Travis and I finally found time to get the CL Championship games played.
Elysian had two injuries carrying over from the first series. Ryan Ludwick would miss game one and Koyie Hill would not return until the 3rd game.
Game 1 - Josh Beckett vs Hideki Kuroda Game was scoreless for the first 3 innings. Top of the 4th starts with singles by Braun and Hunter followed by a double by McGehee. Runner on first holds at third. No outs. Bruce doubles scoring Hunter and McGehee. Pena then singles to put runners on the corners. Travis counters with Mike Adams to stop the bleeding. Schumaker grounds out scoring Bruce. Polanco then takes Adams deep for a 2 run homer making it 6 runs in the inning. Two singles later Adams is knocked out of the game and Nathan comes in to get the final out. Harmoney Grove gets one back in the 5th on an Upton ground out to score Victorino. In the 6th Torii Hunter swings wildly at a pitch and tweaks an oblique, putting him out for remainder of the series. With Ludwick unable to play, McGehee was forced to move to LF bringing in Geoff Blum to play 3B. Harmony Grove managed to squeak out two runs in the 7th and Elysian countered with one more in the 8th. The decisive inning was the big 6 runs in the 5th. Elysian wins game one 7-3 on the road.
Game 2 - AJ Burnett vs Roy Oswalt Harmony Grove draws first blood with 2 runs in the 3rd on singles by Victorino and Bartlett to put runners on the corners. Bartlett stole second and a wild pitch and passed ball later two runs have scored. Meanwhile, Roy O is perfect thru 5, and gives up the first hit in the 6th. Harmony Grove plates a 3rd run on a two out double by A Ramirez in the 7th. Matsui closes out the scoring with a solo shot in the 8th. Roy O finishes off the complete game shutout allowing only 2 hits. Harmony Grove wins game 2 by 4-0 score. Aaron Rowand was hurt while swinging on a lineout in the top of the 4th. Interestingly enough, another CF'er will not see any more action this series. Series tied 1-1. Heading to the Elysian Fields homer dome for game three.
game 3 - Chad Billingsley vs Chris Carpenter After a ground out, Elysian starts the first inning with a Polanco single, Hanley walk, Cabrera single that loads the bases. Braun singles in Polanco and Ludwick hits a SF double play scoring Hanley with Cabrera getting thorwn out trying to advance to third. Would 2 runs be enough for Carp? Braun gets a solo shot to lead off the fourth and Diaz singles in Ludwick to get a second run in the inning. Bruce sends a 2 run shot to left field in the 6th. Harmony Grove never really threatens and Carp finishes with an 8 hit complete game shutout. Elysian wins the game 6-0.
game 4 - Rich Harden vs Felix Hernandez Elysian Fields drew first blood jumping out to an early lead in the first inning on a solo shot by Hanley Ramirez. In the 4th, Cabrera hits a 2 run shot followed by a Braun walk, Ludwick hit batsmen, McGehee single with a Nick Johnson error allowing Braun to score. Ground outs by Bruce and Diaz plate 2 more runs and Elysian takes a 6-0 lead. HG gets one back in the 6th on a single and triple by A Ramirez and Victorino. A solo shot by McGehee in the 8th closes out the scoring and Eysian wins the game 7-1. King Felix thows a complete game 9 hitter and Elsyian leads the series 3-1.
Elysian loses Ludwick for 2 games on the HBP in the 4th. With both Ludwick and Hunter out for game 5, McGehee will be forced to start in LF with Blum at 3b.
game 5 - Hideki Kuroda vs Josh Beckett rematch Game is scoreless thru 2 innings. Upton leads off the 3rd with a triple and scores on a Bartlett single. Bartlett steals second and scores on a Nick Johnson single. Score stays 2-0 until Bruce leads off the 5th with a solo shot to make the score 2-1. Bruce then leads off the 7th with another solo shot to tie it at 2-2. Hanley starts the 8th with a solo shot and Elsyian takes the lead 3-2. Beckett manages to hold the 3-2 lead and finishes with a complete game win to finish out the series. Elysian wins the series 4-1.
Elysian outscores Harmony Grove 23-10. Elysian outhomers HG 9-1. HG only hits .234 with a 4.50 era while Elysian hits .271 with 1.84 era. Elysian starting pitchers get 3 complete game wins allowing only 4 runs, 3 earned. Elsyian gets to that vaunted HG bullpen scoring 7 runs off them in 18.1 innings. Mike Adams, arguably the best relief card in the game, appeared in 3 games pitching 6.2 innings and giving up 6 hits, 3 walks, 3 runs, and 2 homers.
All in all it was a great series for Elysian and some really cold dice for the Grove.
On to Elysian's first ever WS appearance. Better be good, because the GM is already tearing down the team. Maybe they ought to move to Florida and rename themselves the Marlins.
Congrats to Jeff on building a great team and Gary on being a great manager. There is no doubt the best team won. Non cold Harmony Grove dice would have only delayed the inevitable.
Should be a good WS with two new teams making their first appearance playing for the championship!