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| Jarrod Dyson finished 4-for-6 with a homer, four RBIs, three runs, a double and a stolen base (Photo from Game 1: Minda Haas / Royal Blues) |
The Chasers fell behind early. Omaha starter Vin Mazzaro struggled with his command in the first inning, in which he threw 30 pitches (16 balls). He gave up a single to Jermaine Mitchell to lead off the game. Mitchell stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Josh Donaldson. Adrian Cardenas then took Mazzaro deep to right field to give Sacramento an early 3-0 lead.
“I wasn’t real happy – you give them three runs in the first,” said Omaha manager Mike Jirschele after the game. “But you know what? Our guys battled back and got us one right away to put us within two. We had eight innings to go after that, so we were still in the game.”
The Chasers’ run in the bottom of the first came on a sacrifice fly to center field by Lorenzo Cain. Omaha scored again in the second on an RBI single back up the middle by Lance Zawadzki, trimming Sacramento’s lead to 3-2.
Then the Chasers exploded for five runs in the third inning. With runners on first and second and two down, Irving Falu hit a slow bouncer toward short that looked like it would end the inning. However, the ball took a funny hop and skipped off the glove of shortstop Tyler Ladendorf, loading the bases. Manny Pina then dropped a two run single into shallow left field, giving the Chasers a 4-3 lead in the game. A fielding error and two singles followed, and by the time the inning was over the Storm Chasers held a 7-3 advantage.
“We were fortunate really, if you look at the beginning of the game” Jirschele said. “We hit a lot of balls that just found holes and dropped in. But our guys were aggressive on the bases and took extra bases and made things happen.
“Offensively, we battled and we’re not easy outs right now. Their pitchers have to work to get us out and we make them work. That’s one thing that has really helped us win games here along the way.”
River Cats starter Tyson Ross (0-2) took the brunt of the offensive assault, finishing his evening after 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs – four earned – on nine hits, walking one while striking out three.
Meanwhile, Mazzaro righted the ship and held the River Cats scoreless from innings two through five. He left after five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks. He struck out two, throwing 91 pitches.
Sacramento picked up a run in the sixth, but the Chasers scored twice that same inning, three times in the seventh and three more times in the eighth, piling up 18 hits in the contest. Jarrod Dyson finished 4-for-6 with a homer, four RBIs, three runs, a double and a stolen base in the winning effort, tripling his total playoff output of two hits entering the night.
The top four hitters (Dyson, David Lough, Cain, Clint Robinson) in the Chasers’ lineup went 12-for-21 with 9 RBIs and 8 runs scored.
“That’s not bad,” Jirschele said. “That’s one thing we really haven’t had the last few days really – the top of our lineup, Dyson and Lough, weren’t getting on base and I knew that’s one thing we had to do and then let Cain, Robinson, Ka’aihue, Falu and those guys do some damage.”
Ironically, the only player in the lineup without a hit or RBI was Kila Ka’aihue. He had a dismal night, striking out in all five of his plate appearances. Byron Gettis was the last player with five strikeouts in one game for Omaha. He did that in July of 2004.
Kevin Pucetas, Brandon Sisk, Zach Miner and Federico Castaneda combined for four innings of relief, allowing a run on three hits and two walks, striking out three batters. With a travel day coming up Thursday, Jirschele should have a fully-rested bullpen for any remaining series games.
This was the final game at Werner Park this season and Jirschele took time after the game to talk about how great the fans have been – especially during this playoff run.
“I’ll tell you what, our fans – in this series and even in the Round Rock series – you couldn’t ask for any better fan support because whether there were 2,000 or 4,000 there, they were loud and they really got into the game. They were excited and that helps us out there on the field when they have people hooting and hollering for them.”
The Chasers are now 5-1 in the playoffs, needing just one win on the road in Sacramento to claim the first Pacific Coast League Championship in franchise history and first league title since 1990. In the potentially-clinching Game 3, 22-year-old California native and left-hander Mike Montgomery (5-11, 5.32 ERA regular season) will take the mound in his home state for the first time in his career. Travis Banwart (3-3, 7.38) will be on the mound for the River Cats – a pitcher the Chasers have not seen this season.
Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 9:05 pm. central from Raley Field in Sacramento. The game can be heard on 1620 The Zone and the Chasers will also host a watch party at Brewsky’s on 156th & Q. Should Omaha win the PCL Championship, the Chasers would battle the International League champion in a one-game playoff on Tuesday in Albuquerque, N.M. First pitch of that contest would be 7:05 pm., with the game being broadcast nationally on VERSUS.
