Tuesday’s postgame fireworks were bittersweet for the London Majors (13-8) whose comeback fell short in a 6-5 loss to the Barrie Baycats (10-9) at Labatt Park Tuesday.
It was one of the largest crowds across the IBL all season and it made for an intense environment. But 4 runs across the last two innings for London weren’t enough to complete the five-run comeback.
It was the first Canada Day loss for the Majors since a 14-2 defeat to the Baycats in 2018. Barrie is also 2-0 at Labatt Park this season.
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LINE SCORE
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrie | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 1 |
| London | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
The first two innings were clean for both teams until Barrie scored three in the third off London starter Travis Keys.
Five consecutive hits started the inning, which turned into three runs on a two-run double by Brandon Hernandez and an RBI single by Nolan Machibroda, who extended his hit streak to 10 games.
London answered with an unearned run in the bottom half on a throwing error by Baycats starter Cesar Rosado that scored Toby Simmons.
It was the only blemish on what was an otherwise clean outing for the Dominican right-hander. He went six innings with eight strikeouts allowing only two hits. It was his first outing of the season with more than six strikeouts.
"It looked like Caesar from last year, Baycats manager Josh Matlow said postgame. "And that's all we care about."
Barrie added one more in the fourth on an RBI double by Noel McGarry-Doyle, who finished four-for-five with two doubles.
Ryan Beitel came on in relief in the seventh, but gave up two on a two-run single by Noah Hull before Skylar Janisse got the final two outs of the frame.
The Majors made it a three-run game with RBI singles by Tucker Zdunich and Ken Sugi in the eighth, with both earned runs charged to Baycats reliever Ramon Henriquez.
After getting the last out of the eighth, Carlos Sano went back out for the ninth to complete the save. However, he got into trouble right away, seemingly having runners in scoring position the entire inning.
Former Baycat Kyle Maves reached with an infield single before advancing on a wild pitch and scoring on a one-out double by former Toronto Blue Jays prospect Francisco Fajardo to make it 6-4.
After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Sugi hit an RBI double to put the tying run on third base. The IBL rookie now has six RBI in three games against Barrie this season.
But Sano shut the door by striking out Ty Mosher to pick up his third save of the season.
"That's what we play for, that's the fun stuff," second baseman Alex Wickett said postgame. "You live for those kinds of moments... no wins feel better than a win after something like that."
Barrie now has a winning record for just the second time this season, but can savour it for at least a few days this time.
JUNIORS SHINE
Alex Wickett continued his hot start to his IBL career with another three-hit night. It was his second three-hit game in his first four IBL games
Baycats players were chanting “vote Wickey” after the game to get support for the All-Star game. It's another example of plentiful vocal support he's gotten from teammates and staff since being inserted into the lineup a week ago.
"It gives me a lot of confidence up at the plate, he said. "I've never experienced anything like this before, so I'm just trying to enjoy the moment."
Meanwhile, catcher Joshren Magnaye made his IBL debut after getting called up from the 22U affiliate team this morning.
He came in defensively for Andrew Johnston who suffered a hand injury in the eighth inning. Magnaye ended up catching the rest of the game, which included receiving for three different pitchers in less than two innings.
"The emotions were high for sure," Magnaye said postgame. "A lot of breathing, a lot of keeping my emotions down."
His debut wasn't without some struggles, especially when it came to catching Carlos Sano. The Baycats' reliever was visibly frustrated with Magnaye's pitch calling and set targets during the ninth inning.
"He's never caught him before, he doesn't speak Spanish," Matlow said. "They just needed to get on the same page."
Johnston reportedly struggled to move his throwing hand after being taken out of the game. Matlow said postgame “it's probably not good."
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Baycats left fielder Tristan Clarke was named IBL player of the week Tuesday morning after going six-for-14 in his last three games, including a home run.
He went one-for-five with a run Tuesday and was one of eight Baycats with a hit in the game.
KEY STAT
The Baycats have put up at least 15 hits in each of their last three games, averaging 17 per game in that span.
With its strong offensive performance over the last three games, Barrie has increased its team batting average from .257 to .287.
"We're starting to find our timing, and we're seeing what we can be a version of right now," Machibroda said postgame. "You see it every day in batting practice and we're starting to bring it to the games now."
UP NEXT
Barrie hosts the Guelph Royals (9-11) Thursday with Johnathan Warden (0-0, 4.50 ERA) making his first-career IBL start. Guelph’s starter is TBA.
London hosts Guelph Friday, with both team’s starters TBA.
