2023 N.L. LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Baltimore gets off to a quick start against Darvish – with one out in the first, Josh Bell singles. After Matt Olson grounds into a fielder’s choice, Hunter Renfroe hits a chopper back to the mound which Darvish bobbles and Renfroe reaches on the error. Harold Ramirez follows, smacking a fly ball into the gap in right scoring both runners. Ramirez would score on a Christian Vazquez RBI single and the Comets lead 3-0 before Tempe bats.

Tyler Anderson is in control until the bottom of the 4th. Freddie Freeman draws the leadoff walk. After striking out Xander Bogaerts, Anderson plunks Rob Refsnyder putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 down. Jose Ramirez then launches one into the left-centerfield gap, Freeman scores, Refsnyder rounds third, the throw comes in, and Refsnyder is out. 3-1 Baltimore after 4.

Anderson gets the first 2 Tempe batters in the 6th, before Refsnyder doubles. Ramirez follows with a blast over the right field fence for the 2-run homerun and it’s all tied up after 6. Austin Slater leads off the Tempe 7th with a walk off Baltimore reliever Hector Neris. Slater steals second and scores on a Sean Bouchard RBI single giving Tempe their first lead of the game, 4-3.

Michael Brantley leads of the Tempe 8th with a double off Jake Woodford. Jorge Mateo is brought in to run for Brantley, and he moves to third on a Ramirez ground out. With one down and Mateo on third, JT Realmuto comes to the plate. Realmuto lines one to right, Mateo scores, Realmuto slides into second with the RBI double … but Realmuto is hurt during the slide and is lost to Tempe for the remainder of the series.
Yency Almonte is called on to pitch for Tempe in the 9th. Almonte promptly retires the Comets in order and game 1 goes to the Tempers 5-3.

Tempe 5 – Baltimore 3

Win: Anthony Bass 1-0 (0.00)
Loss: Hector Neris 0-1 (9.00)
Save: Yency Almonte #1

Justin Verlander takes the hill against the team that traded him before the season started. Verlander is coming off tossing a perfect game to clinch the NLDS for the Tempers.

Through 4 innings, both Verlander and Gray put up zeros. Josh Donaldson leads off the Baltimore 5th with a solo homerun to put the Comets in front 1-0. Baltimore tacks on another run off Verlander in the 6th, after Jorge Polanco walks, Matt Olson doubles over first plating Polanco for the 2-0 lead. The score remains 2-0 until the bottom of the 7th, when Trevor Story leads off the inning with a solo home run to left, cutting the Comets’ lead in half. With 2-out, Trayce Thompson draws a walk off Alex Young. David Robertson is called on to face Matt Carpenter, and Carpenter promptly hits one over the right centerfield fence putting the Tempers in front 3-2.

Tempe takes the one run lead to the 9th. A.J. Minter starts the inning walking Josh Bell. Myles Straw comes in to run for Bell. Minter strikes out Olson for the first out of the inning. Yency Almonte comes in for Tempe to face Hunter Renfroe. Straw takes off and swipes 2nd to put the tying run in scoring position with one down. Renfroe grounds out for the inning’s second out. Alex Call is brought in to bat for Harold Ramirez and slams one over the left-centerfield fence for the 4-3 Baltimore lead.

Evan Phillips gets the ball in the bottom of the 9th. Ozzie Albies grounds out to 2nd for out number one. Refsnyder follows and draws the one out base on balls. Jorge Mateo comes in to run for Refsnyder, with Freddie Freeman at the plate. Mateo swipes second and Tempe now has the tying run on 2nd. Freeman hits one hard to right, but it’s right to Renfroe who snags it for out number 2. Marcell Ozuna pinch hits and draws the walk, putting the winning run on base for Carpenter. Carpenter comes up short, this time, grounding out to third to end the game. Somehow Baltimore survives issuing 9 walks, with Tempe stranding 9 on base, to even the series at a game apiece.

Baltimore 4 – Tempe 3

Win: David Robertson 1-0 (6.75)
Loss: Yency Almonte 0-1 (6.75)
Save: Evan Phillips #1

The scene shifts to Baltimore with the series knotted up at 1.

Tempe opens up the scoring in this one in the top of the 2nd. Jose Ramirez leads off the inning with a double; he would move to third on a Steven Kwan single and score on a Michael Brantley RBI single. On Brantley’s base hit, Kwan gets nailed at third, after taking a wide turn, possibly preventing a bigger Tempe inning.

Baltimore gets on the board in the 3rd. Kevin Newman doubles with one out; he scores on Josh Bell’s 2-out RBI single. The game’s tied at 1 after 3. The game remains tied until the home half of the 7th, when Josh Donaldson breaks the tie with a 1-out solo home run. The Comets add an insurance run in the 8th on a Jorge Polanco solo home run and take a 3-1 lead to the 9th. Evan Phillips secures the Baltimore victory, retiring the Tempers in order.

Baltimore 3 – Tempe 1

Win: Kenley Jansen 1-0 (0.00)
Loss: Dany Jimenez 0-1 (3.38)
Save: Evan Phillips #2

In a rematch of game 1, Darvish and Anderson square off, and much like game 1, Baltimore jumps on Darvish in the 1st. Darvish gets the first 2 Comet batters before Hunter Renfroe smokes his 3rd double of the series. Matt Olson followed with a single scoring Renfroe with the game’s first run. Josh Bell then steps to the plate and hits a Darvish pitch over the wall in left and Baltimore has an early 3-0 lead.

Renfroe doubles again with one out in the 3rd. Matt Olson singles to bring home Renfroe. After Bell lines out, Harold Ramirez grounds a double down the line, plating Olson, and Baltimore leads 5-0 after 3.

Tempe rallies in the 4th. Xander Bogaerts singles to lead off the inning and Jose Ramirez follows with a blast down the left field line, just inside the foul pole, putting Tempe on the board. The pitching would take over after that. 4 Comet relievers would pitch the final 3 innings, retiring the last 9 Tempe batters in order, to place Baltimore 1 game from a National League Championship.

Baltimore 5- Tempe 2

Win: Yu Darvish 0-1 (5.40)
Loss: Tyler Anderson 1-0 (3.75)
Save: David Robertson #1

Baltimore starts fast against Verlander, again. Bottom of the first, Joey Wendle leads off with a double. Verlander gets Josh Bell to foul out and strikes out Matt Olson. Hunter Renfroe comes to the plate and singles to right, scoring Wendle for the 1-0 lead.

Tempe gets the run back in the third, with 2 out, Freddie Freeman smashes a double to right center, unbelievably his first hit of the series. Xander Bogaerts follows with an RBI double and the game is tied up at 1. In the bottom of the third, Kevin Newman leads off the inning with a single. He moves to second on a Wendle ground out. Verlander gets Bell to ground out to short for the inning’s second out. But, Matt Olson follows and takes Verlander deep to right putting Baltimore back in front, 3-1, after 3.

Sonny Gray cruises through 6 innings, yielding only the 1 run, scattering 5 hits. Kenley Jansen comes in to face the Tempers in the 7th. Michael Brantley leads off the inning with a base on balls. Austin Slater is called on to run for Brantley. Trayce Thompson comes to the plate and launches a long ball to left, tying it up at 3.

To the bottom of the 8th, Andres Munoz on the hill for Tempe. Newman leads off the inning with a walk. Wendle comes up next and comes up big again, as he lines one past third base, Newman comes around to score the go-ahead run on the RBI double. 4-3 Comets as we move to the 9th. Evan Phillips takes the mound for Baltimore. Sean Bouchard pinch hits to lead off the inning and he promptly walks, putting the tying run on base. Billy Hamilton comes in to run for Bouchard. Hamilton steals second, and the tying run is in scoring position with no one out. Phillips gets the big strike out of Thompson for the inning’s first out. Trevor Story steps up, and Phillips walks him to put two on with one down. Ozzie Albies pinch hits for Yadier Molina. Phillips gets Albies to foul out for out number 2. Down to their final out, Freddie Freeman comes to the plate for the Tempers and Phillips gets the swing and a miss. Baltimore wins it and the Comets are the 2023 MWBL National League Champions!

Baltimore 4 – Tempe 3

Win: David Robertson 2-0 (2.70)
Loss: Andres Munoz 0-1 (2.45)
Save: Evan Phillips #3

For the second consecutive series, Alex Call had a huge, late game, pinch hit homerun to win a game for the Comets. This time, instead of falling behind 2 games to 0, Call’s homerun sent the teams to Baltimore with a 1-1 split. Matt Olson had 6 hits, including 3 doubles and a homerun, 4 runs scored, and 5 RBIs to lead the Baltimore offense. Sonny Gray pitched well in his 2 starts, limiting the potent Tempe bats to 1 run on 7 hits over 11 1/3 innings. Evan Phillips, walked 4, but didn’t allow a run or any hits, earning 3 saves.

Baltimore now prepares to move on to the MWBL World Series. Congratulations to Chris on an excellent season and putting together an exceptional team. One thing is for certain, the Tempe Tempers will be back in the Championship hunt in 2024.