Around the Diamond: Playoffs begin; Pitching decisions ahead

They clinched the pennant Thursday, and they’ll open playoffs Friday — against the Brantford Red Sox. Managing pitching will be key, while the Majors will look to keep the bats rolling. Our latest news & notes …

Pedro De Los Santos will start Game 1 of the Majors’ first-round playoff series against the Brantford Red Sox Friday night. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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It took an extra game to do it, but the London Majors clinched a second straight IBL pennant Thursday night with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the visiting Guelph Royals at Labatt Park.

The one-game tie-breaker certainly had a playoff feel, as arguably the league’s top two pitchers started the contest, the teams took turns playing small ball, and the importance of each at-bat was felt throughout the low-scoring affair. It was a swinging bunt that ended it in favour of the Majors, who came back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to score the winning run in walk-off fashion. 

With Claudio Custodio, the Royals’ ace, out of the contest after eight innings and 124 pitches, London manufactured the game’s winning run against Guelph closer Andrew Case in the ninth. A Keith Kandel single got things started. After an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempt, Taylor Wright lofted a single to left, and then Cleveland Brownlee reached on a play that Justin Interisano was unable to make at first base.

That loaded the bases with one out for Robert Mullen, the team’s leading hitter in 2022. No, his heroics didn’t include lacing a ball to the outfield, but his slow bouncer and roller to the pitcher worked just as well, as Case was unable to make a play at home for the force out and the winning run came across to clinch first place for London. It earned them their second straight pennant and home field advantage throughout the postseason – which begins tonight …

1) Red Sox for round one. In clinching first in the IBL standings, the Majors will face the eighth-place Brantford Red Sox in round one of the playoffs (Guelph will face seventh-place Hamilton). That’s no small difference, especially after having to play a game (and use three pitchers) the night before the playoffs. While there are no sure things, especially in the postseason, a first-round matchup against the Red Sox is the best-case scenario for the Majors.

It was a tough season for Brantford. There’s no way to sugar coat it. The Sox won just twice all year and finished the regular season having lost 18 straight. London won all six games between the two teams during the regular campaign, outscoring Brantford 82-17 in those contests. 

The most recent was a 20-4 drubbing at Labatt Park on August 12. Ahead 6-2, the Majors exploded for nine runs in the sixth inning and then scored another five in the seventh. The usual suspects did plenty of damage in that one, as Mullen homered, Wright went 4-for-5, doubling twice and driving in five runs. Starling Joseph also had a pair of doubles, while Jakob Newton reached four times and scored thrice.

As you might expect in a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 8, these teams were at opposite ends of nearly every statistical category during the regular season. London scored the most runs in the league; Brantford scored the fewest. The Majors’ pitching staff allowed the fewest runs; the Red Sox gave up the most. On paper, it’s a one-sided matchup. But that’s why we play the games, as they say, and the playoffs are a different animal, especially in a best-of-five series … 

IBL Playoffs First Round: London Majors vs. Brantford Red Sox (best-of-five series)

Game 1: Fri. Aug. 26 (7:35pm at Labatt Park)
Game 2: Sat. Aug. 27 (8:00pm @ Arnold Anderson Stadium)
Game 3: Sun. Aug. 28 (6:05pm at Labatt Park)
Game 4: Tues. Aug. 30 (8:00pm @ Arnold Anderson Stadium) (if necessary)
Game 5: Wed. Aug. 31 (7:35pm at Labatt Park) (if necessary)

2) A look at the leaderboard. His final hit may have been a dribbler, but Robert Mullen’s 3-for-4 performance Thursday night put an exclamation mark on his fantastic season at the plate for the London Majors – one that earned him the 2022 IBL batting title. Including last night’s tie-breaking contest, Mullen finished the year with an impressive .413 batting average (69-for-167). Those 69 hits, meanwhile, also put him ahead of Justin Gideon (Hamilton/Welland) for most in the league.

Though he was 0-for-5 at the plate Thursday, Cleveland Brownlee finished tops in the league with 52 RBI during the regular season (Mullen was second with 51). His career-best 15 home runs, meanwhile, tied him with Mullen for second most in the IBL. After Mullen, Jakob Newton also finished in the top 10 in batting. He was fifth with a .368 batting average (50-for-136). Starling Joseph tied for 12th with a .343 mark (59-for-172).

(Though he didn’t qualify, falling 15 plate appearances short, Taylor Wright’s season-ending .394 batting average (43-for-109) would have placed him second in the league behind only teammate Mullen. Dan Perrier also didn’t qualify, but he posted an impressive .378 average in 90-at-bats over 32 games).

On the pitching side, Jose Arias, who started Thursday night’s tie-breaker for the Majors, finished the regular season as the league’s ERA leader at 1.70 – ahead of Custodio’s 2.18 mark. Arias’s 135 strikeouts, which are a new Majors franchise record, placed him second in the IBL behind Custodio, who broke an IBL record this season with 206 strikeouts including last night’s tie-breaking contest. The Majors’ Owen Boon was third in Ks (111) and fourth in ERA (3.18).

Majors catcher Robert Mullen won the IBL batting title, finishing with a .413 mark (69-for-167). (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3) Pedro gets Game 1. With ace Arias needed for last night’s tie-breaker, he’s obviously not available for Game 1 against Brantford, a spot he’d likely occupy under normal circumstances. It’ll be Pedro De Los Santos in the playoff opener Friday, with the rest of the pitching schedule to be determined as the series plays itself out.

While De Los Santos has not enjoyed the success he did last year (5.66 ERA overall in 2022), the left-hander has pitched better in recent weeks – although it’s been out of the bullpen. In his last three appearances, De Los Santos has worked six scoreless innings (one unearned run), racking up 10 strikeouts in the process. He’ll move back into a starting role Friday, for the first time since July 31. The 33-year-old has thrown 60 1/3 innings overall this season (nine starts and seven relief appearances).

After Pedro? It’s a good question, and it’s one that might dictate the rest of the series. Majors manager Roop Chanderdat has Bo Lewington, Daniel Gore and Anderson Acevedo at his disposal, as well as Connor Ambrogio (and even Braeden Ferrington, who worked two innings and earned the win Friday) if needed.

Fernando Fernandez is most likely unavailable after a fantastic four innings Friday, in which he kept London in the game while they made their comeback effort. He allowed one run on one hit while striking out three. Owen Boon is likely to be held back for a start in either Game 2 Saturday or Game 3 Sunday. Will we see Arias at all this weekend? It’s possible, as he threw just 60 pitches to get through his three innings last night. If not, he would almost certainly start a Game 4 (if necessary) on Tuesday night.

4) Majors’ 1-2 punch. Batting seventh in his first game back after spending five weeks with the Frontier League’s Ottawa Titans, Taylor Wright went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and 3 RBI back on July 29. He was almost immediately moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order. In the second game of a doubleheader two days later, it was Jakob Newton in the leadoff spot and Wright right behind him. That combination has stuck.

Including that contest against Kitchener July 31, Newton and Wright have batted 1-2 in all but one of the last 11 games, and they’ve combined to hit an impressive .389 during that time. Newton has gone 18-for-48 (.375), while Wright has posted a .404 mark (19-for-47) in those 10 contests.

And that’s a weighty .389 average, too, as the pair are just as dangerous as run-producers as they are table setters. For instance, they’ve also combined for four home runs, 15 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs during that span. That’s a pretty dangerous 1-2 punch of left-handed hitters at the top of a lineup – especially when they’re followed by two of the league’s best right-handed bats this season in Brownlee and Mullen.