Marlins vs. Mariners Game Two World Series 6-12-19, at Morton Field

READING- Game Two of the 2019 RBRL World Series was played on Wednesday evening and with the Marlins 11-7 victory they forced a deciding game with the Mariners on Friday.
For the sixth consecutive year the RBRL Championship series will go to a third game.
The last team to sweep was the 2013 White Sox in their series versus the Padres (this was also the last WS completed at Symonds Field).
As seems to be pattern of the last several years the middle game of the Series was not pretty and the game film will not be sent to Cooperstown for the historical archives, in fact Abner Doubleday probably did a couple of turns in his grave last night.
The Marlins broke open a 2-2 game in the third inning benefitting from 6 walks and a clutch two-out two RBI single from Ryan Miller to take a 8-2 lead.
In the middle innings Josh Blumenshine tried to steal a couple of innings with thirteen year old Marcus Champlin-Scharff (a strike machine) and save innings for one of his aces (Ryan Mulvey).
“MCS” proved effective at letting his fielders make the plays and not giving the Mariners any gifts, as Coach Blanchard likes to say it is “one against nine”.
The Mariners were stirring a bit in the fifth with Ben McGilvray doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Matt Gerardi and then Michael Fabiano (2 hits) singled.
But the RBRL World Series is where heroes are made, and on this night it was fourteen year old Jordan Whitmer filling that role.
The Mariners Matt Jones hit a short fly down the left field line and Whitmer broke on the ball hard and with full extension dove and made the catch to prevent another run from scoring.
In the top of the sixth and holding a 9-4 lead the Marlins tacked on two more runs sparked by Series MVP candidate Mike DiPietro who doubled to start the inning.
If DiPietro was “flying under the radar’ for the past three years those days are over as the swift centerfielder has been dominant in every aspect of the game fielding, throwing, running and hitting.
No hit up the middle of the diamond has been safe harbor with DiPietro in the outfield as he threw out his fourth runner at first base from centerfield during the playoffs in the second inning to limit a Mariner rally.
Miller’s sacrifice fly brought home DiPietro and later in the inning Ryan Branson scored on a wild pitch after singling.
Miller’s hitting (2 H, 3 RBI) along with several nice plays at shortstop and two effective pitched outings is making a run at MVP himself.
As noted by another coach at the press table “not so fast on the DiPietro for MVP talk”
The Mariners not be slighted in the accolades department never gave up despite the 11-4 deficit and put on a late charge in the sixth.
The three run rally was aided by walks and by out smarting the Marlins on the bases once again (as they did in Game one), and suddenly the lead was down to four runs with a runner on base.
The Marlins were then forced to burn an inning from Mulvey to get out of the jam.
Mulvey’s appearance calmed down the Mariner excitement and they went down easily in the seventh after a Colin Williamson lead-off single.
Game Three sets up to be a classic and hopefully we will see both teams best baseball which we have not seen yet.
The Marlins appear to have an edge in the pitching with both of their top two pitchers having innings left, Miller (3) and Mulvey (5).
Whereas Chris Costa went all-in with his best Jon Vedder in game one and he only has two innings left.
The game might very likely come down to coaching strategy between bitter rivals Costa and Blumenshine.

MARLINS (11) – Arnold 2-1, Walsh 2-0, Zannino 3-1, Du 2-0, DiPietro 1-1, Mulvey 2-0, Miller 2-2, Branson 2-1, Bova 3-1, Bailey 3-0, Nohl 1-0, Whitmer 2-0, Champlin-Scharff 2-1.Totals 28-8

Pitching:

Miller 3 IP 3 R 3 H 1 K
Champlin-Scharff 2 IP 1 R 2H
Du 1IP 3 R 3 BB
Mulvey 2 IP 2H 1 K

MARINERS (7)- Williamson 3-1, Costa 3-0, Vedder 3-0, McGilvray 3-2, Gerardi 1-0, Fabiano 2-2, Jones 2-0, Peterossi 2-0, DeCourcey 1-0, Nowicki 1-1, D’Ambrosio 1-0, Diranian 2-0, Reid 2-1, Angelou 2-0.Totals 28-7

Pitching:

McGilvray 3 IP 5 R 3 H 3 K 5 BB
Gerardi 1 IP 3 R 1 H 1 K 3 BB
Williamson 3 IP 3 R 4 H 3 K

MARLINS 026 102 0 -11
MARINERS 021 013 0 -7

Doubles: DiPietro, McGilvray

WP- Miller
LP- McGilvray

1.Mariners (10-3-1)- The only team to achieve double-digit wins which is unusual where we may have a few in most years. The team did not put out their top lineup in the end otherwise they may have had only one loss. The team was built by picking in the top 3 for three straight years (the last two years draft positions were assigned just to save my mental health). How many speeding tickets do you think Costa has talked his way out of? Pitching and overall depth is what could get them to the World Series.

2.Phillies (9-3-1) – Tom has had a nice couple of drafts to offset a small 15-year-old class of just two (but good) players. Pitching and defense a key component of their success, this always seems to be the Phillies’ formula even with Jack gone (or is he?).

3.Angels (9-4-2) – They finished strong winning their last four games and only giving up 12 runs. They have most of the arms returning that pitched in last year’s World Series. A coaching advantage cannot be underestimated, Roy has been here 8 years with as much playoff success as anyone.

4.Marlins (7-6-1) – Disappointing let me count the ways. They have the roster to do it but just didn’t finish off a lot of close games. All six of their losses were by one run and they had tie. They need to learn small ball or be more cunning or the pre-season favorite will go home very disappointed.

5.Astros (7-7) – Betting on Chuck’s teams are always a crap shoot. He drafts for size so the team always looks good walking into the stadium. He did have a big injury loss and never had his whole team present. Would be nice to see Jackie in the World Series!

6.Padres (8-6) – Jonathan finds a way to win I can’t deny that, his Babe Ruth record is pretty strong and even lost his top pick from last year. The Shin factor helps, the kid is a difference maker and a leader. Jon is piecing together enough pitching to win games and coaching his brains out.

7.Pirates (7-7) – In the third year of the Picano-era the planning (?) finally won out as the team is a 6+ wins over last year with 3 less games played. He and Gorski, and maybe Costa, would be battling for COTY, pending playoff results. For the past two years I have pleaded with Joe to win some games to no avail. Now this week he needed 2 straight wins to force two Sunday makeups that no one wanted to play but him, and I was kind of rooting against him and guess what he wins both and the makeup.

8. Cubs (6-7-1) I still like the roster and maybe the team best positioned to come from the back of the pack to the World Series. The Ronayne injury killed them no denying that.

9.Royals (5-9)/Athletics (4-9) – Neither team performed to their pre-season ranking, each had a key loss of a 15-year-old that was planned to be a big factor. Matching up in the first round seems to be appropriate.

11. White Sox (2-13) – This one we could see coming but they made a lot of fans with how they played and competed. I was recently berated by last year’s manager Pat Barbera for letting Vieira be taken in the expansion draft. Yeah, we should have figured out a better way there.

AL Champ: Astros over the Mariners
NL Champ: Marlins over the Phillies

World Series: I am going with the two teams with the best rosters assuming they will have 100% attendance which they probably didn’t get too often. Plus Marlins lost all of their games by a single run that’s how close to undefeated they were (a stretch). I see this matchup as a battle of whose 15’s perform better. With Belezos hurt I see the Marlins taking the series in 3 games.

Hello All:
I am letting you all know about the All Star Day activities for Reading Babe Ruth this Saturday (which looks the great weather day that we deserve).

9:00 * 13/14 All Star Game * 4 IN , AL Coach Roy Sletterink , NL Coach Josh Blumenshine
Participants have been notified, MVP awarded

10:00 (approx.) Graduate All Star Semi-Final * 4 IN Gualtieri vs Robinson
Wood Bats, Players notified

11:00 (approx.) Graduate All Star Semi-Final 4 IN Costa vs Picano
Wood Bats, Players notified

12:30 (approx.) Skills open to all RBRL players: Baserunning, Golden Arm OF Throw, Fastest pitch
Prizes awarded

1:30 (approx.) Home Run Derby (by invite only) sponsored by Reading Orthodontics
Prize awarded

2:30 (approx.) * Graduate Bat Ceremony* (15 year olds)

3:00 (approx.) Graduate All Star Final 4 IN
Wood Bats, MVP awarded

This is a more aggressive time line then we usually run but we are hoping that everything stays within a reasonable time from when it is scheduled.

Concessions stand, 50/50 raffle, music and PA

Please try to join us for the best day of baseball in town every year!

-Jeff Pierce, President
**

The NL has turned the usual story line upside down with all teams at .500 or better through last Saturday before the Pirates fell a game below after Sunday. The Prez doesn’t mind to be called out and I have heard about it quite regularly lately. I expect it out of Jonathan Gorski but even the gentlemanly Josh Blumenshine is giving me some ribbing. Looks like we are finally getting a string of good baseball days together so here is wishing for the best play of the year this week leading into All-Star Day.

1. Phillies (6-2-1) — The Phils retain the top spot despite only playing one game last week in a tie versus the Marlins. The 2-2 tie I am hearing was the game of the season and would do the Prez proud of what quality this league can produce.
2. Mariners (6-1-1) — Record wise they are No. 1 as Costa continues to taunt me silently with how he bamboozled me in the pre-season with his “sisters of the poor” analysis of his team. He swept the season series vs. Chuck’s Astros after Sunday’s win which explains why Chuck seems to be a bit short tempered lately. Costa is surpassing Gorski as the thorn in my side. Likes to text me during his games questioning the rules. I think I would be a good psychologist for him; I mean I am doing it for free right now.
3. Marlins (6-3-1) — I am still bullish on the Fish . I got a first-hand look on Saturday of my adopted (Cumby’s-sponsored) squad and feel just as good as I did in March about them. With a few 10th-graders, and good size all around, they are going to be tough to knock out in June.
4. Angels (5-2-2)— Coming into their own though they like to play the close games. Along with the two ties their losses were by one run and three runs. Big one Monday versus the Phils at Morton will clear up the picture a bit. First Morton game of the year on 5/20 that tells the story about the rain this Spring.
5. (tie) Astros (5-5), Cubs (4-3-1) and Padres (5-4) — Gutsy move on my part not deciding between these three. Astros and Cubs have both lost very key players for the year which limits their ceiling, The Padres play everyone tough. I can see the Padres knocking off the Mariners on Monday.

The Prez left town for a week and all heck broke loose and the league hung in the balance for a day or two before a few veterans took charge of the crisis including “Alexander Haig” Algeri to avert disaster. How did society function prior to the internet? Was everyone just running around in circles? So now we have what will be a better website and getting there fast. All things happen for a reason so maybe the hostile takeover was a good thing to get us off the old clunker (that still served us well RIP).
Between rainouts and the well-deserved vacation the Prez is a bit out of the loop so with some help from my deep throat informant here are the rankings.
1. Phillies (6-2) – My dark horse team entering the season is off to a strong start and a big showdown 10-1 spanking of the AL’s best Mariners on Saturday solidified their placement. As is the history of the franchise they have been very stingy in giving up runs.
Don’t underestimate the Jack Webster assistant coaching factor!
2. Mariners (4-1-1)- Beating the Astros and Marlins along with the Angels tie gives the Mariners some bragging power against the iron. The Phils loss slowed the express down a bit. So far Ben McGilvray appears to be a dominant arm that they could ride all the way to the Wprld Series.
3. Marlins (5-3)- Pre-season favorite starting to get it together. A win over the Phils is a good sign and close 4-3 loss vs Mariners is no crime. Ryan Miller raising some eyebrows in the field I have heard.
4. Astros (5-2)- Now that Chuck is done running for Emperor of Reading (you notice how big his signs were?, big campaign coffers) he is focused on baseball more after starting out 0-2. Chuck’s teams usually don’t realize the season started until after Mother’s Day so expect them to be at top of AL soon. I am hearing that Laz Giardina is making a run at Rookie of the Year.
5 (tie). Angels (3-2-2)- If the Angels had beat the Padres in the World Series re-match on Saturday they would be knocking at No. 1. Team pitching is strong but the offense needs help.
Padres (5-3)- Probably the most unexpected performance to date in the league. Gorski is doing some crowing of late and he should. Though his biggest coaching accomplishment to date is getting varsity player Chris Shin to come to the games he finds a way to piece it together.