Taking advantage of the short porch in right field in The Mud Hole, Gardner lined a homer deep down the right-field line to give Tucson its first lead in the series. The 4th-seeded King Snakes would go on to score 3 in the 1st and 4 in the 4th to back another solid postseason start by Max Scherzer in a 10-2 blowout in Game 2 on Saturday in Hopatcong.
The best-of-seven series is now tied at 1-1, with Game 3 moving to the desert of Tucson on Monday. Lefty Gio Gonzalez likely will get the start for 2nd-seeded Hopatcong while Tucson will choose from among lefties Madison Bumgarner and Rich Hill, or possibly Tanner Roark.
Kyle Hendricks seemed to let Gardner's homer get into his head as he plunked the next batter, Jose Altuve and Marcell Ozuna singled. The count went full to Luis Valbuena and Gary Sanchez couldn't handle ball four, which allowed Altuve to score all the way from 2nd base and Ozuna to take 3rd. Mike Zunino delivered with a sacrifice fly to center, plating Ozuna, and Tucson already had a 3-0 lead.
Avisail Garcia then singled and the Hopatcong bullpen was rustling. Hendricks came back to strike out Arenado before getting Brandon Crawford to ground out to 3rd for the 3rd out.
Hopatcong could not connect on opportunities early. Robinson Cano struck out to end the 1st, stranding Marwin Gonzalez at 3rd base after he drew a leadoff walk.
Valbuena led off the top of the 3rd with a walk for Tucson. Hendricks struck out the side but in between, Garcia singled and Nolan Arenado followed that with a single to plate Valbuena for a 4-0 lead.
Hendricks led off the top of the 4th inning by striking out Gardner but walked Altuve. Hendricks' night was done when Ozuna doubled to right center to score Altuve for a 5-0 lead. Mychal Givens came on and walked Valbuena (his 3rd of the game) to load the bases. Another passed ball by Sanchez put the runners in scoring position. Givens got a huge strikeout of Zunino for the 2nd out.
That's when Avisail Garcia delivered the biggest blow of the game, a three-run homer deep to left center to give the King Snakes a commanding 8-0 lead. Arenado doubled to left center and it looked like the Floating Fish bullpen might have to make another change before the 4th inning was out. But Givens got Crawford on a pop out to left field to end the 4th.
Hopatcong got a rally going to respond in the bottom of the 4th. Ryan Zimmerman led off with a single and Cano walked. Scherzer struck out Sanchez and Castellanos before walking Zack Cozart to load the bases. A golden opportunity was lost when No. 9 hitter Jacoby Ellsbury popped out to 3rd to end the threat.
In the 5th, Givens would walk Altuve and Ozuna but escape the inning without any damage. In the bottom of the inning, the Floating Fish finally got on the board. After Gonzalez led off with a single and Bryce Harper later delivered a dong deep to left center to cut the lead to 8-2 as Scherzer struck out the side.
Tucson would add some more insurance runs in the 6th and 7th off Aroldis Chapman and Adam Warren. An error by Zack Cozart at shortstop started the 6th, allowing Zunino to get on base. Garcia lined a single between 1st and 2nd for his 4th hit of the game and Arenado walked to load the bases with no one out.
Crawford struck out before Andrew McCutchen grounded out, forcing Arenado at 2nd base but scoring Zunino for a 9-2 lead. Chapman struck out Gardner to end the 6th, fortunate to have given up just 1 run.
Chapman led off the 7th inning by walking Altuve and his night was done. Warren took the mound and Ozuna greeted him with single up the middle, getting Altuve to 3rd base. Altuve would score on a ground out to 1st by Valbuena and Tucson added another run to its 10-2 lead.
Scherzer (4-0) struck out 11 and walked 3 over 7 innings, yielding just 2 runs on 5 hits. He threw 113 pitches (70 for strikes, .619). Josh Hader showed no signs of fatigue after throwing 42 pitches in relief of Game 1 starter Robbie Ray. The lefty went 2 hitless innings, with 2 strikeouts, and 13 of 21 pitches went for strikes (619).
Hendricks (1-1) lasted just 3 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits. He struck out 5 but walked 3 with 37 of his 68 pitches going for strikes (.544). The bullpen was scattershot, with Givens yielding 2 runs and 2 hits over 1 2/3 innings thanks to 3 walks (just 19 of 40 pitches for strikes, .475). He also struck out two. Chapman went 1 inning but allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on just 1 hit thanks to 2 walks (and 2 strikeouts), with 20 of 39 pitches for strikes (.512).
Warren was the only effective reliever on Saturday (27 of 39 pitches for strikes, .692), throwing 1-hit ball over the final 3 innings, with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk. Each Hopatcong reliever threw at least 39 pitches but with Sunday's off-day, all should available for Game 3.
It would be easy to say Garcia, this year's batting champion, was the man of the moment for Tucson as he collected 4 hits including a three-run homer. But Altuve was 1-for-2 with 3 walks and 3 runs scored out of the two-hole, and Ozuna had another multi-hit game in the playoffs, going 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored. Even Valbuena was 0-for-2 but with 4 walks, scored twice. Harper had the only offense for Hopatcong, going 1-for-4 with his 2-run homer.
Tucson finished with 10 runs on 11 hits and stranded 13 men on base thanks to 9 walks by Hopatcong pitchers. The Fish were limited to 2 runs on 5 hits and left 6 runners on, along with 2 errors.
The best-of-seven series is now tied at 1-1, with Game 3 moving to the desert of Tucson on Monday. Lefty Gio Gonzalez likely will get the start for 2nd-seeded Hopatcong while Tucson will choose from among lefties Madison Bumgarner and Rich Hill, or possibly Tanner Roark.
Kyle Hendricks seemed to let Gardner's homer get into his head as he plunked the next batter, Jose Altuve and Marcell Ozuna singled. The count went full to Luis Valbuena and Gary Sanchez couldn't handle ball four, which allowed Altuve to score all the way from 2nd base and Ozuna to take 3rd. Mike Zunino delivered with a sacrifice fly to center, plating Ozuna, and Tucson already had a 3-0 lead.
Avisail Garcia then singled and the Hopatcong bullpen was rustling. Hendricks came back to strike out Arenado before getting Brandon Crawford to ground out to 3rd for the 3rd out.
Hopatcong could not connect on opportunities early. Robinson Cano struck out to end the 1st, stranding Marwin Gonzalez at 3rd base after he drew a leadoff walk.
Valbuena led off the top of the 3rd with a walk for Tucson. Hendricks struck out the side but in between, Garcia singled and Nolan Arenado followed that with a single to plate Valbuena for a 4-0 lead.
Hendricks led off the top of the 4th inning by striking out Gardner but walked Altuve. Hendricks' night was done when Ozuna doubled to right center to score Altuve for a 5-0 lead. Mychal Givens came on and walked Valbuena (his 3rd of the game) to load the bases. Another passed ball by Sanchez put the runners in scoring position. Givens got a huge strikeout of Zunino for the 2nd out.
Hopatcong got a rally going to respond in the bottom of the 4th. Ryan Zimmerman led off with a single and Cano walked. Scherzer struck out Sanchez and Castellanos before walking Zack Cozart to load the bases. A golden opportunity was lost when No. 9 hitter Jacoby Ellsbury popped out to 3rd to end the threat.
Tucson would add some more insurance runs in the 6th and 7th off Aroldis Chapman and Adam Warren. An error by Zack Cozart at shortstop started the 6th, allowing Zunino to get on base. Garcia lined a single between 1st and 2nd for his 4th hit of the game and Arenado walked to load the bases with no one out.
Crawford struck out before Andrew McCutchen grounded out, forcing Arenado at 2nd base but scoring Zunino for a 9-2 lead. Chapman struck out Gardner to end the 6th, fortunate to have given up just 1 run.
Chapman led off the 7th inning by walking Altuve and his night was done. Warren took the mound and Ozuna greeted him with single up the middle, getting Altuve to 3rd base. Altuve would score on a ground out to 1st by Valbuena and Tucson added another run to its 10-2 lead.
Hendricks (1-1) lasted just 3 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits. He struck out 5 but walked 3 with 37 of his 68 pitches going for strikes (.544). The bullpen was scattershot, with Givens yielding 2 runs and 2 hits over 1 2/3 innings thanks to 3 walks (just 19 of 40 pitches for strikes, .475). He also struck out two. Chapman went 1 inning but allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on just 1 hit thanks to 2 walks (and 2 strikeouts), with 20 of 39 pitches for strikes (.512).
Warren was the only effective reliever on Saturday (27 of 39 pitches for strikes, .692), throwing 1-hit ball over the final 3 innings, with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk. Each Hopatcong reliever threw at least 39 pitches but with Sunday's off-day, all should available for Game 3.
It would be easy to say Garcia, this year's batting champion, was the man of the moment for Tucson as he collected 4 hits including a three-run homer. But Altuve was 1-for-2 with 3 walks and 3 runs scored out of the two-hole, and Ozuna had another multi-hit game in the playoffs, going 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored. Even Valbuena was 0-for-2 but with 4 walks, scored twice. Harper had the only offense for Hopatcong, going 1-for-4 with his 2-run homer.
Tucson finished with 10 runs on 11 hits and stranded 13 men on base thanks to 9 walks by Hopatcong pitchers. The Fish were limited to 2 runs on 5 hits and left 6 runners on, along with 2 errors.
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