Strasburg, bullpen lead Fish to Game 1 win

Stephen Strasburg and three Hopatcong relievers combined to retire 12 of the final 13 Vancouver batters to lead the No. 2 Floating Fish to a 5-3 win on Monday night.
Ryan Zimmerman provided the offense with a go-ahead three-run homer in the 5th inning, giving Hopatcong a 1-0 lead in their Best-of-Seven semifinal series with the 4th-seeded Iron Fist.

Vancouver scratched out a run in the 2nd inning to grab an early lead, mostly on the back of Charlie Blackmon. The Iron First center fielder swiped second after getting beaned to lead off the inning to get the Iron First a running in scoring position with no outs. Matt Kemp struck out but the Jonathan Schoop drove in Blackmon with a single to left center.

Hopatcong quickly tied the game at 1-1 on Robinson Cano's one-out solo shot deep down the right-field line.

The lone base on balls issued by Floating Fish pitchers came with one out in the 3rd, when Strasburg walked Alex Avila. Vancouver took advantage of the free pass. Avila took 3rd on Anthony Rendon's single to right and came home when J.D. Martinez poked a single between short and 3rd to retake a lead, 2-1. Martinez later blasted a solo shot in the top of the 5th to widen it to a 3-1 advantage but the Iron Fist would only get one more hit the rest of the way.

Aaron Nola was keeping the league's top offense (5.3 runs/game) in check, allowing a few singles here and there. Then he lost the No. 9 hitter, Jacoby Ellsbury, issuing a walk to start the 5th inning. Marwin Gonzalez grounded softly back to the mound and Nola's only play was to 1st, with Ellsbury taking 2nd base. Joey Votto walked and then Bryce Harper grounded a single up the middle to bring home Ellsbury and cut the lead to 3-2.

Next up, Ryan Zimmerman -- acquired from Livingston in June along with Ervin Santana for a 2nd rounder -- changed the complexion of the game one swing, sending a three-run blast deep to left for a 5-3 Hopatcong lead. Cano lined a double to left center to keep the crowd in it before Gary Sanchez lined out to 3rd base and Nick Castellanos struck out to end the 5th.

Strasburg (1-0) went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. With only 99 pitches, 69 for strikes (.697), the right-hander could be available on short rest, if necessary, later in the series. Lefty Tyler Lyons worked the 6th inning, allowing the only other Vancouver hit the rest of the game, by Josh Reddick. Adam Warren breezed through the 8th and Alex Claudio earned the save with a perfect 9th.

Nola (1-1) went the distance for Vancouver. He was decent but not as good as his 1st round starts, allowing 5 runs on 9 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 2.

Zimmerman led Hopatcong with 3 RBI. Sanchez collected 3 hits but didn't score or drive in a run. Cano and Harper each had 2 hits. Hopatcong had 5 runs on 9 hits and left 6 men on base.

Martinez and Reddick each had 2 hits for the Iron Fist, with Martinez a team-high 2 RBI. Vancouver had 3 runs on 6 hits and left 4 on base.

In the regular season, Hopatcong won 7 of 10 meetings with Vancouver and sported a record of 27-23 (.540) against playoff teams. The Iron Fist were 20-30 (.400) against the six squads that made the postseason.

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night in Hopatcong.