Tucson escapes Game 3 to push Allentown to the brink

Top-seeded Tucson held on for a 4-3 win in Game 3 against offensively-effiicient Allentown, to take a 3-0 lead in the Best-of-7 semifinal series.
For the second time in the series, the 5th-seeded Mules scored one more run then they had hits but couldn't come up with a big hit in the 6th that might have changed things.

Tucson jumped out early when Troy Tulowitzki singled home Nelson Cruz in the 2nd for a 1-0 lead. The Scorpions tacked on 3 more runs in 4th. After a leadoff single, Cruz advanced on a passed ball and scored when A.J. Ellis' grounder up the middle was snared by Price but thrown away. With Ellis on second, Tulowitzki grounded to short for the second out but then  Juan Uribe deposited a home run to left and Tucson led 4-0 -- with all 3 runs in the inning unearned.

Lester was cruising, having faced only a few batters beyond the minimum through 5 innings. It was the 6th that gave him trouble. He walked Trout to load the bases after infield singles by Erick Aybar and D.J. LeMahieu. With no one out and a 4-0 lead, the lefty Lester was given a chance to deal with Adrian Gonzalez, who ripped a two-run single to cut the margin to 4-2.

Carlos Villanueva relieved Lester, with Trout at 3rd and Gonzalez on 1st. Giancarlo Stanton's sacrifice fly to left scored Trout to cut the lead to one run. An error by Uribe at 3rd put Jose Abreu on base and pushed Gonzalez to 2nd. Villanueva was careful with Manny Machado, eventually walking him to load the bases and face Matt Kemp. It turned out to be the right move. Villanueva enticed Kemp to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and preserve Tucson's 1-run lead.

Villanueva was perfect for another 2 innings. Lefty Tony Watson got the first two outs in the 9th before walking Matt Kemp, who stole 2nd. Russell Martin drew a base on balls to get the winning run on base and the tying run at 2nd. Tucson called in Dellin Betances. Allentown countered by pinch-hitting Jacoby Ellsbury for Jimmy Rollins, who came in to play short after Nick Markakis pinch-hit for Aybar in the 7th. Betances struck out Ellsbury end the game.

Lester went just 5 innings but pitched well enough. Despite 3 walks and 4 strikeouts, he only gave up 4 hits but 3 runs, and was credited with the win. Villaneuva went 3 hitless innings for a hold. Watson's 2/3 innings also got him a hold, and Betances earned the one-out save.

Price took the loss. He struck out 6 and walked none in 8 innings but only 1 of the 4 runs was earned on 8 hits. Huston Street pitched the 9th, yielding only a hit and a walk.

Cruz had 3 hits and scored 2 runs for Tucson.

It'll be all-hands on deck for Allentown as they face elimination at home in Game 4 on Thursday. It could be a repeat matchup between Jake Arrieta and Hirashi Iwakuma, both of whom only threw about 80 pitches in Game 1. A win for Tucson would make a No. 1 v. No. 2 matchup in the final against Arkansas, which swept San Francisco. An Allentown victory would force a Game 5 on Saturday.