An age old saying, 'There's no tying in baseball' unfortunately does not apply to GTBL action, evidenced by a 10-10 tie between Pickering and Martingrove on Thursday, June 7th. The Red Sox got out to an early lead thanks to control issues from Martingrove's starter before ultimately giving the lead back, with the game ending in a 10-10 tie after two unearned runs by the White Sox tied it in the bottom of the 8th inning.
The Red Sox scored 4 times in the first inning, only to see Martingrove answer with 3 of their own in the bottom of the second. It could have been worse too, were it not for a diving catch by 3B Matt Melissis, who hauled in a line drive with the bases loaded and none out. From there, he tagged third base for the second out, beating the White Sox runner back to the bag, before throwing across the diamond to complete the rare triple play.
This play seemed to provide some life for the Red Sox, who tacked on a run in each of the 3rd and 4th innings, extending their lead to 6-3 before Martingrove brought Mike Bannon in to pitch. Bannon was tough on this night, striking out 12 Pickering hitters in 5.2 innings, though Pickering was able to put up a 4-spot in the top of the 6th inning, going up 10-4 at the time.
Martingrove wasn't going to go away quietly in this one though, and they chipped away at the lead off of relievers Yusuke Oshima and Dakoda Denby. Pickering called on starter Brad Binns to come out of the pen in this one for the second night in a row, and he entered the game with a 10-8 Pickering lead, with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 7th. He was able to get out of the inning keeping the lead in-tact.
After a quiet top of the 8th inning, Binns would allow a lead-off double before notching a strike-out and a pop out. From there, a couple of errors did Pickering in - keeping the inning alive before a double tied the game. Binns got out of the jam with the game tied at 10, and a quick 9th inning kept things that way.
Game Notes
- Sean Molony had two hits for Pickering in this one.
- Matt Melissis went 2-4 with 2 2B and 3 RBI and started a key triple play.
- P Brad Binns went 2.2 IP with 3 K's, allowing 2 hits and 0 ER.
Next up for Pickering: @ Thornhill on Wednesday, June 13th.