TRHL owners,

The 2013 regular season NOW has been completed.

The NL Wild Card teams have been set. Let's summarize.

Game One - Being Don Mattingly @ Munchen Marauders - BDM jumped out early off Marcum with a couple runs in the first inning. All was calm until the bottom of the sixth when pinch hitter Mike Zunino crushed one to deep left. I heard the bat flip was incredible. But that was all the scoring for the Marauders, as Shields shut 'em down. Marauders couldn't even score off a 43-year-old journeyman in the 9th, as Mariano Rivera closes out the game. BDM wins 5-2, adding a few more runs with a Saltalamacchia two-run blast in the 8th, and more insurance in the 9th.

Game Two - Munchen Marauders @ Indianapolis Clowns - Do or die now for both teams. Marauders down to just RP, and Keith Butler receives the ball to start the game, but not until after the Marauders score two in the first with a two-run blast by Asdrubal Cabrera off A.J. Burnett. Burnett mows 'em down thereafter though, and hands the ball over to Kenley Jensen, who promptly surrenders a run. Marauders now up 3-0 going into the bottom of the 8th. Usually a sure thing in PETCO Park. But not this time, as the Clowns tie the game in the 8th, scoring three runs on two singles, two walks, a wild pitch, and a ground out. Goose eggs in the 9th, and we're into free baseball (extra innings)! Both teams now send to the mound pitchers who are usually chomping on sunflower seeds and beaver hunting in extra innings. But in this 164th game for the Marauders and 163rd for the Clowns, virtually all of our clutch pitchers are automatically farmed.

In the 13th inning, though, the Marauders score a run with another blast by, yes, you know his name, Asdrubal Cabrera! And we're really down to our scrubs now. So up comes pinch hitter Reed Johnson in the bottom of the 13th, and he promptly sends one over the fence to lead off the inning. PETCO Park comes alive!

I could mention all the double plays, blown opportunities, errors on pick off throws, strikeouts when a sac fly would have ended it, stranded runners in scoring position, etc., but there's too many of them to single out just a few.

So, finally, in the 15th (!!) inning, Zimmerman singles, steals second, advances to third on a sac bunt by Jackson, and then, well, all of that was pointless, because Jayson Werth homers off <insert scrub RP name here> to give the Clowns a 6-4 victory!

It was an instant classic filled with plenty of snarky comments by both managers. I used "Fuck" at least a dozen times. My apologies, Zimmerman, Pedroia, Burnett, etc., for my insults. Please don't turn on me in the LDS.

Thanks to Chris for hosting and playing both games last night. Quite a ridiculous way to end a season.

So the LDS is now:

American League - (4) Stogies @ (1) Heroes and (3) Terriers @ (2) Whitecaps
National League - (4) Clowns @ (1) Outlaws and (3) Being Don Mattingly @ (2) Snowshoe Hares

Injuries (> 3 days): None!

The league file for the LDS is here:
[www.trhl.org]

LDS participants - please post your post-season MP in the Series 55 thread within the message board.

Series results due ASAP.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2014 10:43PM by Greg Tamer.

Outlaws sweep in a HTH series that features relatively little drama until game 4, when two Clowns get tossed and a couple more narrowly miss getting run thanks to a possibly over-generous strike zone that sees the second 11 K performance by an Outlaws starter in the series.

terrriers mp LDS

Whitecaps roster and changes.

BDM MP

The Stogies and Heroes played an incredibly tight six game series. Four games were tied in the 8th (with one needing extra innings) and a fifth game ended at 1-0. The Heroes prevailed by the skin of their teeth, but the victory was costly, as Alex Cobb and Hector Santiago each suffered significant injuries.

Game 1 matched Ivan Nova (13-6) against Kris Medlen (16-8). Havana struck first, scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning. That innocuous start proved decisive as Nova and closer Francisco Rodriguez shut down the home team to snatch a 1-0 victory.

Game 2 featured another pitching duel, this time between Mike Minor (15-10) and Alex Cobb (8-10). The teams traded runs in the 4th and the game stayed tied into the bottom of the 8th, where Higglytown’s Chris Denorfia smashed a run-scoring double to tie the series with a 2-1 win.

The Series shifted to Havana, where Jorge de la Rosa (16-8) and Kyle Lohse (14-8) faced off on a chilly 43 degree night. The teams’ bats stayed as cold as the weather, and the game seemed destined to go on forever until the home team’s Anthony Rizzo, crushed a double to secure a 2-1 triumph and a lead in the series.

At this point, both managers broke to ingest baby aspirin and nitroglycerin tablets, hoping to ward off tension-induced coronaries.

The Hero bats finally awakened against A.J. Griffin (17-8) in Game 4, as Higglytown matched its series output by plating three runs in the top of the first. Kris Medlen and a cast of relievers made that lead stand up through tense opposition, scoring two more in the 8th to tie the series with a 5-0 win.

The final game in Havana featured a tied series and a matchup of Cobb versus Nova. Higglytown jumped to an early 4-0 lead, but the Stogies roared back to tie. The teams traded wasted opportunities until the 8th, when doubles by Joey Votto and Geovany Soto gave the Heroes the runs they needed to pull out a 6-4 decision and head home leading the series for the first time.

Back in Higglytown, Game 6 saw Minor looking to even the series against de la Rosa. Once again, both teams proved resilient. Havana took an early 3-0 lead before the Heroes fought back to tie in the 6th. The Stogies immediately reclaimed the lead in the 7th, and handed that advantage to their closer in the 8th, albeit putting him in harm's way with the bases loaded. Higglytown got to K-Rod for the first time in the series, eventually scoring 5 to pull away 8-4.

A very close series that turned on a couple of breaks. Congratulations to Marc on a great team and a great season and playoff series. Higglytown look forward to the LCS (sadly both managers were disappointed by the results of their favored clubs in the "real" AL and NL CSes).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2014 09:42AM by charles.

Game One:

Jordan Zimmerman vs. Patrick Corbin

Hares score one in the bottom of the first off a David Wright infield single and a Mike Trout double, but Mattingly gets that back in the third with an Andrelton Simmons solo HR. The tie was short lived, however, as the Hares scored two in the bottom of the inning after Zimmerman and Nix singled, Wright doubled, Trout walked, and Darnell McDonald hit a sacrifice fly.

From there Zimmerman cruised until the seventh when Mattingly scratched one back. The real drama, however, was in the top of the ninth. With Gomes on second and none out, Heyward at the plate and Peralta on the mound, Heyward flew out to centerfield. Gomes decided to test de Aza's arm by advancing on the fly out but de Aza gunned him down.

Hares win 3-1.

Game Two:

Jose Fernandez vs. Dan Straily

The only game of the series that wasn't a one-run affair. Fernandez goes eight and 1/3 of shutout ball and hits a homerun, Wright also homers and the Hares win 4-0.

Game Three:

Johnny Cueto vs. James Shields

Hares score five runs in the top of the third by dinking and dunking the ball to take a 5-1 lead. Mattingly comes back though with one run in the bottom of the inning and then two more in the fourth following the seemingly questionable decision to pull Cueto after only 72 pitchers. Tanner Scheppers, the third pitcher of the inning, saved the managers bacon when he got Valbuena and Machado to pop out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

From there the bullpen shut it down until the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Brett Gardner singled off of A.J. Ramos. With the game on the line and a likely steal situation, Garder loses his head a little and gets picked off, and the Hares win 5-4. The second time in three games that Mattingly makes an out on the bases in the ninth inning with the game on the line.

Game Four:

Jordan Zimmerman vs. Travis Wood

Well pitched game. Hares score one in the second off a Cano homerun and another in the fourth off a two out single by de Aza. Mattingly gets one back in the sixth off a Saltalamachia homerun.

Fast forward to the ninth. Joel Peralta on the mound. Pinch-hitter Yan Gomes walks. Jason Heyward is hit by a pitch setting up two men on and none out, down by a run. Machada sacrifice bunts. So runners on second and third with one out. After much deliberation the Hares bring the infield in and play for the win with Kelly Johnson at the plate. He grounds weakly to first and Gomes stays at third. So now runners are still on second and third, two out, down by one, Andrelton Simmons at the plate. The Hares bring in righty killer A.J. Ramos and he gets Simmons to fly out.

Hares win 3-2.

So a sweep, but three very close games where every close and clutch play went the Hares way.

Congratulations to Arthur and Eric on a fine season.

Great series between the Terriers and Whitecaps, won by Alston in seven games over Halifax.

Write up for above series Alston Terriers @ Halifax Whitehorse.

After 162 games both these division rivals finished with 98 wins, nod going to Halifax Whitecaps on tiebreakers.

Game One: Series opened in Halifax with Halifax sending out Hamels 17-9 to face Alston's ace; Max Scherzer (22-6).

Pitching defined this game as it would for much of the series. Alston got the early lead as they scratched out a run in 2nd and added an unearned run in 3rd. Hamels shut it down through five though, and bullpen was holding. In bottom seventh, Halifax made their move. Bautista, Byrd and Infante singled around an out to close game to 2-1 and when Scherzer hit Jay with a pitch the sacks were full for AJ Ellis. Alston brought in Medina to face pinch hitter Jose Tabata and induced the 6-4-3 DP to end the threat. Medina worked through a two out jam in 8th and Hoover pitched a clean 9th for the save.

Alston Terriers 2 Halifax Whitecaps 1

Game two, continued at Halifax:

Again teams send out front line SPs who would set tone. Halifax: Kuroda (19-7) Alston: Kazmir (15-6) would both work into the sixth with Halifax scoring 2nd inning run on AJ Ellis rbi double following Infante reaching on error. Halifax and Alston pens kept it there til 8th when Hunter lead off with a double and Alston small balled him home on bunt and ground out, setting up a long night for the fans, as pens scattered hits over the next six. In the top 14th, Conger shocked the home crowd when he went deep off Simon for 3-1 Alston lead and Medina closed it out. Halifax struck out 12 Terriers and Alston fanned 16 Whitecaps.

Alston Terriers 3 Halifax Whitecaps 1.

Series moves to Alston for Game 3:

Whitecaps send out Kyle Kendrick (9-9) to face Terrier's Matt Latos (14-10). Whitecaps get to Latos early as ARod delivers two out two RBI single in top of opening frame. Terriers get one back off Kendrick in bottom, Bautista and Cabrera add solo HRs of Latos in 3rd and 5th frames around a Alston run in 4th to extend lead to 4-2. Halifax stroked five singles in 6th to knock in two and knock Latos out of game. Terrier pen didn't allow a hit the rest of the way, but Alston comes up short knicking Halifax pen for single runs in 7th and 8th. Jansen closes it out for Halifax as they get in win column.

Halifax Whitecaps 6 Alston Terriers 4 .

Game 4:

Halifax sends Tom Gorzelanny (6-4) out to face Doug Fister (12-15)

Alston jumps on Gorzelanny in first on Tori Hunter three run shot. Halifax gets one back in 2nd on Bautista HR, but starters hold it there into the 5th and pens take over. Halifax pen keeps Alston off the board the rest of the way, but so do Purcey and Hoover, allowing one hit over last 4 2/3, as Hoover works 2 inning save.

Alston Terriers 3 Halifax Whitecaps 1.

Game 5:

Halifax sends out Hamels to face Scherzer again to try to keep series going.

Halifax gets a run in the first, but Scherzer goes into lock down mode. Tori Hunter hit as two run HR in 4th and Lake added solo job in 5th as it looked like a repetition of game one. With Scherzer allowing one run on 5 hits over 8 but at 104 pitches, Alston brings on Medina to start ninth and the Whitecaps respond with a Zobrist triple and Lind single to close it to 3-2. Medina looks like he has it in hand when he induces a 4-3 double play, but Marlon Byrd steps up and jacks one to tie the game. Having thown just 8 pitches, Medina stays in to issue walk to Jay and rbi double to Infante for 4-3 Halifax lead. Scherzer sitting on bench with towel over his head. Vincent works 1-2-3 bottom ninth for win and bring series back to Halifax with Alston leading 3-2.

Halifax Whitecaps 4 Alston Terriers 3

In Halifax game six, Terriers send out Kazmir to face Kuroda.

Kuroda brings it scattering 5 hits and allowing a single run over 6.1. Dozier greets Kazmir by depositing his first pitch into the bullpen and while Kazmir gets through three without further damage thanks to a couple of DPs, he is sent to the showers in the 4th via a couple of 2 run blasts from Guitierez and Zobrist. Whitecaps expand their lead to 8-1 on 2rbi single from Cabrera in 6th and cruise despite Cuddyer's 3 run jack in 9th for Alston. Series now tied 3-3

Halifax Whitecaps 10 Alston Terriers 5


Game 7 at Halifax:

Terriers send out Latos vs Kendrick. Both effective early, but Kendrick turns ball over to pen after 3 scoreless. Terriers get on the board in 4th as Ramos goes first pitch hitting against J. Smith, and clears the fence. Juan Francisco increases lead to 3-0 on 2rbi double in 5th as . But Latos who seems to be cruising allowing facing just 13 hitters over 4, gives up hits to first three in 5th gets an out and then AJ Ellis doubles to tie the game. After he allows Ellis to go to thrid on WP with one out, Alston calls on the pen. Perkins enters with 2-0 count on Zobrist, strikes him out, intentionally walks Miggy and K's Bautista to keep it tied.

Simon and Perkins work clean sixths. top 7th, Loney greets McFarland with a ground single and Beltran doubles him in for 4-3 Alston lead. Vincent comes on and stops it there.

Hoover comes in to 7th to hold lead. Infante lines a 1-2 pitch into the gap for an opening double. Pinchhitting Tabata works to 3-2 and skies 9th pitch to wall in left, as Infante moves to third with one out. Ellis walks on six pitches as Hoover is looking a bit wild. His first pitch to Zobrist comes inside and knicks him, loading the bases with one out for Miggy Cabrera. Phillips leaves Hoover in not trusting his other options. Miggy works a 3-2 count but swings through a fast ball for the K. Bautista lines one to center but Lake makes a sliding grab to end the threat.

Vincent and Dunning work a clean 8th and 9th for Whitecaps, Mujica allows a single in 8th but holds.

Bottom 9th, Mujica having worked a 14 pitch 8th, stays in try to preserve the 4-3 Alston lead. Tabata opens with a single to center and steals second on the second pitch to Ellis. Ellis strikes out. Tabata moves to third as Zobrist flys to right. Cabrera up. Miggy intentionally walked for the second time in game. Bautista up with game on line, skys a 2-1 pitch to left where Beltran craddles it for the out.


Alston Terriers 4 Halifax Whitecaps 3.

Alston defeats Halifax 4-3 in a tough 7 game series.

Great series. Thanks to Craig, lots of turning points on both sides, very exciting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2014 09:32AM by Michael Phillips.

Thanks for the summaries Michael! It was a great series. All the best of luck against the Heroes, it's going to be an uphill battle against a great team.

This: "But Latos who seems to be cruising allowing facing just 13 hitters over 4, gives up hits to first three in 5th gets an out and then AJ Ellis doubles to tie the game. After he allows Ellis to go to thrid on WP with one out, Alston calls on the pen. Perkins enters with 2-0 count on Zobrist, strikes him out, intentionally walks Miggy and K's Bautista to keep it tied. "

That was the key moment of the series (even more than the ninth-inning comeback to keep it alive in Game Five) the inability of Zobrist and Bautista to bring a runner home from third base with the game tied. It was an epic series.