Happy Thanksgiving!Although its not exactly baseball weather now, theres still some unfinished business in the 2014 ARBA playoffs.SUR and BRK both dispatched their FLDS opponents in 5 games to bring about this FL Central showdown.SUR easily won the division by 24 games and won 11 of 18 head-to-head games.However, anything can happen in the playoffs.BRK would be without their starting catcher (Ellis) until game 6, while SUR SS Escobar would miss games 1 and 2.Okay, on to the action!
G1: Cliff Lee (20-6, 3.03 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (14-9, 3.23)
The Zombies had to deal with another lefty ace in Lee, while hoping that Greinke would finally start living up to the hype and the salary.He did just that with an effectively wild (6 walks) approach that held BRK without a hit until Gonzalez misplayed a grounder in the 8th.Lee pitched pretty well also, but Gonzalez drove home a run in the 5th and BRK pulled Lee after a leadoff single in the 6th.Tazawa was terrible and eventually served up a 3-run HR to Rosario that made it 4-0.SUR added solo HR by Gonzalez and Marte in the 7th to put it away.Greinke did lose his no-hitter, but Thielbar preserved the shutout.SUR 6-0
G2: Ubaldo Jimenez (15-7, 3.80 ERA) vs. Mark Buehrle (22-3, 2.15 ERA)
Crafty veteran Buehrle didnt fool the Blow Monkeys very much in this one.Trout started the game with a home run and drew an RBI walk with 2 outs in the 2nd. Jimenez fell apart in the 2nd as SUR blasted him for 4 runs, including a 2-run HR by Gonzalez.Quentin delivered a big 2-run single with 2 outs in the 5th to bring BRK within a run.However, Gonzalez struck again in the 6th and the Zombie bullpen did their job.SUR 7-4
G3: Marco Estrada (15-3, 3.22 ERA) vs. Bronson Arroyo (13-11, 3.72 ERA)
Estrada was terrific in the FLDS, could he keep the magic going or would a return home help BRK turn the series around?Yeah, pretty much the first one.He went 8 innings and only allowed one run.The slumping Donaldson homered to draw 1st blood and SUR led 2-1 when Arroyo walked the bases loaded with no outs in the 5th.However, Doolittle miraculously escaped that jam to keep it close.Venable took him deep to start the 6th and SUR added an insurance run in the 8th. BRK rallied in the 9th, bringing the tying run to the plate with 1 out, but Cishek closed it out.SUR 4-1
G4: Jonathan Niese (15-6, 2.91 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (20-6, 3.03 ERA)
One win away from the World Series, Surprise handed the ball to Niese for the 1st time since the regular season.Perhaps he was a little rusty.After 2 outs, he allowed a walk, 2 singles, another walk and then a 3-run double to Lake!Just like that, BRK led 4-0.Ross pitched 4 strong innings of relief, although Trout did hit a solo HR.Gee, maybe Ross should have started?Meanwhile, Lee frustrated the Zombies for 4 innings, leaving the bases loaded in the 4th.Even more frustrating, that last out injured Rosario for 6 days.SUR loaded the bases again to start the 5th and Johnson took over.PH Carp doubled (just missing HR) to bring home 2 runs, but Bastardo struck out Nava to strand 3 more baserunners.Venable hit a solo HR in the 6th and Donaldson added another in the 7th, cutting the BRK lead to 5-4.Marte led off the 9th with a double, moved to 3rd on a fly ball on scored on another one to tie the game!Extra innings?Well, Coleman retired Reyes and Trout easily, but then somehow allowed a single to Darwin Barney!SUR debated whether to let him face the lefty Belt, but left him in there.Oops!Belt tripled to win the game for BRK and extend the series!BRK 6-5
G5: Mark Buehrle (22-3, 2.15 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (8-5, 3.41 ERA)
Although Greinke was available, SUR went back to the veteran lefty while BRK called on their young flamethrower.BRK scored in the 2nd, but SUR quickly responded to go up 2-1 in the 3rd.Buehrle couldnt hold the lead and BRK chased him in the 5th, going up 4-2.SUR made it a 1-run game in the 6th when Carp tripled (!) and scored on a sac fly.However, the Zombies kept missing HR chances and leaving runners on base.Doolittle took over with 1 out in the 7th and mowed down 6 batters before Parnell finished it off.Ugh.BRK 4-3
So this series would move back to Surprise after all...
The Zombies led this series 3-0, but looked very vulnerable after 2 losses.Could they get back to winning at home or would this be another epic playoff failure for the franchise?No pressure, guys!
G6: Ubaldo Jimenez (15-7, 3.80 ERA) vs. Tyson Ross (16-0, 1.70 ERA)
BRK wasted very little time, jumping out to another early lead with a 2-out 3-run blast by Encarnacion!Big Double-E went deep again in the 4th and it looked like the Zombies would need to beat Lee in G7 to reach the World Series.Yikes!However, SUR struck back in the 4th with a 2-run HR from Van Slyke and chased Jimenez with a couple baserunners.Johnson escaped that jam, but made his own mess in the 5th.Kottaras took him deep and then Marte tripled.Marte scored on a Raburn SF to tie the game at 4!Doolittle had mostly dominated the Zombies, but allowed a couple singles with 1 out in the 6th.That brought up the only healthy SUR catcher, LH Kottaras, who had almost no chance of success against the LH Doolittle.Defying the odds, Kottaras found a very unlikely double and brought home 2 runs!Tazawa allowed another run to give SUR a 7-4 lead.BRK took advantage of Kottaras catching to score a run in the 7th, but Marte homered in the 8th.With Cishek pitching in the 9th, Encarnacion drew a 1-out walk, but ARod hit into a DP to end the series.Whew!SUR 8-5
SUR looked dominant at first, but BRK put up quite a fight. So I'm relieved that SUR escaped with a 4-2 series win. The best FLCS MVP candidates are probably Gonzalez (.333, 3 HR, 6 RBI), Thielbar (1-0, 0 ERA, 6 IP in 5 G), or Cishek (0 ERA, 3 saves).The most successful SUR batters didnt play very much, due to injury or managerial incompetence.SUR outhomered BRK 12-4 in the series, which certainly helped, as did BRK hitting only .184.I should mention that Trout walked 10 times in 6 games, while also hitting 5-16 with 2 HR.EE was huge in G6, but very quiet otherwise.Punto and Barney were a combined 5-9 with a walk.BRK got very little from Pagan, Reyes, Kinsler, McLouth and especially Gonzalez (0-15!).Also, their 3-headed catcher was 0-13.
Okay, bring on the Continental League champion!Hopefully the World Series will take place before the end of the year.Is there any news on NMO@HAR?COV has been waiting a very long time for an opponent in the CLCS. Perhaps this news will spark some movement on that front...
