The Moose Jaw Miller Express have a 1-0 playoff series lead with an 8-6 win against the the Melville Millionaires, but each of the last two innings were long, exhausting adventures.
With an 8-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Express reliever Brennan Luffman, who before Friday hadn’t pitched since July 13th, struggled and gave up three runs and walked two in only 1/3 of an inning.
Express head coach Michael Hunt said he wanted to use the crafty, finesse pitching Luffman against the Millionaires in large part because fellow Express lefty Paul Waterman, who has a similar style, was very effective against them on Wednesday, pitching five scoreless innings in the win.
“Luffman was fresh and had the same kind of velocity and same kind of stuff so I was hoping he would be very effective,” said Hunt. “And I don’t care what that boxscore says, (Luffman) got those first two strikeouts. The strike zone absolutely disappeared, and for whatever reason, he was not getting strikes called on his off-speed pitches in the middle of the plate.
“Unfortunately, it will look like the wrong decision, but it was absolutely the right decision.”
See more in Saturday's Times-Herald.
