Grays gouged by potent Royals offense setting up winner-take-all Game 3
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POCATELLO — If the Gate City Grays are to earn a spot in the Northern Utah League Championship Series, they will have to do so Saturday night on the road.
Following an exhilarating 19-13 road upset over the top-seeded Royals in Logan Thursday night, the Grays had a chance to punch their ticket in Game 2 of the three-game set Friday at Halliwell Park. But the Royals had other plans altogether, jumping all over Gate City starter Brody Burch for six runs in the first inning en route to a 16-8 victory.
Burch ended up lasting into the fifth inning, holding the Royals to the six-spot through the fourth.
Manager Rhys Pope said that it is easy to see six runs allowed in the first and think Burch was bad. But, the skipper said, the righty may have been operating on a bit too much adrenaline pitching in a potential series-deciding game in front of a packed house.
“I think the first inning was just a little bit of nerves,” Pope said. “It’s a playoff game, big crowd, stuff like that. But as soon as he settled in, he battled his butt off.”
Burch posted three straight zeroes after the rough first, giving his offense a chance to answer while saving priceless bullpen arms for Saturday — something that was “huge” and often goes under-appreciated, Pope said.
The Grays offense created multiple golden opportunities to get back into the game but consistently came one hit shy of a big inning.
They stranded a runner on third in the second inning, then scored one run in the third but left two more runners on base. In the fourth, after scoring another lone run on a bases-loaded walk, the Grays stranded three more.
Despite cutting into the lead — making it 6-2 — the Grays missed out on so much more.
Logan did not make the same mistake, sealing the game with a seven-run fifth.
Their 16-run outburst, one day after scoring 13 in a loss, gives the Royals 29 runs in just two games. Asked how to prevent that type of output Saturday, Pope said it will come down to limiting free bases.
Errors, walks and hit batters, he said, can be the undoing for any team facing an offense as potent as Logan’s.
“Free passes are huge,” he said. “Yes, 100%, this team swings the bat well, and they have all year long. … They are a tough team and to limit (their damage) you have to get ahead early and put them away.”
Pope will ask Jason Jones to stem the tides of the runaway Royals offense Saturday.
Jones was dominant for 5 innings in Tuesday’s deciding first-round game against The Lab. And his team will need him to be just as good again.
“I’m asking for him to give anything he’s got — and everything that he’s got,” Pope said.
If and when Jones comes out of the game, it will be all hands on deck for the Gate City pitchers — with no reason to save arms should they fall.
Offensively, Pope said, the Grays will need to continue putting together “tough at-bats.” He said he gathered the team for a huddle after the game and told them, “As soon as we break this huddle, make the decision that we are going to go down there and win tomorrow.”
The Grays are not a home run-hitting club, and should be looking to string together hits rather than hunting the big swing.
“Be pesky. Don’t give in,” Pope said. “Be the team that never goes away. I think, if we keep that mentality tomorrow night, we’ll be alright.”