Majors fall late to Cardinals

Written by Dan Haugh / Photo by Matt Hiscox

The Hamilton Cardinals came into Labatt Park on Sunday afternoon looking to solidify their hold on fifth place in the IBL standings. The Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to upset the London Majors by a score of 4-3.

With the win the Cardinals are a half game ahead of the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers in fifth place.

With today's loss the London Majors remain in a third place tie with the Guelph Royals who also lost this afternoon by a score of 7-6 in 12 innings to the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers.

Stephen Walen ́s RBI single brought in Brandon Daley to give Hamilton a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

London did not have a hit or base runner against Hamilton starting pitcher Corben Peters until the bottom of the fourth inning when with two outs catcher Eduardo De Oleo hit a two-out double that found the gap in left centre. The next batter up was Cleveland Brownlee who hit a sinking line drive that was caught by Hamilton centre fielder Tyler Duncan stranding De Oleo at second base.

Ther Cardinals increased their lead to 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning when Josh Niles came into score on a wild pitch,

The Majors fought back in the bottom of the sixth inning with a three-run rally to take the lead for the first time in the game at 3-2.

That rally started when Ty Mosher reached base on a ground ball single that just barely eluded the Hamilton second baseman. Gibson Krzeminski reached base on fielder's choice. Followed by a single by Drew Lawrence that moved Krzeminski over to third base.

 Eduardo De Oleo put the Majors on the scoreboard for the first time with a single driving in Gibson Krzeminski.

Designated hitter Cleveland Brownlee hammered an RBI two-bagger off the left-field wall to plate Drew Lawrence and knot the score at 2-2.

With two out Byron Reichstein hit a two-out 3-2 pitch to center field for a sacrifice fly bringing in De Oleo to put the Majors on the lead for the first time in the game at 3-2. That London lead held until the top of the ninth inning when Hamilton scored a pair of runs to take a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth inning reliever Casey Bouillere-Howard retired the Majors in order to earn his first save of the season. WIth his one inning of relief in the eighth Connor Cory recorded his first win of 2024.

The London Majors had a total of eight hits in the game. Drew Lawrence and Eduardo De Oleo had two hits each while Cleveland Brownlee, Kaiden Cardoso, Victor Plaz and Ty Mosher came through with one hit each.

Jose Arias pitched the first seven innings for London before leaving the game with the Majors leading 3-2. In relief Victor Payano gave up the two Hamilton runs in the ninth inning to take the loss.

The London Majors will not have to wait long to try to avenge Sunday's loss as they will travel to Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium in Hamilton on Tuesday night to battle the Cardinals at 7:35 p.m.

Next home action for the London Majors will be Friday August 16th when the Guelph Royals come to Labatt Park for a game that will most likely have a lot to say about upcoming playoff match-ups.