Game 66 Recap: Back from the Brink
Ybarra delivers 3 home runs and a Knockout Round walkoff in an electric comeback win for Oakland after 9-9 tie
By Michael Thompson
WEST OAKLAND—With the bases empty, one out in the ninth inning and the (omni-)visiting RedPocket Mobiles holding a 9-5 lead, a new Ballers fan would be forgiven for considering the game a loss. Twenty minutes later, Oakland (8-10 second half, 30-36 overall) had players flooding the field after a Knockout Round victory and fans running through firehose spray for their own celebration.
The Ballers’ David Thomas and Mobiles’ Ren Abe-Arias started a laid-back Sunday affair with a pair of appropriately breezy innings, with a 2-out single by Oakland’s Nick Leehey constituting the game’s only baserunner across the opening two frames.
Thomas ran into trouble in the third, however, allowing a leadoff single and 2-run home run to RedPocket catcher and former Baller Nick Poss. After a walk, Thomas retired the next two batters before third baseman Efrain Manzo jumped on a 1-1 fastball to give the league-worst Mobiles (1-17, 13-53) a 4-0 lead. First baseman Jordan Harrison-Dudley piled on, hitting a homer of his own to grow the lead to five before another former Baller, T.J. McKenzie, grounded out to end the inning.
Oakland center fielder Esai Santos followed with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the third to end Abe-Arias’ short-lived shutout, providing the Ballers with a run and desperately needed positive momentum staring at a 5-1 deficit.
The Mobiles, looking to put the game entirely out of reach, quickly loaded the bases with one out in the fourth against a laboring Thomas. Thomas, needing a big pitch, got one, as Poss popped out on the infield to put Oakland an out away from escaping the inning unscathed.
With two away, Thomas’ 1-1 pitch was slapped toward first base by RedPocket right fielder Maxim Fullerton, and the Ballers looked to be out of trouble. First baseman Cam Bufford, though, wasn’t able to wrangle in the one-hopper and his ill-timed error gave the Mobiles their sixth run of the game. With that, Thomas was lifted for Ahmad Harajli, who got out of the inning via a Manzo groundout.
Both teams played through a scoreless fifth inning before Jeter Ybarra made his first big mark on the game in the sixth. With the count 0-1, Ybarra punched an Abe-Arias fastball just over the fence in the left field corner, giving the Ballers their second run. Blythe followed with a double, Bufford knocked him in, and the score was 6-3 Mobiles entering the game’s final third.
Ybarra’s next opportunity came in the 8th inning after the Mobiles had tacked on another two runs via a Kishon Frett home run, Royce Clayton triple and Spence Coffman single. Following a Jake Allgeyer walk, Ybarra thumped a ball to the right-center batting cages, keeping the B’s within reach.
Closer Langston Burkett entered the game in the ninth hoping to keep the score where it was, but Frett hit his second homer of the day to grow the lead to four.
But the 9-5, four-run difference set up the most dramatic slam of the season. With his team holding the lead, Mobiles manager Dmitri Young left Abe-Arias in to close the game despite his sky-high pitch count of 116. The fatigued Abe-Arias, who consistently reached 90mph in the first inning, maxed out at 87 in a laborious ninth.
A walk, error and single loaded the bases for Ybarra with one out, bringing the league's home run leader to the plate as Oakland's best hope. Abe-Arias, nearing 130 pitches, left his first pitch to Ybarra over the plate and Ybarra demolished it over the right field wall for a game-tying grand slam that sent fans into joyous disbelief and the game to the Knockout Round tied at 9-9.
Ybarra expressed some gratified confusion to Dispatches over the Mobiles’ decision to leave the ailing Abe-Arias in the game with the bases loaded. “I saw they were warming up a lefty, so I was going up the whole time thinking they were going to bring that lefty in.”
Ybarra continued, “So when I saw their righty in, I guess the only way to explain it is I was excited to see him again.”
The Mobiles’ Frett came up empty in his chance to score in the Knockout Round with no homers, leaving the door open for Oakland. Ybarra wasted no time, crushing the first pitch he swung at over the fence to complete an improbable comeback and seal the Ballers' walk-off victory.
As the celebration erupted on Soak the Town Sunday, aka First Responders’ Day, the fire trucks beyond the outfield fence sent streams of water into the still-warm afternoon, calling fans back to the fondest of memories when fountains over the field heralded the Ballers’ Game 5 win that secured last season’s Pioneer League Championship.
Odds & Ends
Both the games that I have covered for Dispatches have been dramatic Knockout Round comeback wins for Oakland. Since my presence guarantees a walk-off Ballers win, fans who wish to get in on the excitement should know that I will be covering the game on Tuesday, August 4th as well.
Oakland has only lost one Knockout Round all season, and none at home. Tremayne Cobb, Cam Bufford, and now Jeter Ybarra have been leadoff knockout hitters.
Head Groundskeeper and all-around hero Anthony Alejandrez discovered the beloved Big B on the side of the green warehouse mid-vandalization this morning. He ran off the perpetrator and cleaned the iconic letter before fans arrived.
Former Baller and history-maker Kelsie Whitmore made her debut in the new Women’s Professional Baseball League, starting the San Francisco Firebells inaugural game as the pitcher and 2-hitter. She dominated on the mound, throwing three innings of one-hit ball while contributing a walk and sac fly at the plate in a dominant 11-3 win over the Boston Hunters.
It’s possible, albeit unlikely, that the Mobiles’ dugout was unaware of Abe-Arias’ high pitch count due to the Raimondi Park scoreboard, which displayed it as 116 for the entire ninth inning. Ybarra’s dramatic homer was actually on Abe-Arias’ 130th pitch.
Ybarra’s 29 home runs on the season easily paces the Pioneer League (the Idaho Falls Chukars’ Justin Trimble, another onetime Baller this season, is second with 24), but Ybarra is far from focused on the home run race. “I try not to pay too much attention because otherwise I take it too much to my head, but I’m just gonna continue putting good swings on balls and see if they keep going.”
With photos from Darrell Lavin Photography.
Video recap from Ben Verhoek.
Animation by Chris Drue.
Michael Thompson is a Bay Area student entering his senior year of high school. He writes about MLB and other baseball leagues on his Substack, as well as for Dispatches. After high school, he plans to attend college and work in the sports industry.
