Sewell (98-64) handily won the FL South by a 15-game margin over Many Glacier, led by CC Sabathia (22-6, 3.23), Paul Konerko (.301-38-115), Alex Rodriguez (.266-33-105), and a host of excellent part-time players. Santa Fe (114-48) managed the best record in the FL behind Jose Bautista (.294-71-173), the three-headed RH ace of Halladay, Wainwright, and Lincecum, and solid performances from Dan Uggla, David Wright, Colby Rasmus, and Big Papi Ortiz.
Game 1: Halladay vs Brett Myers
Sewell wasted no time showing that they came to play, starting the series with an Abreu single and a 2-run Manny Ramirez homer. The Tadpoles would go on to use and abuse Halladay, pounding him for 6 runs in the first three innings and ultimately driving him from the contest in the 8th after 15 hits and 9 runs, including 2 homers and 5 RBI for ARod. Santa Fe just couldn't keep up. SEW 9 SFE 4
Game 2: Adam Wainwright vs Sabathia
Quite the departure from the first game, as Santa Fe scored 2 on a Huff homer in the second inning and scratched out another in the 5th, while Wainwright shut down the Sewell offense for a 3-hit shutout. Halladay has to carry Wainwrights bags for the remainder of the series. SFE 3 SEW 0
Game 3: Lincecum vs Kris Medlen
The game was tied 1-1 in the 4th when ARod committed a two-our error with one man on. That was enough to destroy Medlen's fragile psyche, leading to 4 more SFE runs. Sewell fought back to cut the lead to 5-3 going into the 9th, when we discovered how much Rafael Furcal hates Carlos Villanueva, allowing 2 x-play singles that led to 5 additional runs to put the game away. SFE 10 SEW 3
Game 4: A rematch of Game 1, this one was much more even. The score was tied at 4 going into the ninth inning, with all the runs for both teams coming on homers (gotta love US Cellular Park). With 2 out in the top of the ninth, Villanueva allowed a double to slap-hitter Jason Bartlett, walked Pence, and after a lengthy conference on the mound missed his location to Uggla, resulting in a monstrous 3-run shot. SFE 7 SEW 4
Game 5: The Geckos were all over Sabathia early, blasting 3 solo homers in the top of the first and leaving the bases loaded in each of the first two innings. Meanwhile Wainwright, who threw a shutout in game 2, was on the same roll until ARod blasted a homer in the bottom of the 6th to make it 3-1. The teams traded more homers in the late innings, but Rivera eventually shut the door for his second save. SFE 7 SEW 4
Congrats to Kevin on a great season and building an excellent team in Sewell. In the end, Santa Fe prevailed behind great pitching from Wainwright and Lincecum and a ridiculous number of wind-aided homers (4 each from Wright and Uggla and 17 in total in 5 games). Wainwright was named MVP of the series for going 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA and 0.80 WHIP.
Bring on the winner of BTM/BRK!
__________________
Kevin
Date:
RE: Federal League Division Series, SEW vs SFE, Games 1-3
