Makowiak pitches a gem for Pawtucket in game 5 victory

PAWTUCKET R.I. (AP) – Henry Mackowiak only had to shut down the Texas offense for six innings. A four-run Pawtucket inning and some great bullpen pitching finished the rest.

The Polythene advanced to the NLCS for the third year in a row with a 5-1 win in the deciding game 5 of the NLDS. They will take on division rival Norfolk next, and attempt to reach the World Series for the first time in team history.

“We are happy to be back, but we’re not done yet,” Mackowiak said after allowing one run in six innings to earn the win. “Obviously we have much higher goals. But right now I’m just going to sink it in and prepare for Norfolk in the morning.”

Mackowiak left the game after allowing just three hits in six innings with the game tied at 1-1. He had allowed a home run in the sixth inning to Tito Abbot, which allowed the Tittyballs to tie the game up.

But Pawtucket would do its damage with a four-run inning in the bottom of the sixth. After a Geoff Hunter walk, Victor Martin had a base hit extended into a double on a rare error from left fielder Eugene Ryan. It was an uncharacteristic error by Ryan who had only three all season.

“I just let my eye get off the ball,” said the 36-year old Ryan, who may have been playing in the last game of his 12-year Major League career. “It was a simple mistake which could not have come at a worse time.”

Hunter and Martin would both score when the next batter, Al Service hit them in with a hit back to Ryan in left center field. Service would score, along with Louis Saunders, when Sal Walker hit a single to right field four batters later, with two outs. Saunders also scored the Polythene’s first
run in the third inning.

“We are a team that prides itself on small ball,” Pawtucket hitting coach Theo Woodward said. “It’s been our staple all year, and we knew we were going to have to make it work in this game. The heroics by Al and Sal are ones that our fans will hopefully not forget.”

Joe Smith came in for Pawtucket and pitched two innings of relief, allowing two hits in the eighth inning. Darryl Richardson got the first two outs of the ninth inning but after he walked Sean O’Toole to put men on first and second closer Frank Harris was put in to get the save. Harris struck out Frank Ogawa on three straight pitches to secure the win.

“(Bullpen coach) Tito (Kydd) told me to finish the job as fast as I could,” Harris said. “After I got the first two (strikes), I decided to try and make him swing for something outside the zone. And it worked.”

Mackowiak was named the game MVP. He had started in Game 3, did not allow a single run in six innings, but Pawtucket still lost 6-3.

“I’ll be ready whenever my team needs me,” Mackowiak said. “You have to be come playoff time. If I were told I needed to pitch tomorrow, I would happily agree.”