Baseball Review // Record-Journal Expos, 0 M&T Bank, 4 Trinity College, Hartford CT July 29th 2024 (GHTBL)

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Official Box Score :::

https://ghtbl.org/event/expos-mt-bank 

Additional photos can be found in an album on Facebook here ::: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1531552717574944&type=3

There were three GHTBL games on this night and the other two were rained out.  Perhaps the only thing which saved this game was it being at Trinity College because they have a turf field which just seemed to make water disappear.   When my dad and I got up to Hartford we realized that the field wasn't accessible from its usual side so we had to drive around to find out how to get there.    The funny thing is we only knew which parking lot to pull into because we saw Jon Remillard going to his car.

M&T Bank coach Tom Abbruzzese was helping to guide us and the players to the field because we had to essentially go through a maze of construction to get there.  I'm not really good with directions and after being told to make a few turns I kind of space out, so luckily we were following Joey Rios, who has a better sense of direction than I do.

We ended up finding our seats and had some time before the game started.  But throughout this game, up until maybe the last fifteen minutes or so, there were bursts of rain.  It'd be fine for a little while, then rain for ten minutes, and so on.  Play was never stopped and it was not like that game at Ceppa Field against the Orioles with JD Tyler pitching in downpours, but I did have to hide my camera a few times because it's not waterproof.  (Thanks GHTBL hoodie!)

This game started with Charlie Hesseltine on the mound for the Expos.  Though it was not by the same means, this game also started off with the Bankers putting up one run in the first inning, much like they did the previous Wednesday against the Expos at Wethersfield High School.  This time it was Cooper Johnson hitting a sac fly to right field to bring in Jordan Jeroszko.   If M&T Bank put up another run in the sixth the deja vu would've been too much.

To talk about the speed of this game and the pitching of both Charlie Hesseltine and the Bankers Kyle Sebastyanksi, both the second and third innings were done 1-2-3.  In fact, the Expos didn't get a hit until the fourth inning when AJ Hendrickson broke up the no-hitter.   There was some action in the fourth and fifth, but not until the bottom of the fifth did the Bankers score again.

A triple by Nason Busca would bring in Parker Bennett for the first run of the fifth inning.   Then, Joey Rios would single in Busca to give M&T Bank two more runs and put them up 3-0 after five innings of play.   In the bottom of the sixth Josiah Ross would cross home plate as Parker Bennett almost had a triple, and that would put the Bankers up 4-0 and that's where the score would stay.

The Expos got to the point in the top of the seventh where a walk loaded up the bases with two outs, but they just couldn't find their offense.  What's interesting about this game is the pitching of Kyle Sebastyanski who just on for this game.  Now, I've seen Eric Malinowski, Jack Kelley, Joey Zawisza and of course Camden Murphy pitch this season, but this was my first time seeing Kyle Sebastyanski.   

The pitching depths of M&T Bank feels unreal.  Some team in the playoffs may meet Kyle Sebastyanski (or another pitcher) for the first time and be in for a huge surprise.   The offense was there and everything just clicked for M&T Bank, who lost to the Orioles on Sunday but this improves their record to 17-4.   Imagine ending the season at 20-4, having five times as many wins as you have losses.   

This brought the Expos down to 9-11, and as they sit with three remaining games (against the Jets, Greeners and Graphics) they would have to win all three just to finish over .500.  So now, rather than the record and being concerned with wins/losses, the focus must be on the playoff bracket and trying to draw a team they know in the first round.  This could be either the Phillies or Mets, but the Mets have been a thorn in the Expos' side all season long.