Washington Joins Cleveland in Fall Classic

 

Juan Soto and the Washington Nationals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in five games.  A recap of the semi-final series:

Game One (WASH 6, STL 4) - The Nationals used the long ball to get to Jacob deGrom, as Kevin Newman, Mike Tauchman, and Jose Ramirez, each went yard, to spearhead a 6-4 game one victory. Tim Hill threw two shutout innings in relief of starter Sonny Gray to get the win. deGrom went seven, striking out 10 and took the loss.

Game Two (WASH 7, STL 6 in 16 INNINGS) - The two teams were tied at 4 after six innings and then the bats went deadly silent. Fans would have to wait until the 16th inning to see another run cross the plate and they got much more then they bargined for. St. Louis scored two runs in the top of the 16th off Ryan Yarborough. Javy Baez lead off the bottom of the 16th with a solo homer to cut the lead to one. After an out was recorded, JD Martinez drew a walk, then Juan Soto sent a bomb over the left-center wall to give the Nats the win and a 2-0 series lead.

Game Three (WASH 5, STL 2) - With a depleted bullpen, Washington had no choice but to hand the game over to Stephen Strasburg and go as long as humanly possible. The Nats' bats were very patient with Cards starter Zach Plesac, drawing five walks and scoring three runs over his six innings. Strasburg conserved his pitches as best he could and was able to go the distance, striking out 10 to get the win. Washington leads the series 3-0.

Game Four (STL 2, WASH 1 in 16 INNINGS) - These two teams enjoyed their 16 inning affair so much in Game Two, they decided to match it in Game Four. Both teams tied at one, headed into extra innings, as both bullpens shined. In the 16th innings, catcher Tucker Barnhart, drove home Carlos Santana with the running run. Washington leads the series 3 games to 1,

Game Five (WASH 7, STL 0) - The fifth game of this series was the Max Fried show. Fried spun seven shutout innings, fanning eight Cardinals. Juan Soto and Mike Trout homered for Washington, giving them a four-to-one series win.

Cleveland Headed to World Series

 

The Cleveland Indians eliminated the Toronto Blue Jays 4 games to 2 in a semi-final matchup.  A recap of the series:  

Game 1

Indians......... 0 0 0  0 0 1  0 3 0  -  4  7  0
Blue-Jays....... 0 0 1  0 0 0  0 1 0  -  2  5  1

Tommy Edman 2-run single and 2-base throwing error from Laureano is the diff in this one. Shoemaker wins, Romo save, Trevor May takes the loss. 

Game 2

Indians......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  4  0
Blue-Jays....... 0 0 0  0 1 2  0 0    -  3  8  0

Luis Castillo and 3 RP combine for the shutout. Gurriel and Donaldson each homer. Verlander with the loss. Robles gets the Save. 

Game 3

Blue-Jays....... 0 0 2  0 4 0  0 0 0  -  6  9  0
Indians......... 0 0 5  2 0 1  0 0    -  8 17  0

Both teams break out the bats. Boyd hangs on for the win. Lynn hit hard in 2 1/3, 8 hits, 2 BB, 5 runs all earned. Trevor May not much help. Donaldson hits a 3-run HR and Eric Sogard gets 3 hits with a 2B and a HR.

Game 4

Blue-Jays....... 2 0 4  0 0 3  0 0 0  -  9 15  0
Indians.........  0 0 0  0 3 0  0 3 0  -  6 11  0

Blue Jays hit Montas early and often. 15 hit attack with Conforto adding a HR. Eric Sogard hits 2 more HRs in a losing cause, goes 4/4.  

Game 5

Blue-Jays....... 0 1 1  0 0 0  1 0 1  -  4  6  0
Indians......... 0 3 0  1 0 0  0 0 1  -  5 10  2

Gurriel hits a game-tying HR with two outs in the top of the 9th. Edman hits a game-winning HR in the bottom of the inning. 

Game 6

Indians......... 0 1 0  0 1 2  0 0 0  -  4  7  0
Blue-Jays....... 0 0 0  2 0 0  0 0 0  -  2  8  0

Trevor Story comes to life with 2 HRs. Verlander gets the win. Romo gets the save. Loss goes to Bummer.  Special call out for Rowan Wick, the guy who pitched 35 scoreless innings during the season. He has thrown another 4 2/3 scoreless in 6 postseason appearances. 

Nats Send Dodgers Packing

 

The Washington Nationals eliminated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.  A recap of the series:

GAME 1 - WASH 10, LA 1:  J.D. Martinez cracked 2 homeruns and Sonny Gray retired 10 batters on strikeouts as the Washington Nationals bested the Los Angeles Dodgers 10 to 1 at Citizens Bank Park.  Gray(1-0) pitched well for Washington in their victory.  He was reached for 6 hits and 1 walk in 6 and 2/3 innings.  Washington had 11 hits for the game and Los Angeles had 7.  Patrick Corbin(0-1) took the loss.  He was touched for 4 homeruns in his 4 innings of work.

GAME 2 - WASH 3, LA 1:  Stephen Strasburg delivered 5 solid innings at Citizens Bank Park as the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers by the count of 3 to1. Washington scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning with the help of 3 hits.  Will Smith got things rolling when he ripped a solo home run.  Kevin Newman followed next and he banged out a single.  Jose Ramirez then laced a single.  Javier Baez got his turn next, but he was a strikeout victim. Willie Calhoun stepped into the box and hit a deep fly scoring the final run of the inning.  Strasburg(1-0) got help from Shane Greene who pitched great and earned his 1st save.  Yu Darvish(0-1) absorbed the loss.  Despite the loss, he struckout 13 Washington batters in 7 innings.

GAME 3 - WASH 1, LA 0:  In a game for the baseball purist, Tyler Glasnow(1-0) and Hyun-Jin Ryu(0-1) squared off in a tense pitching duel, Washington Nationals finally emerged victorious over Los Angeles Dodgers, 1 to 0.  The game's only run was scored in the 7th inning.  Glasnow got help from Liam Hendriks who pitched a perfect ninth and was credited with his 1st save.

GAME 4 - LA 5, WASH 3:  Third baseman Eugenio Suarez cracked a homer and had 2 RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers won in dramatic fashion over the Washington Nationals by a score of 5 to 3 at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles scored the winning runs in the bottom of the 9th inning scoring 3 runs on 3 base hits.  Stephen Vogt began things off when he delivered a solo blast.  Ozzie Albies came next and he lined a base-hit.  Brandon Nimmo was next to bat, but he was a strikeout victim.  Miguel Sano got his turn next, but he was a strikeout victim.  Suarez came to the plate and lifted one out of the park for a two run home run making Los Angeles the winners and sending the 51,033 fans home happy.  Los Angeles finished with 7 hits in the victory.  The victory was credited to Colin Poche(1-0) who went 2 innings, allowing no runs. Chris Martin(0-1) absorbed the loss in relief.

GAME 5 - WASH 4, LA 1:  Javier Baez had 2 base hits at Dodger Stadium as the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers by the count of 4 to 1.  Sonny Gray(2-0) gave a fine effort for Washington.  He was reached for 3 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings lowering his ERA to 0.71.  Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 2nd save.   Patrick Corbin(0-2) took the loss.  He pitched 5 innings and surrendered 4 hits and 2 walks.