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RESULTS: ROUND 4 - REGION 4:

7) 1967 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 12) 2015 Toronto Blue Jays

Road here:

The first Elite Eight match up sees Region 4 where upsets were the story. The Jays still aren’t getting much respect. They beat two dead-ball era teams in the first two rounds, and the turn of the century teams really under performed as a whole in this tournament. Then they did have to get past a big name in the 1921 Yankees, but looking past the name that wasn’t a very impressive win either, an 8 seed that didn’t win their own World Series and only had to beat a 16 seed upstart in the last round. Toronto still may not get the respect they deserve if they beat the 7 seed, but they’ll surely take a Final Four appearance regardless.

The Cardinals and their big three starters may be a bit under-seeded. They also benefitted from the first round debacle in this region and avoided a 2 seed in round 2. But they were impressive in ousting the hall of fame filled 1929 A’s in the last round. They do have to face the DH in the Toronto home games here so the staff will be tested again.

Game 1 starters are David Price and Dick Hughes in St. Louis. The action got underway in the 2nd inning when shortstop Dal Maxvill singled in a run off Price. Kevin Pillar would tie it for Toronto in the 4th, but the Cards would answer immediately in the bottom of the 4th and lead again 2-1. Toronto second baseman Ryan Goins tied the game again in the 6th, adding to the contribution of the bottom of the order of this otherwise staked lineup. But once again, and immediate answer in the bottom of the same frame, to the tune of a 2-run bomb by familiar voice Tim McCarver for a 5-2 lead. The game would end 5-2 in favor of St. Louis.

Starting pitchers for game 2 are R.A. Dickey and Steve Carlton. The game was scoreless through three, and 1-0 Toronto in top of the 5th when Josh Donaldson took a Steve Carlton 3-2 pitch 359 feet to left. The next inning Orlando Cepeda would pull two back for the Cardinals with a homer off Dickey, but the Jays scored three more in the 7th off the St. Louis bullpen. A very entertaining couple of games comes to an end in St. Louis with a final score of 7-3 and a tied series.

Both teams’ hitters apparently were very refreshed after the travel day off with a combined nine runs in the first two innings off starters Bob Gibson and Mark Buehrle. Gibson couldn’t finish five, ad Buehrle was gone by the third. The Cardinals’ early 6-2 lead held there for awhile, but ballooned late to an 11-4 final. Orlando Cepeda drove in Curt Flood three times in the game which saw four long balls in the dome.

In game 4 Marco Estrada will attempt to pull the hosts even while opposing starter Ray Washburn is playing with house money. Followed by Hughes, Carlton, and Gibson as necessary, Washburn can begin to drive the nail into the coffin pressure free. After Jose Bautista’s first inning homerun, and bat flip that travelled nearly as far, Washburn settled down. He would hand it over to the bullpen after six innings with a 5-1 lead provided mostly by nine hitter Del Maxvill’s bases loaded triple. In a series where each team is getting contributions from not so expected sources, Ryan Goins gave the St. Louis bullpen some trouble with a two run homer in the 7th. The game would get to 6-4 before Joe Hoerner would strike out the side in the 9th to save his second of the series. The Cardinals are on the brink of the Final Four.

We had a pitcher’s duel in game five with the aces back on the mound. David Price came up huge at home with the backs against the wall, going eight innings, five hits, no walks, no runs, and ten Ks. Again the bottom of the order did the damage. Ryan Goins and Ben Revere each driving in runs for the Jays in the 2nd, before Edwin Encarnacion added an insurance run with a solo shot in the 4th. Dick Hughes didn’t pitch poorly, but failed to shut the door and now the teams will have to travel back to St. Louis.

Game six sees lefty Carlton vs. knuckle baller Dickey, and the latter would hit early trouble. With two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 1st, the Cardinals would rally and Mike Shannon’s three run shot to left center would chase Dickey in the first inning at 4-0. Carlton would cruise to the 4th where he finally saw trouble. With the bases loaded and one out, on a 3-2 pitch to Kevin Pillar, a very controversial ball walked in the Blue Jay’s first run. But he would strike out the suddenly dangerous Ryan Goins, and force the Jays into pinch hitting for the pitcher spot early to try and take advantage of the opportunity. Devon Travis would strike out and Carlton escapes with the 4-1 lead. Carlton would turn it over to the bullpen after six innings with eight Ks and just the one run. The Blue Jay’s bullpen did well to keep the Cards off the board after the first, but could they score? They would, as they were aided by a Del Maxvill error in the 7th and push two across to make the game 4-3. But the chance didn’t last. St. Louis scored two in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead again. Four more in the bottom of the 8th essentially ended it. The Cardinals win 10-4 and are Region 4 champs! They move on to the Final Four to await the winner of Region 1.

In a losing cause, Troy Tulowitzki hit .391 and David Price had a 1.84 ERA and 14 Ks across 14 2/3 innings. For the winners, Curt Flood’s .440 average earned him the MVP honors. Orlando Cepeda and Tim McCarver each had 2 HRs and 5 RBIs, and Dick Hughes struck out 15 through 10 innings with a 1.80 ERA, despite only going 0-1.