ROYALS BUILD EARLY LEAD AND TURN BACK DOGGED ORIOLES RALLY ATTEMPT FOR THE VICTORY
Clockwise from top left to centre: Patrick (4) of the Royals went 2 for 2 at the dish (one sacrifice) with 5 RBI’s; Royals starting pitcher Evan (12) pitched a scoreless first with two K’s; David (2) of the Royals stroked an inside the park home run in the fourth; Connor (12) of the Orioles hit a three run double in the fifth; Jamie (13) of the O’s pitched and fielded a solid second.
Underneath cool summer skies this evening, the Royals fended off a dogged Orioles rally attempt in the final inning to win 9-7 in five innings at Christie Pits Diamond 2.
David (2) of the Royals pitched a solid 1-2-3 second inning while striking out two Orioles.
It was an exceedingly well played and entertaining game by both teams as the proceedings moved along at a brisk clip. In the end, the Royals victory was predicated on a combination of strong pitching, solid defense, and opportune offense that allowed them to build a large lead that the Orioles were unable to equalize or surmount.
Taking advantage of four walks, the Royals scored two runs in the top of the first to jump out in front 2-0.
Royals starting pitcher Evan (12) shutout the potent Orioles offense in the bottom half of the first with two strikeouts. Evan was also helped out with a 7-4 putout from his defense, when an Orioles baserunner tried to stretch a single into a double.
Orioles pitcher Jamie (13) returned the favour in the top of the second by pitching a 1-2-3 scoreless inning against the Royals. With a Royals baserunner on first, Jamie helped out his cause by catching a pop up and having the smarts to throw to first to catch a napping baserunner to complete a double play.
Orioles third baseman Jamie (13) turned two stellar 5-3 defensive gems with first baseman Victor (2) in the fifth inning.
Royals pitcher David (2) tossed a solid three up and three down bottom of the second as he held the Orioles off the scoresheet with two strikeouts.
The Royals offense put the pedal to the metal in the top of the third as they took advantage of four walks and three singles to score four and widen their lead to 6-0. Key hit was a clutch 2 rbi single delivered by Patrick (4).
In the bottom of the third, the Orioles scored a run to trim the deficit to five when Connor (12) scored on an error.
The Royals went right back to work in the top of the fourth as they scored three to increase their lead to 9-1. David (2) led off the inning with an inside the park home run to deep right centre field. Subsequently, the Royals proceeded to load the bases on two walks and a single. At this juncture, Patrick hit a double which brought in two runs.
The Orioles scored one the bottom of the fourth to trail 9-2. Luke (5) hit a rbi single that allowed Leo (7) to come home with the second run.
Orioles pitcher Luke (5) pitched a 1-2-3 top of the fifth as he held the Royals offensive machine scoreless with a strikeout. Luke was helped out by two consecutive 5-3 putouts by third baseman Jamie (13) and first baseman Victor (2).
In the bottom of the fifth, the pesky Orioles refused to wave the white flag of surrender as they doggedly sent eleven batters to the plate to rally for five runs to trim the deficit to two. Keying the offensive surge was a clutch three rbi double by Connor.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Royals closer Davey (5) finally extingished the Orioles comeback embers as he struck out the final batter to pick up the save and secure a hard fought victory for his team.