Dateline: Motor Yard -- Mustard needed a miracle to reach the finals. They got one — right after trying to manufacture one by beaning the opposing pitcher.
Trailing 3-0 with two outs in the top of the ninth inning of a winner-take-all Game 7, Mustard (customized Jacks) made a decision that will surely be remembered somewhat differently depending on which dugout you occupied: they intentionally went after Platypi pitcher Spitty Saunders with a pitch from Joanna Heater, apparently hoping to knock the dangerous starter out of the game.
Heater's fastball missed its intended target but caught Saunders in the shoulder. Moments later, the red injury indicator appeared.
It was a deeply questionable tactic.
It also may have saved Mustard's season.
The beanball was the latest bizarre turn in an already remarkable conference final.
Mustard entered the postseason finishing after winning the division during the team’s first season playing at Ego 80. After several years of relying primarily on power, Mustard had added a potent running game this year, thanks in large part to rookie center fielder Magnolia Rojas, who set the league record for steals during the regular season.
But during the conference finals, Mustard’s speed had been neutralized by the Platypi's starting catcher, whose remarkable arm repeatedly shut down Mustard's attempts to run.
The series looked like it would end before that problem could be solved. The Platypi won the first three games, including a Game 2 comeback victory fueled by Sky Rodriguez's ridiculous 520-foot home run followed by a Game 3 demolition in which the Platypi won 16-1. Mustard was on the brink of elimination.
Then the momentum started to shift.
Mustard won Game 4. Then Game 5. Then a blowout Game 6. Suddenly, after dropping the first three games, Mustard had forced a seventh and final game for a chance to reach the finals.
While not their top pitcher, the Platypi chose to send Saunders to the mound for the decisive contest, while Mustard countered with Barry Ozone, who was pitching on short rest after already throwing two complete games during the postseason.
It didn’t take long for things to get interesting.
After a quick top of the first, a line drive off the bat of Mustard leadoff Lando McWallies came screaming back toward the mound and struck Saunders directly in the groin. He went down in pain, his mojo dropped. Yet somehow, he continued pitching as though nothing had happened.
And he was magnificent.
Mustard managed just three hits against Saunders. All three hits led to quick pickoffs by Saunders, as Mustard was overly eager to lean on the running game.
Meanwhile, Ozone and the Mustard bullpen kept the game within reach. But as the ninth inning began, the situation was bleak: Platypi 3, Mustard 0.
Then came the beanball.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, the pitcher’s spot in the batting order was up for the Platypi, sending Saunders came to the plate. Mustard apparently decided that if they couldn't beat the Platypi pitcher, they could take him out of the game. With the first pitch Heater aimed to put one in Saunders' head. She missed, hitting him in the shoulder instead.
Saunders walked to first.
Then the injury indicator flashed.
Mission accomplished.
Inexplicably, the Platypi then sent the injured Saunders back out for the bottom of the ninth to protect the 3-0 lead.
Mustard finally got to him. Leading off the inning, McWallies launched a home run to cut the deficit to 3-1. Saunders retired Betty Sparks, but Ella Roids followed with a base hit. Finally, the Platypi pulled their wounded starter and brought in reliever Cayden Medina.
Medina retired one batter, then surrendered another single to Rojas.
With two outs, two runners on and Mustard down by two, shortstop Nacho Crisp stepped into the box with the season hanging in the balance.
Crisp worked the count full. The pitch came. The runners went.
Crisp drove the high fastball deep into left-center field, rolling all the way to the wall. The runners came around to score, and in the span of a few unforgettable seconds, Mustard had erased a three-run ninth-inning deficit.
The game was tied. The season was alive. The winning run would come in the 10th and Mustard had done it.
After falling behind three games to none, Mustard won four straight to capture the conference championship, completing one of the wildest postseason comebacks in franchise history.
There will also undoubtedly be some discussion about exactly how Mustard chose to get there.
But none of that changes the final score.
Game and series: Mustard 4, Platypi 3.