Lyrical Baseball Tournament, Harmonic Series, Game 4: The Cardinal rules of baseball

And when The Book bites, it bites.

Results:

“Never make the first out of an inning at third or home, or the last out of an inning at third.”

While these words are instilled in the minds of young baseball players growing up, failure to abide by them extended the Harmonic Series at least one more game.

Stan Musial was thrown out at the plate with no outs in the ninth, leaving the Cashmen a run behind. A run behind is where they would stay, as the Fungoes picked up their first Harmonic Series win 8-7.

Before the comeback, before the constant scoring that preceded it, the game was set up as another pitcher’s duel. Gaylord Perry allowed only five hits across six innings for the Cashmen, while the Fungoes’ Early Wynn permitted just four.

Two of those four gave the Cashmen an early 1-0 lead, as with two outs in the bottom of the first, George Brett singled and Ted Kluszewski doubled him home.

No multi-hit inning would take place again until the top of the sixth. After two quick 4-3 groundouts, Perry walked Lou Boudreau, and Johnny Mize clouted a pitch into the seats to give the Fungoes a lead. The visitors proceeded to load the bases on a single, hit batsman, and walk, but Rocky Bridges bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Despite the narrowness of the lead and the flurry of scoring that followed, the Fungoes would not trail, or even tie, for the rest of the game. To accomplish that, they needed to extend their lead, which they promptly did.

Ernie Lombardi opened the seventh with a grounder to short which Phil Rizzuto booted. Ken Johnson relieved Perry and got George McQuinn to fly out, but Stan Hack doubled Lombardi to third. The runners would later come around on a Boudreau sacrifice fly and a a Frenchy Bordagaray single.

In the bottom of the inning, Hugh Mulcahy gave those two runs right back, allowing a single to Jackie Robinson and a homer to Roy Campanella.

Undeterred, the Fungoes increased their lead again, pummelling Steve Ridzik in the eighth. After walking Augie Galan and allowing a double to Bridges, Ridzik intentionally walked Lombardi to load the bases. Andy Pafko flew out to short center, but Hack took four balls to force in a run and Boudreau singled in a run. After Mize flew out, Bordagaray expressed his discontentment with scoring only two runs in an inning by lining a double to right, bringing in another pair. Bob Miller retired Bobby Estalella to end the frame, but the lead now looked insurmountable.

The Cashmen offence quickly did their best to demonstrate that it wasn’t.

Vic Raschi entered the game and gave up solo blasts to Kluszewski, Rusty Staub, and Robinson, the sequence only interrupted by a Rizzuto groundout.

Milo Candini kept the Fungoes scoreless in the top of the ninth, setting up the relentless Cashmen offense against Max Lanier trailing by two. Lanier gave up a single to Willie Mays and walked Musial before Brett sent a double to the right field corner, scoring Mays easily. Musial was waved around third as the tying run, but Bridges relayed Bordagaray’s throw directly to Lombardi, cutting down Musial at the plate.

Instead of runners on second and third with no outs, trailing by one, the Cashmen now had a runner on second with one out and still trailed by one.

Lanier buckled down, as he got Kluszewski to ground to Bridges before striking out Rizzuto, ending the game that started as a pitcher’s duel and concluded as a thriller.

Harmonic Series, Game 3 | Harmonic Series, Game 4 | Harmonic Series, Game 5