In a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series the Tempe Tempers hosted the Clovis Wheat Kings. In that series Tempe topped Clovis but it took the Tempers seven games to finally put away the Wheat Kings. This year both teams finished in 2nd place but qualified for the Wild Card round by virtue of the records. Both squads have high powered offenses and fans everywhere are looking forward to the Shootout in Tempe.

Game #1: Matt Harvey (15-8 2.16) vs. Johnny Cueto (16-8 2.89)
Tempe would host the first two of the best of three series and would send Johnny Cueto to the mound to face off against the Clovis ace Matt Harvey.
In the first game Clovis got things started early with a Nelson Cruz blast to give the Wheat Kings a quick 1-0 lead. When Belt ripped a double later in the inning Tempe manager Douglas decided he had seen enough and pulled Cueto after only 2/3 of an inning.
In the bottom of the first Chris Davis got ahold of a Matt Harvey fastball and deposited it over the center field fence to tie the game at 1 apiece. It stayed that way through the second but in the third the Clovis bats came to life again.

Rajai Davis led off against Eric Goeddell who was now on the mound for the Tempers, with a double. Cruz drew a walk and then Nolan Arenado lined a single to load the bases. Manship came on in relief and struck out Belt but Phillips laced one into the right field corner that sent all three runners scurrying home and giving Clovis a 4-1 lead.
It stayed that way through six innings with Harvey in control for Clovis. In the seventh with Uehara now on for Clovis Beltre smashed a two out double and then Votto flared on into right that fell for a hit and send Beltre home with the second Tempe run. Uehara escaped further damage when Votto was thrown out trying at second trying to stretch the single into a double by Rajai Davis. The score now stood at 4-2 with Clovis clinging to the lead. Continue reading →

Chicago Mobsters hosts Motor City Muscle in the best of 3 American League Wild Card Round.

Game #1: Felix Hernandez (25-4 1.94) vs. Jacob deGrom (19-8 2.52)
Salvador Perez is 3 for 5.  Carl Crawford chips in with 2 hits.  Mike Trout Homers & has 2 RBI’s for the Muscle.   Jacob deGrom goes the distance allowing only 3 Runs (All earned), while striking out 11 Mobsters along the way.  Dexter Fowler & Buster Posey both Homer for Chicago. Justin Turner has 2 Doubles & a Run Scored, but it’s not enough for the Mobsters.
Final Score:  Motor City 5 – Chicago 3

Game #2: Carlos Martinez (19-4 2.40) vs. Justin Verlander (13-6 2.92)
With no Score & bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th Justin Turner facing Justin Verlander & the Muscle playing for the double play – Motor City gets the ground ball they wanted, but Eric Aybar juggles the ball and only gets Turner at first base.  Buster Posey scores to give the Mobsters a 1-0 lead, which they hold until the top of the 9th.

With Mike Trout leading the 9th off for the Muscle, Chicago sticks with right handed reliever Wade Davis who came on in the 8th.  Trout singles off Davis for a leadoff single.  Brandon Moss then steps up & Chicago (Who usually would hand the ball of to Aroldis Chapman at the point) Manager Stray Corrado decides to stick with Davis.   Brandon Moss gives the Motor City Muscle Manager Jim Craddock his most memorable moment in Mid-West Baseball League history as Moss deposits the ball over the left field fence, 2 rows deep for a lead changing Home Run as the Muscle take the lead now 3-2. Continue reading →

Tijuana hosts Detroit in the best of 3 American League Wild Card Round.

Game #1:
Carrasco (12-2) vs. Roak (18-4)
Edwin Encarnacion, Hanley Ramirez & Joe Mauer all had RBI’s & Tanner Roak was dominant in 9 innings, allowing only 3 hits, no walks & striking out 8.  Bryce Harper went 2 for 4 with a Double but Detroit couldn’t get anything going and the Bottle Rockets came out on top with the Final Score 3 to 1 .

Game #2:
Bumgarner (17-8) vs. Sanchez (11-7)
Yasiel Puig  who Vin Scully has nicknamed “Wild Horse” stole the show falling only a Home Run short of the Cycle in this one.   Puig also had an outfield Assist in the game, but it was 3-Run Home Run from little know Bottle Rockets Third baseman Ramiro Pena in the 4th inning that put the Bottle Rockets ahead in the 3rd.  Anibal Sanchez went 6 innings allowing only 5 hits, 1 walk and Striking out 5 Detroit Crime Batters. Final Score: Tijuana 5 – Detroit 1.

The Tijuana Bottle Rockets take the series 2-0 and move on to the American League Division Series to face the Chicago Mobsters.

Long Beach hosts Valdosta in the best of 3 National League Wild Card Round.

Game #1:
McHugh (12-6) vs. Lester (17-8)
This game was a pitcher’s duel with a 0-0 score in the top of the 7th when Hechavarria reached 3rd with 1 out. Lester struck out Infante and Kalish to end the threat. It was still scoreless with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th when Holt hit a flyball to Kalish. Kalish dropped it and Holt came all the way around to score the only run of the game as Long Beach takes game 1 1-0.

Game #2:
Teheran (16-10) vs. Ventura (20-5)
Valdosta opened the scoring in the 1st when Carter doubled in Bonifacio. Reynolds followed with a 3 run HR for an early 4-0 lead. That was all the scoring Teheran needed as he threw a 5 hit CG with 9 Ks in the Snappers 5-1 win. Teheran helped his own cause with an RBI 1B for the 5th run.

Game #3:
Hughes (13-15) vs. Shoemaker (8-11)
Carter gave Valdosta an early lead again when he singled in Reddick in the 1st. Ozuna gave Long Beach a lead when he hit a 2 run HR in the 4th. Gennett followed with a solo shot. The teams exchanged runs in the 5th and Long Beach took a 4-2 lead into the 8th when Gennett and Hardy had RBI singles to increase the lead to 6-2. Melancon retired Valdosta in order in the 9th to close out the series.

Long Beach Dirt Bags takes the series 2-1 and moves on to the next round to face the Tempe Tempers.

Coconut Creek Crushers @  Virginia Sluggers

The Wildcards from the AL came from the always tough West Division. The Virginia Sluggers finished the regular season with a record of 102-60. They played host to the Coconut Creek Crushers who were 96-66. Both teams had similar stats for the year as evidenced by their team ERA’s (VIR-3.03, CCC-3.04) team BAvg (VIR- .251, CCC- .242) and Team runs scored (VIR- 771, CCC- 715).

Game #1:
B.Colon (6-1 1.76) against M.Scherzer (24-4 2.10)

Continue reading →