(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos courtesy of Alswinn Kieboom)
  Spencer Kieboom makes debut in Major League
Nederlands
 WASHINGTON, DC (USA) -
Spencer Kieboom made his debut in the Major League on Sunday-afternoon (October 2), as he was inserted as pinch-hitter by the Washington Nationals agaist the Miami Marlins in the final game of the regular season.
And he made a fine debut, as he scored for the Nationals in the 10-7 victory.
Kieboom was recalled to the Major League-squad of the Nationals on September 27.
On September 24, the Nationals captured their third Championship-title in the last five seasons in the National League East.
On Friday, the Nationals open the National League Division Series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
...Spencer Kieboom with his father Alswinn...
(© Photo courtesy of Alswinn Kieboom) |
With the Nationals leading 8-5 in the top of the eighth inning on Sunday, the Marlins scored twice to narrow the deficit to 8-7.
In the bottom of the at bat, the Nationals answered with two runs of its own, one of them being scored by Kieboom.
In the bottom of the eighth, Brian Ellington took over the pitching for Miami, but was greeted with a lead-off double by Pedro Severino.
Hereafter, Spencer Kieboom (wearing uniform number 64) was inserted as pinch-hitter for relief pitcher Sammy Solis.
Kieboom walked in his first Major League plate appearance and with that, the Nationals had runners on first and second base.
After an infield-fly accounted for the first out, Trea Turner delivered a runscoring single that brought in Severino.
Moments later, next batter Ben Revere also connected for a runscoring single that enabled Kieboom to score from second base.
The bases got loaded when Bryce Harper walked and that brought in new pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne.
The Cuban retired the next two batters, three runners were left behind, but the Nationals had scored two insurance runs to lift the lead to 10-7.
In the top of the ninth, Kieboom was replaced again.
Mark Melancon took over the pitching for the Nationals and he took over Kieboom's position in the batting order.
Melancon earned his 47th save of the season.
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...Spencer Kieboom during Spring Training...
(© Photo courtesy of Alswinn Kieboom) |
This season, Kieboom, who is a catcher, played for Harrisburg Senators in Double-A.
Kieboom played in 94 games and batted .230 (71-for-309) with 11 doubles and five homeruns.
He scored 27 runs and batted in 31.
After completion of last season, Kieboom was placed on the 40-man roster and during Training before the start of this season, he played in six games for the Nationals.
Spencer also had played in three games during Spring Training in 2015.
The 25-year old Kieboom is the son of former Dutch big league-catcher Alswinn Kieboom, who played for Twins and HCAW and was a member of the Netherlands National Junior Team, before moving to the States at age 17.
There, Alswinn played for Eastern Illinois University.
In 2013, Spencer was on the preliminary roster of the Netherlands National Baseball Team for the World Baseball Classic.
Alswinn's other two sons also are talented players.
Trevor Kieboom is an outfielder/first baseman for the Bulldogs, the team of the University of Georgia, while Carter Kieboom was a short stop for the Raiders, the team of Walton High School.
On June 20 of this year, Carter (who turned 19 in September) also was signed by the Washington Nationals and was assigned to the GCL Nationals (Rookie League), where he made his professional debut shortly thereafter.
There, he played in 36 games and batted .244 with eight doubles, four triples and four homeruns, while scoring 22 runs and batting in 25.
Last year, Carter won the Silver Spikes Award after completion of the Under Armour All-America Game, which is played annually by the most talented high school-players in the country.
Like Spencer, Carter and Trevor have dual citizenship.
(October 2)
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