Giants Are Champs Again!

For the second time in three years, the San Francisco Giants are Millennium League champions.  The Giants got by the Red Sox in five games.  Boston won game 1, but San Francisco came back to win the next four behind some good pitching by Scherzer, Greineke, and Williams.  A recap of the series:


Game 1 - Boston 2, San Francisco 1:  Chris Sale out dueled Max Scherzer in the opener.  A Tim Beckham triple and then a sac fly by Brett Gardner in the 8th scored the winning run for Boston.  Aroldis Chapman tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

Game 2 - San Francisco 3, Boston 0:  Zack Greinke (4-0, 1.74 ERA in the postseason) was dominant as he fanned 15 Red Sox batter while only allowing two hits in a CG performance.  Joey Votto hit a 2-run homer in the 1st inning.

Game 3 - San Francisco 2, Boston 1:  In another tight scoring game, Trevor Williams pitched seven solid innings and Craig Kimbrel fanned three in the 9th to earn his 7th save in this postseason.

Game 4 - San Francisco 3, Boston 0:  This time, Scherzer came out on top over Boston starter Sale.  Another dominant pitching performance - Max struck out 14 while only allowing two hits in the complete game.

Game 5 - San Francisco 13, Boston 4:  Zack Greinke fanned another 11 batters as he won his 5th game in this postseason.  The Giants scored 6 times in the 5th to put the game away.

The Giants went 122-40 in the regular season and 12-2 in the post season.  Congratulations to Gene in putting together such an impressive team this season!

Giants Will Meet Red Sox in World Series

The Giants get by the Dodgers in five games to advance to the finals.  LA got off to an early 1-0 series lead but the Giants came back to win 4 in a row.  Except for game 2, each game was tight and could have went either way.  A summary of the series:

 DATE VIS  R  H  E  HOME R  H  E INN  WIN                   LOSS
----- ------------  ------------ ---  --------------------  -------------------
10/ 1 LAN  3  4  0  SFN  1  8  1      J.Chacin (2-0)        M.Scherzer (2-1)
10/ 2 LAN  2  7  0  SFN 13 15  0      Z.Greinke (2-0)       Y.Darvish (1-1)
10/ 4 SFN  3  9  0  LAN  0  5  0      T.Williams (1-0)      A.Cashner (1-1)
10/ 5 SFN  5 10  0  LAN  3  3  0      M.Scherzer (3-1)      K.Kela (0-2)
10/ 6 SFN  4  8  0  LAN  2  4  3      Z.Greinke (3-0)       J.Chacin (2-1)

Red Sox Heading to the World Series

Boston beat Chicago 4 games to 1 to advance to the finals for the 2nd time in franchise history and the first since 2002 when they lost to Arizona.  It was such a close series, featuring back to back 13 inning marathons in games 2 and 3.  Chicago had a chance to win every game as Boston only outscored Chicago by 1 run, 25-24.  A summary of the series:

Game 1 in Chicago: Boston won 8-6.  Chicago scored 3 runs in the 9th but Boston survived to win the opener.

Game 2 in Chicago: Boston won 6-5 in 13 innings.  Betances threw a wild pitch to tie the game in the 8th, and then Jose Ramirez hit a solo shot in the 13th and Chapman closed it out for the save.

Game 3 in Boston: Boston won 3-2 in 13 innings.  Chicago tied the game in the 9th off Chapman and then J.D. Martinez won it with a double in the bottom of the 13th.

Game 4 in Boston: Chicago won 8-4.  Manny Machado went 3 for 5 in a breakout game for the White Sox offense.  Sean Manea only went 4 innings, but the White Sox bullpen excelled throwing 5 shutout innings to close out the game.

Game 5 in Boston: Boston won 4-3 to win the series.  Chris Archer struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings and Chapman got 5 high stress outs, including 2 straight wild pitches that scored 2 runs in the 8th.  

2018 Draft Lottery Info

We will be conducting our draft lottery on Wednesday, October 23rd and Thursday, October 24th..........

The “Pennsylvania Daily Number Evening” lottery (http://www.palottery.state.pa.us/) on subsequent nights (7PM EST) will be used to decide who gets the #1 and #2 picks in the first round only. If the second pick yields the same result as the first night, then a third night’s lottery drawing will be used. The remaining 10 teams will draft in reverse order of record. So, the team with the poorest record can do no worst than pick third in the first round.

2018 Lottery Drawing Chances:

000 to 249 – Kansas City (58-104)

250 to 449 – Pittsburgh (64-98)

450 to 604 – Anaheim (67-95)

605 to 724 – Cleveland (68-94)

725 to 814 – Washington (69-93, outscored New York 35-17 in tie-breaker)

815 to 879 – New York (69-93)

880 to 924 – Arizona (70-92)

925 to 954 – Houston (72-90)

955 to 974 – Atlanta (73-89)

975 to 986 – Minnesota (74-90, defeated Philadelphia 10-8 in tie-breaker)

987 to 994 – Philadelphia (74-90)

995 to 999 – Oakland (84-79)

(Click here for a history of previous lottery numbers selected.)

Dodgers Advance by Knocking Out Marlins

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Miami Marlins in 6 games in a hard fought series.    A quick recap:


Game 1 - Dodgers 4, Marlins 2 (13 innings)
Miguel Sano hit a walk off homer in the bottom of the 13th to give LA the victory.


Game 2 - Marlins 8, Dodgers 7
Another close one.  Miami got four scoreless innings from their bullpen and Paul Goldschmidt hit a 3 run homer in the 7th for the go ahead run.


Game 3 - Dodgers 4, Marlins 0
Chacin, Morrow and Iglesais combine on a 4-hit shutout. Cesar Hernandez contributed with a double, triple, an rbi and a run scored.


Game 4 - Dodgers 6, Marlins 0 
Another combined shutout.  This time, it was Darvish, Good and Ryu on a 5-hitter.  Darvish fanned 13 in his 7 1/3 innings of work.


Game 5 - Marlins 5, Dodgers 4
Altuve hit a homer and a double with 2 ribbies and 2 runs scored to help Miami stay alive.  Altuve is hitting .381 in the post season so far.


Game 6 - Dodgers 9, Marlins 1
Dodgers knock out Verlander in the 5th as Justin gave up 8 hits and 7 runs in a balanced attack.  Cashner was solid by tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball for the win.


Los Angeles now faces their upstate rivals San Francisco in the semi-finals.

White Sox Knock Out Division Rival Redbirds in 6 Games

Chicago advances winning 4 of 6 from St. Louis in a quarter round playoff series.  The White Sox will face the Red Sox in the semi finals.

1. STL  5-10-0

    CHI  3-7-1

Bundy goes 8 with only 5 hits & 3 walks for the victory

2. STL  4-5-0

     CHI 6-7-0

Bauer tosses 3 hitter over 7.1

3. CHI 5-11-2

    STL 4-8-0

Machado blast 3 run homer in the 1st

4. CHI 1-2-1

    STL 2-5-0

Godley gives up 1 hit & 8 walks over 8 innings

5. CHI 16-15-0

     STL 5-12-0

Machado blasts 2 HRs & 5 RBIs as White Sox slam 5 homers

6. STL 1-2-1

    CHI 4-8-0

Bauers carries no hitter into the 8th

On Monday, July 22, 2019, 11:52:59 AM EDT, John Helmbrecht wrote:

 

Giants Take Care of Business by Sweeping Defending Champs Seattle

The Giants get by the defending champs Seattle in the first round of the playoffs.  Scherzer was the series MVP going 2-0 with 22Ks and Kimbrel was 4/4 in his save opportunities. 

Game 1: San Franciso 9 - Seattle 6

Max Scherzer reeled off a total of 11 strikeouts and Zack Cozart smacked 2 homeruns and had 4 RBI as the San Francisco Giants outscored the Seattle Mariners 9 to 6.

Cozart had a good day at the plate.  He stroked a single in the 3rd inning, ripped a solo home run in the 5th inning and lofted a three-run 'big-fly' in the 6th inning.  Seattle had a chance in the 9th but they came up short.

The victory was credited to Scherzer(1-0) who went 5 and 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs. Craig Kimbrel earned his 1st save.  Jeff Samardzija(0-1) suffered the loss.  He got hammered, allowing 7 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings.

Game 2: San Francisco 4 - Seattle 2

In a two run game the San Francisco Giants got by the Seattle Mariners by the score of 4 to 2.

San Francisco jumped on top of Seattle in the bottom of the 6th inning scoring a single run on 2 base hits.  Craig Kimbrel was perfect in relief and gained credit for his 2nd save.

The victory was credited to Zack Greinke(1-0) who went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs. Jon Lester(0-1) was hit with the loss.  He allowed 4 runs and 7 hits in 6 and 2/3 innings.

Game 3: San Francisco 7 - Seattle 5

In a close game the San Francisco Giants got by the Seattle Mariners by the score of 7 to 5.

San Francisco erupted with the game winning runs in the top of the 8th inning plating 3 runs on 3 base hits.  Eduardo Nunez led off and started the attack as he laced a base-hit.  Brian Dozier stepped into the batter's box and he tripled which scored a run.  After an out was recorded, Jarrod Dyson then
reached on an error bringing in another run.  One out later, Zack Cozart came up and he drew a walk.  Joey Votto came up to bat and tripled scoring the final run of the inning.  San Francisco ended up with 11 hits for the game while Seattle had 5.

The winning pitcher was Tyler Lyons(1-0) who allowed no runs in 1 inning. Craig Kimbrel earned the save, his 3rd.  Peter Moylan(0-1) took the loss in relief. 

Game 4: San Francisco 2 - Seattle 1

Max Scherzer dominated striking out 11 Seattle batters and Robinson Chirinos went deep at Rogers Centre as the San Francisco Giants beat the Seattle Mariners by the count of 2 to 1.

Scherzer(2-0) simply dominated Seattle.  He allowed just 2 hits and 3 walks in 8 and 1/3 innings lowering his ERA to 3.29.  Seattle had a chance in the 9th but they came up short.

Craig Kimbrel earned the save, his 4th.  Jeff Samardzija(0-2) absorbed the loss.

Blue Jays Eliminated on Red Sox Walkoff by Mark Reynolds

Boston (AP) - Boston advanced to the 2nd round with a 6 game series victory over Toronto.  The Red Sox capped the series win with a walk off home run by Mark Reynolds in the bottom of the 9th in game 6.  John's Blue Jays were really tough to play, and the series, starting with a 15 inning marathon 1st game, could have gone either way multiple times.

Game 1 - Toronto 5 - Boston 3 in 15 innings

After the game was tied 3-3 going into the 4th, it stayed tied until the top of the 15th when Logan Morrison won the game with a 2 run home run.    It was a crazy game with 14 pitchers used.

Game 2 - Toronto 10 - Boston 7

Toronto was 8 for 19 with RISP as they took a 2-0 series lead.  Both starters didn't last past 3 innings, but the Toronto bullpen held off the Red Sox and the offense was just too much for Boston.

Game 3 - Boston 11 - Toronto 3

Mark Reynolds hit his 2nd homerun and Donaldson his first as Boston got to Alex Cobb for 7 runs as they got back in the series.

Game 4 - Boston 4 - Toronto 3

J.D. Martinez supplied all the offense that the Red Sox needed as he hit a grand slam in the 5th to give Boston a 4-3 lead and eventual win as Betances and Chapman closed out Sale's impressive start.

Game 5 - Boston 3 - Toronto 0

Chris Archer struck out 12 in 6 1/3 innings but didn't get the win because the game was scoreless until the 9th when Mark Reynolds hit a bases loaded double driving in all 3 runs.

Game 6 - Boston 4 - Toronto 2

The Blue Jays took an early 2-0 lead in the 1st, led by Dee Gordon, who hit .429 in the series.  However, Boston chipped away with 1 in the bottom of the 1st, 1 in the 6th and then Mark Reynolds (3 home runs and 10 RBI's in the series) hit a walk off 2-run home run to send them to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Seattle Downs Oakland in Elimination Game

BOXSCORE: 2017 Seattle Mariners At 2017 Oakland A's                 9/18/2017
 
  Mariners           AB  R  H RBI AVG     A's                AB  R  H RBI AVG
  J.Pederson CF,RF    3  1  1  0 .181     E.Inciarte RF       2  0  0  0 .279  
J-M.Kepler RF         0  0  0  0 .237   C-J.Pirela PH         1  0  0  0 .258  
  E.Thames LF         3  1  1  2 .224     R.Madson P          0  0  0  0 .500  
H-R.Braun PH,LF       1  0  0  0 .244     B.Suter P           0  0  0  0 .000  
  N.Cruz RF           3  0  0  0 .276     B.Treinen P         0  0  0  0 .000  
I-B.Buxton CF         0  0  0  0 .276   K-D.Descalso PH       1  0  0  0 .118  
  B.Belt 1B           4  1  2  0 .264     J.Bell 1B           2  0  0  0 .244  
  A.Bregman 2B        4  0  1  0 .282   D-K.Morales PH,1B     2  0  0  0 .327  
  E.Longoria 3B       4  0  0  0 .203     E.Rosario LF,RF     1  0  0  0 .259  
  E.Andrus SS         3  0  1  1 .296   E-J.Schoop PH,2B      2  0  0  0 .259  
  R.Rivera C          3  0  0  0 .220     K.Seager 3B         3  0  0  0 .230  
  O.Despaigne P       2  0  0  0 .000     E.Sogard 2B         2  0  0  0 .247  
  C.Shreve P          1  0  0  0 .000   F-A.Rosario PH        1  0  0  0 .236  
  J.Kelly P           0  0  0  0 ----   G-M.Kemp LF           0  0  0  0 .248  
  A.Colome P          0  0  0  0 ----     Y.Molina C          3  0  1  0 .263  
                                          J.Bradley Jr CF     3  0  1  0 .228  
                                          A.Romine SS         3  0  1  0 .230  
                                          C.Carrasco P        1  0  0  0 .043  
                                        A-B.Powell PH         0  0  0  0 .330  
                                        B-J.Martinez PH,LF,RF 2  0  0  0 .305  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      31  3  6  3                 Totals      29  0  3  0
 
A-Pinch Hit For Carrasco In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Powell In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Inciarte In 6th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Bell In 6th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Rosario In 7th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Sogard In 7th Inning
G-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Rosario In 8th Inning
H-Pinch Hit For Thames In 8th Inning
I-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Cruz In 8th Inning
J-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Pederson In 8th Inning
K-Pinch Hit For Treinen In 9th Inning
 
Mariners........ 0 1 2  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  3  6  0
A's............. 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  3  0
 
Mariners (85-78)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
O.Despaigne WIN(5-3)      5       2   0   0   1   2   0   4.92
C.Shreve HOLD(3rd)        1 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   1.16
J.Kelly HOLD(7th)         1 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   1.40
A.Colome SAVE(39th)       1       0   0   0   0   2   0   2.97
Totals                    9       3   0   0   1   5   0
 
A's (84-79)              IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
C.Carrasco LOSS(12-13)    6       6   3   3   0   7   1   3.87
R.Madson                  1       0   0   0   0   0   0   1.67
B.Suter                   1       0   0   0   0   1   0   4.12
B.Treinen                 1       0   0   0   0   0   0   3.39
Totals                    9       6   3   3   0   8   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 14,480 DATE- Wednesday, September 18th 2017 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Dana Demuth, Doug Eddings, Charlie Reliford, Mark Carlson
T- 2:08
LEFT ON BASE- Mariners: 4  A's: 3
DOUBLE PLAYS- Mariners: 0  A's: 1
DOUBLES- B.Belt-2(33rd)
HOME RUNS- E.Thames(23rd)
RBIs- E.Thames-2(74th), E.Andrus(72nd)
CAUGHT STEALING- A.Bregman, J.Bradley Jr
SACRIFICE FLIES- E.Andrus
WALKS- E.Rosario
HIT BY PITCH- J.Pederson, N.Cruz
STRIKE OUTS- E.Thames-2, N.Cruz, B.Belt, E.Longoria, R.Rivera-2, O.Despaigne,
             E.Inciarte, D.Descalso, J.Schoop, J.Bradley Jr, J.Martinez
GIDP- N.Cruz
RLISP 2-out- E.Andrus
TEAM RISP- Mariners: 1 for 5  A's: 0 for 0
 
In a game for the baseball purist, Odrisamer Despaigne(5-3) and Carlos
Carrasco(12-13) squared off in a tense pitching duel, Seattle Mariners
finally emerged victorious over Oakland A's, 3 to 0.
 
Despaigne delivered a fine performance for Seattle.  He went 5 innings
allowing 2 hits and 1 walk lowering his ERA from 5.44 to 4.92.  The pitchers
took over after the 3rd inning as neither team was able to score again.
 
Despaigne got help from Alex Colome who earned his 39th save.

Playoff Seedings

Listed below are our playoff seedings:

Division Winners

1-San Francisco 122-40

2-Chicago 97-65

3-Boston 96-66

4-Los Angeles 95-67 (10-8 vs. Toronto in Division tiebreaker)

Wild Card Spots

5-Miami 99-63

6-Toronto 95-67

7-St. Louis 90-72

8-Oakland or Seattle 84-78