For the second time in his career, North Battleford’s Andrew Albers has won a gold medal at the Pan Am Games.
Sunday night in Ajax, Ont. Canada faced off against the USA in a rematch of the 2011 Pan Am final, a game which Albers started and pitched 7.1 innings.
While he may not have started Sunday’s final, Albers was still able to get in the game in the top of the eighth inning, pitching 2.1 innings, keeping the game deadlocked at four as it went into extra innings. International baseball has a rule which is somewhat confusing to Major League Baseball fans and stipulates when a game goes into extra innings, runners are placed on first and second base in each inning.
In the top of the 10th, after Albers had been taken out of the game, the U.S. scored a pair of runs to take a 6-4 lead.
After Canada cut the deficit to one, the U.S. pitcher tried to pick-off the runner at first base, but overthrew the ball and it ended up rolling into right field. The runner on second scored easily, and the game came down to a play at the plate.
The U.S. catcher had the ball in his glove when he reached over to tag out the winning run, but a head first dive by Peter Orr knocked the ball loose, winning the game for Canada.
In total, Albers pitched 6.1 innings at the Games giving up five hits, four runs (two earned) with six strikeouts.
At the conclusion of the Games, Albers will rejoin his teammates in Buffalo for the remainder of the season.
In 16 games (12 starts) this season with the Bisons, Albers’ 2-9 record is due in part to the lack of offensive support he receives.
The Bisons have scored 48 runs in games where Albers starts, but 25 of those came over a two-game span where they scored 16 and 9 against the Toledo Mudhens in May.
Albers hasn’t recorded a win since the first of those two games on May 16.
Buffalo currently sits third in the International League North division, three games back of Albers’ old team, the Rochester Red Wings.
