San Diego Padres(97-65)
AT
Denver Broncos(99-63)
Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
San Diego 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 2 2 9 12 1
Denver 0 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 8 7 0
In the World Series preview, there were three things that I made sure to mention. One, Denver couldn't afford to let San Diego ace
Carlos Lozoya dominate a game. Two, Denver had to avoid situations that required its weak bullpen to protect close leads. Three, although the Padres did not rank highly in runs scored, they actually had a fairly talented lineup that was very capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Well,
Lozoya tossed a complete game shutout in Game Two, and the Padres put up 20 runs in Game Three and 9 runs in Game Four. Thus, it was only fitting that the Broncos bullpen failed to protect a lead in what turned out to be the decisive Game Five. Oh, and the Padres put up 9 more runs, as well.
Trailing 3 games to 1, Denver came into the fifth game of the 2087 World Series with a sense of urgency. Win, and live to fight another day. Lose, and lose the World Series. The Broncos got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. Third-baseman
Michael Phillips drew a bases-loaded walk. Second-baseman
Booker Romero delivered a 2-run single. Center-fielder
Russell Thomas produced a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. In the third, right-fielder
Marvin Lore doubled in a run to put the Broncos up 5-0. San Diego mounted a rally in the fourth inning. Catcher
Salomon Alvarez belted a 2-run homerun and designated-hitter
Gregorio Ruiz hit a solo shot. In the bottom half of the fourth, the Broncos got back some of the runs.
Romero and catcher
Lee Chappel each hit solo homeruns, giving the Broncos a 7-3 lead. In the sixth, shortstop
Arthur Stice made it 8-3 with a sacrifice fly. It looked very much like Denver would survive and force a Game Six. Then it all fell apart.
In the seventh inning, San Diego second-baseman
Jeremias Lucia spanked a 2-run homerun. 8-5, Denver. In the eighth,
Ruiz and
Lucia each hit 2-out, run-scoring singles. 8-7, Denver. In the ninth inning, center-fielder
Gaby Matos spanked a 2-run single. 9-8, San Diego. The Broncos went quietly in the bottom of the ninth, giving the San Diego Padres a 9-8 victory and a 4-1 victory for their third World Series championship.
Thomas Bee started for San Diego and gave up 7 hits, 7 runs, and 4 walks in 5 innings pitched. He had 2 strikeouts. Lefty reliever
Hernan Neyra was credited with the win; he pitched 2/3 of an inning and struck out both of the batters that he faced(
Chappel and
Brooks Branco).
Ray Lockridge didn't pitch great, but would have gotten the win had the bullpen been able to hold onto the lead. In 7 innings of work, he surrendered 5 hits and 5 runs, and had 3 strikeouts against 1 walk.
Robert Soto gave up 2 hits and 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning. Closer
Lamont Ruvalcaba wound up as the losing pitcher. He got tagged for 5 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks in 1 inning. He had 1 strikeout.
Leading the Padres' offense was
Gregorio Ruiz, who had 3 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored.
Jeremias Lucia had 2 hits, 3 RBI, and 1 run scored.
Salomon Alvarez had 2 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored.
Denver's
Booker Romero had 2 hits, 3 RBI, and 1 run scored.
Picking a World Series MVP isn't an easy task, but there are two particularly strong candidates:
Salomon Alvarez, who hit .571(12 for 21), with a 1.799 OPS, 4 doubles, 3 homeruns, 6 RBI, and 9 runs scored; and
Gregorio Ruiz, who hit .350(7 for 20), with a 1.431 OPS, 2 doubles, 4 homeruns, 9 RBI, and 7 runs scored.
Though in a losing effort,
Lee Chappel performed valiantly, with a .389(7 for 18) batting average, a 1.394 OPS, 1 double, 3 homeruns, 6 RBI, and 6 runs scored.
The goat of the World Series would almost have to be Denver's leadoff hitter
Russell Thomas, who delivered an impressively unimpressive .053 OPS, going 0 for 18 against the Padres. When your table-setter can't even manage a hit, you're probably screwed.
As for an MVP for the entire postseason, a number of players, from both teams, have strong arguments.
Salomon Alvarez put up a .329/.390/.729/1.118 batting line, with 23 hits, 4 doubles, 8 homeruns, 15 RBI, 15 runs scored, and 7 walks.
Carlos Lozoya went 5-0 in 5 starts, with a 0.66 ERA, 31 strikeouts against 5 walks in 41 innings pitched, and 2 complete game shutouts. On Denver's side,
Lee Chappel produced a .328/.375/.731/1.106 batting line, with 22 hits, 6 doubles, 7 homeruns, 18 RBI, and 16 runs scored.
Brooks Branco managed a .323/.408/.742/1.150 line, with 20 hits, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 6 homeruns, 14 RBI, 14 runs scored, and 6 walks.
Here are Denver's complete postseason stats:
Denver Batting:
Code:
Name G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS
L. Chappel 15 67 22 6 0 7 18 16 2 5 .328 .375 .731 1.106
R. Thomas 15 65 13 2 0 1 7 9 4 6 .200 .264 .277 .541
B. Branco 15 62 20 2 3 6 14 14 6 7 .323 .408 .742 1.150
A. Stice 15 59 11 2 0 2 7 8 5 9 .186 .250 .322 .572
M. Lore 15 57 14 4 0 1 8 8 7 9 .246 .328 .368 .697
M. Phillips 14 50 14 1 1 0 3 8 7 3 .280 .379 .340 .719
E. Abadia 14 50 10 0 0 4 13 7 3 11 .200 .259 .440 .699
R. Shults 10 34 13 0 0 1 3 5 0 2 .382 .382 .471 .853
J. Fuensanta 9 33 5 0 0 0 3 3 3 1 .152 .222 .152 .374
T. Teika 7 26 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 .115 .179 .115 .294
B. Romero 7 23 5 0 0 1 4 2 1 8 .217 .250 .348 .598
L. Ferro 3 7 2 1 0 0 0 3 3 2 .286 .500 .429 .929
R. Lockridge 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
R. Mcnett 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
Denver Pitching:
Code:
Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K
R. Lockridge 4 4 2 0 0 3.72 29.0 27 12 12 5 20
R. Mcnett 4 4 1 2 0 3.86 25.2 20 11 11 13 17
K. Pillsbury 4 4 2 1 0 5.25 24.0 32 14 14 7 15
W. Ortiz 3 3 1 1 0 4.64 21.1 18 11 11 4 12
C. Saari 3 0 1 0 0 3.38 10.2 11 5 4 3 7
L. Ruvalcaba 7 0 0 2 5 4.50 10.0 12 5 5 4 4
L. Gwinn 3 0 1 0 0 0.00 8.0 4 0 0 0 9
R. Soto 6 0 1 0 2 6.75 6.2 9 5 5 1 1
T. Fons 4 0 0 0 0 30.18 5.2 18 20 19 3 2
So that concludes the 2087 season. After finally winning a World Series in '86, I can't be too disappointed with losing in the World Series this season. I will have the end of season awards up in a few days.