EXL: Saturday saw a number of close games
TOP 6 continued with three more games on Saturday and the same as on Friday, it were the visitors who took all the wins. Furthermore, all the games finished with the closest possible margin.
The important series between Nuclears and Eagles brought another close game. And Prague team took another win, after beating the team from Vysočina 5-4. The game looked promising for Eagles from the very beginning, as Marek Chlup blasted a solo homerun in the first inning. Kamil Pejchal then tied the game in the second inning with his RBI.
However, the next inning didn’t go according to Nuclears plans, when the best batter of the game, Gehrig Octavio, opened the inning with a double. He then reached the home base after a defensive error and Marek Chlup batted in the third Eagles run. Nuclears pressured Emannuel Herrera in the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases. Pejchal was then walked, which brought the second run scored for the home team, but also a new player on the visitor’s mound. Mikuláš Hanuš who stepped on the mound next the stopped Nuclears.
The winner was decided in the seventh inning. Eagles scored two runs and got a bit of a breathing room. However, Nuclears were able to push and got back to one run with two runs they scored. But this was all the home team did, despite getting runners in the scoring position in the next two innings. Eagles took another important win and will get a chance to sweep their opponent away on Sunday.
Draci with a successful trip
The series between Draci and Tempo moved to the capital. And we got to see an excellent pitching duel. Home team sent in the 2022 Rookie of the Year Ondřej Vank, while Draci started Juan Jaime. They only allowed one run each and so the bullpen’s performance was to decide the winner. In the end, Jackson Solarte came on top, as Draci took the win thanks to Martin Červinka‘s solo homerun. This was the first homerun of the year for Brno batter, and only his seventh in Extraliga career. The winner of the series will be decided on Sunday.
Hluboká lost to Hroši again
After a Friday blowout, Hluboká was hoping for a better game. And it worked to an extent, as they had a close game against Hroši. Home team took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning after a hit from Joseph Enea. However, thanks to homeruns from Petr Čech and Tomáš Říčny, Hroši took the 3-2 lead. Čech then batted in the fourth run, that turned out to be the winning one. Hluboká only scored one run against Matt Gilbertson for the remained of the game and Brno starter thus earned a complete game win. He helped himself with 11 SO. Thanks to the win Hroši took the fourth place, moving Nuclears to the fifth.
