The Surprise Zombies (113-49) kept their playoff run alive by defeating Brooklyn in the FL Wild Card, which they lost the last 2 seasons.  That earned them a date with the defending ARBA champion Camden Lumberjacks (107-55).  That still seems weird to say.  Did we really let Travis finally win one?  

Game 1: Corey Kluber vs. German Marquez

Two of the main series themes (missed X-plays and early scoring) surfaced in the bottom of the 1st.  Holt struck out, but reached on a WP on Catcher X.  Inevitably, that sparked a 3-run inning for Camden.  Arenado homered in the 4th and Marquez cruised into the 5th with a big 4-run lead.  However, he quickly ran into trouble, loading the bases with 1 out.  Camden brought in LOOGY Aroldis Chapman to face Votto and he walked in a run.  Surprise PH with Turner and Camden countered with Ottavino, who got the big 2nd out.  However, Aaron Hicks crushed his next pitch for a grand slam, stunning the Camden crowd into silence.  Just like that, SUR led 5-4!  That wouldn't last long as Yelich homered in the 5th to tie the game.  It was still tied in the 7th with Kluber still pitching for the Zombies until Acuna's 1-out double.  LOOGY Montgomery showed Chapman how it's done by striking out Yelich, but then Will Smith served up an RBI double to Davis.  Surprise threatened with a single and walk in 8th, but Kimbrel struck out the last 4 batters to end it.  Whew!  Settle in, it's going to be that kind of series.  CMD 6-5

Game 2: Rick Porcello vs. James Taillon

Here's that theme again. The game started with a Machado error that led to a Zombie run, although Turner's DP made sure that was all. Machado reached on a Turner error in the 2nd that set up a HR by Bell to give CMD the lead.  Torres homered in the 4th to tie the game and Camden made the first of their many pitching changes to retire the dangerous Freddy Galvis.  With 2 outs in the 5th, the very hot Hicks tripled and scored on a Moronta WP.  The Zombies put this one away with a few late runs, feeling safe enough to trust Shawn Kelley in the 9th.  With the travel day coming up, Camden used 11 pitchers!  Cain and Hicks each had 4 hits, while their teammates combined for 3 hits.  SUR 6-2 

Game 3: Noah Syndergaard vs. Miles Mikolas

That's a classic match-up of names, but didn't result in a great pitching match-up.  Yelich singled with 2 outs in the 1st and Davis crushed a long HR for Camden.  Surprise had 6 baserunners in the first 2 innings, but somehow only scored 1 run.  Another Turner DP was one key factor.  Mikolas got into trouble again in the 3rd, thanks in part to some bad luck on splits.  Yelich doubled home Acuna and then Davis homered again.  Surprise battled back to chase Thor with a big 2-out rally in the 5th.  Hicks drove in Cain again and even Turner got a hit to keep hope alive.  LOOGY Chapman came in to face RH Marte, who doubled!  One run scored easily and Turner had a 75% chance to score, but was thrown out to end the inning!  Ouch, that was a big play.  Surprise never seriously threatened after that and Camden added an insurance run.  Just like Game 1, Ottavino got the win and Kimbrel the save.  CMD 6-3

Game 4:  German Marquez vs. Corey Kluber

Kluber was pumped up for this game, striking out 6 of the first 7 batters. Votto was 0 for the series before his leadoff double, which Martini followed with an RBI double.  Would the team that scored in the 1st win again?  Marquez settled down, but was pulled after a leadoff single in the 5th with Freddy coming up.  Hicks had gone cold and the Zombies went 1-8 with scoring position to remain stuck on 1 run.  It looked like that would come back to haunt them in the 6th when CMD chased Kluber with 2 singles.  LOOGY Montgomery did his job again and Smith got the mighty Davis to hit into a huge DP.  The Zombies turned to Treinen to get the last 7 out and he did just that, finishing it off by striking out the side in 9th.  SUR 1-0

Game 5: Reynaldo Lopez vs. Rick Porcello 

Gold Glove CF Lorenzo Cain dropped a Holt fly ball to start the game and he scored, so you should already know how this game turned out.  The Zombies did strike back with a 2-run HR by Marte in the 2nd, but Camden erased that lead with yet another Davis 2-run HR in the 4th.  Neither offense could do a damn thing against the parade of relievers.  6 Zombie pitchers combined for 5 scoreless IP, allowing only a walk.  The Camden bullpen was even better with 5 2/3 perfect IP!  CMD 3-2

Now the series headed back to Camden with the Lumberjacks up 3-2.  Would a travel day help to wake up the slumbering bats? 

Game 6: Miles Mikolas vs. James Taillon

For the first time in this series, neither team scored in the 1^st inning!  Camden threatened in the 2^nd, but Cervelli blocked the plate to thwart an attempted sac fly.  Surprise got on the board with 2 outs in the 3^rd on a shocking HR by the slumping Joey Votto!  That was a 1 on the 1-2 chance, by the way.  Taillon ran into more trouble in the 4^th and Camden called on Chapman with 2 on and no outs.  He responded to the challenge by walking the PH and then walking Cervelli to score a run.  Strong!  Martes groundout scored another run, but Ottavino and Stanek prevented any further damage.  Mikolas made it into the 7^th with a shutout, but then ran into big trouble.  Torres misplayed a single and Davis singled with 1 out.  Surprise turned to Jeffress, who served up RBI singles to Bell and Machado. (Im sure at least one of those was dubious, perhaps even another missed x-play, but Netplay doesnt provide enough evidence.)  Anyway, Jeffress got a big strikeout and Strop finally appeared to strike out Arenado.  So that SUR lead was down to 3-2 heading into the 8^th.  Watson got 2 outs, but walked Cervelli.  ROOGY Nix didnt do his one job, as Torres singled to extend the inning. Camdens Fear of Freddy had become a running theme by this point and Woodruff was summoned to escape the jam.  Instead, Freddy delivered a huge RBI single!  Things got even weirder after that when Acuna brutally misplayed Vottos fly ball into a double and error that scored 3 runs!  Feeling relatively secure with a 7-2 lead, Surprise let Lyles and Cole pitch.  Cole gave up a couple hits in the 9^th, but rallied to get 2 strikeouts before Arenado crushed a 3-run HR!  Uh-oh!  Never mind, Treinen retired Wieters for the 1-out save. Were going to Game 7! SUR 7-5

Game 7: Corey Kluber vs. German Marquez

In the 1^st inning, Surprise failed to score on 2 hits and Yelich hit a solo HR.  The team that scored first had won every game in this series, but we decided to keep playing anyway.  Marquez had struck out 4 straight, but then Hicks singled in 4^th and CMD sent in the lefty Grace.  SUR countered with Jose Bam-Bam Briceno, who blasted a 2-run pinch homer! Moronta walked his only batter and Watson walked his 1^st, but escaped with a pair of Ks.  Kluber had retired 11 straight since the HR, but loaded the bases in 5^th on 2 walks and a single, forcing Treinen to take over.  After a big K, Wieters hit a grounder to GG SS Galvis who failed to turn the DP!  Instead, Camden scored the tying run.  It was still tied in the 7^th when Cain led off with a triple.  After 1 out, Freddy Galvis stepped to the plate, eager to atone.  Camden didnt dare to let Syndergaard face him in this situation, calling on Stanek instead.  Unimpressed, Freddy delivered a huge RBI single!  Could SUR hold this lead and make Freddy an unlikely hero?  In the 7^th, Treinen was still pitching and Bell led off with a double, but remained on 2^nd after outs.  Could Wieters deliver again?  He found a split single and Bell tried to score despite the low odds of success.  The throw was late and he scored to tie the game!  Surprise threatened again in the 8^th.  Pearce singled and PR Rosario tried to get Surprises 9^th steal, but instead it was their first caught stealing!  That mistake loomed large when a walk, WP and single put runners on 2^nd and 3^rd.  However, Kimbrel got a huge strikeout of PH Fernandez to end the inning.  With 1 out in the bottom of the 9^th, Bell drew a walk from Will Smith.  Strop took over and got a Catcher X that should have been an easy out with McCann (c-2, pb-1) behind the plate.  Instead, it got away for a very unlikely passed ball!  Given another chance, Arenado delivered a huge single and PR Lugo raced home to win the series for Camdenbut he was thrown out at home!  Gallo drew a walk to give Wieters yet another chance to be a hero.  He lined out this time and we went to extra innings in Game 7!  Camden threatened to end it again in the 10^th.  Yelich doubled with 1 out and advanced on a fly ball, then Davis walked to tire Strop. After struggling most of the series, Machado could have played the hero, but Kelley struck him out!  Woodruff got the 1^st out in the 11^th, but then was replaced by Reynaldo Lopez, the 13^th Camden pitcher in this game!  Cain greeted him with a double and then advanced on a wild pitch.  This is where Surprise greatly regretted pinch hitting for Cervelli in the 8^th, because now they had to allow James McCann to bat in this huge moment.  McCann mostly served as a defensive replacement during the regular season with a .405 OPS in 76 PA.  Of course, he rolled the one HR chance on his card vs. RHP and delivered a 2-run blast that will ensure he never has to buy a drink again in Surprise.  It got uglier for Lopez and Camden as the Zombies loaded the bases with an E-3 and 2 walks, then Pearce singled home 2 runs.  Kelley finished off the demoralized Lumberjacks in the 9^th.  SUR 7-3 (11)    

Wow!  That was obviously a wild series that could easily have gone either way.  Congratulations to Travis on another great season.  We actually played the entire series in one day with a break between games 4 and 5, so that was quite a ride!

Overall, SUR outscored CMD by 31-25, although CMD had the 9-6 edge in HR.  The Zombie bullpen was mostly terrific.  Cole allowed 4 ER in 2 1/3 IP and Treinen gave up 1 in 8 dominant IP.  The rest combined for 15 scoreless IP. The starters werent as good, but kept us in the games at least. 

As for CMD, Ottavino was 3-0 and allowed only 1 run in his 8 IP.  Marquez had a 3.97 ERA, but only pitched 11.1 IP across 3 GS.  Chapman and others had some ugly moments to help the Zombies win close games. 

The mighty CMD offense only hit .191/.235/.343 despite great performances from Yelich, Bell, and Davis.  Arenado was okay, but ht rest were terrible.  Big acquisition Manny Machado was 2-27!

Surprise wasnt much better, hitting .225/.311/.342.  They were led by OF Aaron Hicks (.357, 7 RBI, 4 BB) and Lorenzo Cain (.333, 3 SB).  A bunch of part-timers with 10 PA or less were the only others to hit > .200.  Votto was only 3-29, but his hits were crucial to the wins in Games 4 and 6. 

Okay, Im finally done talking about this.  Is anyone still reading at this point?  Bring on those hated Santa Fe Gecko Lizards for another bloodbath!!!