DUBAI: Caleb McNeely hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and a home run with the Money Ball in play and a runner on base in the eighth for eight RBIs, to seal Mumbai Cobras’ 13-6 win over the Arabia Wolves here on Thursday.
Lou Helmig put four more runs on the scoreboard after hitting a home run with a runner on base and the Money Ball in play, in the third inning against starting pitcher Gillian Wernet.
Both the German slugger and McNeely drove in 12 of the 13 runs for the Indian franchise.
The Money Ball rule, introduced by Baseball United, allows the batting team to score double the amount of runs batted in during a single play. A Fire Ball play, meanwhile, automatically ends an inning if a pitcher strikes out a batter.
For the first time, the Money Ball and Fire Ball were called during the same at bat.
With Jacob Teter in the batter’s box and Karan Patel on the mound, the first overall pick in the Baseball United draft showed his mettle to strike out Teter with one out and bases loaded, to extinguish Arabia’s offense aspirations.
The victory went to Akshay More in relief after 3.2 innings pitched, with a solid performance that included only one earned run (solo home run) and three strikeouts.
Other highlights:
The loss went to Blake Purnell, who allowed three hits, five earned runs, and two hit batters.
On offense for Arabia, Taylor Darden went 2-for-4, with two runs scored and two RBIs.
