A Cruz solo shot would put CMD on the board in the 1st. RDW would answer in the 2nd as a Gallo 2 out dropped fly ball opened the door for a Nottingham 2 run home run. CMD tied it up with 1 run in the 4th then took the lead with a Yelich 2 run blast in the 5th. CMD tacked on 3 runs in the 6th on hits from Seager and Acuna. RDW added 1 run in the 8th but that's as close as they would get. Lots if unearned runs in this one as Gallo had an error for CMD while Hill and Peralta had errors for RDW. CMD 7-3
Burnes vs Marquez
CMD would jump out early again with an Acuna lead off homerun. CMD then put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs before Burnes struck Moreland and Goldschmidt and got Machado to pop up to Lowe. RDW answered getting Marquez in trouble in the 2nd inning loading the bases with no outs. Marquez was able to get Nottingham to hit into the DP scoring a run but escaping with only 1 run allowed. CMD would retake the lead in the 3rd with a Moreland solo shot. Both teams would be scoreless until the 9th. CMD allowed Ramirez to pitch to Yaz in the 9th instead of going straight to their closer Hendriks and right on cue Yaz ties the game with a HR. RDW had chances to score in extra innings but just couldn't get the big hit. A Cruz ph lead off walk in the 12th and a two out missed x chance by 2 centerfielder Mullins would allow Machado to be the hero with a 2 out walkoff double. CMD 3-2
Keuchel vs Greinke
Acuna would get the game going again with a leadoff HR, then add 2 more runs in the 5th with another blast. Goldschmidt added a solo homerun in the 6th. Gallo added an insurance run in the 9th on a hit. Keuchel and bullpen would hold RDW scoreless as yet again they had chances to score but just couldn't come up with the big hit. CMD 5-0
Woodruff vs Castano
CMD would get on the board first with a solo run in the 3rd inning, aided by another missed x chance by 2 centerfielder Mullins. CMD would add another run off Castano in the 5th ending his evening. The score would remain 2-0 until the 8th when an Allard walk would eventually lead to another CMD run. With the lead CMD would turn to Anderson and Hendriks in the 7th hoping to close out the series. Anderson would get 2 outs in the 7th then Hendriks finished the inning. RDW wasn't done yet as Yaz took Hendriks deep in the 8th breaking up the shut out. That was as close as RDW would get as Hendriks settled down and finished out the game. CMD 3-1
Another great team put together by Rick, after playing both of his teams in the regular season I figured they would go far in the playoffs. Three big missed x chances by Mullins really changed the games and RDW just couldn't get the hit they needed with runners on base. As always, lots of fun playing Rick face to face, as can be seen by the number of pitchers and pinch hitters used in games, the strategy and back and forth moves are never lacking.
Now being 8-0 in the playoffs I'm sure strat will greet CMD with 4 straight losses in the WS...:)
Congratulations to Travis to building a great team in CMD and going to the World Series, it is well deserved. He's a really good guy and its always a pleasure playing against him, even the times when you lose....like this time.
Strat was not happy with me, as the dice rolls and a few big breaks just were not on my side. In losing four straight games, I never scored more than 3 runs (3, 2, 0, and 1 run in the four games), from a very solid offensive team. I present the following as evidence....
Freeman - 1 for 19 (.053) with 0 walks, 6 K's and 2 DP's...obviously no runs scored or RBI's the 2020 MVP
B.Lowe - 0 for 15 with 3 walks, 7 K's....no runs and no RBI's
C.Walker - 1 for 14 with 3 walks, 7 K's...no runs and no RBI's
JD Davis - 3 for 15 with 2 walks....no runs and no RBI's
Mullins hit leadoff and batted .417 but score 0 runs! That's because my #2 hitter (Davis), my #3 hitter (Freeman), and my #5 hitter (Lowe) were invisible in the series. As a team, we hit .179.....Not going to win in the playoffs with those numbers. The dice just hated me.
