The first six innings of today's game clearly belonged to Amsterdam Pirates.
Lefthander Robin Schel had a fine outing, gave up only one basehit and allowed Neptunus to get into scoring position only once.
In the meantime, the Amsterdam-offense was on 'Croes-control', as Linoy Croes batted in two runs to give his team a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Neptunus scored two unearned runs to come alongside, then took a 3-2 lead in the eighth.
However, Amsterdam staged a productive 5-run, 6-hit rally in the top of the ninth off of two relievers to turn the game its way again and win 7-3.
Both teams got two baserunners in the first three innings.
Nick Urbanus reached on a bunt-single with one out in the first inning off of starter Kevin Kelly, but stranded on first base.
In the third at bat, Jesse Aussems led off with a single, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Max Clarijs, but also was left behind.
For Neptunus, Benjamin Dille walked with one out in the first inning, but stayed behind on first base.
In the second inning, Gregory Muller led off with a single, but the Amsterdam-defense then turned a double play.
Amsterdam then opened the score in the top of the fourth inning.
With one out, Gilmer Lampe singled, then stole second base and moved to third base on a throwing error by catcher Gianison Boekhoudt.
Next batter Kenny Berkenbosch was hit by a pitch, but hereafter, Linoy Croes delivered a sacrifice fly that gave Amsterdam the lead.
In the fifth inning, Amsterdam got close to another run.
Jesse Aussems led off with a double and moved to third base on a following flyout.
That was followed by a pitching change, as Loek van Mil took over from Kevin Kelly and retired the next two hitters.
Amsterdam doubled its lead in the sixth and again Gilmer Lampe and Linoy Croes were involved.
With one out, Lampe singled again and stole second base again, then moved to third base on a grounder by Kenny Berkenbosch.
Lampe then scored on a single by Croes.
With that, the utility player again proved his value for the team.
Croes didn't play in the opener on Thursday and got a pinch-hit appearance on Saturday.
Today, he started in leftfield, while leftfielder Gilmer Lampe started in centerfield instead on regular Remco Draijer.
In the meantime, Amsterdam-starter Robin Schel encountered no problems.
The basehit by Gregory Muller was the lone one he gave up in the first six innings.
After giving up the basehit, the lefthander retired 12 consecutive hitters.
With one out in the sixth inning, he walked Jochem Koedijk, who then reached second base when an error was made in a pick-off/caught stealing situation.
With that, Koedijk became the first Neptunus-player to get into scoring position, but stranded on second base.
...Gilmer Lampe...
...4 basehits, 3 runs, 1 RBI, 2 stolen bases...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the top of the seventh, off of new pitcher Elton Koeiman, Amsterdam got three baserunners with one out, but two of them hit a force play-grounder.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Neptunus scored two unearned runs with two outs off of Schel to come alongside.
Gianison Boekhoudt led off with a single, but was forced out on a grounder by Dwayne Kemp.
Schel then struckout Gregory Muller, but at the same time, Kemp stole second base and moments later, also stole third base.
Kemp then scored when Shaldimar Daantji reached on an error by short stop Zerzinho Croes.
Hereafter, Daantji moved to second base on a wild pitch, then scored the tying run on a pinch-hit single by rookie Ruendrick Piternella.
The latter stole second base, but then stranded.
After Amsterdam left a runner behind on first base in the top of the eighth inning, Neptunus took a 3-2 lead in its eighth at bat off of new pitcher Kyle Ward and got the bases loaded with one out.
The lefthander gave up a lead-off single to Jochem Koedijk, who moved into scoring position thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Stijn van der Meer.
Koedijk reached third base on a wild pitch, then Benjamin Dille walked.
After reaching first base, Dille was replaced by pinch-runner Darryl Collins, who last Thursday (also as a pinch-runner) scored the winning run on a wild pitch.
Gianison Boekhoudt followed with a double that brought in Koedijk, gave Neptunus the lead and put runners on second and third base.
With first base open, Dwayne Kemp was walked intentionally to set up a force play.
Last Thursday, Amsterdam took a big risk by walking a batter intentionally with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and leading 4-2.
That hitter then represented the winning run and indeed scored the winning run.
In today's situation, Amsterdam trailed 3-2, but this time, the force play did come, as Gregory Muller grounded into an 1-2-3 inning-ending double play.
With a 3-2 lead, reliever Berry van Driel took the mound for Neptunus in the top of the ninth inning.
However, the righthander saw five hitters in a row reach base safely, resulting in a 4-3 lead for Amsterdam.
Van Driel, who last week broke a toe in a domestic accident, gave up a lead-off single to Jesse Aussems, who was able to reach second base when rightfielder Jochem Koedijk made an error.
Hereafter, pinch-hitter Rashid Gerard also singled to put runners on the corners.
Next batter Zerzinho Croes the third consecutive basehit.
With that, he enabled Norbert Jongerius (who had entered as pinch-runner for Aussems) to score and made up for his error in the seventh, which led to two unearned runs.
Nick Urbanus was the next Amsterdam-hitter to reach base, but on his grounder, Gerard was forced out in a close play on third base.
An umpire review was needed, but the call was upheld.
Kalian Sams followed with a runscoring single that put Amsterdam ahead 4-3 and led to a pitching change.
Jan Tomek took over from Van Driel, but was greeted with an RBI-single by Gilmer Lampe, his fourth basehit in the game, and a 2-run double by Kenny Berkenbosch that lifted the lead to 7-3.
Two flyouts ended the productive at bat, but the game had clearly turned Amsterdam's way again.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Kyle Ward retired the side with all three outfielders making a catch.
Leftfielder Gilmer Lampe began the inning with a great diving catch on a line drive from lead-off hitter Shaldimar Daantji.
And so, the 2017 Holland Series will at least be a 5-game series.
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Amsterdam Pirates rallies in 9th inning to win Game 3 Holland Series
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
L&D Amsterdam Pirates rallied for five runs in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday (October 1) to win 7-3 against Curaçao Neptunus in Game 3 of the best-of-seven Holland Series.
With the win, Amsterdam not only recovered from the embarrassing 12-0 shutout-loss on Saturday, but also cut the Series-lead on Neptunus in half and forced at least a fifth game.
Game Three, best-of-seven Holland Series 2017.