Kenny Milligan delivered a clutch two-out, two-run walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh and final inning to help his A’s complete a huge comeback in a 7-6 win over the Yankees Saturday night at the D.C. Canegata Ball Park.
The game was a Raphael Jackson AA Baseball League makeup game for one of the many rain outs.
The A’s trailed for most of the contest and it looked as if it would be another defeat to the league-leading Yankees, who had trounced the A’s 13-1 the night before.
But Saturday was a different day and the A’s late-innings rally capped by Milligan’s heroics made sure that the game’s outcome was also different.
The Yankees drew first blood, picking up a run on a passed ball in the second inning. Veteran hurler Malcolm McGregor, who started the game for the Yankees, was sharp and pitched two scoreless innings before turning things over to the rookie Ray Parilla.
The Yankees added a second run in the top of the fourth on an RBI ground-out by Glen Kiture to go up 2-0. They added two runs in the fifth on an RBI triple by Kiture and a passed ball, and two more in the top of the sixth on RBI singles by Omari Eastman and Dwayne Harvey to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
But the stage was set for the A’s monumental comeback. The youngster, Parilla, who was dominant in the first three innings he pitched, began to show signs of fatigue and the A’s pounced. They rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth on a three-run triple by Lakish Plante, an RBI single by Lionel Danielson and a passed ball to close the gap to 6-5 after six innings of play.
The teams were alerted by the chief umpire that due to time constraints the seventh inning would be the last. After A’s reliever Raydel Robinson set the Yankees down in order in the top of the inning, it was Milligan’s time. The A’s had loaded the bases against Yankees closer Khalid Gerard with no outs to put themselves in a good position to win the game, but two quick outs and they were looking at defeat once again. It was pressure situation that called for player who could deliver in the clutch and that player was Milligan.
With the count 2-2 and bases still loaded, he jumped on a slow curve ball, dumping it just over the shortstop’s head for the two-run, walk-off, game-winning single.
Robinson got the win in relief for the A’s, while Parilla took the loss for the Yankees. Top batters for the A’s were Milligan (2 for 4 with two RBIs) and Plante (1 for 3 with three RBIs). For the Yankees Eastman and Kiture were both 1 for 3 with one RBI.
