered to deep center (463’), chasing pitcher Toshikuni Kubo. Knox Sked entered the game, facing Montreal DH Budding who had already homered earlier – much earlier -- in the evening. Like Martinez, he homered on the second pitch that he saw, this one to left center to tie the game at seven runs apiece.

Blazers shortstop Qutuz Mahdi followed with a line drive single, putting the go-ahead run on base with no one out. Center fielder John Oliver was up next. He worked the count full, before homering to right field to finally end the game with a Montreal 9-7 win. It is the second walk-off hit that Oliver has delivered this season.