6/29/2013: Arlington, VA – One of the greatest things about baseball is that, every now and then, something rather unexpected will happen.  It may be something that grab s headlines, such as Ronald Elmore becoming the first player to hit three home runs in a game this season on June 19^th, but those things are more frequent than we think.  Accordingly, that feat was accomplished for the second time this season just three days later, when Omaha’s Manuel González did it against Yuma.  Given that Elmore accomplished his feat against Fargo’s Armando Gallegos and his comrades (two of the three were off Gallegos), one might consider his feat slightly more impressive, but they are both noteworthy.

While feats such as a three-home run game or a pitcher twirling a no-hitter are certainly rare and unexpected, when they happen, everyone knows about them.  There are other things that go on in baseball that go completely unnoticed, and what happened on April 24^th of this season may be the most unexpected event to have occurred this year.

If you look back on league history, delve into the record books that Baseball News Network so assiduously keeps, you can find records of past three-home run games.  It’s a fun thing to watch, but it happened 25 times prior to this season, including eight occurrences last year alone, so it’s not the rarest of events.  In fact, 2009 was the only season in which only one player had a three-home run game.  You certainly wouldn’t go to a game expecting to see a three-home run game, but it also isn’t something that hasn’t been done before.  There had been 12 occurrences of six-hit games and 13 occurrences of 15-strikeout games prior to this year, although only New Orleans’ Ed Mitchell has added his name to either of those groups this year.  As for no-hitters, well, the PEBA has seen 12 of those, including one that occurred on May 16^th when five Featherheads combined to hold Kentucky hitless.  Naturally, Kentucky’s Leland Tatum threw a complete game.  That certainly has to be one of the most unexpected things to happen this season.  Thing is, everyone noticed.  It’s likely that what happened on April 24^th was even more unexpected, and the fact that no one seems to have noticed suggests this is true.

Often, the most unexpected events in life are unexpected because of the things that immediately preceded them.  April 23^rd was a very typical day in the baseball world, and when Crystal Lake took the field in Reno, there was little expectation that Reno would win.  Unlike the casinos, the house doesn’t always win at Kingpin Alley, and this day was no exception.  The Sandgnats pounced on former Golden Arm winner John Roach and his cadre of relievers while getting a superb performance from Bryan Stewart.  The final score was 13-1 and little doubt was left in anyone’s mind that the Tenpinners were severely outclassed.

That type of performance wasn’t the kind of game that would inspire someone who wasn’t either a Sandgnats fan or a Tenpinners season ticket holder to want to see the next one.  If your car were to break down, and you had a choice between the local car museum and watching another clash between these mismatched teams, you’d choose the museum.  Of course, if you did that, then you missed something special.

At the same time that Reno was preparing to play the middle game of their three-game series with Crystal Lake, the Yuma Bulldozers were preparing to host the Kalamazoo Badgers.  The Badgers had taken the first two games of the series with a combined score of 23-6, but that didn’t stop a series high 29,505 fans from showing up for the Wednesday night affair.  Little did they know they were in for a treat.

Entering this day, the Yuman batsmen have scored the fewest runs in the league this season, but in this game, they manage to string together some hits off Dan Burhoe in the third inning to go up 3-0.  Eric Hill wouldn’t need any more than that, as he holds the Badgers to just 2 runs in a 4-2 victory.  At this point in the season, it’s Yuma’s only victory over Kalamazoo.

Back in Reno, things have taken an early turn for the positive.  Despite scoring just one run the night before, the Tenpinners take a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Carlos Martínez homers off Yoshitora Koyama.  With Keith Bandelow on the mound for Reno, there is certainly plenty of time left for the Sandgnats offense to come back.  They’re actually 12-9 on the year (including this game) when losing after the first inning, while Reno is just 4-3 when taking a first inning lead.

In the third inning, Blair Nelson adds another run for Reno with a solo shot of his own, and suddenly it’s 3-0.  At this point, Reno fans are likely wondering just how the bullpen is going to blow it, and they’d be justified for their pessimism.  On the season, Crystal Lake has a better record when losing after 3 innings (9-13) than Reno does when winning after 3 innings (8-13).  However, Bandelow has other ideas.  He has one of his best outings of the year, giving up just one run as the Tenpinners win 3-1.  It’s Reno’s only victory over Crystal Lake this year.

When you take those two victories together, you certainly start to think that makes for a pretty special day in the PEBA.  The two worst teams in the league, with a combined 33 victories between them, both won on the same day.  That’s pretty special and unexpected.  However, it’s not unique.  They actually did it again on June 23^rd, when Bandelow threw 8 innings of shutout ball against Duluth in a 5-0 win.  Down in Yuma, the Bulldozers battled back from a 4-0 deficit, putting up 6 runs in the 7^th inning, to beat the Cyclones 7-4.  It’s one of just two games the team has won this year when trailing after 6 innings, compared to 50 losses.

So what makes April 24^th so much more unique than June 23^rd?  Well, it’s not just that the Tenpinners and Bulldozers won, but the fact that Tempe, Aurora, Bakersfield and Palm Springs all won their games, too.  It was a clean sweep by the SL Desert Hills division over the SL Great Lakes*.  Tempe defeated Fargo 7-4, Aurora took care of Omaha 11-2 and Bakersfield handed Canton a 9-1 loss.  Despite the wins in Yuma and Reno, all five of these games were relatively uneventful affairs.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that on June 12^th, the Great Lakes division returned the favor, sweeping all of their games against the Desert Hills division.  However, I don’t consider this to be nearly as noteworthy for the simple fact that Yuma and Reno so rarely win a game on their own, let alone on the same day as the rest of the division.  Neither IL division has swept the other on a single day this season.

The one game that had some suspense was the game in Duluth, with visiting Palm Springs falling behind 2-0 in the second inning.  The Codgers got a home run in the 5^th from catcher Hiroshi Shini to get on the board, but by the 9^th inning, the Warriors had earned it back and held a 3-1 lead.  They’ve held a lead heading into the 9^th inning 27 times this year, but April 24^th would prove to be one of their four losses.  The struggling Owen Page would get the chance for the save, as closer Ben Thomas had pitched in each of the previous three games.  The Codgers must have been salivating at the thought of facing Page, who walks nearly a batter an inning.  The first three batters went double, walk, single to load the bases, and then Mark Lamb followed with a run-scoring walk.  After a failed sacrifice fly that saw Yong-zhan Hu thrown out at the plate, Warriors fans may have thought they were going to worm their way out of it.  However, Miguel Cortéz booted John Gustafson’s grounder, allowing two runs to cross the plate to give Palm Springs a 5-3 lead they would not surrender.

Samuel Platt covers the Nutmeggers for the Connecticut Post