2016 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #26

Divisional rivals Freemont and Manhattan meet for the final series
of the season.

Manhattan 5-2
WP Porcello
SV Sipp
LP Rodon

Fremont 6-1
WP Gallardo, CG with 4 hits
LP Simon

Manhattan 6-5
WP Olson
LP Detwiler

Manhattan 5-4
WP Brooks
SV Sipp
LP Billingsley

Fremont 10-2
WP Cosart, CG
LP Worley

Manhattan 4-1
WP Porcello, CG with 5 hits
LP Buehrle

Manhattan takes series 4-2

Chicago takes on the Bottle Rockets from Tijuana with a slim chance at the American League Central. Odds are against this as the Detroit Crime are in the Drivers seat, but stranger things have happened.

Aaron Sanchez (9-3 3.36) picks up the win for Chicago going 5 innings & allowing only 1 Earned Run. Justin Turner is 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, including a Home Run.
Final Score: Chicago 11 – Tijuana 3

Billy Butler is 3 for 4 with 2 Home Runs as the Bottle Rockets score 2 in the 9th to tie it, & 3 in the 10th to win it.
Final Score: Tijuana 7 – Chicago 4

Carlos Martinez (19-4 2.40) goes 6.1 strong innings for Chicago. Andrew McCutchen, Josh Donaldson & Ryan Raburn all have Home Runs.
Final Score: Chicago 12 – Tijuana 2

Noah Snydergaard (12-6 3.51) Goes 7 Innings allowing only 2 Earned Runs. Aroldis Chapman picks up his 46th Save on the season.
Final Score: Chicago 4 – Tijuana 2

Jimmy Nelson (10-15 3.22) Is super for 8 Innings, Buddy Carlyle picks up his 2nd Save on the season for the Bottle Rockets.
Final Score: Tijuana 2 – Chicago 1

Chicago rests all of their regulars as they figure they will be hosting the Wild Card Round starting tomorrow. Marcus Stroman (5-0 1.83) is dominant for 8 Innings.
Final Score: Chicago 2 – Tijuana 1

With 2 Wins in the Series Chicago looks to be the #1 Wild Card seed for the American League. The Mobsters look to host the Motor City Muscle in a 3 Game Series starting tomorrow.

Two cellar dwellers meet in the last series of the year with Jersey coming out on top 4-2. On to the draft.

Final weekend of the season and the Columbus Explorers with 120 wins coming in are still needing 1 win to clinch the pennant! So that is on the line this week and they host 4th place (NL Central) Selkirk with hopes of champagne and some rest.

With the pennant clinched it’s now tune up time. Tomlin starts, goes 5 innings, 1 hit. Dunn and 4 other relievers give up 2 (and 1 unearned run). Meanwhile Desmond gets 2 hits and a homer (12),
E.Hernandez 3 hits and the Explorers take the game 8-1.
SEL 1- 3-4 LP Danks (0-1)
COL 8-13-2 WP Tomlin (6-2)

J.A. Happ has been having a dream season and he gets the start for this one and goes 7 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs and 7ks. He leaves the game with a 5-0 lead fueled by another great outing from Enrique Hernandez (4 for 5, 4 rbis, triple). Dunn comes in to get some qualifying work and gives up 3 runs including a Moore HR (9). 3 of the hits Happ gave up went to Roberson (3 for 3). But 3 more relievers keep the Selkirk rally in check.
SEL 4- 9-1 LP Alvarez (7-16)
COL 7-13-1 WP Happ (17-5)

Rebuilding season coming to an end.

All Mesa as they cruise to a 13-1 win.

Tough battle goes to Mesa 4-3.

Down 4-0, CCC battles back but falls short 4-3.

No suspense as Mesa cruises 8-2.

5 HR’s carry Mesa to an 8-3 win.

Shoemaker and Rondon make up for the lack of offense as CCC avoids the sweep by winning 2-1.

CCC is ready to look toward next year.

MCM @ SWD for season-ending 6 game series.

SWD playing out the string, MCM preparing for Wildcard playoff round

SWD 9 – MCM 8

WP: O’Flaherty
LP: Grimm
SV: Hochevar

HR: MCM–Ahmed; SWD–Tucker (GS), Alvarez

MCM had an 8-2 lead, but SWD rode a 7-run 8th inning, highlighted by former Muscle OF Preston Tucker’s game-tying grand slam, to a surprise victory. Alvarez followed Preston’s blast with his
game-winning solo shot.

MCM 4 – SWD 0

WP: Zimmermann
LP: Nuno

HR: none

Zimmermann dominated and MCM had a 3-run 5th inning.

SWD 3 – MCM 1

WP: Moore (CG)
LP: Locke

HR: MCM–C. Young

All the runs score in the 8th inning. Young’s solo shot gave MCM a 1-0 lead, but SWD trumped that with an Alvarez RBI single and Cabrera 2-run double in bottom half. Moore went the distance for SWD, striking out 8.

MCM 4 – SWD 2

WP: Volquez
LP: Gray
SV: Freeman

HR: MCM–Burns, Panik; SWD–Alvarez

The teams traded early 2-run HRs, then Panik’s solo shot gave MCM the lead and they added an insurance run in the 9th on Crawford’s RBI single.

MCM 4 – SWD 2

WP: Bassitt
LP: Owens
SV: Ramos

HR: none

MCM jumped out to a 3-0 2nd inning lead. SWD scored single runs in the 6th and 9th.

MCM 11 – SWD 3

WP: Leake
LP: Mitchell

HR: MCM–Trout, Herrera, Burns, Aybar

MCM led 3-0 after a half-inning, but SWD came back for two of their own in the bottom of the 1st. MCM scored three more in the 2nd and then SWD scored one in hte 3rd. That was the last time it was close, as MCM scored two in the 4th, one in the 5th, and two in the 8th. Trout had four RBI.

MCM takes the series 4 games to 2
for SWD, ALvarez hit .560 with 2 HRs and 7 RBI
MCM just happy to get through with no injuries and a series win.

YSS just finishing up the season Det trying to clinch there 1st Div title since 2004

Det 3 Yss 1

Det 5 YSS 4

Det 6 YSS 1

Det 7 YSS 0

DET 7 YSS 3

YSS 2 DET 1

For the first time since 2006 someone other than Tij (3) or Chi (6) has captured the AL Central Division Title; Detroit with a 5-1 series win over YSS did just that; Detroit has no idea what to
expect in the playoffs due to there lack of playoff experience and the heavy hitters they will see but so far the 2016 season has been a good one. Maybe this may springboard some different teams in other divisions as well, we shall see.

Dallas takes home field advantage into the playoffs against Hollywood taking the series 4 games to 2.

Corktown and Pittsburgh conclude their seasons in Detroit Michigan’s historic Corktown neighborhood for a series of 6.

Hutchinson gives up two but takes the win for the Lumber Company.  Corktown rookie Adam Morgan finishes his season with a loss on his impressive rookie campaign (10-7, 2.62)

Pittsburgh 4-2
W. Hutchinson 8-10
L. Morgan 10-7

Each team had 11 hits, but Corktown was able to score 8 in the victory.

Corktown 8-4
W. Colome 8-7
L. Eovaldi 8-8

Robbie Ray gives up 1 run in 8 innings while striking out 8 Lumber Company men.

Corktown 2-1
W. Ray 7-10
L. Doubront 4-9
S. Shreve (10)

Pittsburgh threw up 11 runs in the 1st three innings, as Corktown let their starter Tom Koehler hang out there for all of them (4 Earned). S. Marte and A. Laroche (last career) Homered for
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh 14-7
W. Miley 9-17
L. Koehler 8-12

DeSclafani gave the Cycle 7 strong shutout innings, and the pen completed the shutout.

Corktown 4-0
W. DeSclafani 8-16
L. Wacha 18-7 (2.75era) <—-Final numbers for a great season.

Corktown ends the season with back to back shutouts. This time Jeremy Hellickson goes the distance and finishing 2016 with a head of steam towards 2017. Hellickson struck out 12 in the CG shutout.

Corktown 3-0
W. Hellickson 8-12
L. Hutchinson 10-13

Corktown wins 4-2
Pittsburgh had a nice turn around from 2015 and looks to make the next step in 2016 as they fight for a payoff spot. Corktown had a lot of things to be happy about for their inaugural season, as the young core impressed the new fan base.

NL East leading Bethesda paddles into Triple Creek for the season finale.

Tyson Ross tosses 8 shutout innings for Bethesda and Axford cleans up for save.

Bandicoots take it 2-0.

WP: Ross (9)
LP: Masterson
SV: Axford (9)

Patriot’s Miguel Gonzalez allows just 1 unearned run as Triple Creek wins 3-1. Odorizzi is handed just his 2nd loss of the season. Corey Seager leads the scoring with a 2-4 day including a 2-run HR.

WP: Gonzalez (5)
LP: Ordorizzi
SV: None

All Bethesda as Sonny Gray one-ups Gonzalez with a a 3-hit shutout and Pierzynski drives in 2 as the visitors win 3-0.

WP: Gray (17)
LP: Graveman
SV: None

Nicolino and Axford combine for the 2nd shutout in a row at Triple Creek’s expense. Nicolino brought the lumber as well going 2-3 with a HR and 2 RBI to lead the 3-0 win.

WP: Nicolino (3)
LP: Buchholz
SV: Axford (10)

Can Bethesda shutout the Patriots 3 games in a row, YES! they can. Arrieta mows down the hapless home squad stiking out 11 over 8 innings. Cain goes 3-4 and Ethier 2-4 with 2 RBI to pace the
Bandicoots 5-0.

WP: Arrieta (17)
LP: De La Rosa
SV: None

Last game of the season and Triple Creek is playing for pride after being held scoreless for 27 straight. Bethesda leads is 3-0 heading into the bottom of the 6th when the Patriots find a pulse and plate 2. The Bendicoots tack on 1 in the top of the 7th and lead it 4-2 in the bottom of 9. The Patriots pull out all the stop and pinch hit/run galore and manufacture 3 runs to send the fans home happy with a 5-4 victory

!INJURY ALERT: Tyson Ross – 9 days

WP Reed (2)
LP: Axford
SV: None

Bandicoots take the series 4-2

Virginia travels into Southbend to close out the season.

Sorry about the brief recaps.

VA takes Game 1. B.Guyer goes 5-5 with 3 runs and 3 rbi along with 2 HRs. Walker and Segura also hit HRs. The game was close until the 9th when VA puts up 6 runs on Putnam and Familia. Southbend defense is shoddy as 3 of the 6 runs are unearned.
VIR 11, SBL 6

This game is all Southbend as they score 9 runs in the 1st four innings and coast home with the win. Foltynewicz gets the CG win. Altuve is 4-5, 5 runs scored, and 2 HRs. Forsythe goes 3-5 with 4 rbi and a HR. SBL hit 7 HR in the game. VA bright spot was B.Wilson’s 3-run HR in the 5th.
SBL 13, VA 4

Close game but VA prevails in the end. VA got otu early 4-2 after 2 innings. VA added 3 in the 6th but couldn’t shake SBL. SBL got single runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th. But VA Robles would eventually come on in the 9th for the save, his 15th of the season. Trumbo gets his 100th rbi on a Sac Fly.
VA 8, SBL 6

SBL get out in front early and are up 6-1 going into the 5th. But VA would explode with 7 runs in the 5th with the big hits being a Markakis 2-run HR and a Walker 3-run HR. VIR Santana goes 4-4 with a run and rbi. VA pen is dominant after Cahill is knocked out (1.1 IP, 8 hits, 5 runs) going the last 7.2IP giving up only 3 hits and 2 runs.
VA 10, SBL 7

VA is out early and leads 5-1 after 2 innings. Ramirez hits a Grand Slam in the 1st. Bolsinger is ejected in the 5th when he nails Guyer for the second time in the game and Guyer is lost for the season. Osuna would later get tossed for hitting J.Wilson. VA knocks around Osuna and Familia in the 8th and 9th for 5 runs to seal their win. Markakis goes 4-5 with 3 runs. Flande is solid going 7IP giving up only 2 runs for his 5th win. SBL get 2 token runs in the 9th to close out the game.
VA 10, SBL 4

The series finally produces a qulaity start as Archer goes 8IP giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. Robles gets his 16th save. Rizzo goes 2-4, 1-3b, scores 3 runs and has 2 rbi. Walker adds 2-rbi. SBL had the lead on Canha’s 2-run HR in the 2nd until the VA 7th. Rizzo’s 2-run 3b gave VA the lead followed by a Ramirez Sac fly and VA held on for the season ending win.
VA 5, SBL 2

The Snappers look to build off the first match up with the Tempers and finish the season above .500. While the Tempers want a little payback since they still blame their poor start against Valdosta for their inability to ever catch Columbus…..The page crashed or I accidentally closed just after finishing all of the reviews, so the second pass is rather brief.

Homeruns by Carter and Sano put Valdosta up 3-1. A Tulo pinch hit single tied it in the 7th. Carter’s 17th error in the 10th allowed the go ahead run to score for Tempe. Davis and Cespedes then smacked homeruns off a frustrated Swarzak.
Tempe 7-3

Chen went the distance for his 18th win and 9th complete game of the season
Tempe 10-3

Davis went deep twice and drove in five runs. Votto and Bogaerts also went deep.
Tempe 13-4

Cespedes launched two, three run homeruns as Tempe rolled again.
Tempe 11-2

Cespedes hit an early two run homerun in the first and a squeeze in the 2nd put Tempe up 3-0. Carter solo in the 4th put Valdosto on the board. Votto homerun in the 6th made it 4-1. Valdosto scrapped up runs in the 6th and 7th, but Holland closed out the 8th and 9th for the save.
Tempe 4-3

Cespedes hit another two run homerun in the 1st and Tempe cruised to an easy win. Cespdes was pulled in the 2nd before Valdosta could intentionally throw at him. Unlucky Wisler finished the season 3-11. Chacin lowered his era below 6.
Tempe 5-1

Cespedes showed why he is a favorite for MPV going 11 for 19 with 5 Homeruns and 14 RBIs. Tempe finished with the second best record in the NL and the Central. Valdosta finished with nearly a .500 record outside their Division.

Grand Haven has a strong finish as they takes 4 of 6 from the playoff bound Clovis Franchise.