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Mike and the Mad Dog Recap Game 3 — 1902 Pro Cup Series
Mike Francesa: Alright, welcome back. The Blue Lake Blue Caps go into Colfax, they win 7-1, and now they've got a 2-games-to-1 lead in the Pro Cup Series. And Dog, this game wasn't close. Not even a little bit.
Mad Dog Russo: Mike, this was an old-fashioned beatdown! Ya know what this was? This was Blue Lake saying, "Hey, remember we're the defending champions!" They marched right into Comiskey Park and took the Black Sox apart piece by piece!
Mike: Starts with Amennay Nyoike. Complete game. Nine innings. Eight hits. No walks. Three strikeouts. The only run comes in the ninth when the game is already 7-0.
Dog: And Mike, that's what kills Colfax! They finally get a little somethin' cookin' in the ninth, and they're already down by a touchdown! Nyoike just suffocated 'em. No walks! None! In a Pro Cup game on the road!
Mike: Colfax actually had opportunities. They got eight hits. Sreenivasan had three of them. But every time they looked like they might build something, Nyoike got a ground ball or a fly ball and got out of it.
Dog: And let's talk about those caught stealings in the first inning! Colfax gets a hit from Brison, immediately gets thrown out trying to steal second. Blue Lake gets a hit, bin Kareef gets thrown out trying to steal second. Everybody's runnin' around like it's 1887!
Mike: The difference is Blue Lake eventually cashed in.
The second inning, Gallagher doubles home Ashur.
Then the fifth inning happened.
Dog: That's the ballgame right there!
Mike: Five straight hits to open the inning. Ashur doubles. Gallagher singles him home. Kagunda triples. Gou drives in two. Four runs. Suddenly it's 5-0.
Dog: And Colfax just never recovered. Hecini had been magnificent earlier in this series. But Blue Lake finally got to him.
Mike: Hecini gives up thirteen hits and seven runs in eight innings. That's not awful by dead-ball standards, but against Nyoike it might as well have been fifteen runs.
Dog: And here's the thing, Mike. Blue Lake didn't hit home runs. They didn't draw walks. They just kept hittin'! Fourteen hits! Mossop with two RBIs. Gou three hits and two RBIs. Gallagher two RBIs. Kagunda drives in one. Everybody contributed.
Mike: Meanwhile Colfax's defense didn't help. Three errors. Two by Sreenivasan at third. One by Brison in left. Blue Lake left runs on the table and still won by six.
Dog: You know what worries me for Colfax? The momentum.
They win Game 1.
Blue Lake wins Game 2.
Blue Lake wins Game 3.
Now you're coming back tomorrow knowing the defending champs have won two straight and just got a complete-game masterpiece from Nyoike.
Mike: And Dog, let's remember the bigger picture.
Blue Lake already owns championships in 1894, 1898, and 1901. This franchise spent two decades being famous for losing Pro Cups. They lost in 1881, 1885, 1891, and 1893.
Now they've become the standard.
Dog: That's exactly right! They went from "can't win the big one" to becoming the dynasty everybody's chasing!
And Colfax better be careful. Because if Blue Lake wins tomorrow, suddenly you're down 3-1 against a club that's been here over and over and over again.
Mike: Final score from Comiskey Park: Blue Lake 7, Colfax 1.
The Blue Caps take a two-games-to-one lead in the 1902 Pro Cup Series, and behind Amennay Nyoike's complete-game gem, they are now just two victories away from back-to-back championships.
Dog: And tomorrow's Game 4 is gigantic, Mike. GIGANTIC! If Colfax loses that game, they're staring right at the edge of the cliff.
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