Miami hit the reset button and came away with a decisive win under the stellar pitching performance of freshman pitcher Karson Ligon. A six-inning orchestration he held the Boston hitters to just 4 hits, striking out 7 and only allowing a solo HR to blemish his outing. Following the HR, the next 9 of 10 batters faced never saw first base. Behind the solid performance on the mound, the offense put on a display at the plate. Putting up a 4 spot twice, the cooler temperatures did not reflect the blazing heat coming off the bats. 6 of the 9 hits were for extra bases with only 3 strikeouts recorded. In the 9th, Boston tried to do a Miami Miracle themselves trailing 11-1 but fell far short of Miami’s effort from last night. Tonight, the team was running on all cylinders with the definite sight of coming away with a series win tomorrow.
Tonight’s lineup is a bit of change with Jacob Burke leading off and CJ Kayfus in the second slot. 3-5 remain the same (Yoyo,Max,Dorian). Holding down the 6th slot as the DH replacing Carlos Lopez was Lorenzo Carrier for whatever reason I could not figure. He had one week of glory with the Towson series where he hit .500 and he has been hitless, 0-19, since. Unlike me, Gino has not given up on him. How many bites of the apple is Gino going to give him. Replacing Rosario batting 8th was Jacoby Long who played center with Jacob moved to right. Karson Ligon ERA 1.80 pitching.
The game moved a lot quicker through the first two-inning unlike last night it took an hour to complete and already had accumulated 11 runs total between the two teams. Pitching was the story tonight, rather than the lack thereof. It almost started to look like Karson night was going to have a shortened stay in the game when the leadoff batter for Boston bit into the pitch count racking up 8 pitches and concluding with a single. The second batter 4 straight pitches and we had runners on 1st and 2nd no outs. It was a feeling of deja vu. That walk would be the only walk Karson would give up and the only time there was a sense of concern. With a FO to right and a 6-4-3 DP the only real threat, Boston would bring to the table, until the 9th inning, where the game was already long over.
The first score by either side came in the bottom half of the third inning with Dominic Pitelli leading off. Last night, in the second, he went 384 feet onto the second level of the parking garage. Tonight. he went 4 feet shorter, 380 feet, to give Miami their first lead in the series.
Boston answered leading off the 4th with a solo shot of their own to RF which would be their only score until the 9th. Karson was unhittable after the solo blast with the exception of a lone single in the sixth. Retiring 9 of the next ten batters before retiring himself at the end of the 6th with 96 pitches spoke of his excellence on the mound and becoming the pitcher we have the most trust in. The other Carson with a C, concern is whether he will ever be able to get beyond the 5th, and Jake after Florida is anyone’s guess. Tomorrow will be a good test as to whether we should have concerns over our starting rotation.
The 4th inning, the offense hit the reset button and the bats came alive. 8 came to the plate with the first 4 reaching 1st safely. Dorian opened with a walk and Lorenzo in his second appearance after striking out in the second looking, singles; his first hit in 10 games. Runners on 1st and 2nd Edgardo Villegas locks in with an RBI double to retake the lead and the Canes never looked back. Boston’s defense falters with the first of 3 errors which drove us crazy last night. Errors cost runs. Following the double by Edgardo, runners on second and third, Jacoby Long hits a grounder to 3rd, and Carrier breaks for home without seeing where the 3B was positioned. Realizing his mistake tries to return to third and his good fortune as well as the Canes the throw from their catcher back to third is mishandled on the tag and the ball gets by the 3B into left allowing Carrier to redeem himself scoring. Edgardo was able to advance to 3rd on the miscue. Dominic on his second at-bat had the taste for #2 of the night but fell short but long enough for a SF. Top of the order, Jacob singles for the 4th run bringing in Long from 3rd. This would be the 1st of two 4 run innings.
Squeezed in between, Miami added a pair of runs thanks to a pair of errors that seemed to plague Boston’s infield. Max would open the inning with a walk. Grounder to third by Dorian commits his second error of the day. A slow dribbler to short by Lorenzo, his second hit, loads the bases. Long grounds out 5-2 and what should have been the 3rd out is booted by the 2B into right off the bat of Dominic scoring 2 more runs and extending the lead to 7-1.
The Canes put the final nail in the coffin in the 7th with another 4 run inning extending the lead to 11-1. 8 batters would come up to the plate belting out a pair of doubles and getting hit twice. Dorian would open the inning with a walk. Carrier with his second K, followed by Edgardo and Long getting hit to load the bases for Dominic to continue his magical night. Before Dom had a chance to become a factor, a WP brings in the 8th run. Runners on 2nd and 3rd, Dominic pokes a double opposite-field adding two more to the total and CJ finishes the scoring with an RBI double.
Following Karson’s departure in the 6th, Miami saving their BP, decided an inning apiece of Gage Ziehl and Alejandro Torres. Both pitched well with Ziehl striking out 2 for the 3 batters faced and Torres striking out one and walking one for his 4 batters. It seems when the starter does well, the rest feast off of him and do equally well. That is until David Rossow was brought in to close the door in the 9th. Instead, he left it wide open and Boston started a mini-miracle of their own. After 7 batters faced with bases loaded twice, 2 runs already scored Anthony Arguelles had to be brought in to record the final out.
What hurt Boston tonight was starter Karson Ligon, the BP with the exception of Rossow, hitting led by Dominic Pitelli, and their 3 very costly errors. Miami played as a total team tonight, while Boston didn’t, and if Miami is to continue forward pitching like Karson getting beyond the 5th, an offense striking early and holding onto the lead and with a BP to make it happen. Errors have to be eliminated or what we experienced yesterday and Boston today will put us into the lost column.
Two players in multiple numbers: Lorenzo carrier 2-4; and Dominic Potelli 2-3(double,HR,SF,4RBIs). 5 of the 9 hits for extra bases: Double: CJ, Dorian, Villegas, Long. HR: Pitelli. Small ball doesn’t win ballgames. We continue hitting like the past two days we will see a lot more in the win column
Rubber Game tomorrow at 1PM. Jake Garland on the rubber.
