2025 NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD SERIES “C”

GAME #1 – Dylan Cease  19-10  (2.41) vs. Max Scherzer  3-4  (2.01)

The series opens like a duel at high noon. Max Scherzer is all snarl and precision, mowing through Perkins, Turner, and Betts in the first while Dylan Cease tiptoes out of an early bases-loaded jam thanks to a tailor-made double play. Defense sparkles everywhere—Perkins sells out on a diving grab to rob Bellinger in the second, and Scherzer even shrugs off a comebacker off his leg to win a bang-bang at first.

Scoreless tension finally cracks in the fifth when J. Sánchez hooks a fair ball just inside the right-field pole. Solo shot. Steelers seize a 1–0 edge and their dugout pops like a shaken soda.

Then the bottom of the sixth detonates.

Jesse Winker reaches when a hurried throw pulls Alonso off the bag—an opening the Patriots pry wide. Lars Nootbaar chops a seeing-eye single, Christian Yelich legs out an infield hit, and suddenly the bases are loaded with nobody out. Corey Seager lifts a sac fly to center; Winker dares the arm and slides home—tie game, 1–1, while Nootbaar takes third. Cease fans Miranda for a huge second out, but Cody Bellinger rolls a hopper just past the middle infield to plate Nootbaar and shove the Pats in front, 2–1. Randal Grichuk then splits the alley in center; two more rumble in. In the space of a heartbeat, it’s 4–1 Patriots, every run born from that first defensive miscue—four unearned on Cease’s line.

From there, the bullpen slams the gates. Ben Joyce and Aaron Ashby bridge the seventh, Joe Jiménez posts a calm eighth, and Matt Strahm takes the ninth with a closer’s heartbeat—loud fly from Betts, routine bouncer, and a lazy liner to left to close the book.

Triple Creek 4 – Selkirk 1

Win: Ben Joyce  1-0  (0.00)
Loss: Dylan Cease   0-1  (0.00)
Save: Matt Strahm #1

GAME #2 – Max Fried  16-9  (2.78) vs. Jose Quintana  16-7  (2.43)

The game began as a pitcher’s duel. Quintana and Fried traded early blows, both carving through lineups with only scattered singles to show for it. Betts doubled in the first, Miranda reached in the fourth, but each threat was quickly smothered. Through four innings, the scoreboard was pristine: Steelers 0, Patriots 0. The tension mounted with every pitch.

Then came the top of the fifth. Marcus Semien’s leadoff single cracked the door, and the Steelers kicked it wide open. Ahmed’s bloop double finally pushed across the first run. Perkins followed with a sharp single, and Betts delivered the hammer—a two-run blast to deep left. In the blink of an eye, the Steelers seized control: Steelers 5, Patriots 0.

Fried was untouchable, stranding Patriot runners while his teammates gave him breathing room. By the middle of the sixth, it looked like the Steelers were on their way to leveling the series.

But the bottom of the sixth flipped the script. A wild pitch let Refsynder score, Gurriel singled home another, and then came the dagger: Corey Seager off the bench, lacing a two-run double into the gap. The crowd roared as the Patriots stormed back to 5-4. The tying run reached third, but Christian Yelich’s grounder was snared by Turner to end the inning—barely keeping the Steelers in front.

The Patriots pressed again in the seventh but left men stranded. It felt like a missed chance… until the eighth.

Down 5-4, Christian Yelich stepped to the plate with two outs and the tying run on second. He smashed a triple into the corner, knotting the game at 5-5 and electrifying the stadium. Jesse Winker followed with a go-ahead RBI single, and then José Miranda delivered the backbreaker: a towering two-run homer to left. In a heartbeat, the Patriots had flipped the scoreboard, now leading 8-5.

In the ninth, Matt Strahm slammed the door. He retired Jiménez and García, walked Dubón, then froze Perkins with strike three to end it. The Patriots stormed the field, victors of a wild rollercoaster.

Triple Creek 8 – Selkirk 5

Win: Joe Jimenez  1-0  (0.00)
Loss: Rhett Lowder 0-1  (13.50)
Save: Matt Strahm #2

GAME #3 – Kevin Gausman  13-10  (2.71) vs. Tyler Anderson  17-12  (3.57)

A game built on nerves opens with leather and light-speed decisions. Perkins robs extra bases in right, Perez guns down Bellinger leaning at second to end the Patriots’ first thrust, and Gausman and Anderson trade zeroes while every mistake threatens to become fatal.

Chaos hits in the fourth: a heater rides in and nails Will Smith. He exits, the Patriots burn their DH, and Carson Kelly has to catch—an unusual wrinkle that shrinks their margin for error even further.

The dam finally cracks in the fifth. After two cautious tags on shallow flies, Jonathan India lashes a two-out single to right. Refsynder’s waved home, Bellinger sprints to third, and India slides around a cut-off tag at second—one daring sequence for 1–0 Patriots. The lead lasts minutes. Two Zach Neto errors give the Steelers breathing room; Pete Alonso punches a game-tying RBI through the right side. All square, 1–1, and every pitch feels like a cliff edge.

From there it’s survival. Anderson wriggles through seven with just the one run; Gausman matches him, scattering five hits and fanning six despite the defensive turbulence behind him. Iglesias and Ferrer trade clean frames. The crowd holds its breath for one swing.

It comes in the ninth. With two outs, Rob Refsynder coaxes a walk. Cody Bellinger then rifles a liner inside the right-field line—Refsynder flies around third and scores standing. 2–1 Patriots. Iglesias finishes the inning with a strikeout, and Matt Strahm takes the ball for the last three outs. Grounder. Strikeout. Lazy fly to left. Ballgame.

No haymakers, just pressure and precision: a catcher’s pick, a DH sacrificed to injury, a pair of fielding lapses answered by fearless baserunning, and one perfect swing from Bellinger to tilt a taut Wild Card game by a single run.

Triple Creek 8 – Selkirk 5

Win: Jose A. Ferrer  1-0  (0.00)
Loss: Raisel Iglesias  0-1  (4.50)
Save: Matt Strahm #3