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JayW UK · 08-17-2025, 03:07 PM

2028 Playoffs

Championship Round

The Eastern League Championship series pitted Detroit against Washington and a chance for Detroit manager Keith Bennett to beat his former employers. Neither team troubled the scorers through the first three innings of game 1, Washington broke the duck in the fourth plating two runs, Detroit pulled one back in the fifth and tied the game in the sixth, only for Bradley Starks to gift the lead back to Washington when he surrendered a 2-run homer to Joey Buhler. Gabriel Lopez kept the Detroit hitters quiet in the eighth before handing the game over to closer Lou Stephens who pitched a clean ninth to give Washington a 4-2 victory. The call to turn to Stephens despite his struggles in the series against Indianapolis was a big call by manager Matt Hunt and showed his confidence in his closer. In game two, despite Detroit starter Rajion Samit’s inability to keep the basepaths clean, Washington couldn’t take advantage only scoring once in the first five innings and leaving the bases loaded three times. This wastefulness came back to haunt them as Detroit tied the game in the sixth then tacked on further runs against the Generals bullpen including a massive 2-run Alonso Gonzales homer to pull away and win 4-1. Washington’s inability to take their chances really hurt them as they should have been out of sight before Detroit even scored, Washington out-hit Detroit 15-6 but left 13 men on base in the loss. With the series moving to the nation’s capital the home fans were given a treat in game three as Washington took the chances they missed in game two, Detroit starter Jermaine Diffin was rocked for four runs in the first and did not even survive the third inning before being replaced, veteran Anthony Barrett got the call, entering an 8-0 game he regained some control for Detroit, throwing three innings for the cost of two runs, but once Barrett left the game the floodgates opened again with Washington scoring a further five runs. Generals starter Ned Scott had an easy time of it compared to his Giants counterparts, pitching seven innings and conceding a solitary run to the last batter he faced before the bullpen took over and finished off the Giants, the one blip on an otherwise excellent day was the fact infielder Rick MacDulothe left the game with an elbow injury and would miss the rest of the playoffs. After the 15-1 demolition job in game three Washington entered game four in confidant mood, and immediately got to work scoring twice in the first to take the lead. An error by 3B Joseph Cruz allowed Detroit to halve the deficit in the fourth, and the lead was gone next inning when 3B Ryan Scott drove in LF Justin King to tie the game. With runners on the corners and two out an amazing catch at the wall by Roberto Cornell robbed Tatsui Aoyama from giving Washington the lead in the sixth and this proved to be crucial as in the eighth with two men on base SS Bo Southall drove a Caden Duncan fastball deep into the corner for a bases clearing double giving Detroit the lead. Washington couldn’t conjure an answer against pitchers Jamie Berry and Greg Gray as the Giants ran out 4-2 winners once again tying the series. Game five started with both teams scoring early, before the game settled into defensive struggle. With Washington holding a slim 3-2 lead in the eighth they managed to tack on two more insurance runs courtesy of Tatsui Aoyama’s 2-run blast, Lou Stephens took the mound for the ninth looking to protect the three run lead, he retired the first two batters before things began to unravel, first he hit C Jorge Maldonado before watching Ryan Scott send a double down the line scoring Maldonado, Stephens then walked the next batter on four pitches earning the ire of his manager and ending his night as Frank Wilcox was sent to the mound to finish the game, PH Jason Clement’s drive to center was caught on the warning track by a sprinting Marc Smith for the final out. With Washington leading 3-2 the series returned to Detroit, in a tight matchup neither team could build a lead cancelling out each score. Both starters pitched into the seventh with Detroit’s Rajion Samit the beneficiary of another stunning catch by Roberto Cornell to keep the score level while the General’s David Rios wasn’t so lucky, as with a runner on second a routine grounder was flubbed by 3B Joseph Cruz critically extending the inning for next man up 1B Alonso Gonzales to drive both runners home with a bases clearing double down the right field line. The Generals couldn’t find a way to get back into the game with Detroit closer Greg Gray striking out the final two batters to secure the 5-3 victory and send the series to a deciding seventh game. Washington took the lead in game seven when RF Michael Matthews smashed a two-run homer in the third silencing the raucous Detroit crowd, the Giants dug deep and worked their way back into the game scoring in both the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game and get the crowd back on side, when backup catcher Owen Carter slammed a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh the crowd was well and truly back on board. After their early flurry Washington couldn’t get to grips with Detroit starter Jermaine Diffin and when 1B Joey Buhler rolled tamely to 3B Ryan Scott to end the game, Diffin had retired 20 straight batters without allowing a baserunner. Despite being outscored 32-23 in the series Detroit were heading back to the World Series for the first time since 2015, while manager Keith Bennett was also returning the fall classic having led Washington there in 2022 although he was aiming for a better result this time around.

The Western League Championship Series between Seattle and San Diego was a rematch of the previous seasons Pennant series which culminated in the now infamous “Battle of Seattle”. In game one the Seattle pitchers carried on from where they left off against KC, with Starter Matt Powell and reliever Luis Lopez combining to restrict San Diego to a single run on just five hits whilst the Seattle offense managed to scrape just enough runs together to give the Pioneers a 2-1 victory. Game two saw another strong pitching performance from Seattle, this time starter Trevor Kaiser went the distance in a 3-hit shutout, San Diego starter Pedro Escobar also went the distance, but allowed the only runs of the game on a 1B Marc Baxter 2-run homer in the fourth. So far through the first two games San Diego’s offense had been well below par scraping together just eight hits and a solitary run in two narrow defeats and with the next three games back in San Diego they needed to get some offensive production or face the unpalatable prospect of being swept out of the playoffs. Answering the call San Diego’s hitters came out swinging in game three, the Mariners took the lead in the first when Mario Cristo drove in a pair and by the third they had as many hits (8) as they had managed the first two games combined. San Diego doubled the lead in the fourth before Seattle finally managed to get on the board in the fifth, plating one run but crucially leaving two men stranded on base. Back-to-back San Diego homeruns in the sixth, one each for Thie Santagoeds and Jose Montoya ended Pioneer starter Daniel Werner’s night and put the result beyond doubt. With the game drawing to a close Pioneer reliever Pedro Rivas was back to his old tricks pitching inside to several San Diego batters and hitting Santiago Ybarra earning a warning from the umpire. San Diego’s bullpen remained unused on the night as Dan Rogers went the distance allowing just seven hits on his way to a 6-1 victory. The bad blood between the teams surfaced again the following night, with the scores tied at one apiece in the fifth inning, San Diego SS Mario Cristo slid into second base and into the legs of Seattle shortstop Craig Meyers leaving him in a crumpled heap with the Pioneers players and coaches furious with his overly aggressive slide. Both benches emptied but the officials managed to keep control and after Meyers was helped from the field, play continued. Seattle’s fury spurred them on as they used their anger to their advantage keeping San Diego from scoring while plating three runs of their own to take the game and push their series lead to 3-1. After the game Seattle team officials condemned the San Diego “roughhouse tactics” and also announced that Craig Meyers would only miss one week with a bad gash and luckily not a broken leg as first feared. The series continued the following night in a powderkeg atmosphere with both teams swapping homeruns early before San Diego pulled away scoring three runs in the fifth. With the game seemingly drifting away from Seattle there was still time for the next controversial moment in the series to take place. With San Diego’s Dan Matterby at the plate pitcher Pedro Rivas threw too tight and hit him, just as he had in the previous season’s WLCS igniting the brawl that became known as the “Battle in Seattle”, but unlike in that game Matterby did not rise to the bait instead taking his base. When Rivas plunked the next man up the officials had their hands full keeping a lid on things and to his credit Seattle manager William McDonald intervened pulling Rivas from the game before he could spark a riot, as he left the field to a chorus of boos from the crowd more than a few missiles were thrown Rivas’ way forcing him to run for cover and causing yet another delay in proceedings while things settled down. With order restored the game itself petered out as a contest, with San Diego ensuring there would be a game six back in Seattle by running out comfortable 5-2 winners. Two nights later the teams reconvened in Seattle where the Pioneer pitchers (minus Pedro Rivas who had been suspended from this game by the team) completely dominated the Mariners from start to finish. The game was over as a contest after three innings with San Diego starter Pedro Escobar struggling with control and surrendering six runs including a Nick Harridge 2-run homer (Harridge was deputizing for the injured Craig Meyers). Despite his disastrous start Escobar managed to stave off the hook until the fifth inning when Anthony Jacobs took over and proceeded to allow two more runs to score. Seattle’s Domingas Fidi by contrast pitched seven shutout innings before leaving to a standing ovation and with the game all but over a procession of pitchers from both sides put up zeros. With the fight completely knocked out of them San Diego slipped quietly out of the playoffs going down 8-0 to the Pioneers who gained revenge for their 2027 WLCS defeat at the hands of the Mariners and claimed their place in the World Series.

08-17-2025, 03:07 PM	#105
JayW UK Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2019 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 264	2028 Playoffs Championship Round The Eastern League Championship series pitted Detroit against Washington and a chance for Detroit manager Keith Bennett to beat his former employers. Neither team troubled the scorers through the first three innings of game 1, Washington broke the duck in the fourth plating two runs, Detroit pulled one back in the fifth and tied the game in the sixth, only for Bradley Starks to gift the lead back to Washington when he surrendered a 2-run homer to Joey Buhler. Gabriel Lopez kept the Detroit hitters quiet in the eighth before handing the game over to closer Lou Stephens who pitched a clean ninth to give Washington a 4-2 victory. The call to turn to Stephens despite his struggles in the series against Indianapolis was a big call by manager Matt Hunt and showed his confidence in his closer. In game two, despite Detroit starter Rajion Samit’s inability to keep the basepaths clean, Washington couldn’t take advantage only scoring once in the first five innings and leaving the bases loaded three times. This wastefulness came back to haunt them as Detroit tied the game in the sixth then tacked on further runs against the Generals bullpen including a massive 2-run Alonso Gonzales homer to pull away and win 4-1. Washington’s inability to take their chances really hurt them as they should have been out of sight before Detroit even scored, Washington out-hit Detroit 15-6 but left 13 men on base in the loss. With the series moving to the nation’s capital the home fans were given a treat in game three as Washington took the chances they missed in game two, Detroit starter Jermaine Diffin was rocked for four runs in the first and did not even survive the third inning before being replaced, veteran Anthony Barrett got the call, entering an 8-0 game he regained some control for Detroit, throwing three innings for the cost of two runs, but once Barrett left the game the floodgates opened again with Washington scoring a further five runs. Generals starter Ned Scott had an easy time of it compared to his Giants counterparts, pitching seven innings and conceding a solitary run to the last batter he faced before the bullpen took over and finished off the Giants, the one blip on an otherwise excellent day was the fact infielder Rick MacDulothe left the game with an elbow injury and would miss the rest of the playoffs. After the 15-1 demolition job in game three Washington entered game four in confidant mood, and immediately got to work scoring twice in the first to take the lead. An error by 3B Joseph Cruz allowed Detroit to halve the deficit in the fourth, and the lead was gone next inning when 3B Ryan Scott drove in LF Justin King to tie the game. With runners on the corners and two out an amazing catch at the wall by Roberto Cornell robbed Tatsui Aoyama from giving Washington the lead in the sixth and this proved to be crucial as in the eighth with two men on base SS Bo Southall drove a Caden Duncan fastball deep into the corner for a bases clearing double giving Detroit the lead. Washington couldn’t conjure an answer against pitchers Jamie Berry and Greg Gray as the Giants ran out 4-2 winners once again tying the series. Game five started with both teams scoring early, before the game settled into defensive struggle. With Washington holding a slim 3-2 lead in the eighth they managed to tack on two more insurance runs courtesy of Tatsui Aoyama’s 2-run blast, Lou Stephens took the mound for the ninth looking to protect the three run lead, he retired the first two batters before things began to unravel, first he hit C Jorge Maldonado before watching Ryan Scott send a double down the line scoring Maldonado, Stephens then walked the next batter on four pitches earning the ire of his manager and ending his night as Frank Wilcox was sent to the mound to finish the game, PH Jason Clement’s drive to center was caught on the warning track by a sprinting Marc Smith for the final out. With Washington leading 3-2 the series returned to Detroit, in a tight matchup neither team could build a lead cancelling out each score. Both starters pitched into the seventh with Detroit’s Rajion Samit the beneficiary of another stunning catch by Roberto Cornell to keep the score level while the General’s David Rios wasn’t so lucky, as with a runner on second a routine grounder was flubbed by 3B Joseph Cruz critically extending the inning for next man up 1B Alonso Gonzales to drive both runners home with a bases clearing double down the right field line. The Generals couldn’t find a way to get back into the game with Detroit closer Greg Gray striking out the final two batters to secure the 5-3 victory and send the series to a deciding seventh game. Washington took the lead in game seven when RF Michael Matthews smashed a two-run homer in the third silencing the raucous Detroit crowd, the Giants dug deep and worked their way back into the game scoring in both the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game and get the crowd back on side, when backup catcher Owen Carter slammed a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh the crowd was well and truly back on board. After their early flurry Washington couldn’t get to grips with Detroit starter Jermaine Diffin and when 1B Joey Buhler rolled tamely to 3B Ryan Scott to end the game, Diffin had retired 20 straight batters without allowing a baserunner. Despite being outscored 32-23 in the series Detroit were heading back to the World Series for the first time since 2015, while manager Keith Bennett was also returning the fall classic having led Washington there in 2022 although he was aiming for a better result this time around. The Western League Championship Series between Seattle and San Diego was a rematch of the previous seasons Pennant series which culminated in the now infamous “Battle of Seattle”. In game one the Seattle pitchers carried on from where they left off against KC, with Starter Matt Powell and reliever Luis Lopez combining to restrict San Diego to a single run on just five hits whilst the Seattle offense managed to scrape just enough runs together to give the Pioneers a 2-1 victory. Game two saw another strong pitching performance from Seattle, this time starter Trevor Kaiser went the distance in a 3-hit shutout, San Diego starter Pedro Escobar also went the distance, but allowed the only runs of the game on a 1B Marc Baxter 2-run homer in the fourth. So far through the first two games San Diego’s offense had been well below par scraping together just eight hits and a solitary run in two narrow defeats and with the next three games back in San Diego they needed to get some offensive production or face the unpalatable prospect of being swept out of the playoffs. Answering the call San Diego’s hitters came out swinging in game three, the Mariners took the lead in the first when Mario Cristo drove in a pair and by the third they had as many hits (8) as they had managed the first two games combined. San Diego doubled the lead in the fourth before Seattle finally managed to get on the board in the fifth, plating one run but crucially leaving two men stranded on base. Back-to-back San Diego homeruns in the sixth, one each for Thie Santagoeds and Jose Montoya ended Pioneer starter Daniel Werner’s night and put the result beyond doubt. With the game drawing to a close Pioneer reliever Pedro Rivas was back to his old tricks pitching inside to several San Diego batters and hitting Santiago Ybarra earning a warning from the umpire. San Diego’s bullpen remained unused on the night as Dan Rogers went the distance allowing just seven hits on his way to a 6-1 victory. The bad blood between the teams surfaced again the following night, with the scores tied at one apiece in the fifth inning, San Diego SS Mario Cristo slid into second base and into the legs of Seattle shortstop Craig Meyers leaving him in a crumpled heap with the Pioneers players and coaches furious with his overly aggressive slide. Both benches emptied but the officials managed to keep control and after Meyers was helped from the field, play continued. Seattle’s fury spurred them on as they used their anger to their advantage keeping San Diego from scoring while plating three runs of their own to take the game and push their series lead to 3-1. After the game Seattle team officials condemned the San Diego “roughhouse tactics” and also announced that Craig Meyers would only miss one week with a bad gash and luckily not a broken leg as first feared. The series continued the following night in a powderkeg atmosphere with both teams swapping homeruns early before San Diego pulled away scoring three runs in the fifth. With the game seemingly drifting away from Seattle there was still time for the next controversial moment in the series to take place. With San Diego’s Dan Matterby at the plate pitcher Pedro Rivas threw too tight and hit him, just as he had in the previous season’s WLCS igniting the brawl that became known as the “Battle in Seattle”, but unlike in that game Matterby did not rise to the bait instead taking his base. When Rivas plunked the next man up the officials had their hands full keeping a lid on things and to his credit Seattle manager William McDonald intervened pulling Rivas from the game before he could spark a riot, as he left the field to a chorus of boos from the crowd more than a few missiles were thrown Rivas’ way forcing him to run for cover and causing yet another delay in proceedings while things settled down. With order restored the game itself petered out as a contest, with San Diego ensuring there would be a game six back in Seattle by running out comfortable 5-2 winners. Two nights later the teams reconvened in Seattle where the Pioneer pitchers (minus Pedro Rivas who had been suspended from this game by the team) completely dominated the Mariners from start to finish. The game was over as a contest after three innings with San Diego starter Pedro Escobar struggling with control and surrendering six runs including a Nick Harridge 2-run homer (Harridge was deputizing for the injured Craig Meyers). Despite his disastrous start Escobar managed to stave off the hook until the fifth inning when Anthony Jacobs took over and proceeded to allow two more runs to score. Seattle’s Domingas Fidi by contrast pitched seven shutout innings before leaving to a standing ovation and with the game all but over a procession of pitchers from both sides put up zeros. With the fight completely knocked out of them San Diego slipped quietly out of the playoffs going down 8-0 to the Pioneers who gained revenge for their 2027 WLCS defeat at the hands of the Mariners and claimed their place in the World Series.