Scherzer silences Marietta to take Game 5

Max Scherzer struck out 11 over 7 innings and Marcell Ozuna slammed a first-inning homer and drove in three runs to lift Tucson past Marietta 5-3 at home in Game 5 on Thursday night, taking the 1st round series, 3-2.

The 4th-seeded King Snakes await the winner of the Vancouver-Hillsborough series to determine who they face in the semifinals. If No. 3 Vancouver takes the series, Tucson will travel to No. 1 Sardine City; if No. 6 Hillsborough advances, that means Tucson will take on No. 2 Hopatcong. Game 5 is Friday in Vancouver.

Scherzer (2-0) held the league's second-best offense during the regular season to 3 runs on 4 hits, and walked just 1. He was on his game through 115 pitches, 78 for strikes (.678), the only blemishes being a couple of solo homers.

Ozuna, who blasted a grand slam to in a play-in game for the division title, gave Tucson the lead just three batters into the game, smashing a two-run homer deep to center off Mike Clevinger after Brett Gardner singled. Marietta responded in the 3rd inning. Chris Iannetta doubled, advanced to 3rd base on Justin Turner's sac fly to center, and scored on Mitch Haniger's double.

The King Snakes got a run right back in the next inning. No. 9 hitter Brandon Crawford walked and took 3rd on Jose Altuve's single to put men on the corners with no outs. After Gardner flied out to right, Ozuna drove in his 3rd run with sacrifice fly right field for a 3-1 lead. With Altuve at 3rd base, Tucson had a chance to break it wide open after Clevinger walked Nelson Cruz and Nolan Arenado to load the bases. Mike Zunino stepped to the plate and lofted a long fly ball to right but not deep enough, ending the inning.

Kevin Kiemaier's lone hit of the series came with one out in the 4th, a homer to keep it a one-run game at 3-2. The King Snakes promptly countered again in the 5th inning. Eric Thames doubled deep to left to lead off the 4th and after a ground out, came home on Brandon Crawford's sac fly to right. Altuve pushed the lead to 5-2 with a solo homer.

Marietta kept clawing back. In the top of the 6th, Starlin Castro swatted a homer deep down the left-field line to get back to within two runs at 5-3. But that would be the last threat against Scherzer, who struck out the next three batters.

Josh Hader pitched the 8th for Tucson, yielding just a double, before Craig Kimbrel came on for a 1-2-3 9th inning to secure the game and the series.

Anthony Swarzak pitched two-hit ball over the final three innings, with 3 Ks and a walk, to keep Marietta close. Clevinger (1-1) went 5 innings, surrendering 5 runs on 4 hits thanks to 4 walks. He struck out 4 with 60 of his 103 pitches going for strikes (.583).

Marietta finished with 5 hits and 3 runs, leaving 4 on base. Tucson had 5 runs on 8 hits, with 6 LOB.

A year ago, Scherzer pitched into the 9th inning in knocking Tucson out the playoffs with a Game 7 semifinal victory. The King Snakes was acquired him just before protected lists were due, getting him from Hoboken with a 6th-rounder pick for two first-rounders and SS Zack Cozart. He won two games in the series despite a 6.23 ERA. He ran up a 1.00 WHIP and struck out 20 against just 3 walks in 13 innings.

Marietta outscored Tucson in the series, 25-24 -- on the strength of Game 4's 5-0 shutout -- but hit just .211/.271/.500 in the series with 57 Ks and 9 BBs. During the regular season, Marietta won 6 out of 10 matchups against Tucson.

Turner led the Mighty Men with an incredible line of .368/.429/1.105 (7-for-18) and homers in the first four games of the series. His 4 HRs and 7 RBI led the team and all batters in the 1st round. Marietta blasted 12 home runs in the five games. Giancarlo Stanton, who led all of the DMBL in HR and RBI during the regular season, had a big start to the series with 3 HRs in the first two games but went 1-for-11 over the last three games. Justin Bour, who combined with Stanton to hit 100 HRs in the regular season, smacked one homer but it was his only hit in 17 ABs.

As a team, Tucson batted .244/.340/.419 and took advantage of Marietta's wildness, with 21 walks against 44 strikeouts. All of their five home runs came from different batters. Ozuna led the offense with 7 hits and 5 RBI, slashing .389/.478/.722. Gardner seemed to be in the middle of every other rally, with a line of .353/.478/.588 -- 6 hits and a team-high 5 walks. Altuve also had 6 hits, slashing .286/.348/.524.