Dodgers Advance by Defeating Philly in Six Games

 

The Los Angeles Dodgers eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.  A recap of the series:

GAME 1 - Dodgers 9, Phillies 0:  Jhoulys Chacin  tossed seven scoreless innings and homers by  Nimmo, Peralta and Cesar Hernandez led the Dodger attack.

GAME 2 - Phillies 2, Dodgers 0:  Corey Kluber fired a 4-hit/11-strikeout shutout in the opener.  Asdrubal Cabrera knocked in both runs.

GAME 3 - Phillies 5, Dodgers 1:  Mike Clevinger only allowed two hits and four walks in 7+ innings to get the win.  Catcher Elias Diaz hit a grand slam.

GAME 4 - Dodgers 4, Phillies 3 (14):  The turning point of the series.  Aaron Hicks drew a bases loaded walk for the winning run.  Winning pitcher Edwin Jackson pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and also hit a single in the 14th inning rally.

GAME 5 - Dodgers 5, Phillies 3:  Chacin won his second game of the series.  Aaron Hicks hit a 2-run homer for the deciding runs of the game.

GAME 6 - Dodgers 6, Phillies 0:  Mike Foltynewicz carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning and Aaron Hicks provided the offense again.  Hicks had three hits, knocked in a pair and hit his third homer of the series.

Aaron Hicks was the hitting star of the series batting .320 with 3HRs and 6 RBI's.  Jhoulys Chacin was 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 innings.  Elias Diaz hit 2 HRs for the Phillies.

#1 Seed Chisox Defeats Twins in Six Games

Kris Davis belted three home runs as Chicago moves on in a exciting  6 game series against Minnesota:

Game 1-  Snell Vs Severino

In a matchup of aces, twins jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after 4 innings led by a Bogaerts 2 out 2 rbi single. Leading into the 7th Snell had a no hitter going and Freddie Freeman ended that with a solo blast. Twins added 2 more in 9th and Snell pitched 8 innings and gave up only the 1 hit as Twins cruise to a 7-1 win to take a 1-0 lead.

Game 2-  Odorizzi Vs Wheeler

In game 2, it was the White Sox that jumped out to  a 6-0 lead after 4 and never really looked back.  Wheeler pitched 8 innings and gave up only 2 runs and Freddy Freeman led sox offense with 2 doubles and  2 RBI to tie the series as we are headed to target field.

Game 3- Manaea Vs J. Gray

In game 3, Sox again jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st lead by a 2 run double by Machado. Manaea dominated the Twins holding to 3 hits and 1 run in 7 2/3  Twins try to come back with 1 run in 7th and 8th led by a Pearce HR,  but Dominguez  strikes out the side in 9th to hold to 3-2 win for Pale Sox  and take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Game 4-  Bauer Vs Anderson

In an  exciting Game 4,   after 6th inning it was a 1-1 tie and in the top of  7th Davis hit his 2nd HR of the game to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 9th down 2-1, Twins need to rally Vs David Robinson to get win and they did just that led off by  a PH homer by Mazara  and  1 out Double for Rizzo to score Marte to win  3-2 and tie series up at 2 each.

Game 5- Snell Vs Severino

In a repeat matchup of game 1 but a much different game, Twins take a 2-1 lead after 4 inning led by solo HR by Muncie and Marte both pitchers pitched well but Snell struggled with control and 6 walks. In the top of the 6th  Yelish hit his 1st HR of series  a 2 run bomb that gave the Sox a 3-2 lead. But in the bottom of 8th, Severino gave up his 3rd homer of the game this one DH Palka and twins tie it up 3-3. Then for the next 8 innings, both teams would hold each scoreless with their bullpens. In the top of the 17th inning down to their last reliever,  Kris Davis hit his 3 HR of the series to put Sox ahead 5-3 as robertson would hold down the Twins for the win  and Sox take a 3-2 lead in series as they go back home.

Game 6-  Odorizzi Vs Wheeler

In a must win game for Twins, they jumped out to 3-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings but Sox fight back and tie game after 6 inning led by  a Machado  HR his 1st and he also had 4 hits in the game. In the bottom of 8th Twins bullpen imploded and Sox took advantage led by  a 3 run HR by Contreras and score 4 in inning and Twins try to come back but fall short  7-4 and White Sox take series 4-2.

Marlins Eliminate Redbirds in Six Games

Frankie Lindor batter .333 with a pair of homers and five ribbies as Miami downed St. Louis in a six game quarterfinal playoff series:

9/20 SLN  4  4  0  MMN  2  8  1      J.Degrom (1-0)        G.Cole (0-1)

 

Game 1, Degrom vs Cole was a great pitching matchup that didn’t disappoint. Cole was masterful scattering 8 hits and striking out 12 on 2 walks as he cruised to a 4 – 2 victory. The Marlins jumped out to an early 2 – 0 lead thanks to a Justin Upton tater. The Cards came right back the next inning to take the lead and never look back. Cards lead the series 1 – 0.

 

9/21 SLN  2  7  0  MMN  4  7  0      D.Price (1-0)         A.Nola (0-1)

 

Game 2, Nola vs Price was another good pitching matchup. Price outdueled Nola, throwing 7 good innings to pick up a 4 – 2 win with Sean Doolittle picking up a save. Juston Upton smashed his 2^nd dinger of the series. Series tied up 1 – 1.

 

9/23 MMN  4  8  0  SLN  2  7  1 10   S.Doolittle (1-0)     J.Pazos (0-1)

 

Game 3 was a well-pitched match that resulted in yet another 4 – 2 outcome. This time Miami’s Garrett Richard threw 5 shutout innings allowing 3 hits, no walks and 6 K’s to beat the Cards Newcomb who suffered from control issues. The Marlin offense was led by Arenado and Goldschmidt, who each homered. The Marlins go up 2 – 1 in the series.

 

9/24 MMN  8 10  0  SLN  1  4  0      M.Bumgarner (1-0)     J.Degrom (1-1)

 

Game 4 had the Cards coming back with Degrom on short rest with the Marlins going with Madison Bumgarner. What looked like it should be a pitchers’ duel turned out to be a bit of a drubbing as Degrom did not look good on short rest – he gave up 5 over 6 innings. Bumgarner cruised through the first 5 inning not giving up a hit. He threw 6 innings, giving up 3 hits and one run to pick up the victory – the fist game with a score other than 4 – 2. The Marlins offense consisted of 5 long balls – 2 by Goldschmidt, giving him 3 for the series; 1 by Justin Upton, his 3^rd of the series; and 1 by Arrenado and Encarnacion. The Marlins are up 3 – 1 in the series.

 

9/25 MMN  2  6  1  SLN  4  8  0      A.Bradley (1-0)       D.Castillo (0-1)

 

Game 5 features Cole going for the Marlins and Nola for the Cards. The theme of this series seemed to be 4 – 2, once again the final score in an exciting win for the Cards. Nola vs Cole didn’t disappoint, both pitchers were on but neither figured in the decision. The Cards jumped out 2 – 0 in the first, but the Marlins battled back with 1 in the top of the 2^nd and tied it up in the top of the 7^th when they chased Nola only to Diego Castillo give up 2 in the bottom of the 8^th to lose. Paul Dejong hit is second homer of the series for the Cards. Miami leads the series 3 – 2.

 

9/27 SLN  4  5  1  MMN  5  9  0      J.Hellickson (1-0)    C.Green (0-1)

 

Game 6 saw Jeremy Hellickson going for the Marlins and Dave Mengden for the Cards. It did not start well for Hellickson as he gave up 4 in the first inning, including Dejong’s 3^rd long ball of the series. Miami stuck with Hellickson and he didn’t let them down. He gave up nothing over the next 6 innings to finish strong and pick up the win thanks to a pair of homers by Francisco Lindor and another by Wilson Ramos, which gave the Marlins a 5 – 4 lead. Sean Doolittle held the lead and picked up the save, his 2^nd of the series.  The Marlins win the series 4 - 2.

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.