[JayW UK]

2027 Playoffs

Divisional Round

In the east, 99-game winners Indianapolis were the favourites in their matchup with Tampa Bay (the two teams had met in the 2021 playoffs with TB winning) while Washington were looking to take down wildcard entry Cleveland despite winning eleven games less on the season. Over in the west Kansas City would face San Diego while Houston had a matchup against wildcard team Seattle and with no team standing out amongst the four WL teams, the road to the World Series was wide open.

Indianapolis opened their series with Tampa Bay with a disappointing 6-3 defeat, starter Carlo Tagros taking the loss surrendering all six runs in just four innings of work. Tampa Bay Ace, Larry de Meza on the other hand worked seven flawless innings before the bullpen allowed three late runs to give the score some respectability. The Racers bounced back the following evening to tie the series, Gabriel Mendez smashed a three-run homer and starter Will Christopher went eight innings giving up just two runs in a comfortable 5-2 victory. First inning bombs from Gabriel Mendez and Nelson Vasquez gave the Racers an early 3-0 lead in game three, Tampa Bay’s offense on the other hand couldn’t solve starter Broderick Brady, mustering a mere two hits and one walk through the first seven innings. The Racers added an insurance run in the eighth before the Hurricanes scored in the bottom of the ninth on a Jorge Sanchez solo bomb to make the final score 4-1 Indianapolis. Game four saw a pitching duel between the Racers Earl Stone and Tampa Bay’s ace Larry de Meza. Stone pitched a gem going eight shutout innings and allowing only three hits while Tampa Bay’s starter, Larry de Meza played almost as well surrendering a pair of runs on only four hits through seven plus innings before relievers Matt Becker and Lou Stephens got the Hurricanes through to the bottom of the ninth still only trailing by two. Indianapolis closer Jimmy Parkinson took only eleven pitches to turn the game on its head, walking 2B Ronald McKinney and allowing a single to veteran Kevin Jones putting runners on the corners and prompting a visit to the mound from the Racers pitching coach. Whatever was said seemed to fire Parkinson up as he struck out the next two batters leaving Indianapolis one out away from winning the series, it was not to be though, as catcher Marcos Ocasio (0-3 on the day and just 1 for 12 on the series) slammed the first pitch he saw deep into the stands for a three-run walk off homer, stealing the game from the Racers and tying the series. Game five back in Indianapolis saw Carlo Tagros (IND) and Guillermo Medina (TB) face off in an entertaining back and forth affair. By the time the game reached the ninth inning both starters were long gone and the game was tied at four. Jimmy Parkinson was on the mound again for the Racers looking for redemption after blowing game four, he started well striking out danger man Juan Santos before Vicente Fernandez beat out an infield single. Parkinson’s composure deserted him from that point on as he proceeded to load the bases, however Tampa Bay failed to take full advantage scoring only a single run but that was still enough to give them a 5-4 lead, closer Lou Fuller took the mound for the bottom half of the inning and proceeded to blow through the Indianapolis lineup, striking out two and enticing a soft grounder to second to end the game and send Tampa Bay on to the EL Pennant series for the second time in their history.

Washington played host to the first playoff tilt since game five of the 2022 World Series and got off to a flier when Marc Smith smashed a leadoff homerun to give the Generals a 1-0 lead but that was as good as things got, Cleveland were level in the second and had the lead in the third courtesy of a Richie Rambeaux 2-run homer. The Corsairs then blew the Generals away in the sixth inning adding five more runs while chasing starter Pedro Diaz and relievers Frank Wilcox and David Rios from the game, with the stadium emptying and the game all but over a string of relief pitchers saw things through to the end. Game two was much closer as both starters Gabriel Lopez (WAS) and Eric Parker (CLE) pitched into the seventh inning where Lopez ran into trouble allowing a Clarence Davis 2-RBI double to put Cleveland ahead 3-1. The Corsairs added another run in the top of the ninth before closer Beau Bass took the mound, Bass allowed a solo homerun to Joey Buhler but that was all Washington could muster as they fell to a 4-2 defeat. Cleveland’s Guy Pot started game three in wayward fashion, after retiring the leadoff man he then allowed two walks and two singles to give Washington a 1-0 lead and leave the bases loaded, a double play off the bat of SS Michael Matthews bailed Pot out and he escaped the inning with only a one run deficit. Washington’s inability to take advantage of Pot’s stumble came back to haunt them almost immediately as a Pedro Arevalo solo homerun tied the scores in the second before Richie Rambeaux drove in a pair with a 2-out double in the fifth. Pot settled down after the first to pitch six solid innings before handing over to the bullpen to finish the game. Although they managed to get two men on base in both the seventh and eighth and had a man on third in the ninth Washington couldn’t find a way to convert any of the chances and fell to a 3-1 defeat despite outhitting the Corsairs 11-6. Cleveland’s sweep meant they advanced to the pennant series for the fourth time in their history.

In the west the matchup between Houston and Seattle (a repeat of the 2025 WL Pennant series which Seattle won) pitted strength against strength, Houston with the WL’s No2 offense and Seattle with the No3 ranked pitching. A quality start from Marc Birstall and a pair of homeruns by CF Angel Valdez off Seattle ace Matt Powell put Houston in control of game one, but a late bullpen collapse (Seattle scored six runs in the final two frames) gifted the Pioneers a 7-5 series opening win. Trevor Kaiser on the mound for Seattle in game two fared little better than Matt Powell the night before, surrendering homeruns to C Mike Hinrichs and 2B Javier Montalvo to dig the Pioneers into another early hole (down 4-0 after three) this time Seattle began their rally earlier, chipping away at the lead and eventually tying the game on a 2B Jose Velasquez homerun in the top of the eighth. Neither team could force home a run in the ninth so the game went to extra innings. Pitching held sway until the top of the thirteenth when Houston pitcher Mark Sears walked Jose Velasquez (the first baserunner for either team since the eighth inning), Sears doubled that count by allowing 3B Ignacio Campos to reach first on an infield single when he was slow off the mound to field the ball. After a visit from his pitching-coach he uncorked a wild pitch which moved the runners up to second and third and ended his night, Wilbur Hutchinson was tasked with getting out of the inning, which he did but not before both runners scored giving Seattle a 6-4 lead, so now it was on Houston’s offense to try and rescue the game. With their bullpen mostly empty it fell to Maurizio Villani to close out the game for the Pioneers, pitching to the heart of the Stars line-up Villani worked around a single by LF Vincente Gonzalez to preserve the 6-4 Seattle win. Houston travelled to Seattle for game three knowing it was do or die for their season, Shane Miller took the mound for them against Seattle’s Chris Romero. Both pitchers had little trouble first time through the line-up but Miller ran into problems in the fourth, Gabriel Nestor, Stephen Miller and Manny Romero all reached base before Jose Velasquez cleared the basepaths with a 3RBI double before next man up Marc Baxter slammed a two-run homer and in the blink of an eye Houston found themselves down 5-0. Miller’s night ended and the bullpen wrestled control back from Seattle but the Pioneers starter Chris Romero was in cruise control allowing just four hits through seven strong innings, Houston finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth but it was too little too late as Chuck Patrick extinguished any lingering hopes, striking out the side in the ninth and sending Seattle through to the WLCS for the third time in their history.

The matchup between Kansas City and San Diego saw two of the top three WL offenses face off. Kansas City’s No1 offense struggled to score against strong San Diego pitching scoring three runs on just five hits, but an excellent eight innings of two run ball from KC starter Jose Roa and a seven pitch save from closer Jerry Crane meant that the three runs were just enough for Kansas City to take first blood in the series. In game two KC’s offense sputtered once again only managing to plate two runs off SD starter Dan Rogers while San Diego’s hitters came to play, torching KC starter Juan Villa for three homeruns, one each from C Dan Matterby, 3B Jose Montoya and 2B John Foster, scoring nine runs before relievers Angelo Sanchez and Sam Lloyd regained control. But the damage had been done and despite a Tornadoes consolation run in the ninth, San Diego ran out easy 9-3 winners to even the series. Game three saw Pedro Escobar on the mound for San Diego taking on Mark Fort, both pitchers were strong out of the gate but fort blinked first allowing a solo homerun to SS Mario Cristo to give SD the lead. KC’s 2B Jack Underwood tied things up when he drove in CF Manuel Ruiz in the fifth and that’s the way things stayed until both starters exited the game in the seventh. San Diego took the lead on a Dan Matterby 2RBI single off reliever Ryan McPhates in the bottom of the eighth before closer Clint Long sat the heart of KC’s line-up down in order, preserving the 3-1 lead and putting San Diego one win away from the pennant series. Ronald Shockley got the call from KC to start game four, San Diego countered with unlucky game 1 loser Diego Camacho, Kansas City rocked Camacho early scoring four runs in the first, including a homerun (KC’s first of the series) by Michael “Boomer” Jennings Camacho managed to settle down after that keeping a lid on KC’s scoring although not the hits, eventually leaving the game after five rollercoaster innings (11 hits, 4 walks, 9K’s and somehow just the four runs) Shockley didn’t run into trouble until the fifth when LF Kirby Watts slammed a two run homer to cut the KC lead in half. San Diego scored again in the sixth and Shockley left the game in the seventh with two out but two runners aboard, Ryan McPhates got the final out but not before surrendering the tying run. Both teams stumbled through the eighth, KC put two men aboard but failed to score while San Diego loaded the bases but crucially pushed home the go-ahead run, Mariners star closer Clint Long took the mound for the ninth, he retired the first two batters before allowing a single and then a walk to leave KC needing just a hit to potentially send the game to extra innings. With the pitcher’s spot up next KC called on 20-year-old rookie George Shipp to pinch hit, but the biggest moment of his fledgling career proved too much for the young man as he flailed helplessly at a Clint Long curveball to strikeout and end the game, sending San Diego on to a WLCS matchup with division rivals Seattle.