Tag Archives: Arrogant Bastards

2017 First Period

Arrogant Bastards vs. Speakers

Leave a comment

Way back on March 19th, the ABs and Speakers clashed on Carol Drive.

Game 1 – Mookie Betts homers twice (3, 4) and knocks an RBI double in his first three trips to the plate. That’s all Carlos Martinez needs (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB) to pick up a 5-1 win.

Martinez turns away Evan Longoria’s homer in the 2nd and strands the bases loaded in the 5th. Roughned Odor chips in 3 singles (one on a hit-and-run 5 for an RBI).

W – C. Martinez (2-0); L – Danny Salazar

Game 2 – The ABs only manage 5 hits, but Kenta Maeda holds serve (8 IP, 5 H, 10 K). A scoreless tie reaches the 10th inning.

Joe Blanton strikes out Kevin Pillar to begin the bottom half. Tyler Saladino bunts for a hit. Addison Russell singles (9) to put the winning run at 2nd. Mike Trout pops to short.

With 2 away, Blanton loses Brett Gardner to load the bases. Stephen Piscotty attempts to walk, but Blanton denies him (+21). Piscotty then rolls another 14 for a walk off walk!

Bastards win 1-0. No Speaker makes it to 3rd base through 10 innings.

W – Brad Brach; L – Blanton (0-2)

Game 3 – With 2 on and 1 out in the 3rd, the Speakers break their scoreless streak. Kris Bryant’s 2-run triple gives the home team the early advantage.

Anthony Rendon walks with 2 outs in the 4th. Buster Posey reaches on Trout’s miscue in center, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd. Max Scherzer plunks Betts to load the bases; and then, he uncorks a run-scoring wild pitch. Speakers lead 3-0.

Jeremy Hellickson keeps the ABs at bay, except one innings gets away from the veteran. Russell doubles with 1 out in the 5th. Joe Panik pops to short for the 2nd out, but Trout’s 2nd hit of the series (11) scores Russell.

A rattled Hellickson balks and proceeds to walk Gardner and David Ortiz. Bases jammed. Giancarlo Stanton tries to walk for an RBI, but Hellickson (+26) turns it away and finally gets a 4-6 fielder’s choice to end the tense situation.

Bryant doubles to lead off the 7th. Carlos Gonzalez grounds out, moving Bryant to 3rd. Manny Machado lifts a fly ball to Stanton. Bryant breaks for the plate, but Stanton’s throw is on the money for a 9-2 double play!

Elvis Andrus starts the 9th with the ABs’ only other hit, a bunt single against Jeremy Jeffress. Evan Gattis promptly grounds into a tailor-made double play to erase the threat. Adrian Gonzalez grounds to short to bring down the curtain on a 3-1 Speakers’ win.

W – Hellickson (3-0, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 10 K); L – Scherzer; S – Jeffress (1)

Game 4 – Ervin Santana and Joe Ross lock horns for 4 scoreless innings. Longoria starts the ABs’ 5th with a double that injures Bryant in right field.

With 1 out, Russell doubles in Longoria. With 2 away, Panik singles home Russell. 2-0 ABs.

Another pair of extra base hits start the ABs’ 6th. Gonzalez doubles and Stanton triples him home. Longoria singles (5) in Stanton for a commanding 4-0 lead.

The Speakers have chances against Santana, but can only manage back-to-back doubles (Rizzo and Machado) to start the bottom of the 6th. They would leave 6 RISP and go 2-13 in those situations.

ABs take the finale to salvage a split, 4-1.

W – Santana; L – Ross (0-1); S – Kenley Jansen

2017 Second Period

Shartlesville Browns at Arrogant Bastards

Leave a comment

The Browns opened the second period last night against the Bastards.

Game 1: Rodon v Scherzer. The AB’s set the tone right away as Stanton leadoff the game with a homer. They pushed their advantage to 2-0 in the top of the 5th when Piscotty delivered Trout on an RBI single. In the bottom of the 5th Jose Abreu broke up Scherzer’s perfect game with a solo shot to make it 2-1. The Sharts scratched across an unearned run to tie it in the 6th to tie it. An Ozuna triple followed by a Gattis Double in the 8th off Nate Jones sunk the Browns and the AB’s touched up Cody Allen in the 9th for 3 insurance runs. Bastards 6/12/1 – Browns 2/5/0

Game 2: Paxton v Hamels. This time the Bastards waited till the second batter of the game to circle the bases. Trout singled and then came all the way around to score on Sean Rodriguez’s 3 base error. The AB’s added 2 in the 2nd on Forsythe & Stanton RBI singles, and made it 4-0 in the top of the 3rd as Piscotty reached the seats. In the bottom of the 3rd S. Rodriguez got the Browns first hit with a 2 out single. That was followed by a Fowler double and a Reyes walk to load the bases for Jose Abreu who connected for the Browns first Grand Slam of the year. But Paxton immediately gave the lead back surrendering a leadoff HR to Saladino in the 4th. The Bastards would add two more in that frame and get another Stanton HR in the 5th to push the advantage to 8-4. The Sharts got one back in the 7th on a Calhoun 2-out RBI double, but the AB’s pen shut it down from there. Bastards 8/15/0 – Browns 5/6/1

Game 3: Hill v Maeda. The Bastards scored first again when Healy singled leading off the 2nd, Ozuna doubled and Andrus plated one with a Sac Fly to center. The Browns earned their first lead of the Series (and first in the last 7 games overall) When Brandon Belt smacked a 2-run HR in the 3rd. Then the Browns went on a double-number bonanza in the 4th; sending 13 men to the plate while scoring 8 runs. The inning included 6 straight hits, 3 doubles and a Dozier HR. After that Hill was in cruise control retiring 18 straight on the way to a complete game win. Browns 10/12/0 – Bastards 1/3/2

Notes: The Browns Slashed .212/.291/.384 but were really done in by a lack of base runners.

With RISP the Sharts were .421/.476/.944 and were also a respectable .257/.350/.514 with 2 outs. Just not enough table setting.

The Bastards two wins could’ve been bigger except for 3 runners being cut down at the plate by the Sharts’ OF (Rodriguez, Fowler, Reddick).

Abreu (11/3/4/5 2 HR, 2B 2 BB) C. Seager (4-11 2 BB) and Belt (9/3/4/3 HR, 2B, 2 BB) were the only consistent Browns hitters. The pitching standout was obviously Hill.

Dexter Fowler continues to be ice cold, going 1-12 in the series and dropping his average from .290 to .266. He was hitting .321 through the first 8 series of the year.

The Browns may play the Eliminators on Saturday.

The key to good dice, like good peanut butter, is consistency.

2017 First Period

Shartlesville Browns vs. Arrogant Bastards

Leave a comment

The Browns faced off against the Arrogant Bastards this past Saturday:

Game 1: Rodon v Maeda. The AB’s scratched two unearned runs across on the top of the 1st after Piscotty reached on an E3 and Stanton doubled to set up 2nd & 3rd with 1 down. A Gattis sac fly and a Saladino RBI single gave the Bastards all the runs they would need. The Sharts managed just 3 hits in the game (doubles for Turner, K. Seager & Perez) as Maeda, Britton and Jansen combined for the shutout. Bastards 4/9/0 Browns 0/3/2.

Game 2: Tillman v Scherzer. This game was punch – counter punch. The Bastards got a solo shot from Longoria in the top of 2nd followed by a C. Seager lead off shot in the bottom. Panik, Trout and Gardner went 2B, 2B, 1B to lead off the top of the 3rd and push the lead to 3-1. But the Sharts took a 4-3 lead in the bottom paced by a Dozier 2 run homer. Two unearned runs to the Browns in the 4th made it 6-3 but once again the AB’s kept punching. Trout led off the 5th with a walk followed by doubles from Gardener and Big Papi to make it 6-5. In the Sharts half of the 5th a 2 run dinger from Abreu made it 8-5. which ended up being enough to win. Browns 8/12/1 Bastards 6/10/1.

Game 3: Cueto v Hamels. This game was the opposite of game 2. The Browns opened the scoring with back-to-back doubles from Miggy and Sean Rodriguez in the 3rd. The Bastards tied it up at 1 when Longoria led off the 5th with a double and was sent home by a Gonzalez RBI single. Jansen came in and got an inning ending double play in the 6th and struck out the side in the 7th and things looked no easier for the Browns when Britton entered in the 8th and promptly went 1-2-3. He stayed in to start the 9th with the score still locked at 1. Brandon Guyer managed a lead off walk and moved to 2nd on a fielder’s choice. Then the Browns got insanely lucky: an 11 to Dozier followed by a 66 to K. Seager were both turned from homers to doubles but were enough to take a 3-1 lead. No lead is safe with the Brown’s pen and a pinch-hit, lead off homer from Grandal made it 3-2 before Bush got a couple of fly outs. Out 27 was unconventional as Saladino pinch-hit and walked but was caught stealing to ending the game. For the second game of the series all Browns hits were doubles. Browns 3/4/0 Bastards 2/5/0.

Game 4: Hill v Santana. Another back-and-forth affair. A Hairpin 2 run homer opened the scoring in the 2nd but the AB’s came right back in the 3rd via a bases loaded ground out, followed by a 2 run double to make it 3-2. The Browns got 2 in the 4th and 3 in the 5th and ended up riding the bottom third of the order to a 3rd straight win. Browns 7/11/1 Bastards 4/7/0.

The Browns are now 9-3 and will play the Stars next weekend. We are looking for an opponent for the weekend of the 25th-26th.

Notes:

The Sharts slashed .231/.315/.431 needing 4 homers, 12 doubles and a triple to outlast some pretty awful pitching. The starters posted a 3.33 ERA but the pen worked to a 4.50 ERA surrendering 3 home runs in 8 IP.

The 3 wins in this series are one more than the Browns had over the AB’s all last year.

This is the 2nd time in Browns history that they have won 3 series in a row.

Manager Tony

2016 Playoffs

2016 Playoffs – #4 vs. #1

Leave a comment

Steve and I planned to play three games of this series Sunday evening (12/4/2016). In a way, we did.

Game 1 – These teams split their regular season, so both managers look for a tight series. Blake Swihart coaxes a walk against Jake Arrieta to begin the proceedings. Adrian Gonzalez singles (H&R 31) Swihart to 3rd. Immediately, Manager Steve mentions that in the #5 vs. #4 series, David Ortiz plated a run by grounding into a double play. That’s exactly what he does here to give the ABs an early 1-0 lead.

Kevin Pillar begins the ABs 3rd with a ringing single (7). Addison Russell lays down a successful sacrifice bunt (33-0!). However, the top of the order fails to increase the lead against Arrieta.

The Speakers surround a pair of singles with 3 Max Scherzer whiffs in the 4th. The line score at the 7th inning stretch: 1-2-1 to 0-3-0.

Carlos Gonzalez greets Scherzer with a single (8) to start the bottom of the 7th. The ABs turn to Mark Melancon, who gets Kris Bryant on a lazy fly to center. Manny Machado struck out twice against Scherzer. Melancon goes 2-0 to Machado before uncorking a wild pitch. With Gonzalez at 2nd, Machado gets a 3-0 green light and launches a 2-run home run.

Arrieta continues to deal. That 3rd-inning Pillar single was the last hit Jake surrendered. The only other base runner was Gerardo Parra’s lead off walk in the 5th. He was stranded at 2nd.

Joe Panik, Pillar and Russell go 1-2-3 in the 8th. Ian Kinsler strokes a lead off double in the bottom half, but the Speakers leave him at 2nd.

Arrieta begins the 9th having faced 27 batters. Russell Martin had replaced Swihart defensively and grounds to 2nd. AGon strikes out for the third time in the game. Ortiz keeps ABs hopes alive with a solid double. Brett Gardner pinch runs, representing the tying run with Mike Trout at the plate. Trout takes a quick swing … and lifts a pop up. Buster Posey tosses aside his mask, circles and squeezes it to preserve the 2-1 final.

Scherzer strikes out 9 and Arrieta 10.

ABs 1 -3 – 1
Speakers 2 – 6 – 0
W – Arrieta (1-0); L – Melancon (0-1)

Game 2 – Logan Forsythe doubles with 1 out in the top of the 1st. David Price had struck out Giancarlo Stanton before and Trout after, but Evan Longoria stings an RBI single that CarGo mishandles in right field. Again, the ABs take a 1-0 lead in the 1st.

This time, the Speakers don’t wait as long to come back. Bryant homers off Shelby Miller in the 2nd to knot the game at 1-1. Both pitchers stymie hitters over the next 3 innings. Forsythe breaks the streak with a harmless 2-out single (8) in the 6th. Price Ks Trout for the third time to snuff that minor threat.

Kinsler starts the bottom half with a single (9). Anthony Rizzo grounds to 2nd, where Forsythe flips to Russell for a force. Posey grounded out twice, but had a pair of singles in Game 1. A clean hit-and-run single (55-7) moves Rizzo to 3rd. Yoenis Cespedes (0-6 in the young series) grounds to short, but Russell can only get the out at 1st as Rizzo scores the go-ahead run, 2-1. The Speakers threaten again in both the 7th and 8th, but come up empty.

Meanwhile, the top of the 8th is a half-inning for the ages. Price strikes out AGon. Gardner lays down a beautiful bunt and legs out an infield hit. Price departs; Trevor Rosenthal enters. So Elvis Andrus departs and Parra enters. On the hit-and-run, Parra singles in the hole (34-31) as Gardner motors to 3rd. Stanton whiffs for the 2nd out. Forsythe (2-3, D, R) heads back to the dugout. As Justin Turner is announced, Roberto Osuna is summoned from the pen. Turner does an about face as Ortiz grabs a bat. The Speakers walk Ortiz intentionally to face Trout with the bases loaded! Osuna dodges a bullet by firing Ball 1 and Ball 2. But then Ball 3 and Ball 4 follow to force in Gardner with the tying run! The young closer gets Longoria on a fly to right to keep the game at 2-2.

Over the next few innings, both teams get runners into scoring position as the parade of relievers dwindles. With 2 outs in the 12th, the ABs call for southpaw Matt Thornton, who pitched to 3 batters yesterday.

He gets Rizzo to pop up to end the 12th and then wriggles out of a jam in the 13th. Rajai Davis had been 0-5, but singles (9) to start the bottom of the 14th. Andrelton Simmons converts an odd hit-and-run single (16). With runners on the corners, Kinsler lifts a fly ball to Gardner in CF. Davis outruns Gardner’s throw to score the winning run, 3-2.

ABs 2 – 10 – 0
Speakers 3 – 11 – 1 (14 innings)
W – Tony Sipp (1-0); L – Thornton (0-1)

Both Sipp and Thornton went 1.2 IP. The ABs struck out 20 times in 14 innings. Both teams will have pen issues to consider going to Game 3 (Matt Harvey vs. Chris Young).

On Thursday (12/8/2016) the venue changes. The ABs get to host the next three contests.

Game 3 – Cespedes is the first hitter to reach and score, leading off the top of the 2nd with a solo homer off Chris Young. After being acquired July 12th from the Lemonheads, Young has come up big and won his playoff start against the Shooting Stars II.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd, Kinsler boots Parra’s grounder. Russell singles to set up Trout, who leads off today. After striking out in 7 of his first 11 PAs, the young star doubles in the gap to score a pair. Turner singles. Stephen Piscotty singles over short to plate a 3rd run.

With runners at 1st & 2nd and Ortiz at the dish, Posey throws behind Piscotty to pick him off. Matt Harvey whiffs Ortiz to end the inning, 3-1 ABs.

Swihart doubles to start the 4th. With 2 outs, Parra provides the clutch RBI single to extend the ABs lead to 4-1. Martin replaces Swihart defensively and walks to lead off the 6th. Gonzalez singles to 1st as Rizzo has no play (12). Forsythe (11-0!) bunts them both into scoring position. Then Parra comes through again. His second RBI single lifts the ABs to 5-1.

Meanwhile, Young completely shuts down the team in gray. He allows 2 walks and 2 singles since Cespedes’ long ball — all in separate innings. Only Rizzo makes it beyond 1st base, reaching 2nd with 1 out in the 9th following the Speakers’ final hit. Young’s brilliant outing brings the series to 2-1 Speakers with 2 more to be played at home.

Speakers 1 – 3 – 2
ABs 5 – 9 – 0
W – Young (1-0); L – Harvey (0-1)

Game 4 – The Speakers hope a 17 with double negatives comes up big for them the way Chris Young baffled the Speakers offense yesterday. Rookie 17s, Luis Severino and Jerad Eickhoff, attempt to make their mark on the series, but it won’t be easy.

Kinsler starts with a single (10). After Eickhoff strikes out Rizzo, Posey walks. Cespedes singles (44-0) home Kinsler for an early Speakers lead.

After Kinsler crosses the plate, with Bryant up, the skies open up, halting the proceedings for an hour and 20 minutes! Eickhoff loses 4 grades while Severino, who has yet to take the mound, loses 6! All of a sudden, we’re faced with 13 and 11 rookies battling in a pivotal game.

Although Eickhoff wriggles out of further 1st inning trouble and Severino retires the first 4 ABs, Stanton knots the game on a solo blast in the 2nd. Both young starters would continue to battle through scoreless frames (Eickhoff 5 IP and Severino 6 IP), allowing just 2 more singles each.

Rizzo breaks the 1-1 tie in the 7th with a long home run off Matt Thornton. Trout walks to begin the bottom half against Osuna. A wild pitch and ground ball get Trout to 3rd. Stanton Ks, Turner comes through (9) with a 2-out RBI single to tie at 2-2.

Thornton retires his 7th Speaker by striking out Cespedes to start the 8th. Bryant, who Eickhoff struck out 3 times, singles (11-0) to chase Thornton after 9 batters. Wade Davis returns to strike out Young, but then allows Machado to reach on a his own overthrow at 1st. Manny steals 2nd to put 2 in scoring position. Rajai Davis delivers the 2-run single (44-8), which would not have been a hit with runners at the corners. Simmons (2-2, BB) triples into the corner. Ryan Madson enters and Kinsler doubles home Simmons. The ABs go from a 2-2 tie with 2 outs, an innocent runner on 1st, and their dominant closer in the game, to a 6-2 deficit on 4 unearned runs.

Parra helps get one back with a single (22-0) against Tony Sipp with 1 away in the bottom of the 8th. Elvis Andrus pinch hits for Russell and executes a beautiful hit-and-run single (4!) to allow Forsythe to notch an RBI grounder to Rizzo.

6-3 Speakers to the 9th. One out when Cespedes triples. Bryant singles him home to regain a 4-run lead. Trout’s leadoff double and Longoria’s walk give the ABs something to work with against Rosenthal, but Jeremy Jeffress records the final out — a liner to Simmons to end the threat.

Speakers 7 – 14 – 0
ABs 3 – 7 – 2
W – Osuna (1-0); L – Thornton (0-2)

Game 5 – The ABs look to give the hometown crowd a thrill in their final home game of the series. Both Game 1 starters (Arrieta and Scherzer) look ready.

Machado assumes the leadoff role and singles (9). Rizzo doubles sending Manny to 3rd. Posey lifts a shallow fly to left. Scherzer then walks Cespedes to fill the bases. Trout catches Bryant’s fly ball, which is deep enough to score Machado for another early 1-0 lead.

Kinsler drops to the 8-hole and homers in the 2nd. 2-0 Speakers.

Rizzo walks to lead off the 3rd. Posey strikes out. Cespedes grounds to Gonzalez, who has to eat the ball for an infield single (12). That would prove costly to the ABs. After Scherzer whiffs Bryant, CarGo connects for a 3-run homer and a quick 5-0 advantage.

Rizzo doubles and Posey singles in the 5th. Cespedes grounds to 3rd scoring Rizzo with the 6th run.

Simmons singles (9) off of Melancon with 1 away in the 9th. Machado flies to center. Rizzo singles (9) with 2 outs. Davis takes over and grooves a pitch to Posey, who ropes a 2-run double (turned back) for a  commanding 8-0 lead.

Arrieta begins the 9th having allowed 2 doubles (one was a turned back Ortiz solo) and 2 walks, having faced just 28 batters. However, the ABs are determined to kick up another 9th inning fuss.

Gonzalez flies to left. Trout walks. Ortiz singles (9). Turner comes through yet again: a 3-run big fly. The home crowd appreciates the effort as Darren O’Day takes his warm up tosses.

O’Day strikes out Parra and gets Panik on a grounder to Simmons to send the Speakers to the championship series against The Plague.

Speakers 8 – 11 – 1
ABs 3 – 4 – 0
W – Arrieta (2-0); L – Scherzer (0-1)

 

 

2016 Playoffs

2016 Playoffs – #4 vs. #5

Leave a comment

On Wednesday afternoon the AB’s hosted the Shooting Stars to kick off the post season in a rematch from 2015. The series would go the distance once again. Below are some snippets:

Game 1 – deGrom v Young – A two-out error on Escobar leads to a 3-run homer two batters later as Addy Russell put the home team up 3-0. Pillar would single in Parra in the 4th for a 4-0 lead. Peralta singled in Granderson in the 7th, but the AB’s would counter in the bottom half on a Big Papi 2-run jack to go up 6-1. The Stars kicked up a fuss in the 9th but lost 6-2.

W – Young; L – deGrom

Game 2 – Wilson v Eickhoff – Carpenter opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd with a solo jack, but the AB’s answered right back as Panik’s double plated Trout to tie it a 1-1. Peralta hit a solo HR in the 3rd to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 4th Pillar singled in Parra, who had doubled, to tie the game up at 2-2. In the 7th a 2-out error by Turner led to two runs on a single by Inciarte, which was all the Stars needed to even the series 1-1.

W – Chafin; L – Thornton; S – Smith

Game 3 – Keuchel v Scherzer – As the series shifted to the Stars turf, the Stars opened up the gates with a 3-run 3rd inning on a Pedroia 2-run jack followed by a Casali blast. The AB’s (who had gone hitless in 9 straight innings in the series) got an unearned run in the 6th after a Peralta error and RBI double by Forsythe to cut the lead to 3-1. But in the bottom of the 6th Carpenter countered with an RBI single scoring pinch runner Holt. The game moved along to the top of the 8th when Gonzalez led off with a double for the AB’s and then Gardner BB’d. Turner K’d for out number one and then Stanton BB’d to load the bases. Forsythe flew out to shallow CF for the 2nd out. Then Trout BB’d to force in a run to make it 4-2. Smith relieved Chapman so the AB’s countered with Big Papi, who proceeded to triple to clear the bases for a 5-4 AB’s lead. In comes Wade Davis and out goes Pedroia’s 2nd HR of the game to tie it back up at 5-5 in the 8th. An out later, still shaken, Davis BB’s Teixeira, who is pinch run for by Dyson who proceeds to steal 2nd and 3rd. Pence lays down a perfect 33-0 2nd column squeeze bunt for the go-ahead run to make it 6-5. The AB’s go quietly in the 9th to put the Stars up 2-1 in the series.

W – Smith; L – Davis; S – Chafin

Game 4 – Lackey v Miller – With the season on the line the AB’s turn to lame duck pitcher Shelby Miller. In the 1st Big Papi opens the scoring with a 2-run HR, then adds an RBI single in the 3rd to put the AB’s up 3-0. In the 4th Stanton jacks a 2-run HR for a 5-0 lead as Miller continues to cruise. Martin hits another 2-run bomb in the 8th and for good measure Papi hits yet another 2-run jack in the 9th to complete the 9-0 white wash. Miller goes the distance on 5 hits, 2 BB’s and 7 K’s.

W – Miller; L – Lackey

Game 5 – deGrom v Young – The series moves back home for the AB’s and the scoring is kicked off in the bottom of the 1st as Swihart scores on a double play ground ball off the bat of Big Papi. deGrom starts the 2nd, but just like the 1st, he gives up back-to-back singles to the first two batters and is yanked after just one inning. Chafin comes in and coaxes a pop out to SS for the first out. The AB’s (not even through the line up yet) decide to PH for a red hot Pillar with Stanton…and it paid off as Stanton singles in both Turner and Parra to give the AB’s a 3-0 lead. (Russell would follow with a single and the last hit of the series for the AB’s). Carpenter hit a solo HR in the 4th to trim the lead to 3-1; and at that point, Young was lifted as both teams were now in their bullpens. In the 7th a one out BB to Choo and another Dyson appearance helped to plate a run for the Stars on a 2-out single by Peralta. Then the pick off play was rolled, but Peralta is not eligible to be picked off so the play went to the RP board and the OF. Fielding One was rolled by the AB’s, but it was a single and the runner was thrown out attempting to score on a hit and run! Moving to the 8th the AB’s once again brought in their last pitcher who happened to be Wade Davis to once again face Pedroia. This time Pedroia only dropped a 44-7 for a lead off hit! Then Inciarte grounded into a 6-4-3 DP, but then Carpenter drops a 66-1 for a potential game tying HR…but Davis (+42) turns this one back to a double and Frazier flies to left for the 8th’s final out. A 2-out single by Escobar gave the Stars a hit-and-run chance in the 9th, but Davis would coax a routine ground ball to SS for the series final out and 3-2 game and series victory for the AB’s. Geesh.

W – Thornton; L – deGrom; S – Davis

So now the AB’s will square off against the Speakers in the playoffs, I believe for the first time since a World Series match up years and years ago!

Series Notes:

Each team hit 6 HR’s but the AB’s had 41 double numbers to the Stars 26 for the series.

RISP – Stars 9 for 26 .346 & AB’s 8 for 39 .205 – no clue if that means anything any longer.

Each team had 38 hits in the series. AB’s hit .224 so I assume the Stars hit around the same thing.

Stars turned back an impressive 9 BB’s but no HR’s while the AB’s turned back only 1 BB and well, 1 very important HR.

Series MVP went to Big Papi – 7 for 14, 2B, 3B, 3 HR’s, 3 RS and 10 RBI’s

Good luck to the Final 4 and it’s good to back in the final 4 after missing out last year.

Manager Steve