The Bison headed into Game 2 hoping to tie the series before the long flight to Australia. Things didn't look good, though, as Max Scherzer (7-13, 6.60) was taking the mound against lefty Aaron Laffey (12-13, 4.04). Scherzer did win his LCS game (4-3 against the Jackals), so perhaps there was a new found confidence that the team wanted to exploit....
Scherzer started off well, polishing off the Koalas 1-2-3 in the top of the 1st. Laffey responded with a scoreless inning of his own.
Brisbane almost broke the scoreless tie in the top of the 3rd. With 2 outs, Rafael Furcal hit a deep fly to right field, and Raul Ibanez's diving attempt came up short. As the ball rolled to the wall, Furcal looked on his way to an inside-the-park home run, but Ibanez recovered quickly and gunned him down at the plate to end the threat.
The Bison were the first to score, as back to back doubles by Fowler and Ibanez gave them a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 4th. After Ibanez advanced to third on a fielder's choice, he scored on a Carlos Gonzalez sac fly, pushing the lead to two.
OKC added a third run in the 6th. Rollins doubled, moved to third on a fielder's choice, and came in to score on a single by Iwamura. The Koalas, on the other hand, had no answer for Scherzer, who looked as sharp as he has all season.
In the top of the 8th, the Bison went with Bobby Jenks, and he redeemed himself after Game One's drubbing, tossing a scoreless frame to maintain the 3-0 lead.
Closer Brett Anderson came in to pitch the 9th and immediately gave up a run. Joey Votto lead off with a double, and then scored on a Nick Markakis single. Markakis was erased on a caught stealing, but Marlon Byrd doubled, and Ian Kinsler was intentionally walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. The strategy worked, as Yunel Escobar grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game and tie the series at 1-1.
Max Scherzer got the win, going 7 innings and giving up no runs, 3 hits, and 2 walks while striking out 5. Aaron Laffey gets the loss, tossing 7 innings and giving up 3 runs, 7 hits, and 3 walks while striking out just 2. Anderson got the save despite giving up a run on 3 hits and an intentional walk.
Games 3-5 will be in Brisbane, Australia. Probable starters are Ted Lilly (OKC) vs. Chad Billingsley (BRI).
BOX SCORE
SCORING SUMMARY
BOT 4th
- (0-1) - Raul Ibanez doubled, Dexter Fowler scored.
- (0-2) - Carlos Gonzalez hit a sac fly to left, Raul Ibanez scored.
BOT 5th
- (0-3) - Akinori Iwamura singled, Jimmy Rollins scored.
TOP 9th
- (1-3) - Nick Markakis singled, Joey Votto scored.
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