MLB 2019 - Texas Rangers - A Challenge Mode Dynasty

[Griever20]

World Series Game 2:

October 29th, 2022

Milwaukee Brewers - Texas Rangers @ Globe Life Park

MIL: SP Zach Davies(R, 2-1 4.42)
TEX: SP Nick Lodolo(L, 2-0 2.25)

The biggest stage of his young career for Nicky! He looked a bit nervous before the came as I was told from our coaching staff... and it showed when young center fielder Carlos David Rodriguez singled up the middle(lineup change... someone is getting nervous...) and today's 3B Lucas Erceg walked to start the game...

And Nicky got a visit by his young catcher, took a deep breath... fanned the next two batters and got Hiura to bounce into a FC at second... and so the pitcher's duel began. Davies was completely fooling us in the early going, collecting groundballs... and strikeouts... and got the lead when Hiura walked and former Astros veteran Robbie Grossman doubled in the fourth...

JW took a mighty hack and tied it up at one with a cute little home run, but it became clear that while Nicky wasn't doing too bad... that he will be on the ropes in or after the sixth... and his game was over after six innings of 2-hit, 1-run, 3BB and 10K ball on 90 pitches...

By that time, JW had already found two on with two out and grounded out softy... and another chance was wasted by us in the sixth when we failed to bring home a 1-out Bradley double...

Now, we had gotten a trio of good outings from Brian Adcock, right? So, we could trust him to retire the bottom of their order, right? A Corey Ray 2-run jack later, Adcock was placed in the trade block in the middle of a World Series, and the Brewers were up 3-1...

And our lefties plainly sucked the life out of this ballpark, franchise, and city as Alex Claudio yielded two additional runs in the ninth and so, Hansel Moreno's solo shot had no impact on the actual result anymore...

SP Nicky Lodolo 6IP 2H 1ER 3BB 10K
SS Royce Lewis 0-3 BB
RF Justin Williams 1-4 R RBI HR
DH Nomar Mazara 1-5
1B Bobby Bradley 1-4 DB
2B Hansel Moreno 1-3 R RBI HR
LF Nelson Velazquez 1-4 DB
C Patrick Bailey 2-3 BB
HR MIL: Corey Ray(4)
HR TEX: Hansel Moreno(2), Justin Williams(3)
W: Zack Davies(3-1 3.70) L: Brian Adcock(0-1 9.00)
MIL 5 TEX 2 World Series tied at 1.
Logan stopped whispering today when I glued his lips together and left the suite to strangle Adcock to near death. We just got the minimum... some home run power today... and you obviously need stellar pitching if you can only score two runs... see you at Miller Park...

[Griever20]

World Series Game 3:

October 31st, 2022

Texas Rangers - Milwaukee Brewers @ Miller Park

TEX: SP Aaron Nola(R, 1-1 4.50)
MIL: SP Jeff Samardzija(R, 2-1 4.58)

After we licked our wounds on the way to Milwaukee, we figured out that today's pitching matchup wasn't too bad after all and we slowly got the spirits back up for game three. Vegas still considered us favorites by a wide margin... we will see.

Playing without the DH obviously meant we had to do some lineup adjustments... and with Velazquez hitting .385 with a 1.056OPS in the postseason, he was untouchable... Mazara hit .386 with a 1.249OPS... so Justin Williams was the odd man out...

Hansel Moreno moved into the #2 hole... and all those changes worked like a charm as Moreno walked, stole second, and scored on a Mazara liner to left that fell for a loud double... TEX 1, MIL after one-half inning! That was our only hit in the first three frames, and all eyes were on Nola now...

Who liked to make it interesting. Our righty went into some deep counts and yielded a single every frame... and only a single luckily as he struck out two in a row to strand Jorge Alfaro at second in the third... in this park, every swing could be a come run so...

Yet, the pitcher's duel continued as both starters combined for 5 hits allowed through five with Velazquez getting our second hit, and in a game that lived from the tension... and little else, Milwaukee blinked first and summoned Ben Bowden to pitch the sixth, while Nola got through the sixth... stranding two.

He got the handshakes, bringing a 1-0 lead through six, and we went to the pen... which was like lighting a fuse... Delin Betances was near perfect in the postseason so far and promptly walked Hiura, saw a soft grounder by Grossman roll through the seams of the infield... and was almost out of the inning... when a grounder found Joey Gallo at third... ate up Joey Gallo for an error... and tied the game at one.

By that time, Betances was past his expiration date and walked Gonzalez... and Joe Girardi in his infinite wisdom only had one reliever warmed up and ready... Brian Adcock to get ONE OUT with the bases loaded and two down... I was already hiding in the corner, unable to look out on the field...

All I heard was a crack... a loud OOOOHHH... and a depressed OHHH... as the ball off the bat of Bryson Stott became a looper to center field... and a charging Almora JUUUST caught in on a big leap forward... dodged a bullet there... TEX 1, MIL 1.

While we were casually 2-hit by their scrapyard pitching, Alex Claudio pitched two wonky, but scoreless innings into extra innings we went... advantage for us: They were already deep into their pen... maybe they run out of pitchers so that one of our suckers ACTUALLY GET'S A ******* HIT....

That rare occurrence, a hit, occurred in the 10th when Joey Gallo singled... which didn't matter much as Robert Stock still retired the side on five pitches and one pickoff throw that caught Joey Gallo, who was already thinking about the postgame chicken nuggets, napping... and the game ended in the bottom 10th when A.J. Reed tattooed Guzman for a 2-run homer.

SP Aaron Nola 6IP 5H 0ER 0BB 5K
2B Hansel Moreno 0-3 R BB
RF Nomar Mazara 1-4 R
LF Nelson Velazquez 1-4
3B Joey Gallo 1-4
C Patrick Bailey 0-2 BB
HR TEX: none
HR MIL: A.J. Reed(3)
W: Robert Stock(1-0 0.00) L: Jorge Guzman(0-1 7.71)
TEX 1 MIL 3(10) MIL leads World Series 2-1.
When I eventually entered my hotel room, I found a handwritten node saying "The hits you seek are in another castle." After I filed a formal complaint to the hotel management, me and Captain Morgan went to bed...

[Griever20]

World Series Game 4:

November 1st, 2022

Texas Rangers - Milwaukee Brewers @ Miller Park

TEX: SP Dallas Keuchel(L, 1-1 1.93)
MIL: SP Tanner Houck(R, 2-0 0.00)

Go to the World Series they said, it will be fun, they said. In what will be Dallas Keuchel's last start in a Rangers uniform, he is the guy starting in a must-win scenario... brilliant. In a turn of events that historians from future generations will call one of the most unlikely turn of events in baseball history, Nomar Mazara and Nelson Velazquez collected two runs in the first via RBI-doubles before Joey Gallo struck out on three straight pitches, handing our veteran lefty a 2-0 lead...

And the Texas Chokers went back to work when Bobby Bradley lost us an out by dropping a good and HARD throw by Joey Gallo to score an unearned run with two on and one out, and two hard groundballs later, only a MONSTER of a throw by Velazquez in left conserved the lead... throwing out Hiura at home plate...

But, the runs were in this castle today as Bailey reached with a hard double with one down, Keuchel was a strikeout victim... but both Lewis and Moreno found the green for RBI hits... 4-1 TEX... LET'S GO! The scoreboard soon showed 2 2 2 for the visiting team when Joey Gallo finally did something useful and hit a 2-run jolt to right and after a frustrating performance yesterday, out guys brought the big league bats today.

However, it was not all fun and games as Dallas really had to work hard for his outs and stranded runners at the corners twice... and it was clear that we would need some good innings out of our pen... which is bad news these days... His day eventually ended after six and after Corey Ray put one into the seats to make it 6-2... and Brian Adcock redeemed himself by pitching a scoreless seventh.

Both teams scored a run before the clock said... 9th inning. With a 7-3 score, we still went with our closer in Edwin Diaz... who wasn't quite 100%... and 29 pitches into the inning, he had thrown 29 pitches allowed a couple of hits... one of which landed 408 ft away from the point where wood hit bad pitch... and we barely survived this one. 7-5.

SP Dallas Keuchel 6IP 7H 2ER 2BB 5K W
SS Royce Lewis 1-5 R RBI DB
2B Hansel Moreno 1-2 R RBI 3BB
RF Nomar Mazara 2-4 R RBI DB
1B Bobby Bradley 1-5 R
LF Nelson Velazquez 2-4 R RBI BB 2DB
3B Joey Gallo 1-4 R 2RBI BB HR
C Patrick Bailey 3-3 R 2DB
HR TEX: Joey Gallo(6)
HR MIL: Corey Ray(5), Jorge Alfaro(2)
W: Dallas Keuchel(2-1 2.25) L: Tanner Houck(2-1 2.65)
TEX 7 MIL 5 World Series tied at 2.
Tight games. It feels like their position players are playing the game with a LITTLE more grid and determination... Unfortunately, one of our players showed a bit too much determination as Patrick Bailey's second double ended in him hobbling off the field. We don't know the diagnosis, but consider him out for the World Series...

[Griever20]

World Series Game 5:

November 2nd, 2022

Texas Rangers - Milwaukee Brewers @ Miller Park

TEX: SP Cory Taylor(R, 4-0 2.52)
MIL: SP Freddy Peralta(R, 1-2 2.42)

On Wednesday morning, there was no news on Patrick Bailey's knee or whatever is bothering him, so Danny Jansen will start the game behind the plate, catching hopefully a lot of strikes by Cory in a game one rematch...

Similar to the first two games in Milwaukee, Hansel Moreno reached base in the first... and it could've been two on, nobody out if Royce Lewis would not have been caught speeding on the basepaths... in like, caught stealing... and we did not manage to score this time... signs of impending doom?

Both starters allowed contact early on and got some traffic on the basepath, and blood pressure rose a lot when Taylor yielded to straight singles to start the third.

A popup and a sac bunt put both into scoring position for Mr. Gonzalez... and for the first time this series... a grounder to Joey Gallo was properly caught by him AND actually turned into an out at first base without three errors and a lot of tears...

Tension continued to rise as both starters got through four innings apiece, allowing three hits apiece and surviving them bruised, but without runs scored... waiting for the first guy to blink... and it was ours. The first number other than zero on the board was a shy '1', counting for a Cory Ray solo home run in the bottom of the sixth... and we were in big trouble now.

How do you respond to that? Right, by stranding a runner at third base for the third time today... Peralta for them, and Jake J. Thompson combined for a scoreless seventh, and with a one-run lead, Zapata asked his closer, my personal nightmare, Felipe Vazquez to pitch a six-out save if possible.

He blew it after one. After sucking big balls all game long, our offense came through with a lucky infield hit by slow-footed catcher Danny Jansen... and a big, hulking double down the left field line by our superstar shortstop Royce Lewis... ALL HAIL ROYCE LEWIS!

Now that we finally learned to swim in this game... it was time to fly. And the Brewers helped us out tremendously to turn this game around. Vazquez intentionally walked Moreno to set up the double play... and we made it a double steal... on which Jorge Alfaro, normally a VERY GOOD defensive catcher... threw it PAST STOTT AT THIRD... LEWIS AROUND THIRD AND HE SCORES!!! TEX 2, MIL 1 and Moreno waiting at third!

The inning sizzled out, but we had a fragile one-run lead for the blowup parade that is our bullpen waiting... but it was their outstretched bullpen that yielded another run when Gallo and Jansen reached in the top of the ninth and Justin Williams, eager to get back into the fold, collected a sac fly to make it 3-1 TEX...

Edwin Diaz time!... After blowing up for 2ER yesterday, he started off the ninth with a Carlos David Rodrigues... struck out Alfaro... walked Plummer... and then K'ed the leadoff man to get to Bryson Stott with two down...

Batting .250 in the postseason... he flew out on the first pitch...

BACK TO TEXAS WITH A 3-2 SERIES LEAD!

SP Dallas Keuchel 6IP 5H 1ER 3BB 3K
SS Royce Lewis 2-5 R RBI SB(3)
2B Hansel Moreno 1-3 BB DB SB(3)
1B Bobby Bradley 1-4
LF Nelson Velazquez 0-3 BB SB(1)
3B Joey Gallo 2-4 R 2DB
C Danny Jansen 2-4 R
HR TEX: none
HR MIL: Corey Ray(6)
W: Jake J. Thompson(1-0 2.32) L: Felipe Vazquez(0-2 7.71) SV: Edwin Diaz(3 4.50)
TEX 3 MIL 1 TEX leads World Series 3-2.
What. A. Series. We got a bit lucky there with that throwing error by Alfaro and actually utilizing our speed on the basepaths has been an issue for us this postseason as all of our opponents had catchers with good arms... but it came up big today.

[Griever20]

World Series Game 6:

November 4th, 2022

Texas Rangers - Milwaukee Brewers @ Miller Park

MIL: SP Zach Davies(R, 3-1 3.70)
TEX: SP Nick Lodolo(L, 2-0 2.00)

A game-two rematch was in the cards, but we would have to change one thing... Patrick Bailey will start the game on the bench as he suffers from a strained oblique and will be day-to-day for the next 3 weeks... He is available to pinch-hit tho.

The fans did not have to wait long for the first run to cross the plate as Lewis started things off with a single and a stolen base, and eventually got collected by Bobby Bradley with a single. The lead did not last long as we were all back to square one when Keston Hiura homered in the top 2nd... TEX 1, MIL 1.

The difference was, Nicky allowed one hit through three... and Davies... a lot more. Lewis barely was denied a base hit when he bunted for one bottom third, but instead a hot Justin Williams doubled to the left-field gap, Mazara singled for runners at the corners(we held Williams here)... and holding Williams there proved to be the right decision and Hansel Moreno turned his bat loose on a little inside cutter... AND HAMMERED THAT ONE TO RIGHT FIELD... WAY BACK... WAY BACK... 3-RUN HOME RUN! THE RANGERS BREAK IT OPEN EARLY!

That big hit held on for a while as Davies suddenly settled down somehow, and the Brewers looked completely helpless against Lodolo until A.J. Reed connected to a slightly high fastball... home run, TEX 4, MIL 2.

That was the second hit allowed by Lodolo through seven, and he ended the night with 7IP 2H 2ER, one walk and 12(!) strikeouts and with a 2-run lead with six outs to go... LET'S BRING THIS ONE HOME!

Both Claudio and Diaz were tired going into the game and Claudio allowed a double... and stranded it with a flyball to right!

Three OUTS TO GO! DIAZ IN! Here is Domingo Santana, the 30-year old right-fielder, with the team since 2015. Two balls, two strikes... Diaz into the windup... SWING AND A MISS! ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO!

Now, catcher Jorge Alfaro. The catcher that started a big Rangers rally in game five with a throwing error. Acquired in 2019 for a reliever and CF Brett Phillips from Philadelphia, he is hitting .276 in the postseason... another 2-2 pitch... AND HE STRUCK HIM OUT LOOKING ON THE LOW HEAT!

The final hope for Milwaukee! Second baseman Keston Hiura. 26-years of age, the former 2020 AL Rookie of the Year has already hit a homer today but is batting .195 for the postseason. The first pitch... outside, 1-0 to the kid from Los Angeles.

The Rangers are one out away from their FIRST World Series in their franchise history. Diaz in the windup... breaking ball low, 2-0.

After a disappointing 98-loss campaign, the team started an accelerated rebuild that could turn into a World Series ring only four years later. The 2-0 pitch... IN THERE FOR A STRIKE! For Edwin Diaz, this may be his final inning as a Ranger as his contract is running out at the end of the season.

Hiura is set and here is the pitch... ANOTHER STRIKE, IT'S 2-2 AND TEXAS IS ONE STRIKE AWAY FROM WINNING IT ALL! Hiura steps out, takes a deep breath and looks at his third base coach or into the crowd... and he is back in... Here is the sign...

SWING AND A MISS!!!!

THE RANGERS WIN THE 2022 WORLD SERIES!

SP Nick Lodolo 6IP 2H 2ER 1BB 12K W
SS Royce Lewis 1-4 R
RF Justin Williams 1-4 R
DH Nomar Mazara 1-4 R
1B Bobby Bradley 1-4 RBI
2B Hansel Moreno 1-3 R 3RBI HR
HR MIL: A.J. Reed(4), Keston Hiura(1)
HR TEX: Hansel Moreno(3)
W: Nick Lodolo(3-0 2.16) L: Zach Davies(3-2 4.30) SV: Edwin Diaz(4 3.60)
MIL 2 TEX 4 TEX wins World Series 4-2.
YES YES YES!!!

[Griever20]

Rangers Defeat Brewers, Win Their First World Series
stadiumreport.bbn

November 4th, 2022

The Texas Rangers are champions, today and forever. The Rangers topped the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 at Globe Life Park in Arlington today to claim the World Series crown.

"Nobody can take this away from us, not ever," said series MVP and second baseman Hansel Moreno after his club had sealed the victory. "We worked hard and we accomplished our goal."

The atmosphere was electric as the newly-crowned champs stormed the field at the conclusion of the game. Fans cheered, gloves flew in the air, high fives and hugs were the order of the day.

"From day one of spring training, I could see it in their eyes," said Texas manager Max Gerlach. "The players had that look of intensity, of hunger, of a desire to accomplish something great, and today they did that. They're champions of the world."

The Rangers took the series 4-2. The new titleholders completed the regular season with a first-place finish in the American League West Division and a 102-60 record.

[BoomsdayDevice]

Originally Posted by Griever20

Attachment 602571

Rangers Defeat Brewers, Win Their First World Series
stadiumreport.bbn

November 4th, 2022

The Texas Rangers are champions, today and forever. The Rangers topped the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 at Globe Life Park in Arlington today to claim the World Series crown.

"Nobody can take this away from us, not ever," said series MVP and second baseman Hansel Moreno after his club had sealed the victory. "We worked hard and we accomplished our goal."

The atmosphere was electric as the newly-crowned champs stormed the field at the conclusion of the game. Fans cheered, gloves flew in the air, high fives and hugs were the order of the day.

"From day one of spring training, I could see it in their eyes," said Texas manager Max Gerlach. "The players had that look of intensity, of hunger, of a desire to accomplish something great, and today they did that. They're champions of the world."

The Rangers took the series 4-2. The new titleholders completed the regular season with a first-place finish in the American League West Division and a 102-60 record.

Attachment 602572

As a die hard Texas Rangers fan this was fun to follow. Well done, sir.

[Griever20]

Originally Posted by BoomsdayDevice

As a die hard Texas Rangers fan this was fun to follow. Well done, sir.

Glad you like it :> I'll play on with some slower pace, so let's see if we can get a dynasty cooking...

[Griever20]

Originally Posted by Griever20

Glad you like it :> I'll play on with some slower pace, so let's see if we can get a dynasty cooking...

Actually... I'll have to postpone/cancel further gameplay... it seems like some of my PC problems have broken the save a bit... some of the A+ teams are now unaffiliated, including ours...