June 3, 2022
Thursday night marked the completion of the Majors 2022 regular season and each game had playoff seeding implications. The Dodgers, behind 11 year starting pitcher Parker Tamarro, were able to get past the Diamondbacks in the early game on C to secure the #2 seed for the second year in a row. The Diamondbacks will get a chance at revenge as the same two teams will square off in round 1 of the playoffs Wednesday.
The Red Sox and Padres played a 2.5 hour marathon slugfest on Nutile A. The Padres withstood a furious Sox rally late to win their fourth game in a row. They jumped into the 3 seed to earn a playoff date with the Cardinals.
In the nightcap, the White Sox and A’s played a low scoring affair as 10 year old A’s starter Max Brown held his own against 1st place Sox. William Fiorentino, Nathan Wan and Ben Ragosa were able to keep the A’s generally at bay. It was Ragosa’s first outing since game 1 for the White Sox as they look to bolster their bullpen for a playoff run. The White Sox will square off against the Orioles and the A’s against the Red Sox in game 1 of the playoffs.
The Majors teams will rest over the weekend before the action heats up Wednesday and Thursday night at Nutile and will continue daily until June 13-15.
Athletics at White Sox – June 2
William Fiorentino worked efficiently through the first four innings for the White Sox. A Nate Rotondi second inning double and a JD Souza third inning single were the only hits and both were stranded. 10 year old Max Brown battled on the mound for the A’s as well. In the second inning, the Sox got a combinations of walks, hits batsman and fielder’s choices from Nathan Wan, Evan Wilson, Dylan Sala and Leo D’Agostino. Wilson came around to score and the Sox led, 1-0.
In the third, the top of the White order got going. Fiorentino and Ragosa reached base before a Lupien single loaded the bases. A Leo Gannon walk yielded a run, followed by a Wan single, a Wilson fielder’s choice and a wild pitch to get the White Sox four runs in the inning and a 5-0 lead.
The lead would stay that way until the 5th when the As got infield singles from Rotondi and Wyatt Mauras and a single to center field by Dean Roberts to cut the lead to 5-2. Wan came in for the final two outs of the 5th but the A’s added one more on a Damon Romanos grounder that found it’s way through the infield into left field.
A Gannon double following a Ragosa single got the lead back to 6-2 heading to the 6th for the Sox. Ben Ragosa, the White Sox leading hurler in 2021, had only pitched one inning so far in 2022 in the first game of the season back in April. He took the mound in the 6th and looked composed even though the Athletics got hits from Driscoll, Mauras and Max Brown to tighten the game to 6-4. It would end there with Ragosa earning a 13 pitch save for the Sox.
The Sox finished the regular season at 13-1 while the A’s dropped to 8-6.
Dodgers at Cardinals – May 31
The Dodgers started off quickly with two runs in the first inning when the Flummerfelt Brothers (Kaden and Rami) scored after a Louis Garciano hit. The Cardinals matched those runs in the bottom half of the frame when Moby Myers and Eli Krogmeier scored on a fielder’s choice and a hit by Cormac Burkhardt.
Following a quiet second inning, the Redbirds plated five in their half of the third inning to counter two from the Dodgers when Colby Spence and Rami scored after a JP Hood hit.
Down 7-4 heading into the top of the 6th, the Dodgers got to work when Thomas Lentine scored after a Spence bases loaded hit to cut the lead to two runs and then Rami thrilled the crowd with a towering grand slam to left field.
Owen Richadrson was steady on the bump all evening for the Cards and Max Richardson played a stellar catcher for the Cards. Myers flashed the leather at shortstop, making two important plays to stem Dodgers rallies.
Final score, Dodgers 10, Cards 7