MULTI-HOMER GAME FROM DEI BANING POWERS LEAFS TO COMEBACK VICTORY
Written by: Noam Streiffer
The Toronto Maple Leafs battled back from an early deficit on Wednesday night, defeating the Brantford Red Sox 7-6 at Dominico Field.
The Leafs struck first in the opening frame, taking advantage of a pair of hits from JJ Dutton and Yasiel Puig before Yordan Manduley grounded into a double play that brought a run home. Brantford answered in the second, when Tim Holyk launched a solo home run to even the game at one.
The Red Sox grabbed the lead in the third on a sacrifice fly from Christian Ortega, and Brantford added to its advantage in the fifth when Ortega connected on a two-run home run to make it 4-1.
Toronto refused to let the game get away from them. Puig provided an immediate response in the bottom half of the fifth, launching his record-breaking 22nd home run of the season to cut the deficit to two.
The Leafs then added another run in the sixth when Dennis Dei Baning hit a solo home run, bringing Toronto within one at 4-3.
“Its been a rocky, kinda streaky season for me, shout out to my teammates who still believe in me i’m happy to be on the right side this time” Dei Baning commented on his home runs.
The turning point came in the seventh.
After Marcus Knecht singled and JJ Dutton brought home Spenser Ross with a sacrifice fly, the Leafs had runners on base with two outs.
Dennis Dei Baning then stepped to the plate and delivered the biggest blow of the night, crushing a three-run home run to left field to give Toronto its first lead of the game at 7-5.
“I was trying to tell myself yes, no approach look to ambush a ball… pitchers are usually trying to throw a first pitch strike, so i just do my best not to miss that” Dei Baning commented postgame
Brantford managed to make things interesting in the eighth. Christian Kuzemka singled home Jakob Cantor before a passed ball allowed another run to score, cutting the Leafs' lead to just one.
That brought Reinaldo De Paula into the game looking to close things out. De Paula delivered, retiring Brantford in order in the ninth. He struck out Lucas Lefebvre swinging before getting Cassidy Watt to line out to left and Andrew Savage to ground out, securing the 7-6 victory for Toronto.
Dei Baning was the offensive hero for the Leafs, going deep twice and driving in four runs, while Puig also homered and collected multiple hits. Toronto finished the night with 13 hits as a team.
Kyle Poapst earned the win for Toronto, improving to 2-0 on the season, while Jose Arias took the loss for Brantford. De Paula recorded the save.
Up Next: A double header on Friday against the Kitchener Panthers with the first game starting at 5:00pm and the second game starting half an hour after the end of the first game.