Fairly uneventful...for HAR...SHI jumped out early with 2 homeruns off Lynn by Ramirez and Casilla then never looked back. Devers added a homerun late for SHI and the unstoppable Billy Hamilton hit one of Maeda. Maeda cruised through 8 innings. SHI 8-1
Game 2 - Kim vs Merryweather
Merryweather couldn't record and out and HAR jumped up early 4-0. SHI couldn't put much together and Ozuna would add a homerun off Gonzales later in the game to cushion the lead. HAR 9-2
Game 3 - Gonzales vs Curtiss
Gonzales has shut HAR down on several occasions but not this time, Stassi and Harper hit early homeruns to give HAR the lead. SHI would score 1 in the 6th off a Bichette rbi but that's as close as they would get. HAR scored 2 insurance runs in the 8th. HAR 5-1
Game 4 - Clippard vs Lynn
Not much to see here, SHI scored 1 run in the first on a Munoz rbi and that would be all they needed. HAR kept it close but couldn't get on the board. SHI 1-0
Game 5 - Maeda vs Fairbanks
Looking bleak for HAR with a tired bullpen and Maeda on the mound. SHI jumped out early in the 1st with 2 runs. Harper would get HAR on the board with a solo shot in the 4th, HAR tacked on another run in the 5th. McNeil came through with the big blow in the 6th chasing Maeda after giving up 5 runs. Big innings from Diaz, Zimmer, and Bass would secure the HAR victory. HAR 5-2
Game 6 - Kim vs Merryweather
Much different Merryweather this time around as he gave SHI 3 scoreless innings. Homeruns by Gurriel and Soto gave SHI an early lead they wouldn't relinquish. SHI 4-1
Game 7 - Lynn vs Gonzales
Zeroes early but HAR finally got to the SHI bullpen going up 3-0. Casilla added a solo shot to put SHI on the board but that's as close as they would get. HAR added 3 late insurance runs and held off SHI. HAR 6-1
Congrats to Eric on a good season and still owning the head to head record over me 10 to 1....yes you read that right, I finally beat Eric on my 11th try, yes this is my first win EVER vs Eric, yes why I am happy I am also demoralized and ashamed to know that I am 1 for 11 vs Eric! And this does not ease the pain of losing the WS to him last year in 7 games....just sayin!
Congratulations to Travis for finally slaying the Evil Dragon! Even though the dragon was me in this case. I knew that most of my championships went through one or both of his teams, but didn't realize our head-to-head record was quite that extreme until he shared it. This was an odd series with surprisingly little drama for a 7-game series. The Shiner offense scored 6.49 runs per game this season and put up 8 runs in the G1 win, but their bats then went MIA. Harmony Grove's endless parade of arms held them to only 11 runs in the other 6 games, so it was kind of impressive that Shiner still won 2 of those.
Shiner's LVP was definitely Jose Ramirez, who had a great season overall, but fell into a late season slump against TER and never recovered. In this series he "hit" only .143/.172/.321 for a brutal .494 OPS. As a bonus he made a brutal SI+E that led to 3 runs in the 5-2 G5 loss. However, the team "hit" only .194/.300/.329 so there weren't really many bright spots. The HAR offense was almost as bad with a .198/.275/.338 line. On the other hand, the HAR defense was incredible, missing only 1 X-play in 36 tries! Their catchers also caught 4 of the 7 runners who tried to steal, twice on a 1-19 chance. So yeah, luck was not my friend in this series, but I can't really complain after my recent run of playoff success.
Travis has a good shot to improve his record against me to 2-10 soon as Camden is certainly favored against WC Surprise. However, that's far from a guarantee, so we'll just have to see how the dice fall. Hey, wouldn't this be a great time to make a trade with Shiner? They are eager to bounce back in 2022 and the phone lines are open!
