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PARDON THE INTERRUPTION – 1897 PRO CUP GAME 3
TONY KORNHEISER: Welcome to Pardon the Interruption! I'm Tony Kornheiser, he's Michael Wilbon, and Wilbon, the Oxford Red Caps just saved their season!
MICHAEL WILBON: Saved it? Tony, they absolutely saved it! Down 2-0 in the series, staring at the possibility of getting buried by the mighty Colfax Black Sox and their ace Wankegh Hecini, and instead they punch back with a 7-6 win.
TONY: Let's start with the headline. Honório Lariz. Two hits. A gigantic two-run homer. Player of the Game. Fifth inning. Boom.
WILBON: Tony, that's the swing of the series so far. Colfax is up 3-1, they've got Hecini on the mound, they've won two straight games, and then Lariz launches one 392 feet into the afternoon. Suddenly it's Oxford 6, Colfax 3 and the entire ballpark comes alive.
TONY: And let's be clear—Oxford wasn't exactly dominating before that. They had one run through four innings and were getting pushed around.
WILBON: That's because Colfax looked like Colfax. Third inning? Hecini starts it with a hit. Thiago Incio singles. Koi-sho Xing blasts a two-run triple. Agdada Suji brings him home. Three runs just like that. It felt like another Black Sox victory was loading.
TONY: Except baseball games can turn on one inning. Bottom of the fifth. Five runs. Five hits.
WILBON: Hsu Gou ties the game with a two-run single. Jérôme Fuchs follows with an RBI triple. Then Lariz hits the bomb. That's your entire game right there.
TONY: But here's what fascinates me, Wilbon. Wankegh Hecini finally looked human.
WILBON: Human? Tony, he gave up seven runs!
TONY: Five earned.
WILBON: Seven crossed the plate!
TONY: Five earned!
WILBON: The scoreboard doesn't care! This is the guy who entered the day with a 0.00 ERA in the Pro Cup. He had thrown a shutout in Game 2. He looked invincible. Oxford got ten hits off him and beat him for the first time this postseason series.
TONY: Meanwhile Kusuma Suharto gets the win despite allowing six runs.
WILBON: And that's why wins can be funny, Tony. Suharto wasn't dominant, but he competed. He gave Oxford nine innings, scattered nine hits, and when Colfax made its late charge, he didn't break.
TONY: Speaking of late charges—the ninth inning got interesting.
WILBON: Very interesting! Hai-dong Liu singles. Seto Nasution comes off the bench and triples him home. Then Siu-chung Zhuan hits a sacrifice fly. Suddenly it's 7-6 and Oxford fans are getting nervous.
TONY: But Suharto strikes out Juan Diaz looking, gets Brad Hunt to pop out, game over.
WILBON: That's the difference between 3-0 and 2-1. If Colfax wins that game, we're basically measuring Oxford for a coffin. Instead, the Red Caps are right back in this series.
Five Good Minutes
TONY: Biggest surprise?
WILBON: Colfax's defense. Five errors. Five! This team built its reputation on clean baseball and elite pitching. They practically handed Oxford opportunities.
TONY: Biggest performer?
WILBON: Lariz. Easy. The homer changed everything.
TONY: Biggest concern for Colfax?
WILBON: That Oxford has finally proven Hecini can be beaten. Nobody thought that after the first two games.
TONY: Biggest concern for Oxford?
WILBON: Travis Trolley is hitting .100 and Qing-nian Der still doesn't have a hit in the series. They won despite some major holes in the lineup.
The Big Finish
TONY: Oxford wins?
WILBON: Yes.
TONY: Lariz homer?
WILBON: Huge.
TONY: Hecini loses?
WILBON: Finally.
TONY: Series alive?
WILBON: Absolutely alive.
TONY: That's all the time we have. For Michael Wilbon, I'm Tony Kornheiser. Tune in tomorrow, because Game 4 suddenly feels a whole lot bigger than it did 24 hours ago. Colfax still leads the Pro Cup two games to one—but Oxford just reminded everybody that champions don't go away quietly.
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