[illeracula]

2027 DelMarVa Championships - Game 1 (Best of 7)

Game 1: Series tied 0-0
I have to say I like my position here. The offense is hitting the ball heading into this series we are at home and we have our ace on the hill. There really isn't much more I could ask for... at least not for Game 1.

One thing about this series that worries me is the 2 lefties in the Wilmington rotation. With Rojas out we have a righty behind the plate, but our top hitters are all lefties. I tried to make a move due to the injury to Rojas, and I was close to going with on catcher and bring up Juan Hernandez instead... I realized how bad that could of been...

On the hill for the Iron Pigs in game one is lefty Irving Mills. Mills will be making his 6th post season start, and 10th post-season appearance. Over his career he is 1-1 6.56 during the playoffs... And the Cav's don't have a whole lot of experience with against him so I am not sure what to expect.

The Iron Pigs have a solid lineup with their 3-4-5 men able to do a lot of damage, and that will be my key to winning, keep them from hurting us... Matt Fisher has hit Brown well over his career (12-29, 3 HR) and Steve Kelly has shown pop against Brown (7-28, 3 HR) but those are the only guys who have decent experience against Brown.

SS Kevin Barber, CF Eugene St. John, 3B Tom Anderson, 1B Alonso Martinez, LF Matt Fisher, C Jesus Nunez, 2B Chris Simpson, DH Ralph Anderson, RF Steve Kelly

For the Cav's Paul Brown will be on the hill making his 11th post-season start of his career. He has put together some solid post-season numbers posting a 7-2 record and a 3.03 ERA. He is well rested and ready to go tonight.

The line-up is similar to what we saw near the end of the Conference Championships with Bob Short in the game for Leonard Lawson, and the big change is Mike Baldwin for the injured Rojas. Sergo Galvez has seen Mills 13 times over his career and hasn't fared well hitting only .154.

RF Sergio Rodriguez, CF Sergio Galvez, 1B Francisco Gallegos, DH Trevor Parker, 2B Pedro Torres, LF Bob Short, C Mike Baldwin, 3B Robinson Lopez, SS Bryant Frank

This is a big game for both teams...

Lets Play Ball!!
Inning 1:
Kevin Barber gets the game started off with a BANG, hitting a 425ft shot over the left-center field wall... After one the Iron Pigs lead 1-0

Inning 2:
The Cavs would answer back in the 2nd. With one out Irving Mills drills Bob Short. Short would move to second on a passed ball, then to third on a ground out by Baldwin. With 2-outs Robinson Lopez with single to left, scoring Short and tying the game... After 2 we have a tie game 1-1

Inning 3:
The Cavs would take the lead with a couple of doubles. A lead-off double by Sergio Rodriguez would get the inning started. Two batters later, Francisco Gallegos would double to the right-center gap scoring Rodriguez... After 3 the Cavs would pull ahead 2-1

Inning 7:
The game was quiet until the 7th, when the Cav's would take advantage of some Iron Pigs fielding miscues... Lead-off Bryant Frank would reach second-base on a grounder to third, Tom Anderson, who threw the ball away. With a runner on second, the Iron Pigs walked Sergio Rodriguez to keep the double play in order. Claudio Flores would pinch-run for Frank at second and on the first pitcher they would double steal, taking advantage of Jesus Nunez's weak arm. Bringing up Sergio Galvez who was 0-3 with 3 K's. Mills would get Galvez to ground back to him, but Mills would rush the throw and throw it by 1B Alonso Martinez, scoring both Flores and Rodriguez. Galvez would end up at second. Francisco Gallegos would be walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Trevor Parker would beat out a weak grounder to short to load the bases. This would chase Mills from the game... Bob Short would greet new pitcher Scott Wise with a line-drive to right, which scored Gallegos and Torres. Baldwin and Lopez would strike out to end the inning, but the Cav's would extend their lead... After 7 the Cav's lead 6-1

Inning 9:
Paul Brown would go out to the mount to try to finish up the game and will be facing the top of the Iron Pigs lineup. Kevin Barber strikes out. Eugene St. John flies out to left. Tom Anderson flies out to left ending the game... Cav's take game one 6-1

Cavaliers lead the series 1-0

W: Paul Brown (1-0)
L: Irving Mills (0-1)
HR: WIL: Kevin Barber (1)

POG: Paul Brown, Norfolk, 9.0 IP, 5 H, R, 0 BB, 6 K, 119/83 PI/PS, 79 GS

Game Notes:
The Cavaliers collected 10 hits on the day, three of them going for doubles... Francisco Gallegos had 3 hits, going 3-4, and Trevor Parker added 2 hits going 2-4... Sergio Galvez hit .600 during the Conference Championship, but was held hit-less in game one, going 0-5 with 4 K's... Mike Baldwin went 1-4 in his first start of the post-season... The Iron Pigs had 5 hits, with Kevin Barber collecting 2 of them, including a homerun... Tom Anderson and Alonso Martinez, the Iron Pigs #2 and 3 hitters, went a combined 0-7. Martinez struck out 2 times... The complete game was Paul Browns first complete game of his playoff career... Irving Mills went 6.1 innings, allowing 8 hits and 6 runs, of which 4 were earned. He walked 2 and struck out 5... The game time as 2:29 and the paid attendance aws 43,455 (about 300 shy of a sellout).

GM Notes:
I am not sure what to do with Galvez for game 2. With the Iron Pigs scheduled to have a lefthander on the hill its quite possible that Galvez won't be in the lineup. During the Conference finals he was hitting everyone it didn't matter, but this first game showing a little shocking. He usually does well in the playoffs, he is a career .291 hitter... With the game 1 win I am feeling good about this team and what the rest of the series brings. I do think a game 2 win will be huge for us. Taking some of the pressure to win off against the Iron Pigs ace... Joaquin Hernandez is ready to go and I think we will be fine with him on the hill. He doesn't have much experience against the Iron Pigs and I think that plays into our favor...

Game 2 Scheduled Starters:
Juan Rosario (Wilmington) vs Joaquin Hernandez (Norfolk)