The Charlotte Knights had won only one game so far this season but had lost an unbelievable series of one-run or two-run heartbreakers to the league's best. The perpetual not-quite David to the Goliaths of the National Division, the plucky Knights had to believe that maybe, just maybe, the Law of Averages would favor them this time around.
But Red Wings starting pitcher Micah didn't believe in any Law of Averages. All he believed in was throwing strikes. Which is exactly what he did to retire the first three batters he faced. He struck out the first two looking and got the third to pop up to short where Will made the catch to end the inning.
The Knights returned the favor in the bottom of the first, and we had a pitchers' duel on our hands.
In the top of the second, Micah got the first batter he faced to ground softly to the mound. He scooped it up and fired to first baseman Jack for the out. Micah got the next batter to do the same but took care of business himself and tagged the runner for the unassisted out. He closed out the inning with a four-pitch backwards K. All told, Micah struck out three, allowed only one baserunner, and zero runs, while throwing a grand total of 22 pitches over two innings of work. Not a bad day at the office.
Parker led off the second for the Wings. He'd been swinging a hot bat over the last three or four games and he was not about to cool off tonight. He sent the second pitch he saw into center field for a single. Jack went back-to-back with a single to right. Alejandro was hit by a pitch, and just like that the Wings had the bases loaded with nobody out. Josh was more than happy to cash the check, cranking the second pitch of his at-bat into center field for a single. Parker would score from third, and the Wings were on the board first. "JD" Drew was up next. He looked ready to crush one. And crush one he did! Right over the third base line and in the air to deep left field. It looked fair from the Red Wings dugout, but unfortunately the Red Wings dugout did not have the authority to make the call. "Foul ball!" was the call from the umpire. Had it been fair, it would have cleared the bases. No such luck this time. Noah's shot to right field did stay fair for a single and it brought in another run. Next, Ken shot one up the middle, but the Knights' pitcher made a great play to knock it down and fire to first to end the inning. 2-0, Wings after two.
Josh came out of the Red Wings bullpen in the third. He proceeded to strike out the side with great command of his fastball. His third K was most impressive--a four-pitch affair in which the batter looked at strike three buzzing flat, low in the zone, and straight over the plate. Just a beautiful pitch.
Micah lit the fuse in the third with a single to left. He knew he would not have a chance to hang out there at first base for long as he watched Sam step into the box. Watching Sam step in is like watching Big Papi step in. You just know something big's going to happen. Something big did happen: Sam launched an RBI triple to deep right center. An absolute bomb. 3-0, Wings. Still nobody out. Tom walked. Will singled to bring Tom into scoring position and Sam across the plate. 4-0, Wings. Tom would score from second on a productive ground ball off the bat of Parker and some gutsy baserunning. 5-0, Wings.
Jack took the hill in the fourth, and he struck out the side with 10 pitches. Dominant stuff from the flame-throwing righty.
The Wings went down in order, and the score remained 5-0 through four.
The Wings seemed to be cruising until the fifth when the Law of Averages reared its ugly head. The Knights are just too good a team to put up five 0s in a row. The Wings sent Alex out to pitch the fifth and contend with the top of the Knights' order. A combination of great hitting and several costly errors in the field put the Knights right back in the game, and then in command of the game with a 6-5 lead. Alex needed to find a way to stop the bleeding. The crafty right-hander got one batter to ground to short where Parker made a great throw for the out at first. Then, he ended the inning with a dramatic six-pitch strikeout. Alex did well to limit the damage to six runs and keep his team in it.
Bottom of the fifth and down by one, the Wings needed a run. Noah led off and was hit by the first pitch. Micah was also hit, and the Wings had two on with one out. And who would step to the plate next? None other than Sam, Sammy Whammy, King of the Clutch. Darn right he would deliver--a shot in the air to deep center field. He was thinking extra bases right out of the box and rounded first, but a great throw in to second from the center fielder forced him to retreat. That didn't matter, though. Noah scored from second, and Micah, with a phenomenal bit of hustle and excellent baserunning instincts, took off from first and never looked back. He beat the throw to the plate and the Red Wings' dugout erupted in cheers. Sam's 2-RBI single put the Wings back on top 7-6.
With a slim one-run lead, the Wings sent Parker to the mound to close it out. The hard-throwing righty took care of business, striking out two and getting one to ground to Jack at shortstop who executed a flawless 6-3 put-out. Three quick outs for the save.
After a tough fifth inning in the field, when a 5-0 vanished before their eyes, the Red Wings refused to give up. They believed in themselves, they were confident, they did not panic. Each player just went out and did his job the best he could. The rest took care of itself. A very exciting win for the Red Wings.
There were many heroes tonight. Sam, with his clutch hitting yet again. Parker with his dramatic save. But the winning run was all about Micah's speed and smarts on the bases. Micah also shut down a very good Knights lineup for two scoreless innings as our starting pitcher. Tonight's game ball went to Micah. The Habit Award was also his for his hustle and courage on the base paths.
With the win tonight, the Red Wings clinched the top seed in the playoff tournament. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, we have one more regular season game against an excellent Mudcats squad on Thursday at Greene's.
