OTTAWA (ODB) — Well, now we know Lady Luck is not a stingy, little biatch.
After enduring countless instances of bad hops, rover-snagged liners and balls that somehow fell in for opposition hits, the Gargoyles finally had a few things go their way Tuesday night at Hampton Yards in a 10-0 rout of Broadway.
Check that. They had many things go their way.
About time, too. Because the Gargs were on the verge of losing whatever confidence that remained prior to this well-earned victory that snapped a five-game losing streak.
Taking advantage of some breaks allowed the Men in Black to record their first victory since July 5 (a 13-9 defeat of Ollsons); their first mercy killing since June 22 of last season when they dumped Ollsons 16-7 in five innings; and their first shutout victory since May 13, 2007, when they blanked the Pirates 22-0.
“Everything went our way,” Brian McGregor so rightly put it, following the game, over beers at W. “But hey, 19 games of s— luck. We’ll take it.”
The Gargs pounded out 12 hits and scored in every inning except the first, to beat a Broadway club that was beat tired following a tie game with the Wings and a trip to Boston from which 14 team members returned only a day earlier, bleery-eyed and spent.
That the Gargs (2-18), were able to defeat their longtime rivals was due in part to a tired opponent which was clearly a step behind all night; some head’s-up baserunning; timely hitting; and oh, yeah: a one-hit performance from Kevin Emmerson, who struggled a bit with his location but gave his defence a chance to make outs — with three-quarters of those outs registered on fly balls.
Emmerson, 1-6, walked six batters and had runners aboard in five of the six innings, but he reared back to register three key strikeouts and relied on some brilliant defence.
“I know I was off,” said Emmerson, over a cold one. “(Brennae) called it high and inside and I would throw it outside and low. But everything that went wrong worked out all right.”
The big right-hander fought the glove at times, but he got the job done in a masterful way, pitching 4 2/3 innings of no-hit ball. “I was thinking, ‘Hit the f—— glove, because I wasn’t,” said Emmerson, who had trouble with his mechanics until the fifth when his pitches regained the pop to which the Gargs have become accustomed.
“I wasn’t pushing off with my (correct) foot. It was all arm,” said Emmerson, who struck out the final batter with a high fastball, right on target.
“He was in tough tonight, no doubt,” said Mark Brennae. “But he kept them off-balance. Kev kept ’em guessing and when we needed a great play, we got it.”
Rob Lafontaine made a tremendous catch, diving high to his right to snare a drilled liner at short; Rick Devereux rushed in and made a beauty of a diving snag in centre and Mathieu Gauthier ran a steeple chase to his left to track down a drive headed for four extra bases in right field.
The Gargs scored one in the second, two in the third and added a killer three runs in the fourth.
When the Gargs scored twice on the same wild pitch (Karl Bélanger, followed closely behind by Matthew Stephenson), you had to know the worm had turned.
“The TSN turning point,” smiled Bélanger after the game.
Of the 10 Gargoyle runs, only five were plated as RBIs, evidence that this was the Gargs’ fortunate evening.
“We didn’t hit well enough to score 10 runs but we did hit well enough to win,” said Lafontaine.
“I’m not surprised we beat them,” concurred Stephenson. “But I am surprised we mercied them.”
With four games remaining in the regular season, it’s up to the Gargs to build on what they received Tuesday night: some good fortune and a solid effort from throughout the lineup.
Gargs Largs: The Gargs’ team batting average has improved from .224 as of June 18 to .286 as of July 15. It now stands at .290. The club’s slugging percentage is now .428. That’s an improvement of .110 since June 18 . . . The Gargs had no triples until last week when they got two against Broadway (Rob, B-Mac). They got two more Tuesday (Matty and Mathieu). Matty was a productive 2-3, scoring three times and drawing a walk. Mathieu also was 2-3 with a run, RBI and sacrifice fly. Todd Duckworth laid down a sac bunt . . . “I had to spark the team,” said Zach Schowalter, referring to spending the first three innings on the bench . . . The Gargs turned a nifty double-play in the sixth when Todd caught a liner at rover and threw a short bullet to Rob covering the bag at second to nail a wayward runner . . . Broadway spent three days in Beantown, hitting Fenway and taking in the Tragically Hip in Vermont. It was part of a boy’s weekend and bachelor party. The Gargs will spend the afternoon of Aug. 8 trying to pick each other off when they get together for a paintball war followed by dinner at Sterling and then a night at the ballet . . . Quote of the night: “I want an affair with her.” — anonymous . . . The Gargs take on Les Acadiens Thursday night (9 p.m., Carlington Park). Todd (0-8) will get the ball for the Men in Black.
Box
Rob Lafontaine 1-3, BB
Karl Bélanger 1-3, run, BB, RBI
Matthew Stephenson 2-3, 3runs, 3B, BB
Mark Brennae 3-4, run
Théo Gauthier 0-3
Zach Schowalter 0-1, run
Rick Devereux 1-4, run, RBI
Brian McGregor 0-1, run, 2BB, HBP
Mathieu Gauthier 2-3, run, 3B, sac fly, RBI
Todd Duckworth 1-3, RBI, sac
Kevin Emmerson 2-3, run, RBI
Kevin Emmerson(W, 1-6) 6IP 0runs 1H 6BB 3K
Gargs 0 1 2 3 1 3 10 12 3
Broadway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
Time: 1:50
Att: 2.
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