| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |||
| Philadelphia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 4 | ||
| Chicago | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 3 |
It started in very similar fashion as yesterday. Philadelphia scored three runs in the first, Chicago earned one back in the second.
But this time, Chicago was able to come back from a 5-2 lead. Down 4-1 in the 5th, Chicago came to bat. After a walk and sacrafice bunt put a man on second, with two outs Kyle came to the plate.
On the second pitch, he crushed a ball to left center field. Left fielder Fred Lankford raced after the ball toward the wall. In a half leap, half dive, he caught the ball right before it hit the wall. He crashed into the hard wall and fell in a heap. But he had hung on to the ball, saving a run.
With Philadelphia adding an insurance run on a sacrifice fly in the the 7th, it wasn't looking good for the Orphans.
When they came up in the 7th, they needed to cut the lead desperately. The first batter, Sheffield, struck out. But then Salmon came up and ripped a single up the middle. With pinch hitter Shea up, a grounder to the first basemen looked like a double play and the end of the inning. But Shea hustled to first and was barely safe. On a steal attempt, Philadelphia catcher Elias Haley overthrew the man covering, allowing Shea to get to third. The top of the order came up, and Goldsmith drove in the run on a line drive over the shortstop to cut the lead to 5-2.
When Chicago came up the 8th, time was running out. There was no more time to manufacture runs. They needed a quick strike. And when Byron Murry, the team's second baseman came to the plate, he delivered with a two-out, two-run home run that brought them back into the game. It was now 5-4, Centennials.
Philadelphia failed to add any insurance runs in their half of the 9th, and now Chicago was coming up with one last chance.
On a 3-2 count, Salmon fouled off three straight pitches. On the 9th pitch of the at-bat, he ripped one at the short stop. He couldn't handle the hot hit, and Salmon made it to first on the error. Pinch hitter Lentz came to the plate next. On a 1-1 count, he hit a soft grounder that found a hole between the first and second baseman. Salmon sped around second and was safe at third as he slid under the tag.
Next up was Goldsmith. On the 2-2 pitch, he drilled one to center. It wouldn't drop in, but it was deep enough to score Salmon from third. The game was tied, but it wasn't over yet. They still had a shot to win the game.
Bearden came up next and hit a soft line drive to right-center for a single. Lentz, considered by many to be the slowest player in the league, trotted to second base. When Chavez came up, he took four straight balls. The bases were loaded with one out.
Ezekial Peel, arguably the best hitter on Chicago, stepped to the plate. He was right on the first pitch, but fouled it back hard to the backstop. Then he watched two straight balls saily by. Zimmerman was obviously trying to be careful, but a walk would win the game for the Orphans, so he couldn't be too careful. On the 2-1, a very close pitch was called a strike by the umpire. And on the 2-2, a pitch that looked very, very good sailed across the plate. Zimmerman even started to the dugout for a moment. But the umpire did not call the strike.
After two straight fouls on the 3-2 count, Peel hit one down the left field line. It was high and deep enough for most to score on the sacrafice fly. But of course, it was Lentz at third. While most of the league would easily score, he would be an easy out. So he had to stay at third, and the next batter flew out to center, ending the inning and keeping the game tied at 5-5.
The Centennials put together three straight outs once again in the top of the 10th, their last hit all the way back in the 7th.
When Murry came up for the Orphans, another Philadelphia error allowed him on, their fourth of the game. A walk to Sheffield put men on 1st and 2nd. Then Salmon came up and hit a hard line drive. The runners had to pause to make sure it went through, and could only move up one base.
That brought up Connelly, the Chicago pitcher. But with the other reliever already used, Connely had to bat. The infield came in to cut off the run at home. A hot shot to short stop got the out at home easily.
So now it was up to Goldsmith, the leadoff hitter for the Orphans. On the 1-1 count, Goldsmith hit a towering flyball to deep center field, but there was no way to get the tagging runner. The Philadelphia center fielder threw with all his might, but it rolled in innocently as the Centennials left the field and the Orphans celebrated their game two win at the plate.
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