2022 N.L. DIVISION SERIES #1
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| SERIES PREVIEW – Longtime rivals Tempe (90-72) and Sacramento (115-47) face each other for the 8th time in the national league playoffs. Tempe won 5 of the first 7 matchups and Sacramento hopes to change the tide. |
| GAME #1 – Andrew Kittredge 6-4 (1.82) vs. Max Scherzer 22-4 (1.93)
Sacramento manufactured the first run of the series in the bottom of the 2nd with the help of an AJ Pollock single and stolen base and a couple sacrifice hits. This would be the way of the series. JD Martinez slugged a 2-run home run in the tope of the 4th to take the lead. Tempe would not hold the lead for long, as Sacramento’s Avisail Garcia ties it up in the 7th with a RBI double. It would stay tied until the 10th when David Peralta gave Tempe the lead with an RBI double of his own. Up 3-2, could Tempe close the door on the Caps? Tempe brings in Dillon Maples, who promptly walks leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor. Lindor steals 2nd. Tying run on 2nd, Jonathan India blasts a 2-run home run for the walk-off 4-3 Game 1 win. Sacramento leads the series 1-0. SAC 4 – TEM 3 (10 Innings) |
| GAME #2 – Adam Wainwright 16-8 (2.22) vs. Tyler Glasnow 12-5 (1.89)
A pitchers’ duel, the game remained tied 0-0 until the bottom of the 4th when Michael Brantley’s RBI double gave Tempe the 1-0 lead in Game 2. Top of the 6th, Tempe extends its lead with some creative baserunning. Matt Beaty belts one over second base for a single. Tempe brings in Jorge Mateo to pinch run, who promptly steals 2nd base. Brandon Drury up, he dribbles a grounder to second, Mateo rounds third and scores … on an infield hit. Tempe up 2-0. Bottom of the 6th, Lindor smashes a solo home run to make it 2-1, but that is where the game would end. Adam Wainwright (6 IP, 1 R) outpitches Tyler Glasnow (6 IP, 2 R). Tempe ties the series with the 2-1 Game 2 win. Sacramento heads to Tempe for Game 3. TEM 2 – SAC 1 |
| GAME #3 – Collin McHugh 8-3 (2.79) vs. Jacob DeGrom 11-1 (1.32)
Ruh-Roh. Collin McHugh gave up a run, and that’s all Jacob DeGrom would need. Collin McHugh gave up three runs, in fact, along with 4 hits (a single, a double, a triple, and a home run), while Jacob DeGrom gave up two singles over 9 shutout innings. Tempe takes the series lead 2-1. TEM 3 – SAC 0 |
| GAME #4 – Max Scherzer 22-4 (1.93) vs. Adam Wainwright 16-8 (2.22)
Sacramento took the early lead in the top of the 1st with an Avisail Garcia sac fly and a Giancarlo Stanton solo home run, and extended the lead in the 2nd with a Francisco Lindor 2-run home run. Sacramento enjoyed the 4-0 lead for approximately one inning, which Tempe erased with a 4-spot in the bottom of the 3rd, capped by a 3-run Xander Bogaerts home run. Looks like the promised Max Scherzer-Adam Wainwright pitchers dual is over. The Caps would respond with a Jonathan India solo home run in the top of the 5th and a Garrett Cooper 2-run home run in the 6th. Sacramento would hold the lead, despite a 1-run Steven Duggar home run in the bottom of the 9th, to win the game 7-5 and tie the series 2-2. SAC 7 – TEM 5 |
| GAME #5 – Spencer Turnbull 1-1 (1.72) vs. Andrew Kittredge 6-4 (1.82)
Once again, Sacramento jumps to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st, this time with a 2-run Buster Posey home run. But, the lead wouldn’t last. JD Martinez matches Posey with a 2-run home run of his own. Tied 2-2 in the top of the 3rd, Sacramento posts 4 runs with 2-run home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Avisail Garcia. Tempe responds again with RBI singles in the bottom of the 4th, closing the gap to 6-4. But that’s all Tempe could muster, ultimately losing Game 5 7-4 and giving the Capitals a 3-2 series lead. Neither starting pitcher lasted long, with Spencer Turnbull giving up 4 runs in 4 IP and Andrew Kittredge giving up 2 runs in 2 IP. SAC 7 – TEM 4 |
| GAME #6 – Adam Wainwright 16-8 (2.22) vs. Tyler Glasnow 12-5 (1.89)
Sacramento is back at home and Adam Wainwright is back for his third start in five games. Tempe at its finest—Sacramento was happy it was Wainwright and not Jacob DeGrom. Sacramento is first on the scoreboard. With runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 2nd, Tempe yanks Adam Wainwright and calls on Jimmy Nelson for damage control. Francisco Lindor grounds out to second, but plates the first run of the game. It would remain 1-0 until the 6th, when an Ozzie Albies double tied it up for Tempe. Tempe and Sacramento trade barbs in the 7th and 8th and, with the game tied 3-3, promise of free baseball for the fans in attendance. After pulling Adam Wainwright in the 2nd inning, Tempe had been riding its bullpen and, finally, turned to its Ace—a tired Jacob DeGrom—in the 11th inning as its final hope. Tyler Glasnow, on the other hand, gave Sacramento 7 IP of 1-run ball, striking out 11 in the process, leaving Sacramento with a bullpen full of fresh arms. And, this is what it would come to. The bottom of the 14th inning, Jacob DeGrom enters his third inning of relief work having pitched a complete game just three days prior. With two outs in the bottom of the 14th, Jonathan India hits a double to the gap in right and, with the go-ahead run in scoring position, Avisail Garcia smashes a line drive to the gap in left for a series winning walk-off double. Sacramento wins 4-3 in 14 and takes the series 4-2. SAC 4 – TEM 3 |
| SERIES SUMMARY – Sacramento wins the series 4-2 and moves on to the NLCS. It was a remarkably close series, with Sacramento performing slightly better both offensively and defensively. Sacramento pitched to a 3.05 ERA—giving up 36 H in 59 IP—and committed zero errors, while Tempe sported a 3.38 ERA and committed two errors, giving up one unearned run. Similarly, Sacramento bats fared only slightly better than Tempe, with a .166/.252/.341 line, 18 XBH, 11 SB, and 23 Runs compared to Tempe’s .176/.242/.337 line 19 XBH, 9 SB, and 20 Runs scored. The series MVP was Jonathan India (.269/.345/.577 with 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 R, 4 RBI, and 1 SB), who was responsible for the walk-off wins in Games 1 and 6. |