2018 World Series Game 5

With both teams utilizing the 4-man rotation, this game is a rematch of Game 1 starters Brad Moulds and Stephen Hamburg.  For the 2nd straight game, Miami's Ricky Buckley connects for a leadoff homerun.  New York is quickly able to tie it back up at 1 in the bottom of the first when Lee Thompson singles, steals second base, moves to third on a W. Gehrig Bear single, and scores on a Chad White infield single.

In the bottom of the second, New York stages a rally.  Jeff Bowman leads off with a walk and then the speed Daniel Klein hits a grounder to second.  Adrian Hubbard decides to flip to second for the easy force play, but may have wanted to take the out at first to eliminate the speedy Klein.  Either way, New York gets the runner back to second on a successful steal attempt.  Klein was looking to steal third but pitcher Stephen Hamburg decides to swing and connects for an RBI single to give New York the 2-1 lead.  Lee Thompson keeps the rally going with another single.  David Jackson then came close to hitting one deep to left field, but Buckley was able to make the catch but not before Hamburg tagged up and took third base.  With 2 outs, W. Gehrig Bear comes through with his second single of the game to give New York the 3-1 lead.  Chad White then grounds out to end the inning.

That's the way the score stayed for awhile until the 5th inning.  Oswipe Cabrera singled and with one out, the pitchers spot was due up.  Called on in the pinch, Armando Ortiz got a pitch he could handle and handle it he did, driving it over the wall for a two-run homerun to tie the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, New York pinch hit for Hamburg with Victor Jacobs, and Miami brought in lefty Roberto Gonzales who got Jacobs to ground out.  Lee Thompson then singled and stole second, but on the steal attempt, David Jackson struck out.  With 2 outs and a runner on second base, W. Gehrig Bear was able to draw a walk.  Chad White then came to the plate in what could possibly be the final at bat of his career in front of the home fans.  After a brief standing ovation, Chad delivered the big hit, connecting for a single to give New York the 4-3 lead.  Gonzales then got Chris Gruber to line out to shortstop to end the inning.

With the pitchers spot due up, Miami elected to let two-way player Gonzales (P/OF) bat for himself.  New York brought in Todd McCarthy to face him and also elected to upgrade the defense by keeping Jacobs in right field, moving Bohlander to left field, removing Chad White from the game, bringing in Erik Smith to play shortstop, and moving David Jackson to third base.  McCarthy then pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Miami brings in closer Dwight Schrute.  He responds with a perfect 1-2-3 inning of his own.  We go to the 9th inning, New York leading 4-3, and bringing in Luis Harris to play left field to maximize the defense.  New York also brings in ace closer Jonathan Papelbrad to try to take the 3-2 lead in the series.

Facing the heart of the Miami order, Papelbrad is able to induce a weak ground out from Devan Arceneaux.  Trevor Burton connects for a single and is pinch run for with Ramon Torra.  Torra is able to steal 2nd and 3rd base.  Playing the infield in, Todd Merkich is able to work the walk on Papelbrad.  Now its first and third, 1 out, and a 1-run lead for Peter Rabbit.

New York still plays the infield in, and Peter Rabbit shocks the world by trying to lay down the suicide squeeze bunt.  Rabbit gets the bunt down, but a charging W. Gehrig Bear is able to field the ball and fire to the plate to cut down Torra!

Now the situation is runners on first and second with 2 out for Oswipe Cabrera.  New York can see that Papelbrad is tiring, but elects to keep going with him.  With a two=strike count, Oswipe Cabrera strikes out to end the game.

New York wins Game 5 by the final score of 4-3, and takes a 3-2 lead in the series.  There will be one day of travel between Games 5 and 6, as we head back to Miami for Game 6, with the DH rule back into effect.  The starting pitchers will be Pedro Lewis and Scott Elzy.