Lynn put up zeros through 4.2 innings before he would turn the game over to the bullpen and Wainwright put up zeros until the 6th when a Correa single and Stassi double plated a run. Surprisingly this would be the only run scored in the game (which would become a recurring theme in this series of few runs). HAR 1-0
Game 2: Kim vs Manoah
Manoah was strong as he would be in both his starts, but HAR's bullpen matched him and the game was scoreless through 9 innings. HAR looked to end the madness with Correa and Zunino singles in the 14th followed by a Diaz SF. Bottom of the 14th it looked like HAR would close this out, with a tired bullpen. A Devers flyout and Stanton K had SHI on the brink but Ramirez kept the game alive with a double and back up catcher Chirinos tied it up with a 2 out double. On to the 15th. In the 17th a walk to Marte and Bichette followed by a Gurriel K and Devers GO would put HAR down to their last pitcher. In comes Cueto to face Stanton with two outs, out goes the ball to give SHI the 3 run walk off HR in 17 innings. SHI 4-1
Game 3: Kopech vs Stammen
This game wouldn't be nearly as long...or exciting. A Marte HBP followed by a stolen base and Soto single would give SHI the lead in the 1st inning. Doubles by Ramirez and Stanton in the 4th tacked on another run. SHI would add three more runs in the 5th off Gallegos on hits by Gurriel, Cron, Stanton, and Wong. HAR would finally get on the board in the 9th with a meaningless run. SHI 5-1
Game 4: Wainwright vs Weaver
HAR would strike first in the 1st this time as a Martinez single and Harper walk followed by a Wainwright error set the stage for a Lopez SF. SHI would answer in the top of the 2nd with a Ramirez walk and sb followed by a Stanton double. The teams would match zeros until the bottom of the 5th when HAR plated three runs on an Ortega single and walks by Martinez and Harper, followed by a Nelson WP and Lopez single. Neither team would score the rest of the game, HAR evens the series at 2 games a piece. HAR 4-1
Game 5: Maeda vs Lynn
Lynn pitched a strong game and HAR got to Maeda early. A Harper double and Correa HR gave HAR the early lead. A Maeda error and Harper double in the 3rd followed by a Lopez sac gave HAR the four run lead. SHI battled back in the 6th plating a run on a Soto single and Stanton double. SHI would make things really interesting in the 8th scoring two runs on Gurriel and Franco singles followed by another Stanton double (who at this point is hitting something like .500 in the series). On to the 9th, leading by 1 run HAR brings in Tapia to face Ramirez and he strikes him out, Garcia would then be brought in to face Marte and he gets him to ground out. With two outs and looking to take the series lead HAR brings in Johnson to get the final out vs Wong...and he fails, giving up a walk. Gurriel came to the plate looking to keep the game going and HAR brought in Swanson to face him. Wong decided he would try and get himself into scoring position with a stolen base but would be cut down to end the game (think it was a 20 roll on a 15). HAR 4-3
Game 6: Kim vs Manoah
SHI would strike first in the 1st scoring a run on Franco and Cron doubles. Manoah would be his normal stud self and keep HAR off the board until he was forced to leave in the 6th after he struck out Zunino (something about an innings limit?). Springer would greet new pitcher Treinen by putting a ball over the fence and tying the game. Lopez and Martinez walks would chase Treinen and Gilbert would be brought in to get the 2nd out on a Harper force play. With Correa coming up and two outs Stratton was brought in to try and get the 3rd out and keep the game tied but Correa came through with the two run scoring double. SHI got one back in the bottom of the inning with a Stanton walk, WP, and Marte single. Things were starting to look bleak for SHI until Soto finally came through, hitting a one out HR off Gallegos to tie the score and keep SHI's hopes alive. Neither team would score in the 9th and once again we would go to extras. HAR would finally break through in the 13th on a lead off single by Stassi, followed by a Harper single....but Stassi would be caught being overly aggressive trying to take 3rd on the Harper single. Luckily for Stassi, Correa bailed him out with a two run HR. Stammen would stay in the game to face Soto, who couldn't come through with late innings heroics again, striking out. HAR would turn to Kimbrel who promptly gave up a single to Marte and allowed him to steal second base. Ramirez, not wanting his season to be over, lifted a high fly ball to right field which just fell short at the warning track (BP HR 10, rolled a 13). Kimbrel would settle himself and get Wong to ground out harmlessly to win the game and the series. HAR 5-3
I highly expected this series to go 7 games and Eric to come out on top, unfortunately he just couldn't get any rolls. The pitching was strong by both teams with 16 runs in 64 innings I think and only 5 HRs total. Congrats to Eric on a very good team, some times strat just hates you more than it hates the other person (me).
Congratulations again, Travis. That was truly an insane series even though it somehow didn't go 7 games after all. Although this is a nice write-up, the ridiculous drama could never be fully captured in words. Pretty much all the games could have gone either way but in the end, more of the big rolls favored Harmony Grove. I still can't believe all the missed H&R and CS on 85%+ safe chances. Critical failures by our better fielders also hurt. Runs were very hard to come by as both teams hit under .200. It's disappointing to see another great Shiner team go home early, but they enjoyed a great run of playoff luck in the recent past, often at Trav's expense. Trav did a great job using his entire roster in almost every game, particularly the parade of quality relievers. Good luck the rest of the way, although I really hope it doesn't turn into another HAR vs. CMD World Series.
Perhaps this loss will inspire me to actually make some trades as this doesn't look like a playoff team for next season. Time to make some changes!
