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October 29, 2018
NLCS Game:
St. Louis 0 at Los Angeles Dodgers 8 (Dodgers win the series 4-3)
• Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers) throws a 3-hitter as the home team finally won a game in this series.
• The Dodgers ended any suspense relatively early, scoring 7 runs in the 3rd, highlighted by a Yasmani Grandal grand slam.
Series MVP: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers) in an easy decision as he was 2-0, 17 IP, 15 K, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA
Los Angeles Angels
Jorge Martinez (SS)
Mike Trout (CF)
Francisco Martinez (3B)
Kevin Plawecki (C)
Chris McGuiness (DH)
Steve Pearce (1B)
Dian Toscano (LF)
Andy Ibanez (2B)
Engel Beltre (RF)
Drew Rucinski (SP)
Minnesota
Byron Buxton (CF)
Danny Santana (SS)
Joe Mauer (1B)
Kennys Vargas (DH)
Travis Harrison (3B)
Aaron HIcks (RF)
Tommy La Stella (2B)
Hank Conger (C)
Andy Dirks (LF)
Yorman Landa (SP)
With a win we’ll accomplish the stated goal of this dynasty, to get the Twins back to the World Series. Obviously I want to win it all though and either National League opponent would represent a rematch for us, personally I’d like to get a chance to avenge 1965 against the Dodgers. It’s a pitching match-up that suggests a duel in a rematch of Game 2 with Landa up against Rucinski, who would have been on the shortlist of Cy Young contenders if it wasn’t for the season Kyle Crockett of Cleveland had.
The series returns to Target Field for today’s game (and tomorrow’s if it’s unfortunately necessary). It’s a cloudy day with the wind blowing from left to right at 10 MPH.
Jorge got aggressive and legged out a double to center sliding under the tag on the throw by Buxton. Trout followed by blooping a single to right to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Landa dug himself a deeper hole by walking Francisco on 5 pitches to load the bases. Dirks then looked like a hero catching a fly ball and throwing a bullseye to the plate to nail Jorge for a double play. A fly ball to Hicks by McGuiness wasted a golden opportunity for the Angels to bust the game open early.
We then made the Angels pay in the bottom of the inning as the struggling Buxton led off with a double and after Santana struck out, Mauer grounded a RBI single past Pearce to open the scoring. That was all we got in the inning as Vargas and Harrison struck out to end the inning.
It looked like Landa was going to breeze through the 2nd, but Ibanez picked up a 2-out single and then Beltre lined a 2-0 fastball over Mauer’s head into the right field corner for a RBI double to tie the game. Jorge then lined a RBI single to left to give the Angels the lead. Fortunately Trout fouled out to prevent further damage.
Both starters were floundering as baserunners were everywhere. What was lacking other than the 1st couple of innings were the clutch hits to put runs on the board. Snow started to fall in the bottom of the 4th.
The Angels finally got a clutch hit in the 5th as a Trout bunt single and a walk to McGuiness had runners on 1st and 2nd with 2-out, but Pearce grounded a 0-1 curveball just past Harrison to the left field corner for a RBI double to make it 3-1. Toscano then flew out to Hicks near the warning track to end the inning.
Buxton responded by hitting a 2-1 fastball placed well on the outside corner that carried farther than Trout expected…to the tune of 431 feet to straightaway center with 1-out for a solo homer that make it 3-2. A 2-out single by Jorge in the 6th sent me to the bullpen to summon Hudson Boyd. Boyd rewarded my faith by striking out Trout to end the inning.
McGuiness provided some insurance after Francisco stole 2nd base in the 7th by lining a RBI single to left to make it 4-2. We caught a break as Pearce grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. After Buxton walked on 5 pitches with 1-out in the 8th to bring the tying run to the plate, the Angels countered by bringing in Antonio Bastardo.
The umpires called a 38 minute snow delay in the top of the 9th. Plawecki followed with a sacrifice fly for an unearned run. When we couldn’t get anything going in the bottom of the inning the series came down to 1 game, winner take all.
Los Angeles Angels 5 at Minnesota 2
WP: Drew Rucinski (1-1), LP: Yorman Landa (1-1), SV: Trevor Rosenthal (3)
HR: LAA-None, MN-Byron Buxton (2)
POTG: Drew Rucinski, with Buxton being the most deserving hitter, Rucinski throwing 6.1 innings surrendering 2 runs on 7 hits, striking out 7 while walking 2 is worthy of the award.
October 30, 2018
Los Angeles Angels
Jorge Martinez (SS)
Mike Trout (CF)
Francisco Martinez (3B)
Kevin Plawecki (C)
Steve Pearce (RF)
Andy Ibanez (2B)
Albert Pujols (DH)
Dian Toscano (LF)
Chris McGuiness (1B)
Garrett Richards (SP)
Minnesota
Byron Buxton (CF)
Danny Santana (SS)
Joe Mauer (1B)
Kennys Vargas (DH)
Travis Harrison (3B)
Aaron Hicks (RF)
Tommy La Stella (2B)
Hank Conger (C)
Andy Dirks (LF)
Lewis Thorpe (SP)
One game. Winner takes all. Will it be the Battle of Los Angeles or a rematch of 1965 in the World Series? The skies are clear with the wind blowing out to right at 11 MPH.
Thorpe didn’t look particularly convincing in the 1st. He was a bit wild, and the balls he got over the plate were being hit hard. Fortunately my outfield was up to the task as Buxton and Hicks made nice catches. Unfortunately, the 1-out walk to Trout ended up being costly as Pearce grounded a 2-out RBI single past Harrison to open the scoring. Ibanez bailed me out by popping up a 3-0 fastball to end the inning.
We finally made some noise in the 3rd, loading the bases with 2-out on singles by Conger and Buxton and a walk to Santana. Mauer then lined a 2-run single to left to put us in front 2-1. Vargas squibbed a comebacker to Richards to end the inning. Dirks sacrificed his body (intercostal strain, 1-2 weeks) to take extra bases away from Toscano to end the 4th.
Thorpe got into a jam in the 5th as McGuiness and Jorge singled to start the inning, and yet again in the series Trout sacrificed them over. Francisco flew out to short center and the runners had to hold. Plawecki then got lucky as he popped the ball up to right-center and my outfielders played you-take-it-no-you-take-it for a 2-run single to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Pearce then ripped a RBI triple over Buxton’s head.
A pair of walks in the 6th and a RBI single from Francisco seemed to put the game out of reach. We finally dented Cam Bedrosian in the bottom of the inning however, as singles by Mauer and Vargas to leadoff the inning finally turned into a run when La Stella delivered a clutch 2-out RBI single past the diving Ibanez into center.
The game took a dramatic turn in the 8th as Mauer reached to start the inning on catcher’s interference. Vargas and Harrison followed with singles, and when Toscano was handcuffed by Harrison’s single Mauer raced home to make it 5-4 and left runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out for Hicks. Hicks grounded out to Ibanez. At this point the Angels were changing pitchers just about every batter. Jaime Garcia came in to pitch to La Stella and he bounced a changeup in the dirt that allowed Vargas to race home from 3rd to tie the game at 5-5. That took the bat out of La Stella’s hands as they walked him intentionally to try to set up the double play. The much maligned bat of Conger then delivered as he blooped a 2-2 fastball into right for a RBI single that left us 3 outs away from the World Series. Jon Garcia (who came in for the injured Dirks) walked on 5 pitches to load the bases and Buxton lined a soft RBI single to center to make it 7-5. Santana flew out to Trout and Mauer hit one hard to left-center, only to have Toscano make a fantastic diving catch to rob Mauer of extra bases and end the inning.
The crowd rose en masse as our defense took the field for the 9th, with Michael Tonkin trotting in from the bullpen to try to punch our ticket to the World Series. The scheduled hitters of Plawecki, Pearce, and Ibanez didn’t intimidate anybody though they had seemingly all had their moments in the series. The noise rose a few decibels when Plawecki swung over a 3-2 sinker to strike out. Pearce then popped up a 3-1 sinker to Santana to leave us 1 out away. The crowd was on its feet waiting to explode. Ibanez chased a sinker in the dirt and bounced a grounder to Harrison, who fired a strike to Mauer to send us to the World Series!
Los Angeles Angels 5 at Minnesota 7
WP: Lester Oliveros (2-1), LP: Gabriel Ynoa (0-1), SV: Michael Tonkin (4)
HR: LAA-None, MN-None
POTG: Joe Mauer, who went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI
Series MVP: Joe Mauer, who hit .370 with 5 RBI and 5 runs.
October 31, 2018
Off Day
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