{"id":1776,"date":"2021-09-12T13:01:18","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T18:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/?p=1776"},"modified":"2021-09-12T13:01:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T18:01:18","slug":"series-xiv-featured-matchup-birmingham-black-barons-new-york-gothams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/2021\/09\/12\/series-xiv-featured-matchup-birmingham-black-barons-new-york-gothams\/","title":{"rendered":"Series XIV Featured Matchup: Birmingham Black Barons @ New York Gothams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Preview here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game One: Scott Baker @ Sad Sam Jones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Win-Loss records can be so deceiving. Birmingham’s Scott Baker<\/strong> sits at 5-3, despite an ERA over 5.00 while the Gothams’ Sad Sam Jones<\/strong> is pushing for consideration as an all-star, despite a 3-3 record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Nieman<\/strong> took Jones deep in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead for Birmingham, and Omar Infante <\/strong>doubled home Billy Southworth <\/strong>in the second to double it. Jones wouldn’t get out of the 5th: Nieman led off with a double, went to third on a single from Eddie Mathews<\/strong>, and scored on a base hit from Hank Aaron<\/strong>. Del Crandall <\/strong>would plate another run with a sacrifice fly, and Carson Smith <\/strong>would relieve Jones. So much for the all star argument …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baker, meanwhile, had allowed only 1 hit through 5 innings, and nothing else until Willie Mays <\/strong>doubled with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th. By that point, Birmingham had added 2 more runs, and led 6-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasiel Puig <\/strong>drove the ball deep to left field with 2 outs, where it took an odd bounce, eluding Southworth’s pursuit. Puig ended up with an inside-the-park homerun, and hits from Willie McCovey <\/strong>and Brandon Crawford <\/strong>chased Baker from the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harley Young <\/strong>relieved him, and gave up RBI hits to Cookie Rojas <\/strong>and Jimmy Sheckard<\/strong>, closing the score to 6-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was as close as it got, however, as Juan Rincon <\/strong>was able to close the door in the 9th, and the Black Barons opened the four game series with a victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthews and Aaron had 3 hits each for Birmingham, who outhit New York 14-9. Baker, who ended up allowing 4 runs in his 6.2 innings did in fact earn his 6th victory of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the game, Birmingham learned that Gene Tenace<\/strong>‘s injury will sideline him for 5 to 6 weeks. That was better news than the Gothams received, as they learned that Carl Hubbell<\/strong> would miss 2-3 months with his current DL stint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBB 6<\/em><\/strong> (Baker 6-3; Young 5 H; Bedrosian 1 H; Rincon 3 Sv) @ NYG 5<\/strong> (Jones 3-4)<\/em>
HRs<\/strong>: BBB – Nieman (3); NYG – Puig (2)
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game Two: Dick Rudolph @ Christy Mathewson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Birmingham has, in Tom Herr<\/strong>, undoubtedly the surprise performance by an infielder so far in the WBL, the Gothams’ Eugenio Suarez<\/strong> comes close with an OPS over .900. Suarez continued his strong season with a 2-run homerun off Dick Rudolph<\/strong> in the bottom of th 2nd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Christy Mathewson<\/strong> had a no-hitter going until Hank Aaron<\/strong> led off the top of the 5th with a triple to centerfield over Willie Mays<\/strong>‘ head. Del Crandall<\/strong> followed with a fly to right field, but Carl Furillo<\/strong>‘s throw nailed Aaron trying to score from third. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathewson gave up 3 consecutive hits to start the 6th, with Bob Nieman<\/strong> driving in 2 with a double. That tied the game, and when Nieman scored on a sacrifice fly by Eddie Mathews<\/strong>, Birmingham took the lead, 3-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasiel Puig<\/strong> would tie the game in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double, placing the game firmly in the hands of the bullpens. Pete Donohue<\/strong> relieved Mathewson, and Larry Benton<\/strong> came on to pitch for Birmingham in the top of the 7th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furillo and Puig singled off Benton in the 8th, bringing in Steve Bedrosian<\/strong> for Birmingham in relief of Harley Young<\/strong>. Mark Loretta<\/strong> greeted Bedrosian with a 2-run double, and Suarez–there’s that man again–brought him home with a single to right. That gave the Gothams a 6-3 lead, with their closer, Brian Wilson<\/strong>, on the mound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was enough, as Wilson only allowed a walk in picking up his 7th save, with the win going to Donohue and Benton taking the loss. Puig had 3 hits and Suarez 3 RBIs for the Gothams as they evened up the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBB 3<\/em><\/strong> (Benton 0-1) @ NYG 6<\/strong> (Donohue 1-0; Wilson 7 Sv)<\/em>
HRs:<\/strong> NYG – Suarez (4)
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game Three: Tim Hudson @ Mickey Welch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Birmingham scored 2 in the top of the 2nd off Mickey Welch<\/strong> off an RBI single from Omar Infante<\/strong>, who later scored on an error by the Gotham’s shortstop, Eugenio Suarez<\/strong>. A Welch wild pitch would score Hank Aaron<\/strong> in the 3rd, and a Curtis Granderson<\/strong> homerun in the 6th would extend the lead to 4-0, chasing Welch from the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, Birmingham’s Tim Hudson<\/strong> only allowed 1 hit through 5 innings. New York would break through in the 6th when a Jimmy Sheckard<\/strong> single plated Suarez, who had walked to leadoff the frame. Willie Mays<\/strong> would lead off the 7th with his 10th homerun of the year, cutting the lead in half to 4-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hudson gave up another homerun, this one to Jimmy Sheckard<\/strong>, to leadoff the 9th, chasing Hudson and bringing in Juan Rincon<\/strong>. Rincon got one out, and then Willie Mays<\/strong> was injured beating a threw to first for the infield hit. Rincon got another out before giving up a single to Yasiel Puig<\/strong>, who took second when John Kerins<\/strong>–who replaced Mays as a pinch-runner–went first-to-third on the hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie McCovey<\/strong> grounded out to first to end the game, but all attention for New York was on the health of their young centerfielder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hudson moved to 5-0, keeping his ERA under 3.00, and Rincon picked up his 4th save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBB 4<\/em><\/strong> (Hudson 5-0; Rincon 4 Sv) @ NYG 3<\/strong> (Welch 5-3)<\/em>
HRs<\/strong>: BBB – Granderson (5); NYG – Mays (10); Sheckard (6)
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game 4: Rain, Rain, Rain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 4th game of the series was rained out, to be made up in mid-August. Which means the Black Barons come out with a 2-1 series win, quite an unexpected result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Series Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Omar Infante<\/strong>, Hank Aaron<\/strong>, Curtis Granderson<\/strong>, and Bob Nieman<\/strong> each had 4 hits for Birmingham, with Nieman adding 3 RBIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Gothams, Willie Mays <\/strong>went 5-for-11 and, more importantly, was declared healthy enough to play in New York’s next game. Yasiel Puig <\/strong>also had 5 hits in the three games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preview here #Game One: Scott Baker @ Sad Sam Jones Win-Loss records can be so deceiving. Birmingham’s Scott Baker sits at 5-3, despite an ERA over 5.00 while the Gothams’ Sad Sam Jones is pushing for consideration as an all-star, despite a 3-3 record. Bob Nieman took Jones deep in the top of the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[951,943],"tags":[295,285,294,556,897,264,409,896,403,222,437,433,795,436,555,434,298,643,262,732,290,964,261,558,254,648,551,255,427,989,642,965,404,259,842],"class_list":["post-1776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-series","category-game-recaps","tag-billy-southworth","tag-birmingham-black-barons","tag-bob-nieman","tag-brandon-crawford","tag-brian-wilson","tag-carl-furillo","tag-carl-hubbell","tag-carson-smith","tag-christy-mathewson","tag-cookie-rojas","tag-curtis-granderson","tag-del-crandall","tag-dick-rudolph","tag-eddie-mathews","tag-eugenio-suarez","tag-gene-tenace","tag-hank-aaron","tag-harley-young","tag-jimmy-sheckard","tag-john-kerins","tag-juan-rincon","tag-larry-benton","tag-mark-loretta","tag-mickey-welch","tag-new-york-gothams","tag-omar-infante","tag-pete-donohue","tag-sad-sam-jones","tag-scott-baker","tag-steve-bedrosian","tag-tim-hudson","tag-tommy-herr","tag-willie-mays","tag-willie-mccovey","tag-yasiel-puig"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1776"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1855,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776\/revisions\/1855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}