The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

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FRONTIER LEAGUE

Chicago Iron Pigs (Stan Hall 0-1 1.00)
@
Edmonton Trappers (Josh Toner 6-12 6.39)

Bases loaded 0 outs in the top of the 1st, Earl Shaw would hit into a 6-4-3, scoring Hudson and Grueter would K, managing just a run on a huge opportunity.
Kent Larson would single to lead it off and promptly get thrown out by Jackson trying to steal 2nd. It would appear to hurt when Cesar Cordero took a Josh Toner fastball to deep right with 2 outs in the top of 2, making it 3-0.
Hall would make huge pitches in the 2nd and 3rd, escaping both innings with 6-4-3 inning ending DP's. He almost made it out of the 4th after a 2nd and 3rd 0 out situation went to 2 outs, but Luis Gil would rip a 2 out 2 run single to make it 3-2 after 4 full.
Castro would open the 5th with a single, advancing to 2nd on a wild pitch. Chavez walked and Shaw loaded the bases when SS Eugene Schmidt bobbled a sure DP ball.
Grueter would grab an RBI on a 4-3 ground out, and Miranda would walk to load them up again.
Jackson would hit a sac fly to make it 5-2 and that would end Toners day. Arturo Manuel would make it worse, tossing a 1-1 wild pitch that would score Shaw, and 1 pitch later Blake would rip an RBI single to left scoring Miranda and making it 7-2.
Roberto Castro would get hold of a 1-1 pitch in the 8th to drill a 2 run shot, extending the lead, and pretty much ending Edmonton's first foray into the post season.
Castro would go 3-5 and Hall would go 7-5-2-2-2-8. Cisco Casas would punch out 5 of the games final 6 outs.
SERIES MVP Stan Hall 2-0 1.69 16 IP 9 H 4 BB 17 K's

West Michigan White Caps (Joaquin Vargas 0-1 5.68)
@
Staten Island Yankees (Steve Price 0-1 12.27)

Bernardo Montoya's RBI single in the top of the 1st ended up as the games only run as Joaquin Vargas and Steve Price locked up in a fantastic pitchers duel. Vargas went 7.1-4-0-0-4-8 on 109 pitches and Barlow and Trinidad got it to Gonzalez for the save. Price went 7-4-1-1-1-7 on 95 pitches in the tough luck loss.

COASTAL LEAGUE

Boston Bombers (David Shields 0-0 2.08)
@
Corpus Christi Hooks (Francisco Quezada 6-9 1 SV 6.79)

Boston pounced on Hook pitching scoring 10 runs on 13 hits and Dave Shields goes 7.1-7-4-4-4-3 for the 4-1 series win.
SERIES MVP (2nd time ever losing team has an MVP) Ramon Garcia 12-20 4 runs 3 2B's 4 RBI's 4 SB's .636 OBP

Fresno Grizzlies (Bryant Thomas 0-0 3.18)
@
Dallas Texans (Tsuneo Miyamoto 0-0 1.13)

Dallas took a 4-1 lead into the 6th before Fresno dropped 7 runs on 5 hits, and a series ending 2 homers on them. Jose Torres had his 2nd 2 homer game of the series and Alex Moreno went 2-4 HR 4 RBI's in the loss.
SERIES MVP Jose Torres .313-4-6

[gehrig38]

Some GG's and awards...

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FRONTIER LEAGUE

Staten Island (Antonio Rodriguez 1-0 3.38)
@
West Michigan (Ramon Valentin 10-8 4.19)

Since this is the only game I'll sim it real time, follow along and 'report' as it plays out.

Games gets to the 3rd scoreless, 3 total hits. Staten Island threatens in the top of 3, but Valentin gets a big K to end the inning, 0-0 after 3 full.
Pepe Mejia drills a 2R HR in the bottom half of 4, White Caps up 2-0 into the 5th.
Jerry Bond doubles to get the Yanks on the board, 2-1 after 6.
Valentin through 7-4-1-1-2-3
Rodriguez goes 6.2-5-2-2-2-8.
Riggs doubles leading off the 8th. Bond sac fly ties the game at 2.
Pepe Mejia lines a 2 out single in the bottom of the 8th to put West Michigan up 3-2.
Pete Hines drills a leadoff double to start the 9th, down a run Eric Guillon K's trying to bunt him over. Juan Soto then pops an 0-2 pitch to 1st, bringing former Iron Pig Paul Rigs to the plate. Closer Tomas Gonzalez works an 0-2 count before Riggs grounds to third, ending the game, and the Yanks season as they fail to get the run in after a leadoff double.

[gehrig38]

In the Frontier League it's the #1 and #2 offenses and pitching staffs going up against each other. Rob Bright is off the DL and he and Plaz have been swapped out on the playoff roster. Bright will come out of the pen but West Michigan is heavily RH as an offense. This was the FL LCS matchup last year, in which we won 4-2,

Over in the Coastal it's the top 2 staffs as well, with 2 good offenses. Boston's going to need to contain Roman this series. Fresno made it this far in 2016, getting swept by Tulsa 4-0, and again in 2022, facing these same Bombers, losing 4-1.

[gehrig38]

FRONTIER LEAGUE

West Michigan White Caps (John Drake 16-8 2.90)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Andy Morgan 20-9 4.01)

Both pitchers come out firing. West Michigan has nothing until their 1st hit in the 3rd. Allen Hunter leads off the 4th with a double, and scores on a clutch 2 out single by Leo Corunha to make it 1-0 after 5 full.
Morgan has gone 5-3-1-1-1-5 on 81 pitches, Drake 5-4-0-0-0-4 on 68.
With an out in the bottom of the 6th Horst Grueter hits his 1st playoff homer of the year, a 3 run shot to put Chicago up 3-1 after 6.
Morgan 6-3-1-1-2-6 99 pitches, Drake 6-8-3-3-1-6 100 pitches.
Hunter again starts an inning with an extra base hit, this time hitting a triple to start the top of 7. Tom Wynn singles to end Morgans day (6-5-2-2-2-6) with a runner on. Davenport comes in, Wynn steals on the 1st pitch.
He gets Roberson to punch out and manages to snake out of the inning leaving the runner on 3rd, 3-2 into the bottom of 7.
In the bottom half Jeffrey Hudson leads it off with a solo shot, his 1st HR of the post season, ending Drake's day (6-9-4-4-1-6). 4 hitters later Grueter drives in his 4th run, plating Chavez for a 5-2 lead after 7.
Bernardo Montoya would make it a game again, drilling a 1 out 2 run shot off Davenport to make it a 5-4 game. Bright would get the call and retire Mejia. 5-4 after 8.
Ernesto Cruz would open the 9th by giving up a Tom Wynn single. Matt Roberson would bunt him to 2nd and Morgan Berry would line an 0-1 pitch to left to tie the game......
Will Lee hits into an inning ending 4-6-3, all tied at 5, bottom 9.
Cruz would find himself in another jam in the 10th, but would get Mejia to hit into another inning ending 4-6-3.
With 1 out in the bottom of the 11th, center fielder Cesar Cordero would work to a 1-1 count and get a fastball, and he'd drive it 414 feet to straight away left for a walk off game winning HR off lefty Bill Barlow!

COASTAL LEAGUE

Fresno Grizzlies (Ruben Lopez 20-7 3.36)
@
Boston Bombers (Adam Shirley 17-6 2.30)

Tony Greene, Fresno's HUGE mid season acquisition, would double, homer and drive in 2 while Bryant Thomas and 2 relievers combined to hold Boston to 2 runs on 7 hits. Bryant went 6-6-2-2-0-4.

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FRONTIER LEAGUE

West Michigan White Caps (Artie Johnson 16-13 3.95)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Stan Hall 17-4 3.48)

Steve Rush would single, driving in Jeffrey Hudson who'd doubled, to make it 1-0 with 2 outs in the 1st. 2 pitches later Ramon Castro would drill a 2 strike 2 run homer to deep right, making it 3-0 after 1.
Alex Vela would score on a WP to Andre Blakeway in the 2nd. 4-0 after 2.
Stan Hall was perfect through the first 3, throwing 29 pitches and striking out 3. Johnson line 3-6-4-4-1-2 on 54 pitches.
Chris Scotts 1 out double would be the White Caps 1st hit of the day, and only 1 through 4.
With 2 outs in the 6th Pedro Debesa doubled in Will Lee to make it 4-1. Hall's line after 6 (6-3-1-1-1-5) on 78 pitches. Johnson has gone 6-7-4-4-3-3 on 104 pitches.
Matt Roberson's leadoff homer in the 8th makes it 4-2, and Hall has gone 8-4-2-2-1-7 on 107 pitches. He's trotting out for the 9th, double barrel action in the pen.
With 2 outs, Pepe Mejia doubles on Halls 113th pitch, bringing Allen Hunter to the plate. Everyone knows this is Hall's last hitter, and he gets Hunter 0-2 and gets him to chase for the 8th punch out, and final out of the game.

COASTAL LEAGUE

Fresno Grizzlies (Ruben Lopez 20-7 3.36)
@
Boston Bombers (Cody Miller 16-10 3.65)

Ruben Lopez carried a 2-0 lead into the 9th, before Ed Phillips grand slam opened it up and sealed the game for the Grizzlies. Lopez went 8.2-5-0-0-1-7 on 117 pitches.
Cody Miller went 7-6-2-1-2-8 on 110 pitches before giving way to the pen, where Toshikuni Shimizu and Fernando Alonzo combined to give up 7 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in the 1 IP.
Tony Greene had another big day, going 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's.

Stan Hall's career post season line

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FRONTIER LEAGUE

Chicago Iron Pigs (Gabriel Pimentel 20-2 4.21)
@
West Michigan White Caps (Joaquin Vargas 18-9 4.01)

3 total hits through 3, Pimentel 3-2-0-0-2-1 on 45 pitches, Vargas 3-1-0-0-2-3 on 48. Will Lee is 2-2, Blakeway has Chicago's only hit.
Just 5 total through 6. Pimentel 6-3-0-0-4-5 with 2 big double plays on 94 pitches. Vargas 6-2-0-0-3-6 on 85. Hudons's 2 out 2B in the 5th is our only other hit. Roberson has a single for West Michigan.
Chicago's pen is up and running.
In the 7th, with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd, Leao Corunha drills a triple to deep left center, scoring Hunter with the games 1st run.
A Will Lee RBI single follows and Pimentel's day is done.
Cisco Casas comes in and he proceeds to walk Chris Scott and Pedro Debesa to load the bases. Gerald Davenport is summoned to keep it close. Bernardo Montoya fixes that as he hits Davenports 2-2 pitch 442 feet to dead center for a game busting grand slam, and a 6-0 White Cap lead.
Vargas manages to get 2 outs in the 9th before Raul Miranda drills a 2 out RBI triple to ruin the shut out. He ends up going 8.2-3-1-1-3-8 on 126 pitches.

COASTAL LEAGUE

Boston Bombers (Greg Dickson 16-5 3.55)
@
Fresno Grizzlies (Luis Acosta 16-9 3.80)

A 5-5 game entering the 9th when John Woodard singles to start it. A Kevin Cramer walk and Michael Bailey HBP loads the bases before Alberto Rivera hits the 1st pitch to left for an RBI single. Arturo Rodriguez comes in and Mei-shio Ying greets him with a 2 run single to left as well, making it 8-5, which would be the final.

[gehrig38]

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Chicago Iron Pigs (Jorge Trujillo 20-7 3.66)
@
West Michigan White Caps (Ramon Valentin 10-8 4.19)

Bernardo Montoya opened the scoring with a 1st inning RBI single.
1-0 into the bottom of 3 when Will Lee would hit a solo homer to make it 2-0, and after a Chris Scott single, with 2 outs, Montoya would strike again, this time with a 2 run homer, making it 4-0.
Grueter would homer in the 4th to get Chicago on the board but Allen Hunter would lead off with a solo shot and Tom Wynn would single, ending Trujillo's miserable day (3-7-5-5-1-3 3 HR's).
Orlando Perez would settle things down before a Lee walk and Scott 2B put runners at 2nd and 3rd for Pedro Debesa's RBI ground out.
Hunter would homer again in the 8th to provide the final score.
Valentin would go 6.2-4-1-1-3-5 on 121 pitches.

COASTAL LEAGUE

Boston Bombers (David Shields 5-11 5.07)
@
Fresno Grizzlies (Bryant Thomas 12-15 4.68)

Trailing 3-0 in the 3rd, Boston scored 2 in the 4th and 5th and 3 in the 6th and then held on for a 7-6 win and a series tie. Michael Bailey went 1-2 scoring twice and walking 3 times. The Bombers had 9 hits, all singles, and managed to work 11 walks from the Fresno staff.

[gehrig38]

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Chicago Iron Pigs (Andy Morgan 0-0 5.84)
@
West Michigan White Caps (John Drake 1-0 5.14)

Andre Blakeways RBI single scored Raul Miranda in the 2nd, 1-0 after 2. Morgan 2-1-0-0-0-3 on 27 pitches, Drake 2-4-1-1-0-0 on 35.
Debating like hell before the game on Vela or Jackson at catcher. Jackson is in a horrible slump, but Drake is as tough as they come on RHH and Jackson can draw a walk. Well in the 3rd he did a bit better, drilling a 2 run shot to make it 3-0.
Pedro Debesa answered with a solo shot in the bottom half, 3-1 after 4.
Morgans lines 4-3-1-1-0-5 54 pitches, Drake 4-7-3-3-0-1 on 62.
Same score into the 6th for Horst Grueter, who leads off with a solo homer.
In the bottom half West Michigan gets it going, Chris Scott doubles, driving in Leao Corunha who had led off with a single, 4-2. Pedro Debesa drills a single 2 pitches later but Cordero guns Scott out at the plate for the 2nd out, and Morgan gets Montoya to end the inning. 4-2 after 6.
Roberson and Corunha single to open the 8th, ending Morgans day (7-8-2-2-0-10 108 pitches) Gerald Davenport in the game.
He gets Will Lee to hit into a 4-6-3 DP, scoring Roberson, but getting 2 huge outs. Scott taps back to the mound to end the inning. 4-3 after 8.
Davenport gives up a Debesa leadoff single, and leaves. Ernesto Cruz now in, Montoya up....
On a 1-1 pitch Montoya laces one back up the box, Cruz stabs it, turns to 2nd, and goes 1-4-3 for a twin killing! Two outs.
Pepe Mejia keeps West Michigan alive, singling on a 2-1 pitch.
Lefty Allen Hunter is coming up, and lefty Rob Bright is summoned.
Bright works to a 3-2 count and gets Hunter to chase ball 4! 4-3 final. Debesa was 3-4 with a HR and an RBI.

COASTAL LEAGUE

Boston Bombers (Adam Shirley 0-1 6.97)
@
Fresno Grizzlies Chet O'Neil (0-1 5.40)

Adam Shirley was on, going 7.1-6-0-0-1-4 and John Woodard was 3-4 2B and 2 RBI's, Alberto Rivera was 2-5 with a HR and an RBI as Boston took a 3-2 lead on Fresno. The Bombers were 5-5 in SB's.

[gehrig38]

FRONTIER LEAGUE

West Michigan White Caps (Artie Johnson 1-2 3.72)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Stan Hall 3-0 1.80)

Game goes into the 3rd scoreless before Will Lee and Luis Chavez exchange RBI doubles, 1-1 after 3.
Hall at 3-2-1-1-1-1 and 36 pitches, Vargas 3-3-1-1-2-5 on 51.
Andre Blakeway goes down after making a play in the 5th, Jeremy Hamlyn on to play short.
Bottom 5 1 out, Ramon Castro hits his 3rd playoff homer to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.
Hall 5-2-1-1-1-4 on 69 pitches, Vargas 5-5-2-2-3-6 on 80.
With 2 outs in the top of the 6th Bernardo Montoya blasts a big drive to right, and his 2 run homer puts West Michigan up 3-2.
Hamlyn kicks off the bottom of 7 with a single and Cordero follows that with double to the gap, tying the game at 3. Jeffrey Hudson manages to move him over on a ground out and Ramon Castro singles to give us a 4-3 lead, and end Vargas' day (6.1-8-4-4-4-6). After a Chavez FC Earl Shaw lines a double into the gap off Miller to extend the lead to 5-3.
An 8th inning leadoff single is wiped by a 6-u-3 DP and Hall escapes, now at 8-4-3-3-2-6 and 117 pitches. There's debate on bringing him out for the 9th, 3-4 due up (Debesa, Montoya).
Ernesto Cruz comes on.
Debesa hits his 1st pitch for a routine 5-3, 1 out.
Montoya works the count to 1-2 and chases a slider for the punch out, 2 outs.
Pepe Mejia then lines a 2-0 single to left.
Allen Hunter works the count to 3-1 before drawing a 2 out walk.
Tom Wynn...
Called strike...
cut on, tapped back to the mound, Cruz snags, jogs towards 1st, flips....And the Chicago Iron Pigs have won their 6th consecutive Frontier League Pennant and 8th in the past 9 years!

COASTAL LEAGUE

Fresno Grizzlies (Ruben Lopez 1-0 0.00)
@
Boston Bombers (1-1 1.29)

Fresno jumps out to a 2-0 lead, Boston gets 1 in the bottom half.
Into the 3rd before Alberto Rivera slams a 2 run homer to give the Bombers the lead.
Cody Miller would settle in and hold it there before the Bombers would break out for 4 unearned runs in the 7th to ice the game, and series.

[gehrig38]

For the 2nd time in 3 years Boston and Chicago will meet. Late news out of Chicago, SS Andre Blakeway suffered a severe sprain in the LCS clincher, and will be put on the DL, and miss the World Series. IF Kevin Vaughn was placed on the roster in his spot.

[gehrig38]

A matchup of what is probably the two best pitching staffs in the game. The huge advantage, on paper, is our offense over theirs, but how far does their pitching go to neutralize that? Blakeway being out is a defensive hole, he's the reigning GG winner and the best SS in the game. Hall won't be ready until game 3 but if we can win the first 2 that could be huge, him opening up on the road.

[gehrig38]

Boston Bombers (Greg Dickson 16-5 3.55)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Gabriel Pimentel 20-2 4.21)

A leadoff double from John Woodard and an out later a Michael Bailey sac fly helped Boston jump start their series.
Pimemtel drills Rivera to open the 2nd, Mei-shio Ying walks and Garcia's FC puts runners at the corners, Corey Oliver delivers a 1st pitch RBI single to make it 2-0 after 2.
A Castro error opens the 3rd, and it feels like everyone's playing on egg shells. Bailey singles but Castro guns Cramer down at 3rd for the 1st out. Sandoval K's and Rivera pops to 2nd.
2-0 after 3 full. Pimentel 3-3-2-2-1-2 on 50 pitches, Dickson 3-0-0-0-2-1 on 47.
In the 4th a 2 out Vernon Parkinson double scores Ying to make it 3-0.
Luis Chavez gets Chicago's first hit int eh 4th, a single. After moving to 3rd with 1 out, Raul Miranda's sac fly makes it 3-1 after 4.
Pimentel 4-5-3-3-1-3 on 66 pitches, Dickson 4-1-1-1-3-2 on 69.
More two out trouble in the 5th. This time Michael Bailey doubles to score Rivera with 2 outs, 4-1.
In the bottom half Kevin Vaughn triples with 1 out, Hudson follows with a walk and Castro laces an RBI single to make it 4-2. Chavez manages an RBI ground out to make it 4-3, where it stands after 5.
Pimentel 5-7-4-4-1-4 on 81 pitches, Dickson 5-3-3-3-6-4 on 98.
Pimentel manages to work 2 more scoreless, as Dickson's day ends after 6 (6-4-3-3-6-4) and 109 pitches.
Pimentel's day ends at 7-8-4-4-1-5 and 98 pitches.
Carlson comes on to get Sandoval, but he singles. Davenport on now.
Rivera pops out and Ying bunts, and is out. He stays in to face the LH Garcia and gets him on 1 pitch. 4-3 bottom 8.
Miranda vs Toshikuni Shimizu and he laces an 0-2 mistake in the hole at short, into left for a leadoff single. Hamlyn in to PR.

Cordero bunts him to 2nd.
Former Iron Pig Jake Ellison in to face Jackson, and Alex Vela will be called on.
And he fricking pops the 1st pitch to 2nd, 2 outs.
Eric Arnold in to face Vaughn.
And he punches out on a 1-2 split. 4-3 into the 9th.
Perez relieves Davenport and a few hitters later we find ourselves with a bases loaded mess.
Rob Bright is called in, 2 outs, bases juiced, Sandoval up.
And he gets him to ground weakly to 2nd for the final out. Onto the bottom of the 9th, down 1.
Closer Steve Watkins on, 1-2-3 due up.
Hudson ground a 1-2 pitch back to the mound, 1 out.
Castro taps an 0-2 pitch to short, 2 down.
And Chavez goes 6-3 as well, game over.

[gehrig38]

Boston Bombers (Adam Shirley 17-6 2.30)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Andy Morgan 20-9 4.01)

A quiet first inning.
In the 2nd Sandoval singles and with 2 outs Garcia doubles putting runners at 2nd and 3rd 2 outs.
Corey Oliver fights off an 0-2 pitch, dumping a ball into right for a single, and a 2-0 lead.
Morgan is 2-3-2-2-0-4 on 32 pitches, Shirley 2-1-0-0-0-1 on 18.
Morgan settles in, ending the 4th with a line of 4-3-2-2-0-6 and 59 pitches.
In the 4th Castro walks and with 2 outs scores from 2nd on a Grueter RBI single, 2-1 after 4.
Shirley's gone 4-3-1-1-1-1 on 46 pitches.
Into the 6th for Morgan, down 2-1 when he intentionally walks Sandoval with 2 outs, Woodard on 2nd, to get to the right handed Rivera. The move backfires when Rivera doubles, scoring Woodard and making it 3-1.
Through 6 Morgan is 6-4-3-3-2-7 on 92 pitches while Shirley is cruising, going 6-4-1-1-1-1 on just 61 pitches.
Morgans day ends in the 8th, with 1 out Bailey walks, Carlson comes on to face Sandoval and punches him out.
Casas gets Rivera on a 4-3 to end it. 3-1 bottom 8. Morgans final line 7.1-6-3-3-2-9 on 120 pitches.
Shirley is at 7-4-1-1-1-1 on 67.
Shirley runs into a snag in the 8th, walking 2, but his 2nd DP of the day ends the threat. His day is over, having thrown just 87 pitches in a stellar 8-4-1-1-3-1 outing. Watkins on to close it out.
3-4-5 due up, Chavez, Shaw, Grueter.
Chavez goes 4-3 for the 1st out. Shaw pops to 2nd for out #2.
And Watkins fans Grueter to end it.

[gehrig38]

Chicago Iron Pigs (Stan Hall 17-4 3.48)
@
Boston Bombers (Cody Miller 16-10 3.65)

Another 1st inning run as Rivera doubles and Sandoval drills a 2 out RBI single. Stays that way, and then a 30 minute rain delay in the 3rd which ends up pushing Cody Miller out of the game in the 5th. He ends up going 4.1-3-0-0-2-4 on 71 pitches. Stan is dealing, going 5-5-1-1-2-3 but needing 91 pitches to do it.
We're likely at the end of the rope, hoping to get 1, if perfect, 2 more innings out of him. This is a must win.
After just 1 more out, he's done, finishing 5.1-5-1-1-2-4 on 94 pitches. Perez comes on, and gets the final 2 outs.
Jake Ellison is on for Boston.
In the top of 7 Castro triples, plating Hudson to tie it up and Chavez hits a tie breaking sac fly, 2-1 after 6 ½
Andre relieves Perez to close out the 7th, 2-1.
In the top of the 8th Grueter leads off with a double off Shimizu, Miranda is intentionally walked and Vaughn bunts them over.
Shane Jacksons sac fly makes it 3-1 and on the 1st pitch Cesar Cordero launches a 2 run blast to make it 5-1.
Casas opens the 8th with a Cramer single, Rivera single, bringing Bright into the game to face Sandoval. He walks him, bringing Davenport in to get Bailey. He K's him, and Alden Phillips with the bases loaded before getting Corey Oliver to end the 8th, 5-2.
Chicago squanders a bases loaded opportunity before heading out for the 9th, Ernesto Cruz is called on.
Travis Gould doubles to open the inning.
After a Jose Garcia walk Cruz gets Woodard on a ground out, runners moving to 2nd and 3rd.
Kevin Cramer then singles, plating Gould, making it 5-3, 1 out.
5 pitches later former Iron Pig Michael Bailey again hurts his former club, doubling to right center, scoring Garcia to make it 5-4, 2nd and 3rd.
A mound meeting to square away the defense before, on an 0-1 pitch, Jose Sandoval hits a line drive down the 1st base line....
Just out of the diving reach of Grueter, Cramer scores, and Rivera scores for the 4 run 9th inning comeback, and walk off win for a 3-0 series lead.....

Really?

[gehrig38]

Chicago Iron Pigs (Jorge Trujillo 20-7 3.66)
@
Boston Bombers (David Shields 5-11 5.07)

Win or go home from here on out. Starting with Trujillo, who's pitched some huge games this year, and in the past. He's not a post season ace guy though, having gone 5-7 4.77 in 17 post season starts. He's 0-2 9.72 this year, going just 8.1 IP in his 2 starts.

Both guys working in and out of trouble, Trujillo getting 2 big DP's.
In the 4th Grueter opens the scoring, singling in Chavez to make it 1-0.
Michael Bailey, again, answers. His solo homer leading off the bottom half makes it 1-1, where it stands after 5 full.
Trujillo 5-6-1-1-2-2 70 pitches
Shields 5-3-1-1-2-1 71 pitches
Game stays 1-1 into the 8th, Trujillo is left in get the lefty Sandoval to start the inning, but he singles.
Davenport comes in.
Bailey singles, putting runners at the corners.
On a 1-2 pitch Oliver singles, 2-1 Boston.
Alden Phillips sac bunt puts runners at 2nd and 3rd.
Gould grounds out but Jose Garcia lines a single to right, Bailey scores, and Oliver comes in behind him.
Woodard hits a high chopper for an infield single.
Cramer doubles on the 1st pitch, 5-1 Boston......
Rivera punches out to end the inning, and likely the season.
Chavez goes 2-3, 1 out.
Shaw K's looking, 2 outs.
Grueter keeps a sliver of hope alive, singling with 2 outs.
Miranda follows him with a line drive single, 1st and 2nd, 2 outs.
On a 1-2 pitch, Cordero pops to 2nd, Oliver floats under it, and Boston again beats Chicago for the World Series title!

[gehrig38]

Stephen Watkins went 1-0 with 3 Saves and a 0.00 ERA to take home MVP honors.

[PhillieFever]

Ugh. The one thing this game is great at is sucking you in and then stabbing you in the heart when you least expect it. Back in 2009 I played through the 1975 season in a sort of pseudo-historical league(historical teams at start but trades not according to history) and made it to the 1975 World Series against Boston. After dropping game one I took the next two and looked to take a commanding 3-1 lead at home in game 4 with ace Steve Carlton on the mound. Dominating, Lefty took a 2-0 lead into the 9th. Long story short Boston rallies to make it 2-1 with runners on the corners and 2 outs and Fisk due up. I could have brought in Jim Todd to face Fisk but decided to go with my ace instead, Fisk lined a homer down the right field line and we lost 4-2. Dropped the next two as well and my Championship drought continued...

[gehrig38]

Ya I waffled in the 9th about bringing anyone else in, Davenport was the best option, and it felt like every hitter would be the innings last out, until it wasn't.

[gehrig38]

FIRINGS:
Brooklyn
Mgr Roberto Lopez 3rd year managing Brooklyn, 2 in Columbus before that, 8 seasons as a bench coach in Brooklyn, Buffalo and Columbus. 434-376 and 2 playoff appearances
GM Nick Foster Been the Cyclones GM since 2012, 4 playoff appearances in 13 years, 2 1st place finishes, 7 2nd place finishes.
Buffalo
Mgr Jose Ramirez managed the Blizzard 8 years (winning 2016 mgr of the year) and the last 2 in Buffalo. Career 854-766 with 5 playoff appearances.
Dayton
Mgr Pete Petty spent last 10 years in Dayton, 6 as bench coach 4 as manager. Managed the Hooks from '12 to '14. 503-631 with no playoff appearances in 7 seasons as a manager.
Green Bay
GM Connor Lindsay was let go after 1 year in Green Bay.
Alaska
Mgr Arthur Ross was fired after 10 seasons in Alaska, the last 2 as manager after 8 years as a bench coach. He was 150-174 with 1 playoff appearance. The Avalanche went from 85-77 to 65-97 this year.
GM Juan Castillo was let go. Spent the last 6 seasons as Avalanche GM, 5 in LA before that. 4 playoff appearances by his clubs.
Baltimore
Mgr Gideon Dowse was fired after 1 53 and 109 season. He had come to help the rebuild finish, first as bench coach last year. He's 454-514 as the manager of Vegas ('18-'20) and New York ('21-'22) with 2 playoff appearances.
Houston
GM Nick White was let go after 5 seasons with no playoff appearances.