2024 AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD SERIES “C”
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| SERIES PREVIEW – Southbend took the season series 8-4 over Tijuana, but TIJ has the better pithing staff as they were #3 overall in the AL with a team ERA o 3.45 and held teams to a .207 batting average. Southbend was in the middle of the pack with a 3.82 ERA but with a respectable .226 batting average.
The big difference in the teams was the hitting as Southbend was #5 in hitting and Tijuana was #12. Southbend hit 221 HRs to Tijuana’s 192, but the Lynx averaged 5.0 runs per game to the Bottle Rockets 4.2. Based on the regular season numbers the Southbend Lynx have a slight edge over the Tijuana Bottle Rockets to win the series. |
| GAME #1 – Spencer Strider 17-5 (2.54) vs. Freddy Peralta 14-7 (4.02)
The Series opens in Southbend TIJ S.Strider vs SBL F.Peralta TIJ opens the series scoring in the T2 when with 2 outs Vogelbach walks, then Diaz walks, and Barnhart comes through with an rbi-1b; TIP up 1-0. SBL answers in the B2 with their own 2-out rally as Fraley 2bs and R.Pinto hits a 2-run HR; SBL up 2-1. But wait, TIJ has an answer in the T3 when Carroll 1bs and Happ hits a 2-run HR; TIJ up 3-2 as they retake the lead. TIJ adds to their lead in the T4 when Diaz reaches 1st when Muncy drops his infield pop fly, Peralta then uncorks a wild pitch, Barnhart moves Diaz up and reaches 1st on a SAC-FC bunt, Pinto’s passed ball then allows Diaz to score as the SBL give TIJ a gift run. SBL Peralta does recover to get the next 3 outs; TIJ up 4-2 TIJ Strider tosses scoreless ball in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings but runs into some trouble in the SBL B6 after he gets the first two outs; Bichette 2bs and then L.Raley hits a 2-run HR to tie the game at 4-4! TIJ Strider goes a scoreless 7th and L.Sims with a scoreless 8th; SBL get a scoreless 6th from P.Avila, Yates with a scoreless 7th, and Cosgrove with a scoreless 8th and 9th. In the SBL B9 L.Sims is still on the hill for TIJ and he gets Bichette 4-3, Raley then walks, steals 2nd, Muncy then hits a tapper to Sims who tries to get Raley at 3rd and throws the ball into LF putting runners at the corners; SBL bring in Cave to PR. That would be all she wrote for Sims as TIJ Skipper D.Myers calls on J.Hoffman to get out of trouble. Unfortunately for TIJ he is unable to do the job as Fraley comes through with an inf-1b to drive in Cave with the game winner! Southbend up 1-0 in the series Southbend 5 – Tijuana 4 Win: Tom Cosgrove 1-0 (0.00) |
| GAME #2 – Framber Valdez 14-7 (2.28) vs. Tommy Henry 6-4 (4.89)
TIJ once again gets out in front first as they tally a couple of runs in the T2; Hayes 1bs, and then after Montero and Kiner-Falefa strike out, Diaz is HBP, Barnhart walks, and then Refsnyder with a 2-rbi 1b; TIJ up 2-0 TIJ adds another run in the T3 when Paredes 1bs, Hayes 1bs, SBL lifts Henry for Avila, who promptly walks Montero to load the bases, Kiner-Falefa then hits into a 363 DP which scores Paredes but kills the big inning and Avila fans Diaz to end the inning; TIJ up 3-0 But the missed opportunity for a bigger inning would come back to haunt TIJ later. SBL get on the board in the B4 when Bichette walks, Raley reaches on a Kiner-Falefa throwing error, Muncy then reaches on another Kiner-Falefa throwing error to load the bases; T.d’Arnaud with a SF7 and then Moore with an rbi-1b; TIJ up 3-2 TIJ would bring Swanson on in the B6 with a runner in 2nd and he would fan Moore to end the inning and keep TIJ up by one. In the SBL B7 the TIJ shoddy fielding would show up again as Soto 1bs and moves to 2nd on Carroll’s error, Fraley F8, and then Tucker is IW, but Bichette comes through with a game tying rbi-1b, and then L.Raley follows with a rbi-1b for the Lynx lead! TIJ brings in B.Stewart who fans Muncy but the damage is done; SBL up 4-3 SBL would get a scoreless inning of relief from E.Peguero and then a 4 out save from T.Holton to close out the game. Southbend takes a 2-0 lead in the series as the series shifts to Tijuana. Southbend 4 – Tijuana 3 Win: Elvis Peguero 1-0 (0.00) |
| GAME #3 – Nick Pivetta 15-9 (4.35) vs. Cristopher Sanchez 2-8 (3.85)
SBL starts the scoring in the T2 as the visiting team has scored first in all 3 games thus far; Bichette 2bs, Raley inf-1b, Barnhart boots Muncy’s tapper in front of the plate as Bichette scores and Raley moves around to 3rd, d’Arnaud walks to load the bases, Escobar hits into a 463 DP to score Raley, but then Diaz throws away Straw’s grounder to let Muncy score as the Bottle Rockets defense continues to have problems; SBL up 3-0 In the SBL T3 the Lynx with some more 2 out magic as Bichette 1bs, Raley inf-1b, and then Muncy with a 3-run HR; SBL now up 6-0 But the story of the game was SBL N.Pivetta as he takes a no-hitter into the 8th inning; the only Bottle Rocket runner to reach base until the 8th was Happ in the B4 on an Altuve error and Happ, again, in the B7 with a walk. In the TIJ B8 Pivetta fans Hayes and Vogelbach for the first two outs but J.Diaz then 2bs to RC to break up the no-hitter! SBL bring on Oviedo to end the 8th and then TIJ gets 2 runs in the B9 on a Franco rbi-1b (thrown out tying to take 2nd) and Paredes solo-HR. SBL added some token runs in the 6th and 7th to close out the scoring. Southbend takes a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. Southbend 9 – Tijuana 2 Win: Nick Pivetta 1-0 (0.00) |
| GAME #4 – Freddy Peralta 14-7 (4.02) vs. Spencer Strider 17-5 (2.54)
Perhaps the most exciting game of the series. The game was a pitching duel between the two pitching staffs. SBL Peralta gets out of trouble in the B1 with a Happ 463 DP. The visiting team scored first once again as SBL plated a run in the T2 on a Muncy solo-HR; SBL up 1-0 TIJ would answer in the B2 with a Vogelbach solo-HR; Game tied 1-1 After the 2nd inning both team’s pitching took over as most of the innings were of the 1-2-3 up and down variety. But here are a few of the limited scoring chances in the game: After the T2 Southbend could not get a runner past first base until the T13 when Fraley leads off with a 2b of B.Stewart who was working into his 4th inning and got tired, TIJ calls on L.Sims who serves up a gopher ball as T’d’Arnaud hits a 2-run HR, then 2 outs later Soto hits a solo-HR to pad the Lynx lead. Up to this point the TIJ pitching had been lights outs after the 2nd inning giving up NO hits and only a couple of walks. The SBL got a total of 4 hits in the game with 3 of them coming in the 13th inning. SBL takes a 4-1 lead into the B13 In the TIJ B13 Refsnyder leads off with a walk off SBL Weems, Franco Ks, then Carroll walks, Happ then P4, SBL brings in E.Peguero who gets Paredes to L4 to end the game and series. Southbend gets the unexpected 4-0 sweep over Tijuana to move on in the playoffs. Southbend 4 – Tijuana 1 (13 Innings) Win: Jordan Weems 1-0 (5.40) |
| SERIES SUMMARY – The sweep was totally unexpected as Tijuana had a good enough team to have won several games.
I can’t recall a recent series where defense had such a major impact on the games. Tijuana’s defense just made crucial errors that cost them at least two of the games. Also, if you had told me at the beginning of the series that Altuve and Tucker would go a combined 0-22 with 1 run scored and zero RBIs I would’ve felt my chances of winning the series would not be good. But as luck would have it the SBL got keys hits from several different players to enable them to win each game. Except for Game 3 the other 3 games were close games and it was fun to play them with Dave. Dave was a true gentleman and deserved a better fate then he received. |