Helena, MT - The current home stand has seen the Helena Brewers come up with timely hit after timely hit, and in the penultimate game in the history of Kindrick Legion Field, the Brewers gave their fans one for the books. Down 4-0 early, the Brewers scored five unanswered runs.
Helena, MT - The current home stand has seen the Helena Brewers come up with timely hit after timely hit, and in the penultimate game in the history of Kindrick Legion Field, the Brewers gave their fans one for the books. Down 4-0 early, the Brewers scored five unanswered runs. Missoula tied the game in the eighth, and the game went to extras. The Osprey failed to score in the top of the tenth, and the Brewers got the big hit from Brice Turang, who singled Je'Von Ward to third. Ward scored on the play as the left fielder Jorge Barrosa let the ball scoot past him, giving Helena the 6-5 win, their third straight one run victory and their season best fifth win in a row.
Missoula scored in the first as Buddy Kennedy doubled home Blaze Alexander to make it 1-0. The Osprey added on to their lead with a three run third, with runs scoring on a throwing error and a two RBI single from Joe Robbins.
Osprey starter Wilfry Cruz held the Brewers in check with just two hits allowed through the first four innings, but an error in the fifth turned the tide in favour of Helena. Pablo Abreu popped a ball into shallow right leading off the inning, and right fielder David Sanchez had the ball in his glove and it popped out, with Abreu getting to second on the play. Mike Alescio two batters later doubled home Abreu, and Ward then doubled home Alescio with two out, cutting the Missoula advantage in half.
In the seventh, Abreu smacked a leadoff double, and with one out a balk moved him to third. Alescio singled him home, and after Luis Avila singled Alescio to second, Ward delivered with another double, plating Alescio to tie the game and moving Avila to third. That brought up Turang, who hit a sacrifice fly to center, getting Avila across to give Helena their first lead.
However, Missoula tied the game in the eighth, but very easily could have taken the lead. Zack Shannon drew a leadoff walk, and Eddie Hernandez singled him to second. Robbins then doubled into the right center field game, scoring Shannon to tie the game, but the relay home was in time to nail Hernandez for the first out. Nick Dalesandro walked, forcing Nestor Corredor to go to his closer Michael Mediavilla. The first batter he faced was Barrosa, who grounded into an inning ending 5-3 double play.
Neither team scored in the ninth, sending the game into extra frames. With Mediavilla still on the hill, Kennedy started as the inning as the designated runner. Shannon lined a ball to Turang at short, and Kennedy was too far off the bag, with Turang throwing to second for the easy double play. Mediavilla got Robbins to strike out after a Hernandez single, keeping the game tied. That set up Turang, who lined an 0-1 pitch into left field, moving Ward to third, but Ward crossed the plate as Barrosa whiffed on fielding the ball.
The Brewers with the win eliminated the Osprey from playoff contention, and have a chance to sweep the series tomorrow in the final home regular season game in franchise history. Joey Matulovich gets the start, with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 PM. It is fan appreciation day, with the first 250 fans receiving 2018 team card sets. Limited tickets are still available, so visit the ticketing page of helenabrewers.net to get your seats.
