Braves drop Yanks advance to finals
On Saturday afternoon, it was more of the same.
The Braves pushed across three runs in the ninth inning on their way to a 4-3 win in Game 4 of the best-of-5 series.
The Braves will take on International League South Division rival Durham in the Governors' Cup Finals. Game 1 is Tuesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Richmond defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6-4, on Friday night, scoring four times in the eighth after being shut down by Matt DeSalvo for seven innings.
Facing Yankees reliever Ben Kozlowski on Saturday, Larry Bigbie walked to lead off the ninth and Doug Clark singled. Ross Ohlendorf replaced Kozlowski and got Carlos Mendez to fly out.
A minor controversy occurred with the next batter. Wes Timmons, who successfully checked his swing twice to bring the count to 2-2, was hit by Ohlendorf's next pitch on another half-swing. Home plate umpire Kevin Causey appealed to first-base umpire Troy Fullwood, who said Timmons did not swing. Yankees manager Dave Miley unsuccessfully disputed the call.
With the bases loaded and one out, Iker Franco delivered a line-drive single that scored Bigbie. Richmond manager Dave Brundage initially signaled for Clark to stop at third, but after seeing center fielder Brett Gardner bobble the ball, sent Clark home to tie the game. Timmons advanced to third on the error.
"I was just trying to put the ball in play, and I stayed back got the pitch I got and made good contact," said Franco. "I have to give it to my teammates for putting me in that position."
Derrick Arnold, who spent the entire regular season at Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach, lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center to plate Timmons with the go-ahead run.
"Any day you come to the ballpark, you hope you could be that one person to change the game," said Arnold, who was promoted to Richmond on Tuesday. "When I woke up this morning, I didn't think I was even going to get to play.
"I just got up here a week ago, but I never thought once I'd come in today and win the game. Any time you get a chance to do something like that, it's unbelievable."
Clark, with teammates gathered around him in the jovial visitors' clubhouse after the game, gave Arnold the game ball amid cheers from everyone.
"We told him when he got here, 'Visualize that one play that you're going to make for us to help us win a ball game, whether it's sliding in and taking out a double play or getting a squeeze down,'" Clark said. "Today, it was a sac fly."
"Every game this series was tooth-and-nail, but we just ended up coming out on the good end of it," added Brundage. "It's really impressive to know that we play with so much heart."
"[We and Durham] know each other very well. The season series was 8-8, and I expect the same type of play," he said, of the upcoming finals. "I like our chances just because this teams plays as a team. We won this series as a team."
Braves reliever Phil Stockman (1-1) allowed a walk in 1 1/3 hitless frames to pick up the win, while Joey Devine saved his third game of the series, working around a single and striking out one in the ninth.
The Yankees were on top for most of the game, scoring in the first on a two-run blast by Jose Cruz Jr. They maintained control, thanks to seven innings of two-hit, one-run ball from starter Jeff Karstens, who issued two walks and fanned seven. Ohlendorf (0-1) yielded one run on one hit in one frame.
Bronson Sardinha ripped two doubles and scored a run for the Yankees.
NOTES: Richmond reliever Chad Paronto, who disagreed with several of Causey's calls, was ejected on his way off the field with two outs in the seventh after being lifted by Brundage. ... The Braves last took home a Governors' Cup title in 1994. ... Despite not recording a hit on Saturday, Bigbie still leads all International League hitters in batting in the playoffs. He's now hitting .556 (5-for-9) after grounding out and drawing three walks in game four. ... Scranton/Wilkes-Barre stranded at least one runner (12 total) in every inning on Saturday. ... After Clark's second-inning double, no Richmond player reached second base until Barbaro Canizares' pinch-hit double to lead off the eighth. ... The Yankees stole just two bases all series after stealing six in each of the final two games of the regular season. ... Andy Cannizaro, who hit a solo homer in the first on Friday and left the game after being hit by a pitch on his forearm in his next at-bat, did not play. Cannizaro said he thought the beaning by Braves starter Francisley Bueno was intentional. --Caleb Pardick/MLB.com