The best of seven Italian Baseball Series is all tied up for the second time after the first four games of the series. On Friday evening it looked as if Rimini would be the ones walking away with the 3-1 series lead, however a huge 6 run 6th off of Marquez, Escalona, Torres and Ekstrom put the game in Bologna’s corner 10-7, a lead that they would never look back from on their way to the 12-7 series tying win. Picking up the win for Bologna out of the pen was Raul Rivero. Rivero was impressive for UnipolSai with 5 scoreless innings of work from the 5th on for the win. It was a huge performance to say the least, especially after Rivero’s struggles in games 1 and 3 of the series. On the offensive side of the ball Vaglio was the one to get the comeback going with a three run shot off of Marquez in the 3rd, while Rodriguez had 2 doubles and drove in 5 of Bologna’s 12 runs.
Rimini got the scoring started first in this one with a big 4 run bottom of the 1st off of Baez. The runs were picked up off of a Mazzanti single, a 2 RBI triple off the bat of Chiarini, and an RBI double by Gomez. Baez was chased from the game an inning later with two outs after Rimini added to their advantage with a 2 Mazzanti single, putting the score at 6-0.
In the 3rd it was Bologna’s turn to begin to light up the scoreboard with a 3 run frame that cut the Rimini’s lead in half. The 3 runs all crossed on one swing of the bat, a 3 run shot off over the left field fence off the bat of Vaglio. Bologna kept the pressure going for Rimini’s southpaw, Marquez and the rest of the squad, keeping them off the scoreboard with Marinez on the hill and pulling to within 2 runs in the top of the 5th when Rodriguez came around to score on a wild pitch (6-4). In the bottom half of the 5th Rimini regained that 3 run cushion after Mazzanti homered to left on a 3-1 count leading off the inning. After the Mazzanti homer however, thing would go way south for Rimini when in the top of the 6th Bologna was able to chase Marquez, Escalona, and Torres from the game with a huge 6 run inning. It wasn’t until Ekstrom came on with two outs that he was able to end the frame after inducing Malengo to ground out to third, stranding 3 runners on. 6 runs were scored beginning with an Infante RBI single, a three RBI double off the bat of Rodriguez, and a two RBI single off the bat of Sabbatani.
With the game now at 10-7 Bologna was able to put the game completely out of reach with another 2 runs in the top of the 9th. Both runs came off of a Rodriguez double to left that plated both Infante and Malengo. Then in the bottom of the 9th, Raul Rivero was able to slam the door shut on Rimini with a 1-2-3 frame, getting Santora to fly to left, Romero to go down swinging, and Salazar to ground out to short.
The series will continue tonight in Rimini with a game time of 8:30 pm local time.
