[Bub13]

It's been some time since we've entered the playoffs as decided underdogs, but that day is here again. Plus we finished ten games behind another strong Detroit team, who may feel a bit unlucky to have won 99 games and be stuck in a wildcard series. The offense finished third in runs scored, andn were top five in nearly every other category. Pat Townsand was a triple crown threat for much of the season, and still finished with sterling .331/56/153 numbers; he's joined in the middle of the lineup by Jesus Villegas (.284/41/105), not to mention four others who finished with over 25 HR each. D.J. Grace played just half the season at 3B, but at .315 with 15 HR he's more than solid at leadoff. But there are health issues, as CF Luis Rodela and SS Miguel Guillen have pending diagnoses. On the mound, they ranked 6th in runs allowed, with strong starting and relief pitching. Ace Raul Bravo struggled all season with injuries and ineffectiveness, but vets Tony Gamez, Carlos Zenon, and Corey Nelson more than picked up the slack. We only managed two wins out of six games in the regular season.

For us, there will be some new-ish faces in the starting lineup. Josh Hed is still injured so rookie Eric Bennetsen will start in left; also, Nick Gase will go full-time in right, over Russ Venters; and fellow freshman Lucas Tipping only hit .200 after his call-up, but showed some power (5 HR) and played solid defense, so gets the first go at second base. Sadly, as Matt Waugh pitched a bit late in the season for us, he may not be available for the first two starts. Bad call by me, I admit.

In the NL, Richmond hosts Washington in the I-95 series.


AL WILDCARD

Game One: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 11-11, 4.43) @ Detroit (RH Tony Gamez 17-7, 4.72). Three scoreless innings then it all goes squirrelly in the fourth. Pearse loses his gourd, giving up a 3-run shot to Townsand, and when the dust clears it's 8-0 Detroit. We get half of that back in the 5th, courtesy a pair of 2-run doubles. Detroit adds another one, then we add two more late, but kind of meekly to be honest, and we don't even mount an attack in the 9th to make it fun. We're outhit 15 to 8, at least we kept it closer than those numbers suggest. Still, one more and we're done. Detroit wins 9-6 (Detroit leads series 1-0).

Game Two: Detroit (LH Carlos Zenon 16-6, 4.78) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 3.14). Medici gets us started with a 2nd inning leadoff HR, then we add two more in the third with RBI singles from Royer and Gase. Lynn gets us another one by doubling home a run in the 4th, then Gase strikes again with a 2-run HR in the 5th. That 6-0 lead is all we need, but we do yield a 3-run shot in the 9th from Austin Reinwald. But Kearns stanches their late hope, and we've tied up the series! Down to one last game. Hawaii wins 6-3 (series tied 1-1).

Game Three: Hawaii (RH Danny Carbajal 7-7, 4.52) @ Detroit (RH Raul Bravo 9-7, 5.48). Wild game. Lynn scores in the first on a Matson RBI single. 3rd inning, Medici puts us up 3-0 with a 2-run shot, but we give up four in the bottom half, mostly thanks to a Roberto Gomez 3-run HR. But why wait to get the lead back? We tie it in the 4th, then go ahead the same inning with a Covington triple and Matson's 3-run HR. We're up 8-4 and feeling pretty good....but things aren't done yet. In the 6th, Lynn scores again on a sac fly, then Medici adds a solo HR. Detroit scores one in the bottom half, but entering the final third of the game we've got a 10-5 lead. Bennetsen leads off the seventh with a triple and scores two batters later, padding the lead to six runs, 11-5. It gets (badly) interesting in the eighth, as some sloppy play--including a walk, WP, and a HBP--lead to three Detroit runs. Gulp...one inning left and we're now clinging to a tighter-looking 11-8 lead. We go down quickly in our half of the ninth, then call in closer Nate Kearns to take us to the next round: he obliges with two easy groundouts and a lazy fly ball. Hey, look! We won! Hawaii wins 11-5 Hawaii WIN series 2-1.

WOW. I'll take it and clear out of town. Next up! Oh, and Medici claims series MVP honors, going 7-for-11 with FOUR home runs and 6 RBI.

(And in case you're paying attention, the NL wild card win goes to Washington, topping Richmond in three close-fought games. They'll meet the Dodgers next.)

.....

So, for our sins we get to see the White Sox next. Yep, those guys with 112 regular-season wins, scoring 1015 runs while allowing only 773. (That's a fat +242 run differential there.) Rather than re-typing something you recently read, go back to the first September post to re-read our last series against the Sox. Hint: we got swept and outscored 13-4. The good news since then is that we've only lost four games after that (while winning twelve), but that may not matter. AND YET. Here we are. Best of five. No complaining. Let's go.

(Almost forgot: Tampa Bay plays Texas in the other AL series, while over in the NL it's Washington vs LA and New Orleans vs Philadelphia. My picks are Tampa, LA, and Philly.)


AL DIVISIONAL SERIES

Game One: Hawaii (RH Mike Bader 7-13, 5.20) @ Chicago (RH Jasper Cummings 14-4, 3.75). Bader gets the start against my better judgement... Inauspicious beginning, too, as he loads the bases right from the start, allowing Raul Mader to score on a double play grounder. We counter in the second, loading the bases to start the inning, then plating two on a sac fly and a single. But we strand two runners. Still, a 2-1 lead. That vanishes in the second thanks to a dropped fly ball and an RBI single. That 2-2 tie was doomed to a short life, but it lasted at least until the sixth, when the Sox turn three hits and another walk into two runs, taking a 4-2 lead. After a quiet seventh, Medici strikes again! A two-run shot to deep center-left ties it up, and we've got life again...at least until the bottom of the inning, when Chris Rock triples home two more runs (one on yet another walk), and we're down by two again. Bennetsen leads off the ninth with a single, but with one out gets doubled up 6-4-3, ending the game. Tough loss. Chicago wins 6-4 (Chicago leads series 1-0).

Game Two: Hawaii (RH Mike Pearse 11-11, 4.43) @ Chicago (RH Robby Liantonio 13-10, 4.63). Both teams put runners on in the first two innings, but can't score. Same again for us in the third, but not for Chicago... Two singles and a wild pitch put runners on 2nd and 3rd, and they both score on a Zeke de la Rosa single. Small ball, sure, but we're still down 2-0. We finally break through in the fourth, however. Gase and Bennetsen single, then Medici smacks the third pitch he sees from the 40-year-old Liantonio into the right field seats, and we're up 3-2. We load the bases after that, but Lynn strikes out to end the threat. Chicago goes quietly in the fourth, but it's deja vu all over again in our fifth: Gase and Bennetsen get on base, then Medici clears them with another opposite-field homer. Suddenly we've got a nice-looking 6-2 lead. The Sox play more small ball in the sixth to get one back, on a hit batter, a walk, a steal, and a sac fly. The lead is now 6-3. Nobody does much of anything in the seventh, but our own silent Lucas Tipping wakes up to jolt a solo homer, putting us back up by 4. And after a 1-2-3 eighth, we come up again in the final frame and seal the deal: with two runners on a wild pitch scores one, then Tipping steps up and puts his second one into the seats, giving us four more runs and a solid 11-3 lead. Jordan Ruiz plays closer this game, and slams the door on our series-tying victory. Hawaii wins 11-3 (series tied 1-1).

Game Three: Chicago (RH Mike Head 19-5, 4.57) @ Hawaii (LH Matt Waugh 21-5, 3.14). An unexpected pitcher's duel! Although it does end up a bit one-sided.... In the first, Joe Lynn walks but is caught out stealing. Too bad, as Bennetsten steps up and smacks a double...but is then thrown out at third trying to stretch it. Sigh. Lynn gets on again in the fourth but we can't get him past second. Meanwhile, Waugh is cruising, allowing only three baserunners through six. But the Sox strike first in the seventh, using a walk, a single (runner to third) and a sac fly to get on the board. We add another little single in the seventh, but nothing else and go 1-2-3 in the eighth. Chicago finally breaks out the bats in the ninth, sadly, with an Aaron Harrison double and a Ninsei Sato home run; 3-0 Sox. In the final frame, we at least try: Lynn singles and takes second on a groundout; Bennetsen singles; but Medici flies out and Royer takes ten pitches to finally strike out swinging. Sox win 3-0 (Chicago leads series 2-1).

Game Four: Chicago (LH Eric Millett 7-8, 4.82) @ Hawaii (RH Danny Carbajal 7-7, 4.52). Carbs flies through the first three innings, while we put runners on in each frame but can't get anyone to second base. Chicago again strikes first, however, thanks to a Zeke de la Rosa solo home run to lead off the fourth. After another meek inning from us, they add another run with a Chris Rock single and a Victor Valadez double. Lather, rinse, repeat in the sixth: this time a Ben Usilton solo home run. Meanwhile, we keep scratching out a runner at a time, and our biggest threat comes in the seventh after back-to-back walks: but that ends with a Tipping pop out. Then it's time for a comedy show in the ninth, as Andy Barenberg gets dinged, replaced by pinch runner T.J. Walsh, who then steals second and takes third on a throwing error. Reliever Sam Bohlen then throws one to the screen and Walsh strolls home. We finally make some noise in our half, when Medici knocks a solo shot to right. But that's all she wrote, folks, as we can't mount any other attack, and it's over. Chicago wins 4-1 (Chicago WINS series 3-1).


Well who would've thought these two offenses would play two small ball games to close out the series. We could only manage one run and eight combined hits over those two games, as well. It's not really a compensation either to have Medici named MVP of this series too, going 7-for-15 with four more home runs and 9 RBI. But Josh Matson? Oh-for-15. Mike Covington? Oh-for-13. The youngsters Gase, Bennetsen, and Tipping all played well, though, so that's more food for thought going into the silly season.

Elsewhere, Texas makes me look foolish by handily sweeping aside the Rays in three. And in the NL, Philly spots one game to New Orleans but then reels off three in a row to claim that series. And LA spots Washington two games but roars back to win the series in five. So it'll be the heavy bats of Chicago and Texas facing off in the AL, and the top-hitting Phillies versus the top-pitching Dodgers in the NL.

......

World Series 2054

Remember when I made fun of Chisox fans by saying they'd be especially sad to waste their 112-win season on a quick playoff exit? Yeah, that... So they did beat us, but then got dumped in five by the Rangers in the AL Championship series. Now, the Rangers did win 101 games, so they're not exactly chumps; but the Sox had been so dominant all year that I thought a trip to the Series was inevitable. Sorry, guys. This will be Texas' second trip in the last three seasons. They won the title in '52. And their opponents? In a topsy-turvy NL series, LA won the first two games, Philly the next two, then LA, PHI, and finally LA coasted to a 7-2 win in the decider. The Dodgers return to the Series after losing to us in a seven game thriller of a series last year. They'll look to avenge that loss and claim their first title since beating the Marlins in 2042.

Game 1: TEX 8, LA 3 ... TEX leads 1-0
Game 2: LA 4, TEX 1 ... series tied 1-1
Game 3: LA 9, TEX 2 ... LA leads 2-1
Game 4: LA 3, TEX 0 ... LA leads 3-1
Game 5: TEX 9, LA 3 ... LA leads 3-2
Game 6: LA 6, TEX 3 ... LA wins 4-2

Congrats to the frickin' Dodgers, winning their 9th title in team history. The team with the $309M payroll that still needed a deep playoff run to turn a profit. I look forward to them once again signing every reliever under the sun this fall, whether they need to or not. Pro tip, kids: You too can win a title every 15 years if you spend $30M a year on former closers!