GAME 2 – West Coast at Tempe – West Coast leads series 1-0.

(9-30-12) There is a chill to the dessert air this evening as Tempe fans are somewhat shocked from the events of game one – dropping it 5-4 to West Coast.  That will never happen again is the word around the city and the fans are hoping they can get their steeds to play the TEMPE way. Show a Temper and get mad.  Brandon McCarthy is the guy they will rely on to carry the night facing Scott Baker of West Coast.  Faster your seat belts the game is beginning.

West Coast trying to keep the magic going in this game get Juan Pierre to first in the first on an IF single, but Victorino if out on a swinging bunt and Cuddyer’s bat is cooled as he ground out. The bottom half of the first is what Tempe is all about.  After Granderson flies out to CF, Cabrera singles to left center. Pence pops out and then …. AGon pulls one to RF Cabrera stops at 2^nd.  Tulo then hits a hard one down the 1b line that gets past Trumbo at first, it’s extra bases. Cabrera scores, Gonzalez scores and Tulo slides into 3^rd with a 2 run triple.  2-0 Tempe.  The 3^rd leg of the Nemesis Trio (AGon, Tulo, Beltre) Beltre steps up and takes it way over the CF wall for a HR – 4-0 Tempe.

The only Baker turned out to be good at today was hitting Tempe bats and he is removed after the 1^st.  Wandy Rodriguez is brought in and he is effective for 2 innings, but in the bottom of the 4^th he faces a minor eruption of Tempe Tempers. He walks Tulo to start the inning and the Adrian Beltre steps up and belts another 2 run dinger over the RF wall for a 6-0 lead. 2^nd homer for Beltre in the game (and series). [Cuddyer who?]

In the 6^th, Ian Desmond says stop this to Tempe and takes one deep for a homer, 6-1 West Coast.  Apparently no one heard his cry as Tempe begins on pound on West Coast pitcher David Huff.  3 more Temper runs run the score to 9-1.  These runs started with 1 out and Tulo doubling. Beltre follows with rbi single. Punto PR, Guerrero PH singles him home and PH Ruiz singles him home (there was a PB in there as well).  Score now has it 9-1 Tempe.  Manager Schindel continues to find some arms to get through the rest of the game.   It is a drubbing – and serious pay back and a reminder to the upstart Swing that Tempe is THE TEAM.  The fans are doing the TEMPER DANCE.

Tempe adds another run in the 7^th when Cabrera doubles and gets moved to 3b with 2 outs. John McDonald lines a single to CF score Cabrera making it 10-1.

That is the final score – and Tempe evens the series in a most convincing way.

FINAL LINE
WCS    1  6  1
TEM  10 11 1
WP McCarthy (1-0)
LP Baker (0-1)
HR – WCS – Desmond (1); TEM – Beltre 2 (2)  Beltre also accounted for 5 rbis!

The series now shifts to West Coast – the fans there are excited because they will at least get to host 3 games!!  But how are their tired boys going to handle the drubbing?

Welcome 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.  With 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)

Sacramento returns to the National League Division Series for the 7th time since 2003, when the franchise was last defeated by the Kentucky Headhunters.  This time around, post-season newcomers Owensboro, operating under new management, threatened to unseat the defending World Series Champions.  Owensboro brought a powerful line-up, anchored by Lance Berkman, Mike Napoli, David Ortiz and Alfonso Soriano–but would they be enough to overpower Sacramento’s duo of Justin Verlander and Cliff Lee?

 Game 1

Verlander v. Hamels–the ace’s face off.  Game 1 started similarly for both teams, both lead-off batters reach base only to be stranded in the first.  But, it didn’t take long for Sacramento to hit stride, scoring 6 runs between the 3rd and 4th innings against Cole Hamels, and another 6 runs in the 7th against Guillermo Mota.  Uncharacteristically, Sacramento didn’t need the long ball to get it done in Game 1–the only home run of the game came from Hunter out of the 8th spot.  Needless to say, Owensboro did not have a good day on the mound.  Verlander had better luck, holding Owensboro to only 1 unearned run through 6 innings.  This one was all Sacramento.

WP: Verlander, LP: Hamels

Game 2

Cliff Lee v. Josh Collmenter–a classic pitchers’ duel.  But, this time, neither left the game happy.  Game 2 started quietly and would end in a 2-0 victory for Sacramento.  Collmenter couldn’t have been happy, having pitched well and holding Sacramento to only 2 runs in 6 innings, he left the game with literally NO offensive support. Albert Pujols was first to get to Collmenter with a solo blast over the right field wall in the 2nd.  Cliff Lee helped his cause with a single to center in the 3rd; Lee advanced to 3rd with a Kevin Youkilis double to left field and scored on a Robinson Cano sacrifice fly to Soriano.  That was all Cliff Lee would need.  Lee was less than thrilled with the managerial decisions he’s seen from Sacramento in recent playoff series.  Lee was pulled in the middle of a no-hitter, leaving after 7 2/3 innings of stellar pitching.  In Game 2 of the 2011 World Series, Manager George Skiles yanked his star pitcher after the 7th inning, again in the middle of a no-hitter.  In Game 2 of the World Series, Sacramento’s pen subsequently gave up a single to lose the no-hitter; this time around Eric O’Flaherty and Mariano Rivera finished off the no-hitter, advancing Sacramento to 2-0 on the series.

WP: Lee, LP: Collmenter, S: Rivera

 Game 3

Erik Bedard v. Javier Vazquez.  Game 3 was not a pitchers’ duel.  Sacramento’s offense continued as hoped while Owensboro’s offense finally started to get rolling.  The scoring began in the 2nd inning, with a four-bagger for Pujols and doubles from J.J. Hardy and Yadier Molina, giving Sacramento a 2-0 lead.  Owensboro answered right back by scoring in the bottom of the 2nd on 3 straight walks and a sacrifice RBI by Jack Hannahan, cutting Sacramento’s lead to 2-1.  Sacramento proceeded to score four more runs in the 3rd and 4th to extend their lead to 6-1, a lead that would prove sufficient behind Sacramento’s solid pitching staff.  Owensboro would ultimately score another four runs, while Sacramento would add three more runs in the 6th, for a 9-5 Sacramento win and a 3-0 lead for the series.  Unfortunately, Sacramento did not escape the game unscathed.  Jason Giambi was hit by a pitch that knocked him out 14 games … must have been one hellofa pitch!

WP: O’Flaherty, LP: Vazquez, S: Lewis

 Game 4

Verlander returns on three days’ rest to face off against Owensboro’s Henderson Alvarez.  This one was over fairly quickly, with Sacramento bats jumping to a 7-run lead after 5 innings, while Verlander held Owensboro to 1 hit and 0 runs over seven innings.  Troy Patton and Mariano Rivera subsequently gave up runs in the 8th and 9th innings, but it was too little too late.  Sacramento takes the game 7-2 and the series 4 games to none.

WP: Verlander, LP: Alvarez

Overall, Sacramento outscored Owensboro 30-8 in the four-game sweep.  The series MVP was Robinson Cano, who hit .438 with 5 R and 7 RBI in 4 games.  Pitcher of the series was Verlander, who won two games by pitching a solid 13 IP, giving up only 4 hits and no earned runs.  For Owensboro, Hannahan was by far the most consistent hitter, batting .333 with a run and an RBI, but Berkman was the most impactful, batting .167, but with a home run, 3 RBI, 2 BB and 1 HBP.  Owensboro’s pitcher of the series was no doubt Collmenter–the only starting pitcher of the series able to hold Sacramento to less than 6 runs.

Despite the lopsided results of the series, I must say that this was a great introduction to Dom.  We played head-to-head (via join.me and over the phone), and it was a pleasure to get to know him a bit.  He really took his role seriously as he temporarily took control of Owensboro. I look forward to Dom’s tremendous contribution to the future of this league.

TEMPE – WEST COAST Division Series  GAME 1 @ Tempe

(9-29-12) Evening in Tempe and all the excitement is centered on baseball and the playoffs. The Division series starts, the Tempers march to the World Series finally begins as the Wild Card round has finished and the home team finally gets to play. And Tempe is ready, putting their ace Matt Cain on the mound. Their opponent, the West Coast Swing, is fresh off the upset victory over Camarillo in the MWBL’s first Wild Card Series – and their players are showing fatigue, energy, but it’s mostly adrenaline, which only lasts so long. Making the start for West Coast will be Gavin Floyd whose 16 wins in the regular season is not quite half the 33 Cain amassed.  Here we go ….

The home team fans were rudely silenced somewhat in the first when Shane Victorino beat out dribbler down the third base line for a two out infield hit. Then Michael Cuddyer stepped up to the plate (fresh off a 3 HR performance in the 3 game WC series). Victorino promptly stole 2b and Cuddyer then single him home making it 1-0 West Coast. Zimmerman follows with shallow fly to center that Granderson couldn’t get to and then it bounds away from him. Cuddyer digs for home and beats the throw with Zimmerman ending up at 3^rd. Now 2-0 West Coast.  West Coast fans must be getting excited, but there are still 9 innings of Tempe bats to face.  Well, the rest the first three innings went scoreless.

The third inning however saw each team scoring a run each. Cuddyer led off the top of the 4^th with a base hit and he steals 2^nd. Zimmerman follows with a single to RF but Cuddyer holds at 3^rd for runners at the corners.  Tempe’s change pitchers (actually this is the 2^nd change in the game) and Greg Holland comes on. They were looking for the DP, and got Utley to ground to second, but were only able to get the batter at 1^st, Cuddyer scoring – 3-0 West Coast.  Holland then got a K, gave up an IW and then fanned P Floyd to end the 4^th.  In the bottom half after getting the first two batter, Troy Tulowitzski doubles.  Beltre (of the Nemesis Trio) follows Tulo’s double with one of his own making it 3-1. Floyd then got Pedroia to pop out ending the 4^th.

In the 5^th, the momentum took a swing toward the Tempers. Ruiz and PH Duda (batting for Holland) went down to a K and flyout, but with 2 outs things got exciting for the home team.   And it was the thing managers (and pitchers) really hate with 2 outs – the free pass that got things started, Granderson walking.  He steals 2^nd. Manager Schindel lifts Floyd in favor of Chris Perez.  Melky Cabrera steps up and ground to Desmond at short – and the thing a manager (and pitcher) hates even more – he boots it and everyone is safe, runners on the corners.  Hunter Pence steps up and singles to RF, Granderson scoring, runners on 1^st and 2^nd. Then AGon (of the Nemesis Trio) walks to load the bases. Tulo then whacks one to RF scoring Cabrera and Pence and Tempe has taken the lead 4-3! The once load stadium that had been in stunned silence has erupted again. Beltre ends the rally when he fans.

Jim Johnson comes in to pitch the 6^th for the Tempers and gets the first two batters before Desmond sneaks one up the middle into CF for a single. He then steals 2^nd.  Johnson is quickly lifted for Takashi Saito (the 5^th Temper pitcher in the game).  Yorvit Torrealba steps up and hits one to RF that drops in front of Pence and Desmond rounds third and he beats the throw standing up – tie game 4-4. Saito is lifted for Ryan Madson who gets the 3^rd out.

In the bottom half Perez gets 2 outs before Molina singles.  He then tries to steal second, but is cut down to end the inning.  New pattern developing as Nunez opens the 7^th with a single, but when Pierre misses the pitch, Nunez is cut down at second.  Pierre then walks but is out at 2b on FC with Victorino ending up at 1^st. With Cuddyer at the plate, Victorino is then nailed at second trying to steal ending the inning.

Southpaw Glen Perkins comes in for West Coast in the 7^th and he gets 2Ks and a flyout.

Top of the 8^th, Cuddyer steps up to open the inning, remember he was in the batter’s box when Victorino was cut down stealing.   Well, he takes Madson’s pitch downtown, might have reached Phoenix for another playoff HR and a 5-4 West Coast lead.  In the bottom of the 8^th, AGon, Tulo and the pitcher’s slot are scheduled to appear. Perkins remains on the hill for the Swing. AGon grounds to Trumbo and Tulo fans.  Manager Douglas calls on Vlad Guerrero to PH for Madson. He greets Perkins with a high, deep drive to right, going going, but caught by Cuddyer at the wall, 3 outs.

Tyler Clippard comes in for the 9^th and gets 2Ks and a groundout bringing the game to a tense moment, Tempe coming to bat at home in the bottom of the 9^th – but down only 1 run.  Manager Schindel is looking to the pen and he calls Kenly Jansen to try to come in and hold the Tempers (are there blood pressure monitors in place?).

Pedroia steps in – and whiffs. Ruiz steps up and flys out to CF. Molina to the plate with 2 outs and Jansen fires it in and Molina couldn’t stop the bat and he strikes out – thus bringing the game to an end with West Coast winning 5-4! Holy Cow!

FINAL LINE
WCS  5 10  2
TEM  4   6  0
WP Perkins (1-0) S Jansen (1)
LP Madson (0-1)
HR – WCS Cuddyer (1)

The MWBL Division Series are beginning and this year they represent the second round of playoffs.  And this series pits two teams from the NL Central Division – the Tempe Tempers, runaway best team in the league, vs. West Coast swing, the beneficiary of the inaugural expansion of the wild card teams in the playoffs. One team expected to be here, the other many consider a fluke.  How do they stack up?

Comparing team records and stats there are some obvious imbalances:

Records – Tempe went 134-28 (that’s winning 83% of their games). West Coast by comparison was 89-73 (55% of their games won) and a whopping 45 games behind.  Head to head – Tempe owned the Swing with a record of 9-4.  Bit of a note, the Swing had the 2^nd best record of all NL teams against the Tempers (Camarillo –  the other National League Wildcard team and playoff losers to West Coast in the WC round, had the best actually taking the season series from Tempe 7-5).

Pitching – West Coast posted an impressive team ERA of 3.38 (5^th best in the NL) but it was a whopping 1.34 higher than Tempe’s league leading 2.04! Tempe also lead the league with 64 saves as they managed a staff heaving in the bullpen.  Potential Starter Matchups:  Tempe’s Big Three – Matt Cain (34-2, 1.33 ERA, 45 starts), Tim Stauffer (25-0, 2.63, 30) and Brandon McCarthy (16-4, 2.11, 35) combined for over half (75) of Tempe’s victories.  This trio was backed up by a bullpen that sported a combined ERA of 1.82 (and that was for 548.2 IP) and an OBA of .162. By contrast, the West Coast staffs top three; Gavin Floyd (16-5, 2.47, 30), Scott Baker (14-7, 3.23, 24), and Josh Tomlin (11-9, 3,39, 26) barely surpassed Cain’s victory total combined.  The West Coast bullpen had a combined 3.32 ERA in 404.1 IP (almost twice as high as Tempe’s.

Batting – No surprise here, but Tempe led the NL in batting with a .276 avg (16 points higher than the 2^nd best team NL West winner Sacramento) and .344 OBP. They were also first in HRs (223), runs scored (928), doubles (325) – and this was a team that didn’t even bat in most 9^th innings at home.  This team is laden with STARS including the “Nemesis Trio” (Adrian Gonzalez (.329 avg, 29 HRs, 128 rbi, 117 runs), Adrian Beltre (.295, 44, 120, 91), and Troy Tulowitzki (.286, 32, 113, 93). These three seem to own the Swing (and most other teams).  However, they are not the only muscle on this club – Hunter Pence popped 21 HRs while hitting .321 and driving in 95), Melky Cabrera hit .301, scored 118 times, had 29 SBs and 92 rbis), Carlos Ruiz batted .300. In all this team had 6 players with 92 or more runs batted in.

West Coast hit .248 for the season with a .304 OBP. They popped a modest 145 HRs, and scored 680 runs (248 fewer than Tempe).  They did finish 2^nd in the NL in stolen bases with 174 (but they were forced to run a lot to make up for other deficiencies). Highest average on this team for a regular was Ian Desmond at .299 (with 26 SBs). 3 players topped 20 HRs (Mark Trumbo 29, Shane Victorino 26, and Michael Cuddyer 21). No player cracked the 100 list for rbis with Victorian the only one in the 90 with 91. The team did sport 5 players with 21 or more SBs – Desmond 26, Eric Young Jr. 25 (of 26), Juan Pierre 25, Victorino 23, and Eduardo Nunez 23.

Fielding – Tempe led the NL with a Fielding percentage of .989, West Coast was 5^th at .982. Tempe was 2^nd best in the league for allowing the fewest earned runs, 46 (Sacramento allowed a paltry 31). West Coast was 3^rd allowing 57. One area that West Coast had an advantage was in cutting down base stealers –  West Coast was successful 33% of the time nailing runners, Tempe only 14%.

As you look at these two teams it is easy to see that Tempe trumps all categories (and that would be pretty much true against any team in the league). Manager/Owner Chris Douglas has put together a strong team – strong in ALL categories and has managed them well, getting the most out of all of them. The West Coast club saw a change in ownership late in the season and Manager/Owner Bill Schindel  was able to keep them in the playoff hunt, and will need all the tricks he can come up with (and lots of luck) just to avoid a sweep.  Can David find enough good flat stones to slay Goliath?  (Are there even that many flat stone available?)