AL - Pale Hose vs. Being Don Mattingly.
NL - Outlaws vs. Chinook

Game 1 - In what turns out to be the only ho-hum game in the series Matt Chapman hits a 2-run bomb in the 1st and 3 other Outlaws take Gerrit Cole deep in the game while Justin Verlander and 3 relievers combine to throw a 3-hit shutout striking out 13. Outlaws 7 - Chinook 0

Game 2 - Outlaws again strike early with an Olson HR in the 1st and a SF to plate another run in the 2nd. Miley goes 5 1-hit innings, but with him needed to start game 5, he exits in a double switch in the 6th. In the 7th, the Chinook take the lead 3-2 with a Locastro double, a wild pitch and a ground out vs Sean Manaea and Austin Adams. DJ Lemahieu hits a solo shot in the bottom half to tie it up, and it stays that way until the bottom of the 10th when Matt Olson leads off with his 2nd HR of the game and 3rd of the series to walk it off. Outlaws 4 - Chinook 3

Game 3 - Outlaws jump out to an early lead again with Olson's 4th HR of the series in the 1st, and though the Chinook get the run back in their half, the Outlaws tack on 3 more in the next 3 innings and take a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th. A single, error, 2 fly outs and another single make it 4-2 before Kevin Ginkel comes on to face Harrison Bader. This turns out to be a big mistake, as Edwin Rios tags him with a PH 3-run HR to give the Chinook a 5-4 lead. Chirinos and Yates set the Outlaws down quietly in the 9th. Chinook 5 - Outlaws 4

Game 4 - Verlander throws 6.2 shutout innings and the Outlaws wait until the 2nd to start hitting HR (Garver and Santana this time) and the Outlaws cruise into the 9th with a 5-0 lead. Anderson and Neris manage to load the bases with 1 out and a SF gets 1 run in before Brandon Belt ends thins with a ground out. Outlaws 5 - Chinook 1

Game 5 - The Chinook strike first this time with a Kepler 2-run HR in the 3rd and a Grandal solo shot in the 5th. Olson answers with yet another solo shot of his own in the 6th, but Gerrit Cole goes 8.1 striking out 12, and Kirby Yates gets the last two outs in the 9th with the tying run at the plate to keep hope alive in Thunder Bay. Chinook 3 - Outlaws 1

Game 6 - Outlaws draw first blood in the 3rd as SP Thornton scores on a Pence single, and then add two more in the 5th and 6th on Correa and Pence HRs. Things are looking pretty rosy going in to the 7th when reliever Matt Moore gets in trouble on singles to Conforto, Gamel, and Locastro and a Biggio walk sandwiched around 2 outs. He leaves the game up 3-1 with closer Hector Neris on to shut things down, and Neris is greeted by a Yasmani Grandal MVP bid Grand Slam to give the Chinook a 5-3 lead. The Outlaws get the tying run to 2nd in the bottom half and to the plate in the bottom of the 8th, but fail to score either time, and then the Chinook put things well out of reach with 4 more in the top of the 9th capped off by a Kirby Yates 2-run HR. Out of position players, Chase Anderson actually manages to reach base in a pseudo rally in the bottom of the 9th, but the Outlaws again fail to score. Chinook 9 - Outlaws 3

Game 7 - Verlander on the mound for the 3rd time in the series, and Grandal goes deep in the 1st and a Bader double in the 2nd makes it 2-0. Verlander grinds it out from there, going 6 and striking out 10 and managing to smack a fruitless double in the 5th. In the bottom of the 6th Olson, Chapman and Pence reach with Pence's single driving in Olson to cut the lead in half. The Chinook bring on Wei-Chung Wang to face his 3rd batter of the series, and the Outlaws respond with Carlos Correa to PH for Kyle Seager. Wang give up his 3 hit as Correa gives the Outlaws the lead with a triple. A Garver strikeout later, Danny Santana hits his own triple, and Brian McCann makes the final out of the inning pinch hitting for Verlander. The Chinook manage to load the bases with two outs in the top of the 7th, but Shoemaker gets a Kepler ground out to keep them off the board. The 8th is fairly uneventful, and the Chinook go qqielty in the 9th as well vs Shoemaker and Manaea to give the Outlaws the pennant. Outlaws 4 - Chinook 2

NLCS MVP Justin Verlander ends up going 3-0 with 24 Ks in 18.2 IP, and has now won 35 games on the year. The two teams combined for 139 Ks in 123 IP, but the Outlaws 16-8 edge in HR was the offensive difference. I don't want to go count up how many of those were solo HR, but given that just 51 runs scored in the series, most of them must have been, and the series lived up to Pat's pre-game 1 prediction of lots of Ks and lots of solo HRs.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2020 03:33PM by Bill Liming.

Congrats to Bill and the Outlaws! Excellent writeup.

In the end, the better team won. After the first two, it didn't really feel like the Chinook were in it. The G3 win was kinda fluky and then Cole did his thing in G5. When Grandal hit the slam in G6, was starting to believe. Berrios started out solid in G7 and we had that two run lead. I may have panic pulled him in the 4-run B6. If we just could have gotten to Yates ...

Oh well ... that's probably the run for the Chinook. 2020 looks a little rough. It was a blast. Will be fun to try to rebuild. See everyone again next year!

And thanks as always to Greg for running a GREAT league.

Given that the Outlaws rotation is Verlander and out-HR the other guys, I wasn't thrilled about playing a team with multiple good starting pitchers. The HR came through just enough this time, but I'm betting Verlander having to start the 7th game is going to cost us in the WS, unless we somehow get 3 days rest going in to that series.

Always good to play Pat HTH, and all the disconnects make things even more exciting. :-) Been a while since I won a post-season series, before getting to the TRHL post-season this year, I think I'd dropped 3 in a row.

1-1 after two games.

TRHL ALCS

Maine Pale Hose vs. Being Don Mattingly

G1 Anibal Sanchez vs. Jacob deGrom at Yankees Stadium

Absolutely tremendous pitching duel. Sanchez goes 8.1 scoreless, and deGrom goes 8 scoreless with 10K. The only runs score in the top of the 10th on an Elroy Jimenez two-run bomb off Anthony Bass.

MPH 2-0, W - Baez, L - Bass, HR – Jimenez

G2 Marco Gonzales vs. Clayton Kershaw

The home team strikes early. Two singles and a Ketel Marte sac fly plate one in the 1st, and two error around a Gio Urshela double lead to two more. The rest of the story was the BDM pitching. Kershaw and two RPs combine for the shutout, and 13 K allowing only 3 H and 2 BB.

BDM 4-0, W - Kershaw, L – Gonzales

G3 Zach Wheeler vs. Dallas Keuchel at Guaranteed Rate Field

Another tight contest. BDM notches two in the 3rd on a single, double, 2 BB and an error, and one in the 4th on two singles and a FC, but leave a small village on base. Maine comes right back in the bottom of the 4th on a Merrifield 2-run bomb to cut the lead to 3-2. An Arenado HR in the 6th give BDM an insurance run, and they need it, as a Pham double plates Acuna in the 8th to make it 4-3, but Chris Martin (the 3rd RP of the inning) K’s Naquin to preserve the lead.

BDM 4-3, W Wheeler, L – Keuchel, SV – Bass, HR – Arenado, Merrifield

G4 Zac Gallen vs. Tyler Skaggs (R.I.P.)

BDM score early and often in this one, chasing Skaggs after three, plating 12 on 13 hits and 5 BB.

BDM 12-2, W – Gallen, L – Skaggs

G5 Jacob deGrom vs. Reynaldo Lopez

Game 5 starts with a 58 minute rain delay. Maine plays it cautious with Lopez as his opener, while BDM roles the dice and goes with the big man. BDM is freaking out when a 49 minute delay stops play in the top of the first, but deGrom is able to continue. The game is scoreless until the top of the 3rd. marco Gonzales replaces Lopez, and turns the BDM lineup around. But he quickly walks Holt, and gives up a double to Urshela. After a sac fly and a walk. Ji-Man Choi surprises everyone with a 3-run bomb, despite the awful platoon matchup vs, the lefty. This put BDM up 4-0 and deGrom made it stick with 7 scoreless.

BDM 6-0, W – deGrom, L – Gonzales, HR – Choi, Urshela

Jim had poor luck, especially with IF defense, and deserved at least a longer series.

The MVP goes to Jacob deGrom. 2 GS, 1-0, 15 IP, 0 R, 12 H, 0 BB, 16 K.

Thanks to Jim for a fun HTH experience!