11th inning wild pitch gives Marietta Game 1 win

Ben Zobrist raced home on a wild pitch in the 11th winning and Marietta held off a Tucson rally in the bottom of the inning to preserve a 4-3 win on the road in Game 1 of their 1st round Wildcard matchup.

The defending champion and 3rd-seeded King Snakes grabbed an early lead at home against the No. 6 seeded Mighty Men. It's a rematch of last year's No. 3 v. No. 6 first-round series that Tucson took in 5 games on their way to the 2018 title.

Nelson Cruz, 2016 playoff MVP, put Tucson on the board with a solo homer in the 2nd inning. The King Snakes left a man in scoring position after Marwin Gonzalaez doubled and took 3rd on Mitch Haniger's error in CF but Nolan Arenado grounded out to short to end the inning. Gonzalez extended the lead to 2-0 with a solo shot in the in the 5th.

Marietta, however, would do all their damage against Max Scherzer in the 6th inning, plating all 3 runs on 3 of their 5 hits off the Tucson starter. Jesse Winker singled and Mike Zunino doubled before Justin Turner erased the King Snakes' lead and then some, slugging a three-run bomb, continuing his blitz of Tucson pitching that started in the 2018 playoffs when he slugged 4 homers in 5 games.

Tucson knotted it up in the next inning. Cruz and Gonzalez singled around Avisail Garcia's pop out to left. The runners advanced on Arenado's ground out to short and Mallex Smith delivered a game-tying single up the middle, plating Cruz.

Both bullpens took over at that point. Tucson's Josh Hader struck out 5 of 6 outs over the 8th and 9th innings while Luis Severino completed 9 solid innings for the Mighty Men. Both teams put men in scoring position in the 10th. Jurickson Profar, pinch-hitting for Zunino, drew a one-out walk off Kyle Crick and Eaton lashed a two-out single to shallow left to bring up Turner. Crick got out of it with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the inning, took over for Zunino at catcher and Oliver Perez took the mound for Marietta. Arenado singled to left center to lead off the inning and Perez got two quick outs. Ketel Marte pinch-hit for Asdrubal Cabrera and lined a single to left before Perez walked J.T. Realmuto, loading the bases and putting the winning run on 3rd. The veteran lefty got out of the jam by getting Matt Olson to pop out to short, ending the 10th.

Marte took over at short in the 11th, when Ben Zobrist singled to lead off the inning and reached 3rd after two ground outs. Crick walked Chris Taylor, bringing up 2015 playoff MVP Steve Pearce with runners on the corners. That's when Crick picked a bad time to uncork a wild pitch, allowing Zobrist to score from 3rd with Taylor taking 2nd. Crick reared back to strike out Pearce, ending the 11th but with Marietta leading 4-3. 

In the bottom of the 11th, Tucson got the tying run as far as 2nd. Perez walked Cruz to lead off the inning. That prompted a call to the pen, bringing in Rich Rodriguez as Ryan Zimmerman pinch-ran for Cruz. Marcell Ozuna grounded to short, with Zimmer advancing to 2nd before Rodriguez issued a free pass to Gonzalez.

The Mighty Men called the bullpen for the 2nd time in the inning, bringing on Craig Stammen to face Arenado. Stammen shut the door on Tucson's rally, striking out Arenado and then Smith to end the game, earning a save and preserving a 4-3 road win.

Perez (1-0) was credited with the win for his 1 inning of work, around 2 hits and 2 walks. Crick (0-1) took the loss, giving up 2 hits and 1 run with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in his 2 innings. Severino went 9 innings for the Mighty Men, scattering 6 hits and 3 runs. He struck out 4 and walked 1. Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 innings, limiting Marietta to 3 runs on 5 hits.

Winker and Eaton each had two hits for Marietta and Turner led the squad with 3 RBI, all coming on his homer in the 6th. Gonzalez led the King Snakes with 3 hits, Cruz had 2 hits and 2 runs scored.

Marietta had 4 runs on 7 hits, leaving 7 men on base, with one error. Tucson collected 8 hits and scored 3 runs but stranded 9.