EXL: Eagles back on top. Hroši lost game at the very end
This weekend’s Extraliga round finished with 3 games. After the end of it, Eagles Praha returned on the top of the table.
Hroši Brno – Draci Brno 5-6
Hroši players got to see the cruel side of the baseball, as they only needed one out to win the city derby against Draci, but in the end were left with a loss.
The momentum was swinging from side to side during the entire game. Hroši got the 2-0 lead in the first 3 innings. However, Martin Kalábek‚s 3 run homerun changed the tide in the 4th inning. Home team then scored against Juan Jaime in the 5th inning and the game was tied again.
The score changed again when Draci loaded the bases in the 7th inning for Arnošt Dubový’s hit to score in a run. Hroši responded in the following half of the inning, when Jan Pospíšil first tied the game for Michal Klimeš to score in the 5th run.
James Jensen was sent in to finish the game. He threw a clean 8th inning, but the 9th didn’t go according to his plans. Visitors got two runners on bases with two outs for Dubový and Jakub Hajtmar to get them to the home plate. Suddenly, Hroši only had half of an inning to at least tie. David Mergans had other ideas, however, and helped with 2 SO he earned his 4th Save of the season.
Tempo Praha – Sokol Hluboká 5-3
While Martin Červenka improved his hitting streak to 17 games, Sunday game at Tempo had a different hero. It was his teammate Marek Minařík, who decided the game with a 2 run walk-off homerun.
Ačkoliv Martin Červenka prodloužil svou hitting streak na 17 zápasů, tak měl nedělní zápas na Tempu jiného hrdinu. Tím se stal jeho spoluhráč Marek Minařík, který v deváté směně rozhodl duel dvoubodovým walk-off homerunem.
Jhonny Duran also had a good day, when he striked out 6 batters in 3 innings as a reliever, continuing Adonai Gutierrez’s good start.
Tempo won the third game of the series, moving to the 5th place in Extraliga table. Sokol, on the other hand, keeps dropping and is not on shared 6th place with Arrows. Both teams now have their future in their own hands.
Arrows Ostrava – Eagles Praha 5-8
Samuel Steigert played his first game for Eagles on Sunday. Despite wearing Balaguera’s jersey, he had a much better outing than Venezuelan pitcher. German national team pitcher threw 9 innings and earned his first win, where he only allowed 5 runs, without walking anyone.
Duo Šimon Blažek and Marek Slab had a good day offensively, each having 3 hits. Only Rory Graf-Brennan managed the same feat for the home team, for whom it was his best game of the season.
Arrows couldn’t win despite leading Eagles 5-2 after 5 innings. Eagles took the lead in the 6th inning with 4 runs, adding 2 more in the following inning. Home team was unable to respond, losing their 9th game of the season. With the win Eagles moved back to the first place in the table, winning their 11th game.
EXL Table
| W | L | % | GB | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles Praha | 11 | 7 | .611 | – | 152:124 |
| Cardion Hroši Brno | 9 | 6 | .600 | 0.5 | 108:93 |
| Třebíč Nuclears | 10 | 8 | .556 | 1 | 121:79 |
| Draci Brno | 9 | 8 | .529 | 1.5 | 118:106 |
| Tempo Praha | 8 | 9 | .471 | 2.5 | 133:119 |
| Sokol Hluboká | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3 | 94:118 |
| Arrows Ostrava | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3 | 80:111 |
| Technika Brno | 6 | 11 | .353 | 4.5 | 76:132 |
