The fact that I'm doing this writeup is a very strong clue about the eventual outcome, but I certainly didn't expect it earlier this week. Anything can and does happen in Strat. Moving right along...
The Austin Greyhounds (109-53) hosted the wild card Cork Secret Agents (97-65), who dispatched East Greenwich in 3 games.
G1: This series started in eerily and painfully similar fashion to SEW@DED as my team quickly squandered home field advantage with their ace getting hammered early. In this case, it was Kirby allowed 2 runs in the 1st and 3 more in the 2nd. Austin battled back to score 3 runs in the 3rd but then hit into a killer DP. Cork responded with another run to make it 6-3. Both teams had more scoring chances but neither scored again until the 6th when Austin chased McClanahan and cut the lead to 6-5. Cork threatened again in the 8th when Bellinger singled and advanced on a bunt, then scored on a 2-out single by Bader, who defied the odds against righty-killer Pagan. Austin rallied again in the 9th with a leadoff HR by he who shall not be named and then a Lowe double. The tying runner advanced on a groundout but then was thrown out at home and Soto grounded out to end it. Argh. COR 7-6
G2: Now for something very different! Elder and Gonsolin matched each other with 5 scoreless innings. Neither was dominant but they just kept escaping jams. Gonsolin's luck ran out in the 6th when Devers butchered a fly ball to set up a PH double by Clement. The inning should have ended on a ground ball to Austin's unnamed GG SS but instead he made an error to set up a PH RBI single by Farmer. Apparently that's just what Austin needed to spark their offense as they quickly tied the game but then killed the rally with a DP. Both teams blew excellent scoring chances so it was still 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th. After 2 singles, Soto struck out but then a walk loaded the bases. Ginkel wild pitched a run home and after an IBB and K, he did it again. Devers singled home two more runs and AUS suddenly had a commanding lead. Hader easily retired the side in 9th. AUS 6-2
G3: The series moved to Cork and the Greyhounds mauled Nola for 8 runs by the 5th, including 3 homers. Nola still lasted a lot longer than Bello, but the Austin bullpen dominated until a 2-run HR in the 9th. At this point, it was looking like the Greyhounds had this series under control after their disappointing opener. Ha! AUS 11-4
G4: Austin led 2-0 but then May melted down in the 3rd. Jung hit a 2-run HR and another Devers error led to a 3-run blast by Jones. As always, Austin battled back, cutting the lead to 5-4 with a Raley HR. Then came the 5th when the Austin bullpen imploded in a 5-run disaster. Kelly was the main culprit. Austin still wouldn't give up, cutting the lead to 10-6 then 11-7. However, they left bases loaded in 7th and ended the 8th with a DP. Trailing by 4 runs in the 9th, AUS loaded the bases with 1 out but Smith hit into yet another DP as Cork's MIF just couldn't miss for a while. COR 11-7
G5: Ugh. The last game was painful but this one was much worse and my sporting decorum deserted me by the end. Kirby bounced back from his crappy debut, holding Cork scoreless until the 6th when Jones hit a 2-out 2-run HR. That shouldn't have been a big problem but Austin just couldn't drive anyone in against McClanahan. Once again, Cork scoring inspired them to bounce back with a run in the 7th but Smith hit into a bases-loaded DP. They loaded the bases again in the 8th, but then Rojas hit into a DP. In the 9th, they tried some aggressive base running but Soto was thrown out at 3rd and then Smith struck out. At least it wasn't a DP. The Greyhounds stranded 12, hit into 3 DP and lost another runner on the basepaths. Yeah, things looked very bleak for Austin at this point. That 2-1 series lead had turned into a 3-2 deficit. COR 2-1
G6: Returning home didn't immediately change Austin's luck as Clement and Reynolds hit early solo homers, prompting a quick hook of Gonsolin. Even worse for the Greyhounds, they let Elder get away with walking the bases loaded as Soto was thrown out at home on a failed sac fly. Strat is notoriously fickle and started to turn on Cork, particularly with X-chances. An Abrams misplay led to a run in the 2nd and then Bellinger butchered a fly ball to help Austin score 3 more in the 3rd. After that, both bullpens worked some devil magic. AUS had already stranded 8 by the 4th but COR started to close the LOB gap, They loaded the bases in the 5th but May redeemed himself for G4 by escaping the jam. Cork loaded the bases again with 1 out in the 7th but Hader held the slim 4-2 lead. Austin didn't want Cork to have all the fun, so they also left the bases loaded in 7th. Both teams had their only 1-2-3 inning in the 8th to set up yet still more excruciating drama in the 9th. Duran got the 1st out then yielded to Pagan. That didn't work out as planned as he allowed a walk and double, but did get the 2nd out. Austin turned to their 10th pitcher, Kevin Kelly, who looked terrible in Game 4. This time, he struck out Delay to save the game and send this series to a 7th game. AUS 4-2
G7: Nola looked shaky early, allowing a run in the 1st and another in the 2nd. Austin would have scored more but had another runner thrown out at home. Bello lasted into the 3rd this time but Austin went to their bullpen early again. That worked perfectly for a while and Benson tripled in a run to extend the lead to 3-0 in 5th. However, Smith ran into trouble in the 6th and Hernandez delivered a 2-out 2-run double. Cork put runners on the corners with no outs in the 8th but Hader and Hamilton escaped the jam. Austin was still clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 9th when Jung's leadoff double chased Kelly. It was up to Duran, the 10th pitcher again. After a strikeout, he threw a wild pitch that advanced the tying runner to 3rd. With a depleted pen, Austin really didn't want extra innings. Duran rallied to strike out Donovan and Lowe's fly ball was caught to end it! AUS 3-2
Whew! That was a very stressful series. Congratulations to Dave on assembling an excellent team in his ARBA debut and managing them very well in this series. I feel very lucky to have escaped with the series win. Other than the Game 3 blowout, every game was very close and could have gone either way. Cork somehow caught the LOB disease from AUS and stranded 22 in those final two games. AUS still stranded 19, so it's not like they were cured. It's hard to pick a series MVP as many players hit well but it's mostly the guys who only played half the time. Perhaps it should be shared by Hader and Duran who got some huge outs when we needed them most.
After bouncing back from the depths of despair to take this series, Austin advances to face their hated rivals from Harmony Grove! Wait, what's that? Harmony Grove was knocked out by Quad Cities? Huh, we don't hate those guys, at least not yet. I guess we'll see what happens. Perhaps a new rivalry will be born!
