NLDS Game 2: Portsmouth vs. Fleetwood

Game 2 of this NLDS series saw Jason Hammel (9-6 record, 3.49 ERA) take the mound for Portsmouth and Hisashi Iwakuma (13-4 record, 2.76 ERA) for Fleetwood.

Bouncing back nicely from a tough loss the day before, Portsmouth came out swinging early against Iwakuma. The Brewers drew first blood in the 2nd on an RBI groundout by Mike Napoli, and then added another run in the 3rd on an Alejandro De Aza home run.

Nick Castellanos punished Iwakuma further in the 4th inning. He hit a two-run bomb, making the score 4-0 in favor of Portsmouth through 4 innings.

Jason Hammel dominates Fleetwood.

But the real star of this game was Jason Hammel. He was perfect on the mound through 4.1 innings before issuing a walk to Derek Norris. But he escaped that 5th inning easily from there, and then set the Walkers down in order in the 6th.

And then the 7th.

And then the 8th.

This set the stage for drama of the highest order in the bottom of the 9th. The score was 5-0 in favor of Portsmouth, but even the Fleetwood crowd's attention was focused on the chance to see history: what many believe would be the first no-hitter in BRASSball playoff history.

Pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli led of the 9th against Hammel, but he could manage only a weak infield groundout.

Suzuki's 9th inning dive

Next up was another pinch hitter, Mookie Betts. Betts made good contact, but it was only enough to earn him a "can of corn" flyout. Hammel was just one out away.

Fleetwood's last chance was Seth Smith. Smith and Hammel battled, until Smith finally yanked a hard slicing liner to right field. Ichiro Suzuki laid out for the ball, trying with all his might to preserve history. But the ball landed just beyond his reach and rolled to the wall, allowing Smith to race all the way around to 3rd base with a triple.

Hammel quickly recovered to retire Mike Trout on a game-ending groundout, earning him an impressive one-hit shutout. Hammel may have just missed the no-hitter and a place in BRASSball history, but he put his Portsmouth teammates on his back and gave them valuable momentum heading back home for Game 3.

Final Score: Portsmouth 5, Fleetwood 0.

W: Hammel (1-0). L: Iwakuma (0-1). SV: None. HR: De Aza (1), Castellanos (1).

BOXSCORE: 2015 Portsmouth Brewers At 2015 Fleetwood Walkers        10/10/2015

  Brewers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG

  A.De Aza LF         3  1  1  2 .143     S.Smith DH          4  0  1  0 .444  

A-C.Maybin CF         0  0  0  0 ----     M.Trout CF          4  0  0  0 .000  

  D.Pedroia 2B        4  0  0  0 .143     K.Kiermaier RF      3  0  0  0 .286  

  A.Rizzo 1B          4  0  0  0 .000     M.Cabrera 1B        3  0  0  0 .000  

  J.Lucroy C          3  1  0  0 .167     D.Norris C          2  0  0  0 .000  

  M.Saunders RF,LF    4  0  3  0 .429     C.Utley 2B          3  0  0  0 .200  

  M.Napoli DH         3  1  0  1 .000     D.Wright 3B         3  0  0  0 .000  

  N.Castellanos 3B    4  1  1  2 .250     J.Segura SS         2  0  0  0 .333  

B-S.Rodriguez 3B      0  0  0  0 ----   C-F.Cervelli PH       1  0  0  0 .000  

  A.Simmons SS        4  1  1  0 .125     D.Jennings LF       2  0  0  0 .000  

  I.Suzuki CF,RF      3  0  1  0 .333   D-M.Betts PH          1  0  0  0 .500  

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      

         Totals      32  5  7  5                 Totals      28  0  1  0

A-Subbed Defensively (CF) For De Aza In 9th Inning

B-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Castellanos In 9th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Segura In 9th Inning

D-Pinch Hit For Jennings In 9th Inning

Brewers......... 0 1 1  2 0 0  1 0 0  -  5  7  0

Walkers......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  1  0

Brewers (1-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

J.Hammel WIN(1-0)         9       1   0   0   1   4   0   0.00  A1

Totals                    9       1   0   0   1   4   0

Walkers (1-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

H.Iwakuma LOSS(0-1)       6       7   5   5   1   4   2   7.50  A1 C8

J.Broxton                 1 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  C9 D4

A.Bastardo                1       0   0   0   1   2   0   0.00  D5 D8

J.Howell                  0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  D9

Totals                    9       7   5   5   2   8   2

ATTENDANCE- 48,442 DATE- Saturday, October 10th 2015 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad

UMPIRES- Chuck Meriwether, Bill Welke, Laz Diaz, Tim Welke

T- 2:23

LEFT ON BASE- Brewers: 4  Walkers: 2

DOUBLE PLAYS- Brewers: 0  Walkers: 0

DOUBLES- M.Saunders(1st), A.Simmons(1st), I.Suzuki(1st)

TRIPLES- S.Smith(1st)

HOME RUNS- A.De Aza(1st), N.Castellanos(1st)

RBIs- A.De Aza-2(2nd), M.Napoli(1st), N.Castellanos-2(4th)

SACRIFICE HITS- I.Suzuki

SACRIFICE FLIES- A.De Aza

WALKS- J.Lucroy, M.Napoli, D.Norris

STRIKE OUTS- A.De Aza, D.Pedroia-2, A.Rizzo, M.Saunders, N.Castellanos,

             A.Simmons, I.Suzuki, S.Smith, M.Cabrera, D.Wright-2

2-out RBI- N.Castellanos-2

RLISP 2-out- A.Simmons, A.Rizzo, N.Castellanos, M.Trout

TEAM RISP- Brewers: 0 for 8  Walkers: 0 for 1

Jason Hammel carried a no-hitter into the 9th inning as the Portsmouth Brewers

beat the Fleetwood Walkers by a score of 5 to 0.

Hammel(1-0) dominated Fleetwood hitters.  He surrendered only 1 hit and 1 walk

in 9 innings.  The right-handed Hammel lost his chance for a no-hitter when

Seth Smith tripled with two outs in the 9th inning.  Portsmouth had a total

of 7 hits for the game.  

Hisashi Iwakuma(0-1) was the loser.  He gave up 7 hits and 1 walk in 6

innings.  Mike Forsyth was very impressed with his pitcher, Hammel, 'He had

unusually good pitch placement tonight.  It was almost unfair - but a

beautiful game to watch from where I sat.'