2026 NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD SERIES “A”

SERIES PREVIEW – The Long Beach Dirt Bags were 39-70 and had the worst record in the National League on July 31st. They were eyeing lots of ping-pong balls, so they shipped Cy-Young hopeful Garrett Crochet off for a package of young talent. The youth movement re-energized the team, and they went 28-25 in their final 53 games to leapfrog five teams and grab the final playoff spot.

The Tempe Tempers had a solid 44-31 record in late June, but division rivals Columbus and Selkirk were both within two games, and Sacramento had a huge nine-game lead in the NL. The front office, knowing this may be their best shot at glory with this core, cashed in all their top draft picks and some key prospects to land four All-Stars. The added firepower helped the Tempers finish with a red-hot 70-17 record down the stretch.

GAME #1 – Mike Burrows 3-8  (6.45) vs. Freddy Peralta 22-4  (1.92)

Tempe got on the board in the first when Freddy Freeman took Burrows deep with a solo shot to right field. Long Beach tied it up in the 3rd with a walk, a sac bunt, and an RBI single from the other Freeman (Tyler). The Dirt Bags weren’t done scoring and added two more on Peralta in the 4th, when Soderstrom singled, Vargas walked, and Quero doubled to the gap to drive them both home. Springer got Burrows for another solo homer in the 4th, but he locked it down from there and turned it over to Bowlan after 6.2 innings. Long Beach added an insurance run in the 9th when Merrill doubled, was moved to third, and then came home on a Quero sac fly. Flexen recorded the final four outs to pick up the save.

LBD 4 – TEM 2

Win: Mike Burrows 1-0  (2.70)
Loss: Freddy Peralta 0-1  (6.75)
Save: Chris Flexen #1

GAME #2 – Randy Vasquez 7-10 (3.77) vs. Jacob deGrom 28-5  (1.65)

Another well-pitched game that didn’t see the first hit of the game until Ortiz worked a single for Long Beach with two outs in the 5th. Ortiz then swiped second base and scored the first run of the game when rookie Anthony hit a grounder up the middle. Tempe utilized their speed in the bottom of the 5th to get on the board. Albies worked a one-out walk and then stole 2B. Kwan then walked to put runners on 2nd and 1st. A successful double steal sent Albies home, and Kwan ended up on 3rd when Teel blew the throw to 3rd. Kwan then scored the second run of the game for Tempe when Crawford got Tempe’s first hit of the game. Both teams went to the bullpen for the final four innings, and the pens traded zeros. Munoz pitched a final perfect 8th and 9th for the save. Each team managed only two hits all game.

TEM 2 – LBD 1

Win: Jacob deGrom 1-0  (1.80)
Loss: Randy Vasquez 0-1  (1.93)
Save: Andres Munoz #1

GAME #3 – Kyle Harrison 6-2  (1.29) vs. Freddy Peralta 22-4  (1.92)

Both of these teams have good offenses, but this game was again all about great starting pitching. Harrison, the grade 6 starter, worked a quick top of the 1st, striking out the side to bring the home crowd to their feet. Anthony led off the bottom of the 1st with a walk to Peralta. He quickly stole 2nd base and then scored when Tyler Freeman doubled. Peralta regained his composure and started racking up his own strikeouts. However, Harrison continued to dominate the Tempers and had seven strikeouts before he surrendered his first hit to Ramirez with two outs in the 4th. Tempe worked three singles off Harrison in the top of the 5th to load the bases, but he then recovered, striking out Ozuna and then Raliegh for the third time in the game. In the bottom of the 5th, Soderstrom hit one deep to right field off Peralta to make it 2-0. In the top of the 6th, Freeman worked the first walk of the game off Harrison. Freeman then stole second base. Harrison struck out Ramirez for his 10th strikeout of the game for the first out. The next batter, Springer, doubled home Freeman to put the Tempers on the board. Harrison popped up Polanco for the second out but issued a walk that ended his day. Bowlan came on to put out the fire. Tempe counted with Pasquantino off the bench. Bowlan walked him to load the bases, but then got Crawford to ground out with the bases loaded and preserved the 2-1 lead. Peralta worked a quiet bottom 6th. Kwan led off the top of the 7th and reached on an error. Kwan then stole 2nd base. Bowlan got Raleigh to pop up for the first out, but he then accidentally grooved one to Freeman. Freeman put it to the outfield stands to give Tempe a huge 3-2 lead. Munoz pitched another perfect 8th and 9th for his second save of the series.

TEM 3 – LBD 2

Win: Freddy Peralta 1-1  (4.35)
Loss: Jonathan Bowlan 0-1  (3.86)
Save: Andres Munoz #2

GAME #4 – Jacob deGrom 28-5  (1.65) vs. Mike Burrows 3-8  (6.45)

Tempe loaded the bases in the top of the 1st with one out, but Burrows forced Pasquantino to ground into a double play. In the top of the 3rd, an RBI double from Ramirez scored the first run of the game for Tempe after Raleigh had singled and Freeman walked. Springer then walked to load the bases with one out, but Burrows recovered to get a pop-up and strikeout as Tempe left them loaded again. Tempe stranded runners on 2nd in the 4th and 5th as Burrows kept working out of jams. In the bottom of the 5th, Merrill worked a two-out walk-off against DeGrom. Teel made the most of the rare Dirt Bag baserunner with a huge two-run homer to give Long Beach the 2-1 lead. With two outs in the 6th, Burrows walked Kwan and Crawford to bring up Raleigh. Butto was called on to keep the lead. He walked Raleigh to load the bases, but then recovered to get Freeman with the bases loaded. This was the third time Tempe left the bases loaded in the game. In the top of the 7th, Ramirez worked a walk and then stole 2nd. Butto got Springer to fly out, but then issued a walk to Pasquantino. Flexen replaced Butto and struck out Abrue for the second out, but then gave up an RBI single to Polanco that made it 2-2 and an RBI single to Kwan that put Tempe up 3-2. Alvarez and Santana took over for Degrom and pitched a quiet 7th and 8th. In the top of the 9th, Tempe added two big insurance runs off Cecconi behind a Pasquantino homer and a Kwan RBI single.

TEM 5 – LBD 2

Win: Jacob deGrom 2-0  (2.38)
Loss: Jose Butto 0-1  (6.00)
Save: Stephen Kolek #1