[JayW UK]

2028 Playoffs

Divisional Round

In the east Washington drew wildcard team Indianapolis (the two teams having met in the playoffs twice before with each team having tasted victory) while Detroit, back in the playoffs for the first time in ten years would take on Tampa Bay. In the west Las Vegas would play San Diego, who were the wildcard team for the third time in their history while Seattle took on Kansas City.

Indianapolis started their series against Washington with a bang, 1B Nelson Vasquez belting a 2-run homer in the first inning and Gene Robinson scoring on a Jose Cintron double in the second. The Generals steadied the ship after the early wobble and they were level by the sixth inning, a Joey Buhler RBI double in the seventh gave them the lead and when Lou Stephens (35 saves out of 35 chances during the regular season) stepped onto the mound in the top of the ninth, things looked bleak for the Racers. Stephens struggled, allowing the Racers to tie the game blowing the save and when Washington were sat down in order in the home half, the game continued into extra innings. Indianapolis scored the go ahead run in the top of the tenth only for their own closer Chuck Patrick to blow the save by giving up a solo homerun to Anibal Trueba, neither team could muster a score through the next few innings until finally, with a man on second and one out in the bottom of the 13th, Washington pinch hitter Ronson Daley hit a sharp grounder into left field that Gene Robinson misplayed, leading to Tatsui Aoyama scoring the winning run on the error. Washington were all over Indianapolis starter Will Christopher in game two, forcing him from the action after four messy innings with the Generals ahead 6-1. The Racers recovered well after that slowly chipping away at the lead and closing the gap to 6-5, a Michael Matthews RBI single added an insurance run for Washington before closer Lou Stephens took the mound for the ninth. Stephens delivered the save but once again he struggled, putting men on the corners with no-one out, only poor Indianapolis hitting preserved the Washington win. Game three in Indianapolis saw the visitors strike first building a two-run lead through four innings, the Racers came to life in the bottom of the fifth collecting two runs on four hits and tying the game, in the next inning NABL legend Gabriel Mendez clubbed a solo homer to give the Racers the lead (it was his eleventh career postseason homer). With Indianapolis protecting a narrow 3-2 lead starter Angel Castro ran into trouble in the eighth putting two runners on base before manager Roy Edwards turned to his tired bullpen to finish the job. Jason Bin Talib couldn’t get the job done, instead surrendering a three-run homerun to catcher Aaron Harris turning the game on its head. In the bottom of the inning Indianapolis reduced the deficit to one and then held Washington scoreless in the ninth setting up a tense finish. With the Generals clinging to a 5-4 lead closer Lou Stephens was summoned from the bullpen to put the game and series to bed, just as he had in game one, he failed, retiring just one batter and surrendering back to back singles before CF Manny Ramos cleared the bases with a 2 RBI walk-off double giving Indianapolis a dramatic 6-5 win and keeping the series alive. Game four was a pitching duel between IND Owen Randall and WAS Gabriel Lopez, with the game tied at two after six, Washington edged ahead, plating two runs in the seventh for a 4-2 lead, Indianapolis opened the eighth by putting two runners on base and chasing starter Gabriel Lopez from the game before grizzled veteran Ron Henderson was called from the pen to save the day, just like Stephens the previous night, he failed allowing both runners to score. From there neither team threatened to score until the eleventh when the Generals scored the go-ahead runs on Marc Smith’s one out 2-RBI single. Washington manager Matt Hunt then decided to turn to Frank Wilcox instead of the struggling Lou Stephens to close the game, Wilcox duly obliged (taking just six pitches to do so) sending Washington onto the EL pennant series for the second time in their history.

In the first ever playoff meeting between Tampa Bay and Detroit it was the Hurricanes who got off to the best start, ace pitcher Larry de Meza went the distance allowing just a single run (a solo homerun by catcher Jorge Maldonado in the ninth) on three hits. While the Detroit pitchers struggled, they only allowed four runs (three by starter Bradley Starks and another by reliever Marcos Diaz) although it could have been so much worse but for the profligacy of Tampa Bay, they put seventeen men on base (eleven hits and six walks) but only managed to score four, hitting into three double plays and stranding ten. Game two started better for the home side as they built a 3-0 lead against Vince Little through the first four innings before Tampa Bay finally got going. Detroit starter Rajion Samit pitched through seven innings before handing a 3-2 lead over to the bullpen, in a messy eighth, the Giants used three pitchers to escape the inning but somehow Tampa Bay only scored once to tie the game. Matt Becker and Josh Renshaw between them made a mess of the home half of the eighth surrendering two runs to give Detroit the lead once more, before closer Greg Gray entered the game in the ninth to retire the side without in order closing out a 5-3 Detroit win. Game three back in Florida saw Tampa Bay open up a four-run lead after two innings, however Hurricane starter Anastasio Perez ran into trouble himself in the third, allowing three runs to cut the lead to one. Detroit starter Jermaine Diffin settled down after his early wobble to complete six innings and by the time he left the game he was in line for the win as runs in the fifth and sixth inning had put the Giants ahead 5-4. Tampa Bay tied the game once again in the seventh only for Francisco Hernandez to gift Detroit two runs in the eighth before Giants closer Greg Gray did his thing once again in the ninth to protect the 7-5 scoreline. Tampa Bay starter Claudio Gonzalez drew the start in game four and went seven strong innings surrendering only five hits, the problem was Detroit turned those hits into four runs helped by two errors and some sloppy fielding by the Hurricanes. Detroit starter Gonzalo Tellez by contrast was helped out by his defense, including three double plays and two outstanding catches at the outfield fence to deny probable homeruns, when he left the game in the seventh inning, he had issued a single walk and given up only one run on four hits. Both bullpens took over in the eighth and Detroit immediately added to their lead and while Tampa Bay managed to collect a total of five hits against a procession of Giants pitchers, they could only generate a single run as they slipped to a disappointing 6-2 defeat, sending Detroit onto the ELCS for the third time in their history where Washington awaited them.

Game one of the series between Kansas City and Seattle was a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel between Matt Powell (SEA) and Mark Fort (KC), neither pitcher gave an inch through the first seven innings but in the top of the eighth Seattle broke through taking the lead when 1B Marc Baxter scored on an error by Jack Underwood. Kansas City answered in the home half with CF Manuel Ruiz ripping a double down the line and then scoring on RF George Shipp’s RBI single to center. In the top of the ninth Mark Fort ran out of steam loading the bases without retiring anyone and bringing Ryan McPhates into the game, McPhates managed to hold Seattle to a single run from that strong position giving his hitters a chance to save the game. Pioneers closer Pedro Rivas took the mound in the bottom of the inning and proceeded to mow down the Kansas City hitters, striking out the side to preserve the 2-1 victory. Game two was another close affair with Seattle’s Trevor Kaiser pitching a gem, tossing a complete game 3-hit shutout, Kansas City starter Jose Roa pitched well going eight innings surrendering just three runs and striking out nine, but with the offense stuck in neutral (only two players reached base) Roa took the hard luck loss leaving Kansas City in a 2-0 series hole. With their backs to the wall Kansas City came out swinging in game three taking the lead on a Jack Underwood 3-run homer in the second but spurned chances to further increase the lead in both the fourth and fifth inning allowing Seattle to close the gap to one on catcher Stephen Miller’s two-run homer. Both teams turned to their bullpens in the seventh and it was Kansas City who finally broke, with the normally reliable Ryan McPhates surrendering a 2-run homer to SS Craig Meyers giving Seattle a 4-3 lead. With Kansas City’s spirit broken Seattle relievers Maurizio Villani and Ken Kramer breezed through the last two innings securing the Pioneers a place in the WLCS for the second year in a row and the third time in four seasons. The Seattle pitchers totally dominated the Tornadoes hitters during the series, holding them to a .170 batting average and allowing just four runs on sixteen hits.

100-win Las Vegas possessed the best pitching staff in the NABL (even after the loss in July of Staff ace Dave Cahill) along with the #4 offense in the WL and were widely expected to dispatch wildcard entry San Diego. The Mariners for their part were given a punchers chance of upsetting the Gamblers courtesy of their powerful batting lineup (they hit 183 homeruns on the season, second only to Washington). Game one in Las Vegas got off to the perfect start for San Diego who took a three-run lead in the second when Dan Matterby slammed a three-run bomb off a stunned Holden Willis, in a back-and-forth game, Las Vegas erased deficits of 3-0, 5-2 and 7-5 before in the top of the ninth the Mariners yet again found a way to get into the lead when 3B Jose Montoya scored on 2B Ernesto Bernal’s single to center, barely beating Brian Quinborough’s throw to home. San Diego Closer Clint Long was tasked with ending the game and after allowing CF Brian Quinborough to reach base via a walk he managed to entice consecutive batters to harmlessly fly out to end an entertaining game handing San Diego the series lead. Game two once again started well for San Diego, plating three runs before a single Las Vegas player had stepped into the batter’s box although after their early success the Mariners offense dried up, San Diego’s pitchers on the other hand couldn’t keep a lid on the Gamblers offense turning the 3-0 lead into a 7-3 deficit after six innings, a two-run homer from CF Jorge Sanchez cut the lead to 7-5 in the seventh. Neither team could register a hit from then until, with Las Vegas closer Davis Robinson on the mound, Mario Cristo clubbed his second double of the game to lead off the ninth. Robinson (the NABL leader in saves during the regular season with 49) showed his class dispatching the next three Mariners with minimum fuss to end the game and tie the series. Game three in San Diego saw the Mariners take the lead for the third time in the series and just as before Las Vegas roared back to take a lead of their own. Gamblers starter Max Castle started the seventh inning with a strikeout, his ninth of the day, before walking catcher Dan Matterby ending his night, Leland Watson got the call to pitch to Jose Montoya. On a full count Montoya took what he thought was ball four but was called strike three, in a moment of madness he turned and berated the Umpire while also appearing to make contact with him earning an instant ejection. Clearly spurred on by this, next man up Ernesto Bernal launched a Watson fastball deep to left for a two-run homer tying the game. Worse was to come for the Gamblers as in the next inning, consecutive strikeouts from 2B John Hoskins and LF Chip Owers left the bases loaded and wasted a glorious opportunity to retake the lead, before in the bottom half of the inning Kirby Watts belted a solo homerun to give San Diego a late lead. Mariner closer Clint Long took the mound in the ninth looking for his second save of the series, the Gamblers swiftly collected a pair of hits putting two men in scoring position but then the Gamblers bats went cold as Long dispatched the heart of the Las Vegas lineup without fuss to put the Mariners up 2-1 in the series. Game four followed the familiar pattern, San Diego taking the early lead only for Las Vegas to peg them back and take a lead of their own. Ahead 4-2 after five innings the wheels fell off for the Gamblers, as over the next two innings Las Vegas were forced to use four pitchers as San Diego turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead. The Gamblers for their part couldn’t find a way to hurt the Mariners bullpen after starter Clifford West left the game in the sixth, Anthony Jacobs, Bernard Pelle and Mike Anderson held them hitless through eight. The game finally got away from the Gamblers in the home half of the eighth when the Mariners scored four more runs including a monster 3-run homer to ex-Gambler Santiago Ybarra to push their lead to 10-4 and with the home crowd partying in the stands pitcher Ray Campbell dealt the coup-de-grace to end the Gamblers season. San Diego not only outscored Las Vegas 28-22 during the series they also clubbed more homeruns 6-1 and collected more hits 53-42 on their way to comfortably beating the best team in baseball, awaiting them in the Championship series was Seattle and a re-match of the previous seasons WLCS.