[Bub13]

Wildcard Round
Boston 6, Oakland 5 The Sox hit three home runs and the game-winning double in the 8th off the A's 21-game-winner Ricky Hose, to take the wildcard game. Boston is off to face their Eastern division rivals, the Blue Jays.

NY Mets 6, Chicago 1 And just like that, the Cubs 97-win season is a memory, and their World Series winless streak reaches 129 years. NY breaks open a tie game with 5 runs in the last three innings to send the Wrigley Field crowd home disappointed. Next, the Mets will face the defending champs from Pittsburgh.


Division Round -- Hawaii vs. Cleveland
Game One. Down 2-0 in the seventh, Josh Drayton's two-run double caps a three-run inning to give us the lead. Closer Steve Miller promptly gives it away with a solo HR in the 8th, and loses it in the 9th by giving up two runs. Home field advantage gone. Cleveland 5-3. Cleveland leads 1-0

Game Two. Jeremy Dunklee stakes Tom DiFranco to an early lead with a two-run double in the first, and DiFranco does the rest, holding the Indians to just four hits over nine inning, while striking out ten. Collins, Videira, and Hebert get two hits each. Hawaii 4-0. Series tied 1-1.

Game Three. Adam Groff wakes up, getting his first three hits of the series, driving in one and scoring three times. Down 3-1, we plate four runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead, which we don't give up. Cleveland scores one late, but the bullpen holds on enough to seal the win. Brock does okay enough, giving up eight hits and three runs over six innings. Hawaii 5-4. Hawaii leads 2-1.

Game Four. Clark goes on short rest, and doesn't do poorly, but only lasts five innings (2 hits, 8 K, 3 runs). He does leave with a 4-3 lead, but...the bullpen blows it again, with closer Miller giving up a two-run blast in the ninth to give the Indians a walk-off win. Cleveland 6-4. Series tied 2-2.

Game Five. "Mr. Playoff Shutout" DiFranco gets the nod in the make-or-break game five. In the first, Mullen singles, Groff doubles, and Dunklee's fly out scores Mullen. Cleveland comes back with a Jesse Bolton triple driving in a run, then Bolton himself scoring on a sac fly. Another sac fly in the sixth scores one more for the Indians, and it's officially time to get nervous. Danny Rivera makes it 4-1 with a solo shot in the 7th, uh oh. Cisco Videira answers for us with a solo blast of his own in the bottom half of the frame. Unfortunately, Oscar Huerta continues the parade of solo homers for Cleveland, and their lead is back to three, 5-2, after eight. In the bottom of the eighth, we waste Dunklee's double and can't score anyone. In the ninth, Rivera does it again, hitting another dinger, and during our turn we can't put anyone on, and just like that...our season is over. Cleveland 6-2. Cleveland wins 3-2

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Other Divisional Rounds, not that it matters. Boston overcomes its disappointing end to the regular season by dropping over five runs a game on the Jays, and tossing them in four games. The AL Championship series will feature two historic franchises, Boston vs. Cleveland.

In the NL, Pittsburgh continues to press for dynasty status by taking out the Mets in four games, averaging nearly seven runs a contest. The other series goes the full distance, with the Braves and Dodgers alternating wins until the final contest when Atlanta builds an early 4-0 lead and goes on to take the series with a 7-1 victory. So it'll be the Pirates and Braves in the NL final.

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AL League Championship. Boston takes game one with a 4-0 complete game shutout tossed by Eddy Llamas. Game 2, the Sox hit three home runs and cruise to a 7-3 win, to go up 2-0 before the return to Fenway Park. Home cooking pays off in game three, as Edwin Alcala beats a throw home to give the Sox a 5-4 win and a 3-0 lead in the series. Game four results in the same game score, 5-4, and the same result thanks to a solo shot by Josh Jessee, sending the Sox to their fourteenth World Series, and their first since 2022.

NL League Championship. Atlanta rides a three-run blast in the top of the sixth to take the first game 5-2. Game two, the Pirates score a run in the ninth, but leave runners on base and fall 5-4, to give the Braves a 2-0 series lead. Game three, back in Atlanta, and the Braves show no nervousness with the lead as they pound the Pirates 12-4. Facing a 3-0 deficit, the Pirates are up against it. Game four...and pitching is nowhere to be seen, the teams combining for 22 hits and 16 runs. Behind 7-6, the Braves score 2 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to send the Pirates home and themselves into their 12th World Series (first since 2030).

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The 2037 World Series is a seven-game classic, featuring three extra inning games and five games decided by one run. Atlanta takes the first two games in Boston, by 2-1 and 12-5 scores, and the Sox turn around and take the next two games in Atlanta (3-2 and 7-6). The Braves win game 5 at home, 5-4, the first home team to win in the Series. Boston cruises to a 5-2 win back in Fenway in game six, setting up the big final in Boston. Atlanta opens the game seven scoring on a wild pitch in the third, and adds two more in the fourth to go up 3-0. Boston claws back with a solo shot in the fifth and another in the sixth. Down 3-2, the Sox put a runner on in the seventh, and then get a runner to second with one out in the ninth, but can't bring either home, giving the Braves their fifth World Series title in their history, and their third in the last 11 years.

Atlanta 1B Micah Streeter (.414/.452/.621) is the World Series MVP. Manager Jason Pearson wins his first title, in his first season at the helm. (Previously he'd managed the Cubs, from 2030-34.)

Next up: Season recap and blah blah blah