2017 WORLD SERIES

 Game #1:  Noah Syndergaard ( 21-5 2.00) vs. Johnny Cueto ( 21-8 2.10)

Chicago starter Noah Syndergaard who was spectacular in Game #1 Starts in the American Division Series & American League Championship Series didn’t fair to well to start off the 2017 World Series.   With one on & two outs in the bottom of the 1st, Syndergaard tried to sneak a 2-2 fastball past Yoenis Cespedes.  Cespedes didn’t hesitate. His bat connected with so much power & force that J.D. Martinez the Chicago right fielder moved back, looked up & watched it sail over the right field wall for a 2 Run Home Run & giving the Tempers the spark that would ignite the fire. Syndergaard hung not only that pitch, but his head in disgust as his Mobsters were now down 2-0 & not even out of the first inning.   

Xander Bogaerts scored in the second inning on a Sandy Leon single past the dive of Josh Donaldson at third base giving the Tempers a 3-0 lead. 

In the 5th with Robinson Cano on 2nd base, Adiran Beltre grounded a ball into the hole & by Andrelton Simmons, making it 4-0 Tempe.   In the 7th with Chris Davis at 3rd base & left handed pitcher Andrew Miller set to face Ryan Braun, Chris Davis took off for Home Plate & stole it successfully off Miller.  This was the 4th stolen base of the game for the Tempers who brought not only their hitting shoes, but their running game as well.  

Meanwhile Johnny Cueto had pitched 4 hittless Innings before making way for Joba Chamberlin who threw 3 hitless Innings of his own.  Derek Law came on in the top of the 8th Inning & Chicago got their firs hit, a lead off Double off the bat of Pinch Hitter Alex Bregman.   After a Andrew McCutchen Single where Chicago Manager Stray Corrado held Bregman at 3rd Tempe once again went to the pen.   This time Tony Barnette came in.   Barnette gave up a Double to Dexter Fowler, scoring Bregman, but holding Cutch up at 3rd.   With runners at second & third Buster Posey came up with a chance to get the game within reason.  Posey lined one up the Right Field gap, but coming out of no where to make the catch was Yoenis Cespedes.   Cutch scored making it 5-2 Tempe, but Cespedes while on the run lunched a throw to third base where Adrian Beltre put the tag on Fowler.   Bamn, just like that two outs, no one on & after Barnette got David Ortiz on strikes, Chicago best threat was over.   

Cespedes lead off the bottom of the 7th Inning with a Double to the gap in right field, followed by a Adrian Beltre single (took second on the throw home) but Cespedes was thrown out at the plate by Andrew McCutchen.  Troy Tulowitzki hits a line shot to center scoring Beltre & giving the Tempers a 6-2 lead.   Sandy Leon then singled, scoring Tulo & securing the 7-2 lead for the Tempers.

Final Score: Tempe 7 – Chicago 2
Win: Joba Chamberlin 1-0 (0.00)
Loss: Noah Syndergaard 0-1  (6.75)

Game #1 Box Score

Chicago went out 1-2-3 in the first, and Tempe 1-2 in what looked like the start if a nice pitching duel between the two clubs. However Ryan Braun took no part of being out number three in the inning & took a 3-2 changeup for ball four.   Braun stole second quickly & Cespedes Doubled off the wall bringing Braun Home & putting the Tempers up 1-0.  Adrian Beltre followed with a Double of his own scoring Cespedes & making it 2-0.  Xander Bogarts singled but was thrown out at second base, but scored Beltre.  So after 1 Inning of play, Tempe was out to a 3-0 lead. 

Tempe chipped in with one more in the 4th with runners at 1st & 3rd, a ground ball Double Play off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki pushed across Run number four for Tempe.

Chicago got on the board in the 5th when Justin Turner took John Lester down the line in left & just inside the foul pole & over the fence for a solo shot.   With runners at 1st & 3rd in the bottom of the 6th Tulowitzki trying to stay out of the Double Play, lined a base hit to center & when the ball gets by Dexter Fowler – Adrian Beltre comes all the way around for first base to score, making it 6-1 Tempe.

Mean while Jon Lester was cruising through the Mobsters allowing only 1 Hit (Solo Home Run to Turner), Walking none, & leaving to a thunderous ovation after 7 Innings pitched.   Lester only faced 22 batters & Mobsters Manager Chris Douglas already announced him as the starter for game #4.

In the 8th Tempe tacked on another run with a Sacrifice Fly off the bat of Catcher Sandy Leon made it 7-1 Tempe.   The Mobsters couldn’t get anything together in the 9th & Tempe was now headed to Chicago for games 3, 4 & 5 (If necessary) feeling quite good about what they had accomplished at home.   The Mobsters had a long flight back to Chicago, not much was said on the plane & yet they were hoping to turn things around back in the Windy City.

Final Score: Tempe 7 – Chicago 1
Win: Jon Lester 1-0 (1.29)
Loss: Aaron Sanchez 0-1  (6.75)

Game #2 Box Score

The series switched to Chicago, but the first inning scoring continued for the Tempers.  They jumped Carlos Matias Martinez in the 1st Inning for a single run off the bat of Robinson Cano as he hooked one down the line in right field for a one out Home Run.   The Chicago crowd was out of it right away as Tempe had the lead two batters into the game.

Everything seemed to continue to go Tempe’s way in the 3rd. Sandy Leon reached on a rare error by Andrelton Simmons and Chris Davis leaned into what should have been a strike causing Carlos Matias Martinez to receive a Hit batter instead of a strikeout. A quick sacrifice bunt by Votto moved both runners into scoring position for Robinson Cano who had already taken Martinez deep in the first. Cano worked a 2-0 count and then went all in when Martiniez was forced to throw fastball. Cano blasted it for one of the longest post season Home Runs ever witnessed in Chicago.

In the 4th inning, Joey Votto picked up sac fly RBI, scoring Chris Young and expanding the lead to 5-0. The nearly insurmountable lead was then further expanded in the 6th, when defensive replacement, Troy Tulowitzki blasted a solo shot off Julio Urias who’d come on in relief. Tempe made it 7-0 in the 7th when Cano doubled and then scored his 3rd run of the game on a Braun base hit.

The Chicago faithful gave the team a supportive, 7th inning stretch and Josh Donaldson responded to the crowd by blasting a solo shot to get Chicago on the board. However, Chris Smith wasn’t fazed and he just went back to striking out Mobsters. Smith worked 4.2 dominating innings in relief and would have finished the 9th if he hadn’t completely run out of gas in the 9th. Chamberlain came on and recorded the final out giving Tempe a potentially insurmountable 3-0 lead in the series.

Final Score: Tempe 7 – Chicago 1
Win: Chris Smith 1-0 (1.59)
Loss: Carlos Matias Martinez 0-1  (10.80)

Game #3 Box Score

Felix Hernandez got the surprise start over Noah Syndergaard & the “King” didn’t disappoint.  Felix was dealing into the 4th Inning when Ryan Braun scored on a single off the bat of Adrian Beltre to give the 1-0 lead to the Tempers.  (It was the first & only game of the Series that the Temper’s didn’t push across a run in the 1st Inning of play).  Hernandez walked the next batter Xander Bogaerts & CHicago manager Stray Corrado came to get him.   Corrado went with the rookie Alexander Reyes in a big pressure situation.  After a Walk & Strike Out the Mobsters came away only down 1 Run.  Dexter Fowler tied the game up at 1 apiece with a solo blast off Tempe Starter Jon Lester.   

It stayed tied at 1 run each until the 6th. Xander Bogarets singled, stole second & scored on a Sandy Leon single to left.  Tempe once again had the lead as they had done so for all of the first – three games. 

In the 7th, Andrew Miller pitched around the hot hitting Robinson Cano choosing to go after Ryan Braun. The move unfortunately backfired as Braun connected on a two run homerun to give Tempe a 4-1 lead.

In the 8th, David Ortiz took Derek Law (the only Tempe pitcher who had even looked human this series) deep with a massive Home Run down the right field line. The bases were empty, so it still left the Mobsters down two runs. However, the Home Run brought the crowd back to life and they really got into it when closer Aroldis Chapman pitched a quick 9th inning to keep things close at 4-2. In the bottom of the 9th, Dexter Fowler struck out to start the inning but Buster Posey worked the count for a walk. Billy Hamilton finally made his first appearance in the series, replacing Posey on the base paths. Tempe responded by bringing in Chamberlain to preserve the lead. Chamberlain recorded a quick strikeout of the dangerous J.D. Martinez for the second out, but he ended up walking Josh Donaldson to bring the winning run to the plate. Future Hall of Famer David Ortiz came on & crushed another deep fly to right field, but this time, he couldn’t keep it fair. Chamberlain breathed a sigh of relief and induced a grounder to Tulo on the next pitch. Tulo flipped it over to Cano for the final out of the game and the series.

Final Score: Tempe 4 – Chicago 2
Win: Jon Lester 2-0 (1.42)
Loss:  Alexander Reyes 0-1  (4.15)

Game #4 Box Score

Tempe’s offensive and power numbers were slightly below their seasonal averages, but their running game definitely made up for any missed slugging.  Tempe stole an improbable 13 of 14 on Buster Posey who is a very good catcher with a +3 arm.   Tempe’s pitching was downright nasty.  Their two starters, Johnny Cueto and Jon Lester only gave up 3 hits over 4 games and 20.2 innings.  Tempe also only needed to use four relievers (Joba Chamberlain, Chris Smith, Tony Barnette, and Derek Law)  to pitch 15.1 innings of 0.50 WHIP and 2.35 ERA.  Finally, Tempe’s defense set a World Series record with a perfect 1.000 fielding average.

Chicago’s numbers were unfortunately on the other end of the spectrum.  They averaged over an error a game and their starting pitching was shelled.  The Mobsters overall ERA was nearly double their seasonal average at a 5.82 ERA and 1.44 WHIP.   Even with the errors and the high era, they still should have been able to extend the series if they’d had average offensive numbers.  They however only managed a paltry .086 batting average and a .144 OBP.   They also only managed to steal one base and their four Home Runs were all solo Home Runs.  For additional perspective, Chicago only left 11 runners on base during the series and even if all 11 had scored, Tempe would have still out scored Chicago 25 to 17 in the series.

The 2017 Mid-West Baseball League World Series Most Valuable Player Award will rightfully be shared by John Lester and Johnny Cueto.