USA League Championship Series
Time to get going, let the playoffs begin.
USA Game 1: Duluth @ Chicago
Tuesday September 14th, 2055
Duluth’s Chris Collier vs. Chicago’s José Cedeño
A - 34,211
Bot 1. With one out, Prowler Ashley chops a ball to the right side of the infield. He beats the throw. Ashley steals second. Reagan Osborn walks. Ashley steals third, then scores on a ground out to second. Thomas Arnaud flies out to end the inning. Chicago 1, Duluth 0.
The Tects score a run without the ball leaving the infield.
Both pitchers have their A-game today. Top 6. Cedeño walks the bases loaded. Two outs though. Cedeño strikes out Diego Barron to get out of the jam. Bot 6. Reagan Osborn singles, steals second. Thomas Arnaud singles him in. Another run scored thanks to stealing bases. Chicago 2, Duluth 0.
Eighth inning. Both starters are still in the game. Check that. Herve Smart in for Duluth.
Bot 8. Smart gives up solo home runs to Reagan Osborn and Thomas Arnaud. Chicago 4, Duluth 0.
Top 9. Last chance for Duluth. Jorge Rangel and Mark Laursen single. Cedeño gets pulled. Pat Wright is on the mound. Double play. Ground out.
CHICAGO WINS, 4-0! Chicago takes a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series.
José Cedeño: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 K, 110 pitches
1B R Osborn 2-3 HR, 2R, RBI SB, 3B T Arnaud 2-4 HR R 2 RBI
HR - 1B R Osborn (1), 3B T Arnaud (1)
POTG - SP J Cedeno
USA Game 2: Duluth @ Chicago
Wednesday September 15th, 2055
Duluth’s Tim Gross vs. Chicago’s Cliff Simpson
A - 34,343
Top 1. Jorge Rangel homers! Duluth 1, Chicago 0.
Top 1 continued. Kent Kalman doubles. Carlos Sánchez singles him in. Duluth 2, Chicago 0.
Kent Kalman, by the way, is a 26-year-old rookie who had all of 39 plate appearances this season. He did hit .361/.410/.444 in those 29 plate appearances.
Chicago got their first hit of the game. It’s a Reagan Osborn single. Next batter hits into a double play.
Bot 5. Juan Durán and Miguel Toledo single. Cris Luna lays down a sac bunt. Pedro Farrulla singles. Durán scores. John Lambert hits a three-run home run! Chicago 4, Duluth 2.
Durán? 181 career plate appearances
Luna? 638.
Farrulla? 235.
Lambert? 280.
Cliff Simpson gets pulled. His final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 109 pitches thrown.
Top 9. Last chance for Duluth.
Carlos Sánchez strikes out.
Diego Barrón grounds out.
Bill Whalley flies out.
CHICAGO WINS, 4-2!! Chicago takes a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 series
1B R Osborn 3-4 C J Duran 2-4 R,
CH HR - 2B J Lambert (1)
POTG - SP C Simpson
USA Game 3: Chicago @ Duluth
Friday September 17th, 2055
Chicago’s Joe Johnson vs. Duluth’s Will McNeely
A - 41,383 (capacity 40,000)
Top 1. Chicago’s aggressive running backfired. With runners on the corners and one out, Reagan Osborn gets caught trying to steal second. A fly out ends the inning.
Top 2. Larry Davis singles. McNeely retires the next two batters. Davis moves to second on a wild pitch. Walker Dunse works a full count and walks. Pedro Farulla singles in Davis. Chicago 1, Duluth 0.
Bot 3. Bill Whalley doubles. He moves to third on a passed ball. Alejandro Escobar hits a sac fly. Tie game, 1-1.
Top 5. Walker Dunse reaches base on an error. He steals second. He moves to third on a ground out to second. He scores on a Samuel Amsden single. Chicago 2, Duluth 1.
Bot 5. Joe Hunt hits a solo home run! Tie game, 2-2.
Top 6. Cris Luna hits a solo home run! Chicago 3, Duluth 2. Bot 6. With two outs, Jorge Rangel doubles, and Mark Laurse hits a home run! Duluth 4, Chicago 3.
Top 8. Hervé Smart in to pitch. He walks Sean White, then uncorks a wild pitch. He walks Cris Luna. Walker Dunse singles in White. Fielder’s choice at home. Prowler Ashley hits a sac fly. Samuel Amsden singles, and Reagan Osborn singles in a third run. Chicago 6, Duluth 4.
George Goff grounds into a fielder’s choice.
Diego Barrón taps one back to the pitcher, but it’s an error! Two men on. Tying run at the plate. Rafael Morales also taps one back to the pitcher. Play is at second. Two outs. Bill Whalley grounds to short.
CHICAGO WINS, 7-4!! Chicago takes a 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series.
2B W Dunse 2-3 2R 2BB 2 RBI, SB, 3B L Davis 2-4 2R, RF S Amsden 305 DB RBI
CH HR - CF C Luna (1)
POTG - 2B Walker Dunse
USA Game 4: Chicago @ Duluth
Saturday September 18th, 2055
A - 41,155
In my professional analysis, this is a must-win game for Duluth. Chicago’s José Cedeño vs. Duluth’s Mike Normore. Cedeño tossed eight shutout innings against the Gulls four days ago. Normore is a rookie who posted a 5.52 ERA this season. He can be a bit wild.
Top 2. Miguel Toledo homers! Chicago 1, Duluth 0.
Top 2. Sean White singles. Cris Luna lays down a sac bunt but beats the throw to first. John Lambert grounds into a double play. White takes third. Pedro Farrulla singles in White. Chicago 2, Duluth 0.
Top 3. Prowler Ashley homers. Chicago 3, Duluth 0.
Cedeño is through three innings having allowed just one single.
Top 4. Sean White singles. Cris Luna walks. Normore strikes out Lambert and gets Farrulla to ground into a double play, 4-6-3. The Tects are still within reach of the Gulls.
Top 5. Prowler Ashley doubles, moves to third on a sac fly, and scores on a José Gómez single. Chicago 4, Duluth 0.
Bot 7. Colin Wright doubles. Ground out. Mark Laursen walks. Two on, one out. Duluth was threatening for the first time all game… Fielder’s choice. Ground out. Gulls get nada.
Bot 8. Cedeño gives up a single, then gets two outs. He gets pulled, ending his night. Last batter grounds out. Cedeño’s line on the evening: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. That’s nearly 16 shutout innings he’s thrown this series.
Bot 9. Duluth needs a miracle. Larry Stott in to pitch. Colin Wright walks. Jorge Rangel strikes out. Mark Laursen pops out. Diego Barrón… …flies out.
CHICAGO WINS, 4-0! Chicago wins the best of 7 series 4-0
RF J Ashley 2-4 HR, DB 2R RBI, 3B M Toledo 2-4 HR R RBI, C S White 3-4 R, SS P Farrulla 204 RBI
CH HR - 3B M Toledo (1), RF J Ashley (1)
POTG - SP J Cedeno
Summary - A very unexpected outcome. The feeling was we were the better and more experienced team this season, but a sweep was not what we thought was in the cards. Our owner while happy to be going back to the GLBL Fall Classic was not happy that we didn't get more games in during this round. Last year we had 12 playoff games, 6 in each round and the profit was just under $16 million. The 4 game sweep netted us just $4.8 million and change.
He also pointed out that by raising our ticket prices $5 for the playoffs (from $33 to $38 a home game), we chased roughly 5,000 fans away.
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(OOTP this should be a simple fix. Playoff ticket prices go up and are set by the league office. Fans should expect that and it should be built in.)
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3B Travis Arnaud is still playing sparringly and we hope that he can get healed up as the Canadian Series continues on.
1B Reagan Osborn was named Series MVP by the media and honestly they blew this one. Osborn is great, but the Series MVP should be the SP who won 2 games and threw 15.2 innings of shut out baseball, and that man is Jose Cedeno. His case for MVP seems pretty solid to me.
We will await the winner of the Canadian League Champion Series, which Thunder Bay leads 3-1.