A.L. DIVISION SERIES – SEV @ HOL G#1

HollywoodWelcome to Hollywood….Hollywood returns to the playoffs for the second year in a row, however they return this time as the AL West Division Champion – winning their first Division Title since 2005.  They face off against perennial AL powerhouse Severn, who won 97 games and would have won 100+ games had they played in another AL Division.   As always, the AL West is the most competitive MWBL division with 4 of the 5 teams winning 90+ games – with the 5th winning 76 games.  Had Virginia played in another division, they most likely would have won 81 games.  In fact, with their 76 wins, Virginia would have finished 3rd in any other division.

In what proved to be a crucial series for Severn at the end of the season, that series split in Hollywood got them to the 97 wins they needed to make the playoffs, beating Coconut Creek out by 1 game.  Severn went on to Chicago and won the hard fought series, 2 games to 1,  before flying west to Hollywood.

Game 1:  Roy Halladay vs Clayton Kershaw.  In the top of the 2nd, Paul Konerko leads off with a double  to left-center.  He moves to third on a Ramon Hernandez fielders choice.  Then with 2 outs, Marlon Byrd singles past a diving Emilio Bonifacio at third base to score Konerko and give Severn the 1-0 lead.  SevernWith 2 of the top pitchers in the league battling, the game stays this way through 5 1/2 innings.  Then with 2-outs in the 6th, Carlos Pena steps to the plate….The pitch…and Pena whales into this one….HANG OUT A CLOTHESLINE IN DEEP RIGHT & KISS IT GOODBYE!  Carlos ties the game at 1.  We head into the 7th with the game tied as Byrd steps in.  The pitch from Kershaw..oh it’s on the hand and Byrd is down!  Report from the clubhouse is that he will be gone for 5 days.  Severn goes down quietly in the 7th and that takes us to the bottom half.  With 2-outs, Ian Kinsler hammers a hot smash to Alex Rodriguez at 3rd base.  He makes the long throw to t first, but Kinsler beats it for an infield single.  With Jason Kubel up, Hollywood flashes the steal sign to Kinsler who takes off…great jump…the throw from Hernandez….HE’S OUT!  Kinsler went 26-0 with steal attempts during the regular season, but is thrown out on his first attempt in the post season!  Kershaw is pulled in the 8th for Steve Cishek.  Jason Werth singles to lead off the 8th with a single, then promptly steals 2nd.  Matt Holliday than knocks a fielders choice to Kinsler, moving Werth to 3rd with 1-out.  Steve Cutler visits the mound to discuss the strategy with Cishek.  Cutler wants Miguel Cabrera walked to create the double play, but you can see Cishek shaking his head no.  He tells Cutler he ‘owns’ Cabrera and will strike him out.  Cutler buckles and heads back to the dugout.  Miggy steps in…..Cishek wheels and deals…..STRIKE THREE!  Miggy walks back to the bench with his head down.  This brings up Konerko.  Cishek gets him on a popup to END THE INNING!  Halladay pitches into the bottom of the 8th.  With 2-outs, Halladay walks Kurt Suzuki which is followed by a Drew Stubbs scratch hit.  That’s it for Halladay, as Mike Roberts brings in Joaquin Benoit to face Pena.   Benoit catches him looking and we head to the 9th.  Closer Heath Bell takes the mound in the 9th.  With 1-out, ARod walks.  Than Angel Pagan, in for Byrd, hammers a double to right…Jay Bruce is up with it, turns and throws a strike towards home which causes Severn to hold ARod at 3rd.  With the winning run at 3rd, Marco Scutaro steps in an pops up to Pena at first.  Then Bell gets Ryan Raburn to line out to Pena to end the threat.  Hollywood goes quietly in the 9th and we head to extra innings.  Frank Francisco enters the game for Hollywood.  Werth coxes a walk to lead off the 10th.  Hollywood brings in David Ross with hopes to slow down Werth.  Werth steals 2nd off Ross.   Then Holliday hammers a RBI double to left-center to give Severn the 2-1 lead.    Hollywood doesn’t muster anything in the bottom of the 10th and Severn upsets Hollywood 2-1 in game 1 to take a 1-0 series lead.

Winner:  Joaquin Benoit 1-0
Loser:  Frank Francisco 0-1
Save:  Scott Downs (1)
HR: Carlos Pena (1)

TRADE DEADLINE
WEDNESDAY 07/24/2024
AT 11:59 PM - ET!

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