Brown leads PCL
CdA High grad named player of the game
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Matt Brown hardly seemed bothered when the Pacific Coast League entered the top of the ninth trailing the International League by two in the Triple-A All-Star game.
“Nobody was down, we had confidence,” said Brown, a 2001 graduate of Coeur d’Alene High. “In the PCL, two runs is nothing. Nobody was packing it in.”
Instead, Brown and his teammates packed a night’s worth of offense into one inning, scoring six off the IL’s top closer as the PCL rallied for a 6-5 victory.
“I just didn’t want to go out there and strike out every time,” said Brown, who had two hits and was the PCL player of the game.
Brown didn’t, but plenty of others did. The teams combined for an All-Star record 22 strikeouts, and for eight innings neither team appeared particularly inspired by playing a few blocks from the home of the Louisville Slugger.
Still, the IL seemed to have things in control after scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh on Andrew McCutchen’s RBI infield single and a fielder’s choice RBI by Mike Hessman.
Enter Blaine Neal. The closer for the Toledo Mud Hens has converted an IL-leading 23 saves this year. Yet he struggled against the PCL’s best.
“I told my guys ‘Blaine Neal will come right at you,’ ” said Pat Listach, who managed the PCL and the Iowa Cubs. “Our guys put a lot of good at-bats against him. They were solid.”