Game 1, SF @ HAR Paxton vs. Strasburg

Harmony Grove jumps out to a quick lead on Giancarlo Stantons 2-run homer in the bottom of the first.  They then increase that lead to 3-0 on Paxtons wild pitch in the third.  San Francisco gets on the board and cuts the lead to 3-1 in the 4^th on Storys solo shot, but the Toppers strike back in the bottom of the fifth on Stantons second 2-run homer of the game, making it a 5-1 HAR lead.  A Yasmani Grandal walk with the bases loaded cuts the lead to 5-2 in the 6^th, but again, Harmony Grove strikes right back in the 7^th on back-to-back solo homers by Carlos Santana and Bryce Harper, finishing off the 7-2 Harmony Grove win.  The Toppers slugged 4 homers in the game to back a solid start by Strasburg (2 ERs in 5+ innings), while Paxton took the loss with 5 earned runs allowed in 6 innings of work.

Game 2, SF @ HAR Gant vs. Rodriguez

San Francisco strikes first with a single run in the top of the second on Storys solo homer, but HAR takes the lead in the 3^rd on Lindors 2-run shot.  The Seawolves tie it up at three in the 4^th on a Rizzo solo blast, then take the lead in the 6^th when Rizzo again leaves the year with a 3-run homer, putting SF up 5-2.  Harmony Groves cuts the lead to 5-3 on Rowdy Tellezs RBI single in the 6th, but neither team would score another run as SF evens up the series with a 5-3 win.  John Gants was solid in the win for SF, allowing 2 hits and 2 earned runs over 5+ innings, while Knebel picked up the save with a scoreless 9^th.  Derek Rodriguez took the loss for HAR, giving up 4 earned runs over 5 innings.  Of note: the two teams have combined for 17 runs in the first two games, with 14 of those runs being scored via the long ball, as the two teams have combined for 9 homers.

Game 3, HAR @ SF Kennedy vs. Minor

Harmony Grove wastes no time cracking the scoreboard with Lindors two-run double in the top of the first, then extends the lead to 3-0 on Stantons solo homer in the 4^th.  Ian Kennedy is masterful, putting up 6 hitless innings before Blackmon spoils the no-hit bid with a two-out double, but is stranded.  Stanton tacks on another run in the 8^th on a sac fly and the Toppers take game three by the score of 4-0.  The story here is Ian Kennedy, with 6+ innings of sublime scoreless work, allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk, and striking out 7.  Minor took the loss for the Seawolves with 3 earned runs allowed over 5 innings.

Game 4, HAR @ SF Arrieta vs. Wacha

The game was scoreless into the top of the 3^rd when a Wacha wild pitch scored Carlos Santana for the games first run, putting Harmony Grove up 1-0.  The lack of offense for the potent SF lineup continued as the Seawolves scoreless streak reached 18 straight innings into the bottom of the 7^th, still trailing 1-0.  That streak ended when a Juan Lagares sac fly scored pinch-runner Charlie Tilson to tie the game at 1-1.  Travis Nostradamus Leopold had been predicting over the last several innings that this game was going to be a walk-off HR win for SF, and the stage was set as the game remained tied into the bottom of the 9^th.  Not wanting to make Travis a liar, Robinson Cano connected off Hector Rendon for the two-out, solo walkoff homer to give SF the 2-1 win to even up the series.  Brandon Morrow got a single out for the victory, while Rondon took the loss.  In true Travis fashion, HAR starter Jake Arrieta went 3+ scoreless innings to start the game and a parade of 8 relievers followed.  Michael Wacha pitched well for SF, giving up just 3 hits and a run over 6 innings.

Game 5, HAR @ SF Strasburg vs. Paxton

The pitching matchup is a repeat of game one in this pivotal game five, as HAR would also repeat with a strong opening inning.  The Toppers opened with a walk, error on Story, run-scoring single (Lindor), and then the 3-run homer by the mercurial Stanton, and HAR led 4-0 before many in the crowd had yet to sit down with their first beer.  SF would try to claw back in the game slowly with a single run in the 2^nd (Alen Hanson single) and a single run in the 3^rd (Rizzo single) to cut the deficit to 4-2.  In the top of the 5^th, Stanton would strike again with a run-scoring double to increase the HAR lead to 5-2.  SF would chase Strasburg in the bottom of the 7^th with Storys 2-run homer, and Cano would provide another big hit with a double off Derek Rodriguez to tie the game at 5 apiece.  SF squandered two scoring chances in the 8^th and 9^th, and off to extra innings we go.  HAR went down in order in the top of the 10^th, and in the bottom half, Rodriguez set down the first two Seawolves in order until Pham walked.  Lagares then rolled a 3-5 and got the Triple 1-12 pull to score Pham and give SF their second straight walkoff win.  For the second straight game, Morrow got a single out to earn the win, while Rodriguez took his second loss of the series.

Game 6, SF @ HAR Gant vs. Castillo

In their bid to close out the series, the Seawolves felt pretty good after scoring two gift runs in the top of the first on a two-out error by Lindor followed by a Story homer.  But then..the bottom of the first happened.  It went walk, double, wp, RBI groundout, HR (Stanton..again), single, double, sac fly and throwing error.once the dust settled, HAR responded with a 5-run inning and led 5-2.  They put up two more in the 2^nd on a two-run homer by.you guessed it, Stanton, to increase the lead to 7-2, and rolled to the big 10-3 win to even the series at three and force a game seven.  It was a bullpen game for HAR, who used 10 pitchers in the game.  John Gant was destroyed by the 5-run first and took the loss for SF.

Game 7, SF @ HAR Minor vs. Rodriguez

San Francisco got on the board first with a single run in the opening frame on Rizzos two-out single, then added another run in the second inning on a Lagares two-out single and led 2-0.  Harmony Grove cut that lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the third on a Harper single that chased Mike Minor.  Seth Lugo then relieved and proceeded to put up 3+ innings of scoreless relief.  Meanwhile, the Toppers usual parade of relievers kept SF off the board and the score remained 2-1 into the top of the 8^th.  Ian Kennedy started the inning for HAR, who is remembered for the 7 shutout innings in game three.  However, that magic would not carry over as Story pulled a 1-5 HR for a huge insurance run for SF.  In the bottom of the 9^th, trailing by two, HAR would not go down easily.  SFs Brandon Morrow would give up a single, then two straight two-out walks to load the bases, putting the tying run at second and the series winning run on first.  SF reluctantly went to Corey Knebel, who walked in the tying and winning runs in last years LCS loss to EGR.  But lightning would not strike twice, as Knebel struck out Logan Forsyth to end the game and send the Seawolves to their first ARBA World Series appearance.  Lugo earned the win with 3+ innings of scoreless relief, while Dereck Rodriguez took the loss, his third loss of the series.

Traditionally, the MVP of a series goes to a standout player on the winning team, and Trevor Story would certainly be a solid choice with his 6 runs scored, 5 HRs, and 7 RBIs (but 3 errors).  However, Giancarlo Stantons heroics for HAR cannot go unrewarded.  He hit .348, and in 7 games, scored 7 runs, hit a ridiculous 6 HRs, and an even more ridiculous 13 RBIs!!

Gratz to Travis on a great season and an excellent series.  He managed impeccably, with his usual bullpen mastery.  Hes a great competitor and an even better sport.