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liberty-ca · 07-07-2026, 10:55 AM

THE HOT CORNER
Baseball coverage from the inside — Sacramento Prayers and the FBL

By Claude Playball | Baseball Insider & Analyst | Host, "Hot Corner" Podcast

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October 12 – 16, 2002 | League Championship Series Won | Cleveland Awaits in the World Series

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PRAYERS MAKE A SWEEP LOOK ALMOST EASY

Whatever ailed this offense against Brooklyn's Robitaille and Shalev evidently did not survive the trip to face Detroit. Fifteen runs in Game Two. Nine more in the Game Four clincher, capped by Alejandro Navarro going five for five and tying two separate playoff records in the same afternoon. The Sacramento lineup that terrorized the American League for a hundred and sixty-two games simply reappeared, all at once, against a Detroit staff that had no answer for any of it.

Four games to none. Ha-joon Choi, who hit two home runs in the Game Three and kept producing right through the end, earned Championship Series MVP honors for a performance that felt, across four games, less like a hot streak than a simple return to form. "I don't play differently in the regular season or playoffs," Choi said, and for four games against Detroit, the sentiment proved entirely true.

Sacramento now knows its World Series opponent: the Cleveland Cardinals, winners of a six-game slugfest against Long Beach that ended with Jason Makin's MVP performance and a champagne celebration in Cleveland's own clubhouse. The stage is set. The only question left is whether this roster, healthier now than at almost any point since midsummer, can finish what a hundred and twenty regular-season wins started.

______________________________

HOW THE SWEEP UNFOLDED

Game One set the tone with pitching rather than power — Thompson threw a complete eight innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven, and Sacramento's four runs proved more than enough against Detroit's Alberto Galarza, who lasted seven innings but allowed ten hits along the way. Four to two. "We've got a great group of guys," Thompson said, "and we're having fun right now."

Game Two was where the bats fully returned. Van Ham went four for five with a home run and five RBI, Choi added three RBI of his own with a bases-clearing double in the eighth, and Sacramento's fifteen runs against Detroit's beleaguered bullpen turned what could have been a competitive series into a laugher. "Yeah, the odds are definitely in their favor, but they've got to earn it," Detroit manager Andrew Gilbert said afterward — a fair sentiment that the Preachers would not get much chance to prove over the two games that remained.

Game Three shifted to Comerica Park and belonged to Choi from the first inning — two home runs, four total RBI across the game, with Nakazawa adding a two-run shot of his own in the second. Jang worked six and two-thirds innings for the win. Seven to two, and Sacramento stood tall with three games to none in ALCS.

Game Four delivered the final touch, though Detroit made it a genuine fight before succumbing. Navarro's afternoon was the story that will be remembered — five for five, three doubles tying the American League playoff record, five total hits tying the Sacramento franchise playoff record, an RBI single mixed in for good measure. "The way I was swinging, I think I could have closed my eyes and hit the ball," Navarro said, and Detroit's own manager could only offer a rueful compliment in response. Lozano's three-run homer in the second and a bullpen that survived some late Detroit pressure — Everett Putz hitting two triples of his own to tie an AL playoff record from the other dugout — sealed it. Nine to five, and Sacramento advanced to the World Series yet once again.

______________________________

CLEVELAND — WHAT SACRAMENTO IS FACING NEXT

Cleveland enters the World Series as a fundamentally different kind of opponent than either Brooklyn or Detroit. This is a power-hitting lineup, first in the National League in home runs at two hundred and thirty-seven, anchored by Giacomo Benoldi's extraordinary individual season — a .375 average, forty home runs, a hundred and eighteen RBI, numbers that place him among the best individual offensive performers in either league this year. Jason Makin, fresh off his own MVP performance against Long Beach, adds thirty-four home runs of his own. This is not a lineup that will go quiet the way Brooklyn's did against Sacramento's pitching, nor is it built on contact and situational hitting the way Detroit's was. Cleveland wants to slug, and Cleveland has the personnel to do exactly that.

What works in Sacramento's favor is Cleveland's own inconsistency away from home — a thirty-seven and forty-four road record that stands in stark contrast to their dominant fifty-six and twenty-five mark at home, and a bullpen that has shown real cracks in recent weeks. Closer Johnny Wagner carries an 8.04 ERA over his last eighteen appearances, and starter Mannuell Lozada has been similarly rough at 8.78 over his last seven outings. Cleveland's rotation depth beyond Sadao Ota's 3.55 ERA is considerably less reliable than Sacramento's own, and if this series comes down to close, late-inning baseball, Sacramento's bullpen — battered as it has been by injury all season — may still hold an edge over a Cleveland relief corps that has genuinely struggled down the stretch.

The schedule sends Thompson and Jeon to open at Sutter Health Park, with Jang and Collins following before the series shifts to Cleveland for the back half. Cleveland counters with Roberto Nieves opening, followed by Lozada, Ota, and Adan Sierra — a rotation order that, notably, does not front-load its best arm the way Detroit and Brooklyn both attempted in earlier rounds.

______________________________

THE INBOX

From Piotr Kowalczyk of Sacramento's Natomas neighborhood, an actuary, who asks: "The offense scored thirty-five runs across four games against Detroit after struggling badly against Brooklyn. What actually explains that swing?"

Some of it is simply that Detroit's pitching, outside of Galarza and Velasquez, was considerably less equipped to contain this lineup than Robitaille and Shalev proved to be — the underlying talent gap between the two staffs was real, and it showed up in the results. Some of it is also the natural variance of a small sample; four games is not enough to draw sweeping conclusions about a lineup's health or form in either direction. What I would take from the Detroit series more than the raw run totals is that when this offense's timing returns, it returns completely — nobody who watched Van Ham's four-hit game or Navarro's five-for-five afternoon should have lingering doubts about whether the cold stretch against Brooklyn reflected a genuine decline.

From Merete Lindqvist of Sacramento's Campus Commons neighborhood, an architect, who asks: "Cleveland's bullpen has really struggled lately. Is that the kind of weakness Sacramento should be specifically targeting in this series?"

It's certainly the area of greatest opportunity on paper. Wagner's 8.04 ERA over his last eighteen appearances and Lozada's own struggles both suggest a Cleveland pitching staff that has genuine fragility in exactly the innings where World Series games are typically decided. The caveat is that closers and relievers can find form quickly in October under a different kind of pressure than the one that produced their late-season struggles — sometimes a fresh mental slate matters as much as recent performance. Sacramento should absolutely be looking to extend games and pressure Cleveland's bullpen whenever the opportunity arises. Whether that bullpen continues to struggle once the World Series actually begins is a genuine unknown rather than a settled fact.

______________________________

Four games to none over Detroit. Choi the LCS MVP. Navarro's five-for-five afternoon for the ages. Cleveland awaits with Benoldi's historic season and a bullpen showing real cracks. The World Series begins Monday at Sutter Health Park. A hundred and twenty regular-season wins were never the point. This is.

______________________________
Claude Playball is a baseball insider and analyst and host of the Hot Corner podcast, based in Sacramento, California.

07-07-2026, 10:55 AM	#426
liberty-ca All Star Reserve Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: New Westminster, BC Posts: 578	THE HOT CORNER *Baseball coverage from the inside — Sacramento Prayers and the FBL* By Claude Playball \| Baseball Insider & Analyst \| Host, "Hot Corner" Podcast ______________________________ *October 12 – 16, 2002 \| League Championship Series Won \| Cleveland Awaits in the World Series* ______________________________ PRAYERS MAKE A SWEEP LOOK ALMOST EASY Whatever ailed this offense against Brooklyn's Robitaille and Shalev evidently did not survive the trip to face Detroit. Fifteen runs in Game Two. Nine more in the Game Four clincher, capped by Alejandro Navarro going five for five and tying two separate playoff records in the same afternoon. The Sacramento lineup that terrorized the American League for a hundred and sixty-two games simply reappeared, all at once, against a Detroit staff that had no answer for any of it. Four games to none. Ha-joon Choi, who hit two home runs in the Game Three and kept producing right through the end, earned Championship Series MVP honors for a performance that felt, across four games, less like a hot streak than a simple return to form. "I don't play differently in the regular season or playoffs," Choi said, and for four games against Detroit, the sentiment proved entirely true. Sacramento now knows its World Series opponent: the Cleveland Cardinals, winners of a six-game slugfest against Long Beach that ended with Jason Makin's MVP performance and a champagne celebration in Cleveland's own clubhouse. The stage is set. The only question left is whether this roster, healthier now than at almost any point since midsummer, can finish what a hundred and twenty regular-season wins started. ______________________________ HOW THE SWEEP UNFOLDED Game One set the tone with pitching rather than power — Thompson threw a complete eight innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven, and Sacramento's four runs proved more than enough against Detroit's Alberto Galarza, who lasted seven innings but allowed ten hits along the way. Four to two. "We've got a great group of guys," Thompson said, "and we're having fun right now." Game Two was where the bats fully returned. Van Ham went four for five with a home run and five RBI, Choi added three RBI of his own with a bases-clearing double in the eighth, and Sacramento's fifteen runs against Detroit's beleaguered bullpen turned what could have been a competitive series into a laugher. "Yeah, the odds are definitely in their favor, but they've got to earn it," Detroit manager Andrew Gilbert said afterward — a fair sentiment that the Preachers would not get much chance to prove over the two games that remained. Game Three shifted to Comerica Park and belonged to Choi from the first inning — two home runs, four total RBI across the game, with Nakazawa adding a two-run shot of his own in the second. Jang worked six and two-thirds innings for the win. Seven to two, and Sacramento stood tall with three games to none in ALCS. Game Four delivered the final touch, though Detroit made it a genuine fight before succumbing. Navarro's afternoon was the story that will be remembered — five for five, three doubles tying the American League playoff record, five total hits tying the Sacramento franchise playoff record, an RBI single mixed in for good measure. "The way I was swinging, I think I could have closed my eyes and hit the ball," Navarro said, and Detroit's own manager could only offer a rueful compliment in response. Lozano's three-run homer in the second and a bullpen that survived some late Detroit pressure — Everett Putz hitting two triples of his own to tie an AL playoff record from the other dugout — sealed it. Nine to five, and Sacramento advanced to the World Series yet once again. ______________________________ CLEVELAND — WHAT SACRAMENTO IS FACING NEXT Cleveland enters the World Series as a fundamentally different kind of opponent than either Brooklyn or Detroit. This is a power-hitting lineup, first in the National League in home runs at two hundred and thirty-seven, anchored by Giacomo Benoldi's extraordinary individual season — a .375 average, forty home runs, a hundred and eighteen RBI, numbers that place him among the best individual offensive performers in either league this year. Jason Makin, fresh off his own MVP performance against Long Beach, adds thirty-four home runs of his own. This is not a lineup that will go quiet the way Brooklyn's did against Sacramento's pitching, nor is it built on contact and situational hitting the way Detroit's was. Cleveland wants to slug, and Cleveland has the personnel to do exactly that. What works in Sacramento's favor is Cleveland's own inconsistency away from home — a thirty-seven and forty-four road record that stands in stark contrast to their dominant fifty-six and twenty-five mark at home, and a bullpen that has shown real cracks in recent weeks. Closer Johnny Wagner carries an 8.04 ERA over his last eighteen appearances, and starter Mannuell Lozada has been similarly rough at 8.78 over his last seven outings. Cleveland's rotation depth beyond Sadao Ota's 3.55 ERA is considerably less reliable than Sacramento's own, and if this series comes down to close, late-inning baseball, Sacramento's bullpen — battered as it has been by injury all season — may still hold an edge over a Cleveland relief corps that has genuinely struggled down the stretch. The schedule sends Thompson and Jeon to open at Sutter Health Park, with Jang and Collins following before the series shifts to Cleveland for the back half. Cleveland counters with Roberto Nieves opening, followed by Lozada, Ota, and Adan Sierra — a rotation order that, notably, does not front-load its best arm the way Detroit and Brooklyn both attempted in earlier rounds. ______________________________ THE INBOX From Piotr Kowalczyk of Sacramento's Natomas neighborhood, an actuary, who asks: "The offense scored thirty-five runs across four games against Detroit after struggling badly against Brooklyn. What actually explains that swing?" Some of it is simply that Detroit's pitching, outside of Galarza and Velasquez, was considerably less equipped to contain this lineup than Robitaille and Shalev proved to be — the underlying talent gap between the two staffs was real, and it showed up in the results. Some of it is also the natural variance of a small sample; four games is not enough to draw sweeping conclusions about a lineup's health or form in either direction. What I would take from the Detroit series more than the raw run totals is that when this offense's timing returns, it returns completely — nobody who watched Van Ham's four-hit game or Navarro's five-for-five afternoon should have lingering doubts about whether the cold stretch against Brooklyn reflected a genuine decline. From Merete Lindqvist of Sacramento's Campus Commons neighborhood, an architect, who asks: "Cleveland's bullpen has really struggled lately. Is that the kind of weakness Sacramento should be specifically targeting in this series?" It's certainly the area of greatest opportunity on paper. Wagner's 8.04 ERA over his last eighteen appearances and Lozada's own struggles both suggest a Cleveland pitching staff that has genuine fragility in exactly the innings where World Series games are typically decided. The caveat is that closers and relievers can find form quickly in October under a different kind of pressure than the one that produced their late-season struggles — sometimes a fresh mental slate matters as much as recent performance. Sacramento should absolutely be looking to extend games and pressure Cleveland's bullpen whenever the opportunity arises. Whether that bullpen continues to struggle once the World Series actually begins is a genuine unknown rather than a settled fact. ______________________________ Four games to none over Detroit. Choi the LCS MVP. Navarro's five-for-five afternoon for the ages. Cleveland awaits with Benoldi's historic season and a bullpen showing real cracks. The World Series begins Monday at Sutter Health Park. A hundred and twenty regular-season wins were never the point. This is. ______________________________ Claude Playball is a baseball insider and analyst and host of the Hot Corner podcast, based in Sacramento, California.