Game 1 – Danny Salazar and three AB relievers shut down the Speakers on 3 hits. Buster Posey spoils the shutout with a 1-out homer (8) in the 9th.
Jake Arrieta suffers his first loss in a Speakers uniform as the ABs post candlesticks in each of the first 3 innings: each a 2-out solo home run! Mike Trout, Blake Swihart and Adrian Gonzalez turn the trick. An unearned run in the 8th seals the 4-1 final.
W – Salazar; L – Arrieta (2-1)
Game 2 – Cole Hamels is victimized by two AB errors and his own wild pitch in the 1st while the Speakers plate a pair of unearned runs. Hamels and David Price hang zeroes until the 7th.
Brad Brach walks Anthony Rizzo with 1 away. Posey grounds to 3rd with Rizzo on the move. With 2 outs, Manny Machado lines a pinch RBI single (15-11 against an 18) for a 3-0 lead.
Price makes those scarce runs stand up (3-0 final) by firing a 4-hit shutout with no walks and 8 Ks. However, the ABs strand a runner in scoring position in 4 different innings.
W – Price (9-5); L – Hamels
Game 3 – Luis Severino (in his last regular season start) and Nate Karns and friends continue the mound mastery. The teams combine for no runs and 5 hits through 8. No base runner for either side reaches 3rd.
With 1 out in the top of the 9th, Machado works his 4th walk of the game. Rajai Davis drives an RBI double into the gap to shatter the scoreless tie. Brach relieves Mark Melancon and promptly allows another RBI double to Andrelton Simmons.
Brach prevents further damage, but 2 runs seem huge in this series. Severino allows a 2-out single to Kevin Pillar, who pinch ran for David Ortiz in the 7th. As the tying run at the plate, Justin Turner Ks to end the game, 2-0.
W – Severino (4-1); L – Melancon
The Speakers outscore the ABs in the series, 6-4. Each team scores in only 4 of 27 potential innings. Earned runs in the series? Speakers 4, ABs 3. The ABs score theirs in the first 3 innings of the series (3 solos). The ABs haven’t plated an earned run in 23 frames or any run in their last 18. The ABs commit 2 errors, both in the 1st inning of Game 2 (Trout and Andrus), leading to 2 runs.