It snowed yesterday here in Schaumburg but the ARBA playoffs are still alive! In the CLCS, Quad Cities (86-76) vanquished mighty Harmony Grove in 6 games to earn their place against the Austin Greyhounds (109-53), who barely survived a 7-game series with Cork. Austin won 23 more games in the regular season and will host, so they should be favored. However, AUS had a winning record against every single CL team but QUA, with whom they split. History has also taught us that anything can happen in the playoffs, so the Greyhounds will not take their opponents lightly!
G1: The well-rested visitors started their ace, Logan Webb, against the young and talented but usually injured Dustin May. Both starters faced the minimum until the bottom of the 3rd. With 2 outs and a runner on 2nd, QUA reasonably called for an IBB of Soto. However, it backfired as an unintentional walk loaded the bases and Benson delivered a huge double. Smith was thrown out at home but AUS went up 2-0 and then added another run in the 4th. Meanwhile, May cruised into the 6th with a no-hitter. Unfortunately, his max IP for the series is 6, so AUS turned to the bullpen with 1 out in 6th. They kept the no-hitter going until the 8th when Vierling doubled. Devers hit a 2-run HR in the 8th to increase the lead to 5-0 but then AUS left the bases loaded. Those insurance runs loomed large when QUA rallied with 2 outs in the 9th. Knizer hit a 2-run double and Santana kept hope alive with a walk but Vierling grounded out to end it. AUS 5-2
G2: Cubs veteran Kyle Gibson coped pretty well early against the lefty-heavy AUS lineup. However, he had no answer for Jake Suwinski, who had a solo HR and RBI double. Kirby looked great until the 5th when he suddenly lost his mojo against the bottom of the order, culminating in a 2-run double by Andrus. Smith bailed him out but the score was tied. In the bottom half, the typically sure handed Santana made an error at 1st that led to a Matt Moore appearance and 3 runs scoring. Austin added 3 more runs in the 6th and the rout was on. QUA did score 2 runs in the 9th again with a Marte HR, but it wasn't nearly enough. AUS 9-4
G3: The series headed to Iowa with Rodriguez facing Vasquez, who wasn't even active against Cork. Soto led off the game with a single and scored but AUS stranded 2 runners. Vierling homered to tie the game and in the 2nd, QUA punished Vasquez with a 2-run single by Andrus and a 2-run HR by Gelof. AUS stubbornly stuck with Vasquez and rallied with this ridiculous 2-out sequence in 4th: SI-HBP-HBP-E6-SI. That cut the lead to 5-4 but then Gelof hit a solo HR in the 4th and last Vasquez inning. Rodriguez didn't match up well against Austin's lefties but hung in there until 2 outs in the 7th when AUS put the tying runners on base. Winkowski took over and retired the dangerous Bichette. He and Cano retired the rest in order and QUA was on the board with a big W. QUA 6-4
G4: QUA had a great chance to even up the series with their ace Webb facing young and shaky Brayan Bello. The Cubs got on the board first with a Santana solo shot. Bello wasn't bad but AUS still went to the pen in 4th after a leadoff single. Webb was still cruising in the 6th when Soto singled with 2 outs, only the 3rd hit for AUS. Smith drew the 1st walk to bring up Bichette, who crushed a 3-run homer! Whoa, that escalated quickly. In the 8th, Soto added a solo HR off Houck. Duran had a 4-1 lead to protect in the 9th and struck out 2 with a walk in the middle. However, the pesky Andrus kept QUA alive with a double and then Perdomo doubled on a misplay by LF Benson. Uh-oh, that brought Kepler to the plate with the tying run on 2nd base. Austin considered their options and decided to stick with Duran against Kepler. He hit one in the air to Benson who caught it. Whew! AUS 4-3
G5: Austin jumped all over Mackenzie Gore with BB-DO-SI to start the game but then Raley struck out and Suwinski's flyout was only deep enough for Devers to get thrown out at home. Gore was less fortunate in the 3rd as Austin scored 4 runs off him and Houck. The Greyhounds made it 6-0 in the 4th but failed to completely put the game away. The most notable failure came in the 7th when Thomas and Vierling pulled off back-to-back HR robberies at the wall. I don't recall if I've ever seen that. Could QUA rally to make things interesting again? Nope, not this time. Hamilton pitched 3 scoreless IP as an opener and was followed by Soriano, Smith, Kelly, and Pagan. Pagan earned a win for retiring the last 6 in a 5-hit shutout. AUS 6-0
Congratulations to Dennis for a great season that and taking QUA further than the so-called experts predicted. They really didn't match up very well against Austin's many lefty bats and deep bullpen but still fought a good fight and could have done better with more favorable luck. I'm sad to say that the most logical series MVP is the terrible human playing SS as he hit .526 with 5 RBI and made all 4 chances defensively. However, I'd rather give it to non-felon Emilio Pagan for his 2 relief wins in 5 2/3 scoreless innings over 3 games. QUA ace Logan Webb losing both his starts with a 4.26 ERA was what really swung the series in Austin's favor. He wasn't bad but made a few big mistakes and didn't get much help from his offense. Andrus tormented AUS with a .357 BA and 5 RBI. He also defied the odds by going 5 for 7 on X-chances. QUA only hit .189 overall and scored 15 runs compared to 28 for Austin. The only time they scored more than 4 runs was the G3 win, while AUS scored at least 4 in every game.
Okay, I've rambled on enough about this. Austin's heading to the World Series to face Redwood or Sewell!
