Gud Twins Tourney, Twinkie Town Title, Game 5: Homer sim’s in

Results

Guys, gals, and non-binary pals, may I present to you:

The Barrage.

The Inside Baseballers hit six home runs, two apiece off the bats of Kent Hrbek and Jimmie Hall, and eased past the Wonder Years 8-1 to take their first series lead, three games to two.

Byron Buxton set the tone for the Baseballers with his leadoff dinger, and Inside extended their lead against Wonder starter Phil Hughes in the second. After Zoilo Versalles’ single, Hrbek launched a Hughes offering over the wall (the only non-solo homer of the game) to make the score 3-1. Tony Oliva added the third RBI of the frame — the only RBI not on a home run — by getting plunked with the bases loaded.

The bottom of the fifth saw Hall (who had just one hit in the series through four games) greet Years reliever Blaine Boyer with an outing-opening longball, and Oliva and Hall concluded the scoring by going back-to-back in the seventh off Bill Dailey.

On Wonder’s side, Bobby Kielty decided not to be left out of the homer club with a solo shot in the sixth:

But Kielty’s homer was the only mark on Brad Radke’s day, as he and Anthony Swarzak combined to allow only six further hits and no more runs.

Although momentum is on the Baseballers’ side, the Years have three things going for them. The first two are clear — they have a rest day, and the last two games are at their home park — but the third relies on prior knowledge of this round of the playoffs. The final two scheduled Wonder starters are Kevin Tapani and Joe Mays, the two who produced Years victories in the first two games of the Twinkie Town Title round.

Only by playing the game(s) will we learn if they can repeat the feat, or if Inside will emerge victorious.

TTT (Game 4) | TTT (Game 5) | TTT (Game 6)