2018 NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD

Jersey Nor’Easters @ Tempe Tempers

TempeJerseyThe Tempe Tempers (113-49) hosted the New Jersey Nor’Easters (95-67) for the 2018 N.L. Wild Card Playoffs.  The two teams last faced each other in the playoffs back in 2011 when the Nor’Easters won a dramatic seven game series (4-3) to advance to the National League Division Series.
Domingo_Santana18NLWCGAME #1 – Mike Montgomery (9-7 2.5) vs. Wei-Yen Chen (4-0 2.88)

Domingo Santana got things going early in the first for the Nor’Easters when he crushed a Wei-Yen Chen fastball to left field. Didi Gregorious added another solo shot in the 2nd inning to put Jersey up 2-0. In the 4th, Tempe rallied back against the Jersey pen with a Ryan Braun solo homerun and a two run homerun by future Hall of Famer, Adrian Beltre. The lead didn’t last long as Pham singled in the 5th and Santana hit his second homerun of the game to put Jersey back up 4-3. Both bullpens kept things tight the rest of the way. In the bottom of the 9th, Brad Hand surrendered a lead off double to Marcell Ozuna in his second inning of work. A deep fly to right field would have moved the tying run to 3rd, but Jay Bruce gunned the pinch runner trying to tag. The run would have scored on the next play, so Bruce definitely made the play of the game.

Jersey 4-3
Tommy Hunter – W
Joe Smith – L
Brad Hand – S

Marcell_Ozuna18NLWCGAME #2 – Dinelson Lamet (7-7 3.62) vs. John Lester (12-5 3.60)

Tempe killer, Domino Santana wasn’t able to start game two due to running around the bases so much in game one. Lester pitched three scoreless innings to start the game and left in the bottom of the 3rd when Melky Cabrera pinch hit and singled in Ozzie Albies to give Tempe a 1-0 lead. A Troy Tulowitzki rbi double in the 5th off of Craig Stammen put Tempe up 2-0. In the 7th, Tommy Hunter surrendered his second home run of the series when Ozzie Albies took him deep. A two run home run by Marcell Ozuna in the 8th off of George Kontos put the game out of reach.

Tempe 5-0
Gregory Infante – W
Dinelson Lament – L

Wellington_Castillo18NLWCGAME #3 – Jake Junis (8-5 3.57) vs. Wei-Yen Chen (4-0 2.88)

After his early departure in game one, Wei-Yen Chen was back to start for Tempe in game three and he quickly ran into trouble. Tommy Pham walked to start the game and back to back doubles by Domingo Santana and  Jose Ramirez put Jersey up 2-0. Wei-Yen Chen recorded the next two outs, but then surrendered a single to Didi Gregorius that gave Jersey the early 3-0 lead. In the 2nd, Miguel Montero lead off with a double, but Adrain Beltre turned a nice double play to get Wei-Ye Chen out of the jam. In the bottom of the 2nd, Adrain Beltre doubled, moved to 3rd on a pass ball and scored on a Wellington Castillo sac fly. Jersey 3-1. In the top of the 3rd, Wei-Ye Chen surrendered a single to Domingo Santana and then what should have been a rbi double to Jose Ramirez. Matt Adams made throw of his life and gunned Domingo Santana at the plate for the first out of the inning.  Jay Bruce walked but Wei-Ye Chen found a way to get Lucas Duda and Didi Gregorious to ground out without any damage. Jersey 3-1. In the bottom of the 4th, Adrain Beltre walked and Matt Adams singled off reliever Tommy Hunter. Jersey brought in Craig Stammen to face Wellington Castillo. The juice was flowing and Wellington Castillo crushed a Baltimore special to put Tempe up 4-3. In the 5th, Josh Hader walked Joey Votto and Ryan Braun made him pay with a RBI double. Tempe 5-3. In the top of the 6th, Tempe brought on Jared Hughes and he promptly walked Jay Bruce and Lucas Duda to start the inning. Tempe then turned to Joe Smith who got Didi Gregorius and Rougned Odor to pop up and then K’ed Miguel Montero to avoid any damage. In the top of the 7th, Joe Smith walked Cesar Hernandez to start the inning. Trevor Hildenberger came on and got Tommy Pham to ground out, but then surrendered a single to Domingo Santana. Possible future 2019 MWBL NL MVP, Jose Ramirez then hit his third double of the game and tied it up 5-5. Brandon Workman came on in relief. He walked Jay Bruce, but got Lucas Duda and Didi Gregorius to end the inning and keep the game tied. In the bottom of the 7th, Brad Hand came on for Jersey. Troy Tulowitzki lead off the inning with a double. Xander Bogaerts moved a pinch runner to 3rd and Joey Votto, the possible 2018 MWBL NL MVP crushed a double off of Brad Hand to put Tempe up 6-5. Hand struck out Ryan Braun but then walked Marcell Ozuna and tossed a wild pitch that moved Joey Votto to 3rd. The 21 grade recovered to get Adrian Beltre to end the inning. In the top of the 8th, Kirby Yates came on for Tempe and recorded the first two outs before pinch hitter Keon Broxton singled. Tempe brought on their last reliever, Nick Vincent to face Tommy Pham. Keon Broxton attempted to steal 2B after Nick Vincent’s first pitch and Wellington Castillo (+6 Arm) gunned him to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 8th, George Kontos came on in relief and rookie Yandy Diaz pinch hit for defensive replacement Sean Rodriguez. Yandy Diaz doubled for his first hit of the playoffs. Wellington Castillo then singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. George Kontos rallied back and struckout Ozzie Albies. Tempe then rolled the dice and pinch hit for their last reliever with the weak hitting (and last available hitter on the bench) Mike Aviles. Aviles singled to make it 7-5 Tempe. George Kontos struck out Xander Bogaerts but walked Joey Votto to load the bases. Bryan Shaw made his first appearance of the series and got Ryan Braun to fly out to end the inning and keep the game in reach. In the top of the 9th, with all of their relievers used and only one pitcher left, Tempe brought on starter Jhoulys Chacin to close out the 9th. Chacin got Tommy Pham and Domingo Santana to ground out and then struck out Jose Ramirez to record his first and only save of the year.

Tempe 7-5
Brandon Workman – W
Brad Hand – L
Jhoulys Chacin – S

Another back and forth series similar to 2011 with Tempe getting the edge this time around. The series MVP was Domingo Santana. In a losing effort for Jersey, Santana hit .625 and slugged 1.500 with two homeruns, four RBI’s and four runs scored. The pitcher of the series was Gregory Infante who was 1-0 for Tempe and pitched four perfect innings over two games with six strike outs. Tempe’s bullpen will limp into the divisional series with a bunch of tired relievers and no remaining arms with more than 4 available batters for game one. Columbus will definitely benefit this year from a very taxing and high stress Wild Card round.

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