The Toronto Thunder swept the Zombie Dust Division winner
Michigan Mammoth in a tight fought series.
Low scores were the norm for this matchup of solid pitching staffs.
Game 1:
Toronto was
at Michigan in game one with Chris Archer going against Cy Young winner Chris
Sale.
The Thunder got off to a quick
start as Brett Gardner singled and after two outs, Nelson Cruz, the longtime
Thunder veteran, knocked a fastball out of the park for a quick two run
lead.
Sale shut the Michigan squad down
in the first and Justin Smoak knocked in Matt Kepler to take a 3-0 lead.
Sale continued to dominate the feisty Mammoth
lineup as the Thunder to up 3 more runs, one in the 4
th and two in
the 6
th.
Michigan finally
knocked Sale around in the 6
th as they scored 3 runs off a two run
single by Lindor and a double by Travis.
Sale finished up the 7
th and both bullpens dominated the rest
of the game.
Final score Toronto 6 –
Michigan 3.
Cruz and Smoak both 2 for 4
and a home run each.
Kiermaier 2 for 4
with a run scored and Lindor with 2 RBIs.
Sale with the win on 7 IP, 3 ER, 8Ks.
Green with the save.
Archer took
the loss with 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5Ks.
Game 2:
Toronto fresh
off the good start of Sale hoped to carry that same momentum with Brad Peacock
heading to the mound.
Michigan felt
strong in tying up the series with Fulmer going.
Toronto once again started strong as that
pesky Brett Gardner singled to lead off the game and with one out, scored on a
Cruz fielder’s choice.
Cruz beat the
throw to 1
st keeping the inning alive and Max Kepler doubled him
over to 3
rd.
Adrian Beltre
then singled driving both runners home to take a 3-0 lead.
Fulmer was never in serious trouble the rest
of the way.
Peacock went through the 1
st
inning without incident but could not do the same in the 2
nd and the
3
rd.
Michigan loaded the
bases in both innings but with some solid defense, Toronto managed to keep the
Mammoth to a run, in each of those two innings.
Peacock calmed down and was able to put in 2 more solid innings.
Both clubs bullpens once again dominated and
no runs were scored on either.
Toronto
escaped with a lucky win 3-2.
Peacock
got the win going 5 IP, 2 ER, 6BB, 3Ks.
Green picked up his second save.
Fulmer pitched a solid 6 2/3 with 3 ER, 5Ks.
Smoak and Kevin Smith were both 2 for 4.
Morrison was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and one
RBI.
Toronto led the series 2-0 heading
to the Thunder Dome.
Game 3:
With a two
game series lead, Toronto turned to their often injured starter Garrett
Richards.
Just give us 3 innings if you
can is what the asked of him.
Michigan
countered with wily veteran Cole Hamels.
And sure enough after 3 innings neither team had had any success against
the other.
With Richards spent, the
Thunder turned to their stellar bullpen to keep the game close.
Leone was called upon and pitched the next
three innings holding Michigan scoreless.
The same could not be said for Hamels.
He gave up a home run to Judge who finally broke through in the series
and that would be all Toronto needed for a home win.
With appearances of Betances, Parker, Manea,
Scott and finally Green to shut down the Michigan squad, Toronto snagged the
game 4-0.
Winning pitcher Leone.
Losing pitcher Hamels.
Toronto up 3 games to none.
Game 4:
Michigan knew
it was in a tough spot with ace Chris Sale going for the Thunder and the game
in the Dome.
Michigan told Archer to
keep it close and let the bullpen do its work.
And yet again, Gardner doubled to
start the game, Judge walked, Gonzalez doubled scoring Gardner, followed by a
Cruz single to score Judge, for a quick 2-0 lead.
However Archer got it under control and never
gave up another run.
Sale and the
Thunder were confident and moved through the innings as well.
As the 8
th inning started the
Thunder still clinged to that 2-0 lead but the Toronto manager had to make a
choice.
Either bring in the bullpen or
throw the Ace back out there.
He chose
the bullpen, who had yet to give up any runs in the series, but it left many
fans wondering if that was the best move.
Kela came in and quickly got an out but then
it all went wrong.
Kela gave up a walk
to Upton and managed to get the next out on a fielder’s choice.
However that moved Upton over to 2
nd.
With two out and a man on 2
nd,
Toronto turned to their solid set up man Brad Parker.
He was not solid this day however.
He gave up a single to Lindor that scored
Upton, and then Hosmer stepped up to the plate and hit the Mammoth’s first home
run of the series.
Michigan now had the
3-2 lead at the end of their inning.
Toronto could not manage anything in the 8
th and Michigan now
had Andrew Miller in the game.
Michigan
went down to Hendricks in the top half of the ninth and that left it up to the
Thunder bats to try and end the series.
Jackson stepped up to the plate coming in to pitch-hit for Kepler.
He was just as quickly struck out by the
powerful Miller.
Up stepped the Beltre
to give it a go against the powerful lefty and he manage a double in the right
field corner.
Next was Smoak, who was
having a rough day at the plate, but he managed a walk.
The Toronto manager put in Zunino to bat for
Smith but he struck out just like Jackson.
That left it up to the Jorge Polanco.
With Miller staring the young SS down, the pitch was thrown and Polanco
knocked into to RF to bring in Beltre to tie the game.
From there it was a battle of attrition with
the relievers on both sides dueling.
Finally
in the bottom of the 12
th after a Gardner strikeout, Judge got a
single.
The Michigan manager checked his
bullpen but knew that his options were limited.
He was on his seventh reliever and only had one more option on in the
pen.
He stayed fast with Joe Kelly a
former member of the Thunder.
That is
all Toronto needed.
Gonzalez moved Judge
over and Cruz singled him home to clinch the series win 4-3 in 12 innings.
Winning pitcher Leone with 3 IPs, 0 ER and 4
Ks.
Losing pitcher was Joe Kelly, 1 IP 1
ER, 2 Ks.
Gardner was 3 for 6 and Cruz
had two RBIs.
For Michigan Kiermaier was
also 3 for 6 and Hosmer was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
MVP for the series was Sale with 14 IP and 15 Ks and only 3
ER.
Toronto moves on the face the
winner of the Boston-Pittsburgh series.
