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The London Majors are doing everything they can to plug the holes in an increasingly leaky playoff lineup.
They built a 2-1 lead in their Intercounty Baseball League best-of-five first-round series thanks to a clutch 10-9 triumph at home Sunday against Hamilton. But their first chance to close it out is Tuesday in the Steel City, where the Cardinals put a 16-2 hammering on them in Game 2 this past Saturday.
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“We have to keep competing,” London co-owner and manager Roop Chanderdat said. “We’re a shorthanded group with a lot of key guys banged up. We’ve been using that next-man-up mentality.
“It’s been that way since down the stretch in the regular season. We’ve played a lot of games with a lot of different guys.”
Game 5, if necessary, will be Wednesday at Labatt Park at 7:35 p.m. Barrie and Guelph have already punched their tickets to the second round and every extra game early takes its toll.
The third-place Majors figure they have enough arms left to match up against Hamilton and its sturdy bullpen. But there are still some concerns.
Veteran Jose Arias, who started 13 games this summer, has yet to pitch in the series. Braeden Ferrington, normally a late-inning specialist, went first Sunday and passed the baton to four more relievers to secure the much-needed victory.
Tyler Gillies, a 29-year-old Londoner, has a win and a save so far through three games. He has struck out eight of the 11 Cards batters he has faced over 3 ⅓ innings.
Victor Payano, who threw 112 pitches over eight innings for a Game 1 win last Friday, should be ready to go again if required.
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“It’s just a matter of: we need a couple of guys to step up,” Chanderdat said. “We have our starters set. To put them away, we’re going to need good pitching and timely hitting. This is a really good Hamilton team and we have to keep finding a way to hit and score some runs.”
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The ailing players will be used when necessary, sometimes to pinch-hit or run based on the nature of their injuries. But Chanderdat is hoping the heart-and-soul of London’s back-to-back championship teams in 2021 and ‘22 will dabble in some post-season magic at the right moment.
Byron Reichstein, after a pedestrian regular season, went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs in Game 3. The 12th-year Major is hitting .385 so far in the series.
Mainstay slugger Cleveland Brownlee, however, is hitless with three strikeouts.
“The veteran guys have to step up,” Chanderdat said. “Byron is starting to get going and has been hot. Cleveland has to get going here.”
If the Majors can bag a win, they will move on.
Nearly as important, they will earn a day or two of much-needed rest.
rpyette@postmedia.com
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