June 2, 2022
The final night of the regular season is upon us for the 2022 season. There are three games on the docket with four playoff seeds (#2 – #5) still at stake. The Diamondbacks and Dodgers will play at 5:15 pm on C with the Dodgers potentially in need of a win to secure the #2 seed. The Diamondbacks moved up in the standings with a nice win Tuesday night behind 12 year old ace Justin Guidara on the Skillings turf. The Red Sox and Padres will play at 5:30 pm on A. The Padres had a nice night Tuesday in a victory over the A’s (recap below) and have won three in a row. With a win and some help in other games, the Pads could go all the way up to the #2 seed. In the night cap, the Athletics will visit the White Sox in a game that could have implications for the A’s who were the league’s darling in the first half of the 2022 season. The A’s beat the White Sox, 9-8, in a great game earlier in the season.
The Cardinals and Orioles played their final game on Wednesday night under the lights. Teddy Angel, Christian Sochat and Nolan Byrne all pitched well for the Cardinals. The Cards offense was on target as they rolled to victory. The fans in attendance got to see 10 year old Sean Garrity pitch in relief for the Orioles in his first appearance of the season.
Tuesday night saw a full slate of games at Nutile with a few game summaries below.
Tuesday May 31 – Athletics at Padres
The Padres, coming off two straight wins and looking to improve their record to over .500 for the first time this season, squared off against the second place Athletics who were riding high after their win over the Cardinals.
The A’s would strike first when Daniel Driscoll singled with two outs in the first to score Shane Doherty, and they would hold a 1-0 lead into the 3rd inning behind solid pitching by starter BZ DeChristoforo.
The Padres began to battle back in the bottom of the 3rd when Jack Lennon singled to score Brendan Kutylo who doubled earlier in the inning, tying the game 1-1. With two out, Luke Seitz doubled on a line drive to left field to drive in Lennon, giving the Padres the lead. Michael McCarthy would later score on a fly ball by James Chaytors giving the Padres a 3-1 lead heading into the fourth.
Padres’ starter Ben Sauerman kept the A’s offense quiet, giving up only 3 hits in 4 innings with 2 strikeouts. The Padres added to their lead in the 4th on a bases loaded single by Kutylo and a 2 RBI double by Lennon.
After reliever Tyler Bernstein retired the A’s in order in the top of the 5th, the Padres began to pull away with hits by Sauerman, Chaytors, Bernstein, Lamont, McCarthy, and a double by Lennon, giving the Padres a 13-1 lead.
The Athletics refused to go away quietly however, and came out swinging in the 6th. Damon Romanos started it off with a lead off single followed by doubles by DeChristoforo and Doherty. After a couple fly outs, Cristian Grimaldi singled to score Doherty and bring the score to 13-4, but a groundout to pitcher Tyler Bernstein would end the rally giving the Padres their 3rd straight win.
Tuesday May 31 – White Sox at Red Sox
The action got going in the first for both teams. In the top of the first, Adrian Lupien sent a shot to the left center field fence that scored William Fiorentino and Ben Ragosa for the White Sox. With one out, Nathan Wan singled to left center plating Leo Gannon and the Sox had a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox fought back in the last of the first. Sam Pandolfo laced a double down the right field line, scoring Tim Dean. Pandolfo later came around to score to make it 3-2 after one inning.
Red Sox starter Pandolfo settled down nicely and pitched scoreless innings in the second and third before giving way to the Red Sox bullpen. Likewise, Evan Wilson pitched a scoreless second for the White Sox. In the third, The Red Sox got a walk from Nicky Ulbricht and Jovic Stachelski reached on an error to set the table. Tim Dean then singled down the left field line for one run before two more came around to score on a Pandolfo fly ball that was misplayed and a sacrifice fly from Jack Silberhorn. The Red Sox led 5-3 after 3 innings. Ulbrecht doubled home Harry Condon in the 4th inning to extend the lead to 6-3.
After leaving the bases loaded in the 4th, the White Sox would mount a comeback starting in the 5th. Wan singled in Lupien for the first run of the inning and Wilson doubled in Wan to cut the lead to 6-5. It would remain that way as the White Sox headed for their final at-bat in the 6th. Dylan Sala reached on an error and Ben Ragosa walked. With one out, Lupien hit a hard ground ball to third that couldn’t be turned into an out. With the bases loaded and one out, Gannon walked to score the tying run. On a misplayed infield fly pop up, Ragosa scored the go-ahead run from third for the White Sox. Wilson added another double to plate two more and the White Sox had a 9-6 lead.
Nathan Wan came in to relieve Evan Wilson in the 5th and turned the Red Sox away. Fiorentino would come in for the 6th and pitch another scoreless inning to give the White Sox the victory and improve their record to 12-1.
Stachelski and Dean pitched in relief for the Red Sox.