The Maine Loggers are headed back to the World Series for the first time in three years, after surviving a series of brotherly love that didn't include a team from Philadelphia. The Loggers came in with a slight advantage, after beating Boston 5 of 6 in the regular season, and had the home field advantage. In Game 1, 46,869 screaming Logger fans cheered Maine on to a 3-2 victory, led by seven strong innings from Friendship League wins leader James Shields. Shields held Boston to 2 runs on five hits, while Avisail Garcia hit a two-run homer, and JD Martinez drove in another run with a base hit after a Jed Lowrie double. Maine used four relievers over the final two innings to hold Boston in check, and Diego Castillo closed it out with a perfect ninth.
Game 2 was an instant classic, with the Loggers grabbing a seemingly insurmountable 7-2 lead after 4 innings, only to see Boston come storming back to tie the game at 7 in the sixth inning. Neither team came close to scoring in the 7th, 8th or 9th, so we headed to the 10th all tied at 7. Yan Gomes promptly untied it with a bomb to left, and then Matt Olson followed that up with another homer to make it 9-7 before there was an out in the 10th. Steve Pierce then went deep for Maine to lead off the bottom of the tenth, and there was hope in Maine, with the deficit cut to 9-8, nobody out, and Luke Voit and Tommy Pham coming up. Alas, Mychal Givens and Xavier Cedeno closed it out for Boston, and we headed for Beantown tied at a game apiece.
Game 3 brought us to Boston and the Green Monster, and featured the two team's worst pitchers, Sonny Gray and Marcus Stroman -- and neither survived more than four innings. The game was tied after 4, by the score of 4-4. Nick Castellanos went 2 for 2, including a homer, scored a run, and drove in three runs, before having the leave the game with an injured hamstring in the 7th. The Loggers, who had perhaps the best bullpen in the league, trotted out seven relievers in all, and they were able to piece together enough outs in pressure situations, to hold Boston scoreless over the final five innings, allowing Maine to escape with a 6-4 win.
Game 4 Boston brought out lefty Marco Gonzales to start, and he held Maine in check for three innings, while James Shields did the same for Maine, and we went to the fourth tied at zero. In the top of the fourth, after getting two men aboard, Maine hit two routine ground balls to third baseman Yandy Diaz. Diaz booted the first one for an error, then booted the second one for another error for good measure, opening the door for Maine to simply put on an onslaught that Gonzales could not contain, scoring 7 times in the inning (only 2 of which turned out to be earned runs). Shields cruised from there for his second win of the series, as Maine was one win away from the World Series, after winning 8-4.
Game 5 was another nail-biter, featuring Maine's Tyler Glasnow, who had fanned 17 Bobcats in one regular season start, against Boston's Luis Severino. Avisail Garcia again went deep for Maine, and the Loggers held a 2-0 lead heading to the bottom of the 6th, as Maine fans were starting to count down from 12, the number of outs they needed to win the series. Boston would have none of it, scoring one run in the sixth on an RBI by Edwin Encarnacion, and one in the 8th on an RBI single by Mr. Everything Mookie Betts -- the final run coming off Maine closer Diego Castillo, to knot things up at 2 apiece. Severino had 12 K's in 8 innings, and held tough to keep his team in the game. We again headed to extra innings, and in the bottom of the 11th, Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled with one out, and then with two down, Andrelton Simmons singled him home to the delight of the hometown Boston fans, and the Bobcats had life, down 3 games to 2, heading back to Bangor, Maine.
In Game 6, Maine brought out Carlos "CAW" Rodon and Boston countered with Lance Lynn. Maine Manager Steve Willnus announced that first round draft pick Luke "I am your father" Voit still had nine AB's left for the series, and would be starting the last two games. The Loggers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 2nd on a JD Martinez triple (totally realistic, as he had 2 in real life). Then, as if the Star (Wars) aligned, Voit came to bat in the bottom of the third with two out and the bases loaded. When the rocket left Voit's bat and landed in the Boston bullpen, making it 6-1 Maine, the
Avisail Garcia earned MVP honors after hitting .421, getting at least one hit in all six games, and smashing two important HR's. JD Martinez was outstanding as well, hitting .440 in the series, and also hitting in all six games. James Shields, who led the league in wins, earned two wins in two starts, and was also outstanding in the winning effort for Maine. Police across Maine are on high alert, as the Loggers now await their opponent, and look to win their second World Series, and first in 25 years, in the long, illustrious history of Maine Baseball.
I must point out that by the Battle of Endor, cloned Stormtroopers had long been phased out, with human recruits serving as the foot soldiers of the Galactic Empire. That said, congratulations to Maine on the victory and kudos to Boston to a fine season.
ReplyDeleteFixed it, my lord. It's sometimes easy to forget to that one was four, and five was two. Thanks for the history lesson. Big Bang Theory could have used your skills when they tried to dissect the "Back to the Future" timelines.
ReplyDeleteBreaking News: Sources confirmed there was a pregame on-field kerfuffle between the Maine and Boston managers due to differing interpretations of the roster rules for the playoffs. Maine manager Steve Willnus placed a call to League Management, but it bounced directly to voicemail, so the managers agreed to a common interpretation of the rules to make peace and play the series. One manager was overheard stating that whomever documented these seemingly contradictory rules was "an idiot", but was unwilling to go on the record as to who he was referring to during the series. More to follow.
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