Maple Leafs spoil Kegtappers debut party in Kitchener
KITCHENER - On K-W Oktoberfest night, the Berlin Kegtappers and Toronto Maple Leafs played through more twists and turns than a pretzel.
But in the end, the Leafs emerged victorious 9-3 at Jack Couch Park Thursday night.
It didn't start pretty for Berlin starter Jorge Minyety, who gave up a solo shot to Brando Leroux on the fourth pitch of the game.
It was the first of two home runs on the night for Leroux.
He broke open what was a 5-3 Leaf lead in the eighth with a two-run shot in what was an otherwise nail biter of a game.
Minyety struck out seven and gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits in six innings of work.
The story of the game became the errors that led to runs being scored.
A wild pick-off attempt off the glove of Yosuke Fujie at third allowed Toronto's second run to score in the first inning.
Fujie redeemed himself later with a pair of spectacular defensive plays at third, and hit a solo home run to make it 4-3 in the sixth inning.
In the eighth, Crix Taveras was caught in no man's land between first and second, but a throwing error and attention away from Yordan Manduley allowed the former Panther to come in to score.
Marcus Knecht hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to round out the scoring.
Kitchener drops to 10-17 on the season, while Toronto improves to 9-18.
Kitchener is on the road in Hamilton Friday, Barrie Saturday and back home Sunday to take on Welland at 5:05 p.m.
It begins a tough stretch for the Panthers, who play their next seven games against opponents currently in playoff positions.
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