Game 1:
Bieber versus Canning. The Thunder struck first in the opening
frame with Cruz being hit by the pitch and Kepler hitting a two run homer. In the
bottom of the second, Devers got the Phantoms on the board with a solo home run
of his own. The Thunder loaded the bases with two out in the 5th but
could not punch any runs over. Pittsburgh also loaded the bases with one out in
the bottom of the frame but a pitching change to Hearn and a double play ended the
threat. In the bottom of the 7th Karinchak came on to relieve and got
a quick strike out. However, Gallo laced a single in to the outfield. Nola bounded
in to a force out but stayed out of the double play which was critical. Sano stepped
to the plate and sent a shot to right to give the Phantoms the lead for good. Bieber
shut the Thunder down in the eighth and Holland came on and got the save in the
ninth. W-Bieber 8IP 2R 2ER 2BB 10K, S-Holland 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 2K, L-Karinchak 1IP
2R 2ER 0BB 1K Players of note Phantoms: Iglesias 2-4, Devers 2-3 1HR 1RBI, Sano
3-3 1HR 2RBI Thunder: Kepler 1-4 1HR 2RBI, Judge 2-4, Canning 4.1IP 1R 1ER 1BB 3K
Game 2:
Berrios versus Cody. In the bottom of the first the Phantoms
got a double from Arraez and a single from Iglesias to put the pressure on Cody
with runners at 1st and 3rd with no out. Cody however responded with
a strikeout of Tucker and got Buxton to bounce into a double play. Neither team
did much until the top of the third. Gonzalez led off the inning with a solo shot
to left and Arozarena followed it up with a sharp single. However, Berrios bore
down and got Cruz to strikeout, Kepler to ground out and Judge to end the inning
with a strikeout as well. Both pitchers were doing well into the top of the 5th.
Gonzalez grounded out to lead off the inning but Berrios got a little wild and plunked
Arozarena. Cruz struck out for the second out, but Kepler made the pitcher pay with
a centerfield two run homer. Judge grounded out to end the threat but the Thunder
now had a 3 run lead. The Phantoms were not going to go down like this, as Gallo
worked a walk and Jimenez smashed a two run shot over the leftfield wall to bring
the score to 3-2. Cody plunked Nola and Nola had to leave the game with an injury.
Sisco came on to run but was wiped by a force play by Arraez for the second out.
Cody then walked Iglesias and then committed an error to allow Tucker to load the
bases. The Thunder manager had seen enough and brought in Hearn to try and shut
the door and sure enough, got Buxton to line out sharply for the final out of the
inning. Berrios cruised through the top of the 6th, and Green came on for the Thunder
and did likewise. Going into the top of the eighth, Judge led off with a fly
out, but some bad blood might have risen up as Jeffers was plunked by Berrios, the
third HBP of the game. Tejeda stepped up and made Berrios pay for that by sending
a homer over the leftfield wall. With two in, the Pittsburgh manager made the move
to Ottavino. Pinder greeted him with a double. Polanco then worked a walk and up
stepped Gonzalez. He blasted a right field shot to give the Thunder a now large
8-2 lead. That would be all the Thunder would need as the relief staff shut down
the Phantoms in the final two innings to tie the series 1-1. W-Green 2.2IP 0R 0ER
1BB 5K, L-Berrios 7.1IP 5R 5ER 1BB 10K Players of note Phantoms: Inglesias 1-3,
Gallo 1-3, Jimenez 3-4 1HR 2RBI, Thunder: Kepler 1-5 1HR 2RBI, Tejeda 2-4 1HR 2RBI,
Gonzalez 2-4 2HR 4RBI Cody 4.2IP 2R 2ER 3BB 6K
Game 3:
Walker versus Bundy. Both pitchers retired the 1st
inning lineups in order but the second was not like that. Devers tripled into the
corner. Bundy struck out Buxton but Lowe connected with a hard single to drive in
the run. Bundy recovered to form and got Jimenez and Gallo out quickly. Not wanting
to be left out, Arozarena doubled to lead off the bottom of the frame. Tejeda stuck
out but Calhoun bounced a ball to Walker and the pitcher could not handle it, to
put runners on 1st and 2nd. Gonzalez continued his hot ways hitting a
single through the infield to bring in the runner from second. Walker then struck
out Jeffers for the second out but Pinder would drive a ball into the corner to
score one more runner. With runners on 2nd and 3rd Walker
bore down on Polanco and got him to hit an easy fly ball to end the threat, but
the Thunder now had the 2-1 lead. Both pitchers went into the 6th with
no further damage. In the top of the 6th, Buxton came to the plate and smashed a
shot over the center fence to tie the game. Bundy got Lowe and Jimenez to ground
out for two outs, but then lost control. Gallo hit a solo shot to the right field
stands, Sisco followed up with a single and Shaw put the cherry on top with a two
run shot to left. Pittsburgh now had a 5-2 lead. Toronto had a quiet 6th
and 7th inning but got going in the eighth. In the 7th
inning Thielbar had come on in relief of Walker and had retired the two batters
he had faced so far. He got Cruz to fly out deep to start the eighth but Kepler
lined a single off of him. Pittsburgh brought in Tate to replace Thielbar as Judge
stepped to the plate. Judge connected for a two run shot to close the gap to 5-4.
However, Tate quickly retired Tejeda and Calhoun to quell the rally. Hearn cam in
for Green to pitch for the Thunder in the top of the ninth. He simply did not have
it tonight as he gave up a single to Sisco, a walk to Shaw, another walk to Inglesias
and then Tucker knocked a two run single still with no one out. The Thunder manger
moved in Alcala but he also allowed a quick single to Devers, allowing one more
run. He then settled down to get the three outs. Tate had no problem setting down
the Thunder in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory 9-4 and take the lead
of the series 2-1. W-Walker 6.1IP 2R 0ER 2BB 9K S-Tate 1.2 IP 1R 1ER 0BB 2K L-Bundy
6IP 5R 5ER 1BB 4K Players of note Phantoms: Shaw 2-2 1HR 2RBI Tucker 2-4 2RBI, Devers
2-4 1RBI Lowe 2-4 1RBI Sisco 2-4 Thunder: Judge 1-2 1HR 2RBI Calhoun 2-4 Gonzalez
2-3 1RBI
Game 4
Bieber versus Manaea. Bieber continued his strong pitching by
quickly going through his first 3innings. Manaea started sharp but ran into issues
in the top of the 3rd. Manaea struck out Gallo to start the inning but Alberto lined
a single into left field. Jimenez struck out for the second out but Tucker came
up and smashed a deep drive over the center field fence to put the Phantoms up 2-0.
Lowe flew out deep to end the inning t0 end the damage but the Thunder had yet to
do anything against Bieber. That would change in the bottom of the 4th. Bieber struck
out Judge and White but Zunino caught a hanger and deposited it over the short left
field fence. Gonzalez was struck by a wayward curve and Tejeda took over for him
at 1st. Tejeda proceeded to steal 2nd and a single by Andujar drove him
in to tie the game. Polanco flew out to center to end the rally. Manaea moved through
the 5th with no issues and the Thunder came up in the bottom half. Gardner
shot a single through the infield into right field. He then proceeded to steal 2nd
base. Cruz grounded out moving Gardner to 3rd. Kepler came up to bat looking to
knock him in but could not catch up to any of Biebers pitches for a strikeout. Judge
was next but had a different result. He blasted a shot over the right field fence
to score two and give the Thunder a 4-2 lead. Both pitchers pitched to the minimum
for the next two innings to bring up the top of the 8th. Karinchak came
in for relief of Manaea and Nola came in as a pinch hitter to start the inning.
Nola cracked a single and then Alberto shot a double into the gap. Jimenez shot
a solid single into the outfield and all of a sudden the game was tied, still with
no outs. The Thunder manager made the move to Green but he did not fare that much
better. Tucker flew out and Low struck out but Iglesias hit a double into the gap
to drive in Jimenez from first on a close play at home. Tucker took 3rd
on the throw. Buxton got beaned by an errant throw by Green as the series continued
its testiness. Lewis came in for the injured Buxton and that brought up Devers.
He smacked a double into center field to drive in Inglesias. Lewis scrambled all
the way around the bases to try and score but was nailed by Kepler at home. The
Phantoms now had a 6-4 lead. The Thunder got two singles with two outs in the eighth
but could not score against Bieber. Alcala came on for the Thunder and easily worked
through the 9th. Tate came in for the close and while the Thunder once again put
two on, they could not get anything across and the game ended with a Phantom victory
and a now substantial 3-1 series lead. W-Bieber 8IP 4R 4ER 2BB 13K S-Tate 1IP 0R
0ER 1BB 1K L-Karinchak 0IP 3R 3ER 0BB 0K Players of note Phantoms: Alberto 4-5 2runs
Jimenez 1-4 2RBI Tucker 1-4 1HR 2RBI Iglesias 3-4 1RBI Thunder: Judge1-4 1HR 2RBI
Zunino 2-4 1HR 1RBI Manaea 7IP 2R 2ER 0BB 7K
Game 5
Singer versus Loaisiga. Pittsburgh looked to close the series
out with a win but the Thunder did not want to give up. Loaisiga quickly moved through
the first three batters for his half of the first. The same could not be said for
Singer. The Thunder came out with a vengeance. Arozarena started off with a single.
That seemed to rattle Singer as he proceeded to walk Cruz, Kepler and Judge to bring
in the first run. Jeffers then connected on the desperation pitch of Singer’s and
slammed a Grand Slam over the left field fence. The Phantom manger could not remove
Singer who was now tired due to the chance of destroying his bullpen for the rest
of the series, so Singer had to press on. Tejeda was up next and took a walk. White
came up and slapped a homer over the right field fence. Polanco hit a single but
Pinder bounced into a double play. Arozarena came up again in the same inning but
struck out this time to end the inning. Toronto was up 7-0 after 1. Pittsburgh fought
back a little in the second as they scored two runs on a single by Lewis and back
to back doubles by Gallo and Sano. That made it 7-2. Both pitchers cruised through
the next few innings with Karinchak and Green coming in for a few innings of relief
work. In the bottom of the 6th Singer ran into a little trouble. White
hit a single and Polanco ground out but moved him over. Pinder then followed with
a single to drive him in. Gardner and Cruz were then retired to end the inning but
the score moved to 8-2. Fry came in for relief for the Thunder and proceeded to
hit newly inserted batter Sisco. A walk to Lowe put runners on 1st and
2nd. Inglesias hit into a force but moved Sisco to 3rd. Jimenez hit a deep fly to
sacrifice him in to move the score to 8-3. The Thunder were not done however. In
their half of the inning Kepler started off with a single. Judge struck out but
Trevino smacked a double to move the runner over to 3rd. Tejeda hit a seeing eye
single to drive in Kepler. White came up next but struck out. Polanco however would
not miss Singer’s pitch. He nailed a fastball over the left field fence for a three
run shot. Singer got Andujar to pop out weakly but the score now was Thunder up
12-3. The Thunder brought in Alcala to manage the last two innings and he started
rusty. Alcala struck out Lewis but Devers reached on a single. Gallo drew a walk
and Sano stepped up and slapped a solid double into center field driving in Devers.
Sisco grounded out allowing Gallo to score. An error by Gonzalez at second allowed
Sano to score. Iglesias flew out to end the threat. Score now 12-6. Both Singer
and Alcala made it through their other halves without incident. That gave the game
to the Thunder and the series was now 3-2 in favor of the Phantoms. W-Green 1IP
0R 0ER 0BB 2K L-Singer 8IP 12R 12ER 4BB 7K Players of note Phantoms: Devers 2-4
Gallo 3-3 Sano 2-4 3RBI Thunder: Jeffers 1-2 1HR 4RBI White 2-4 1HR 2RBI Polanco
2-3 1HR 3RBI Loaisiga 4.2IP 2R 2ER 0BB 4K
Game 6
Berrios versus Canning. With the series shifting back to Pittsburgh,
the Phantoms again looked to close out the series. With the first pitch of the game
Berrios hit Arozarena in the arm with the pitch and the batter had to leave the
game. Gardner came into sub but the Thunder could not take advantage of the runner
and did not score. In the bottom of the 1st Arraez led off with a solid
single. He was erased by a force play with Iglesias taking over on 1st. Tucker stuck
out and it looked like the Thunder might be able to get out of any trouble. However
Buxton hit it to Canning and he could not handle the ball and was charged an error.
With runners on 1st and 2nd, Jimenez came to the plate and sent a deep
liner to the right center field gap. Iglesias scored easily but Buxton was out at
home on the throw from Judge. The Phantoms had the lead 1-0. Both pitchers easily
went through the next two innings facing the minimum of batters. In the top of the
4th Kepler came up. He sent a shot down the 1B line and Sano could not
handle it. Kepler on 1st with an error. Judge flew out to center and
that brought Jeffers up. Jeffers connected on a seeing eye single to put runners
on 1st and 2nd. Berrios bore down on Tejeda however, striking him out
for out number 2. Pinder was not having any of that however, as he connected on
a solid double to bring in Kepler. Polanco followed suit with a double of his own
to knock in both runners and give the Thunder a 3-1 lead. Gonzalez drew a walk but
Gardner flew out to end any threat. Canning proceeded to move through the 4th
and 5th innings with ease and Berrios made it through the heart of the
Thunder lineup in the 5th as well. In the top of the 6th, the Thunder
were at it again. Jeffers led off with a single. Tejeda struck out but Pinder drew
a walk. Polanco hit a single to load the base sand that brought up Gonzalez. Berrios
missed with a 2-2 pitch and Gonzalez sent it over the right field wall for a Grand
Slam, the second one of the series for the Thunder. Gardner smacked a single but
Cruz and Kepler both got out to stop the Thunder roll. Toronto up 7-1 now. Canning
rolled through the 6th and 7th innings and Berrios recovered
his form for the 7th and 8th innings. In the bottom of the
8th the Phantoms hit back. Sisco drew a walk from Canning and Zunino
made a rare error on a hit by Arraez to put runners on 1st and 2nd
with no outs. That was enough for the Thunder manager. He thanked Canning for his
excellent outing and brought in Karinchak. While hoping for better results, Karinchak
kept to his previous form. Iglesias hit a single to knock in Sisco. Tucker slammed
a triple into the right field corner to score Arraez and Iglesias to move the score
to 7-4. That brought out the pitching coach to try and settle Karinchak down. It
worked, as he proceeded to strike out Buxton and Jimenez and then get Devers to
ground out to preserve the lead. The Thunder got a couple of men on in the top of
the ninth but could not add to their total. I don’t think their manager was that
worried however. For the first time in the series with a close lead by the Thunder,
they brought in their closer Anderson. The Phantoms were no match for him on this
day as he proceeded to strike out all three batters he faced. The Thunder now had
evened the series at 3 games apiece. W-Canning 7IP 3R 1ER 3BB 7K S-Anderson 1IP
0R 0ER 0BB 3K L-Berrios 9IP 7R 4ER 3BB 9K Players of note Phantoms: Arraez 2-4 1run
Iglesias 1-4 1RBI 2runs Tucker 1-4 2RBI Thunder: Judge 2-5 Jeffers 2-3 2runs Pinder
1-3 1RBI 2runs Polanco 2-4 2RBI Gonzalez 1-3 1HR 4RBI
Game 7
Bieber versus Bundy. Somehow the series got to the seventh game.
Pittsburgh’s MVP and Cy Young winner versus Toronto’s number 1 starter with 10 wins
during the season. The Thunder knew that if they somehow could get the lead as they
had in each of the other 6 games, they might have a chance as they had fresh arms
in Cody and Anderson ready in the bullpen. Pittsburgh was determined to finally
start hitting the ball and were confident in Bieber. Bieber was not messing around
this time. He made short work of the Thunder lineup in the first issuing one walk
but getting 3 easy fly outs. Bundy matched him by hitting one batter but then getting
3 quick outs. Bieber faced the minimum in the second. Bundy however, could not match
him. Jimenez led off with a single and while Devers flew out to deep left, moving
the runner to second, and Lowe ground out for the second out, Shaw hit a double
to drive in Jimenez. Bundy issued a walk to Nola and Arraez came through with a
double to knock in Shaw. Iglesias flew out to left but the damage was done, Phantoms
up 2-0. The Thunder knew they were in a tough spot but were confident in their ability
to somehow get runs on Bieber in the series. Bieber however, was at his best today.
He struck out all three batters in the 3rd and retired the batters in
order in the 4th. Bundy did well in the 3rd, getting 3 quick outs, but did not fare
as well in the 4th. Devers led off with a ground out and Lowe flew out for the second
out. Shaw walked and up came Nola. Bundy
missed with a curve and Nola took advantage sailing the ball over the right field
fence for a two run homer. Arraez struck out but the score now was Phantoms up 4-0.
Bieber struck out all 3 batters in the 5th and the Thunder still had
no hits on the day, having only 1 walk. The Toronto manager knew they did not have
much chance but could not allow any more runs. In came Cody, the game 2 starter
to start the 5th inning for the Thunder. Cody proceeded to get two fly
outs and a ground out. Bieber came on to start the 6th inning and things
went a bit different this time. White connected on a rare miss by Bieber and sent
the ball over the left field fence. Polanco followed with a single and suddenly
the Thunder dugout was energized. Bieber struck out the tough Arozarena but Cruz
came through with a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with
one out. Kepler hit a fly ball to center to get Polanco in from third to cut the
deficit to two runs. Judge drew a walk as Bieber was careful not to give into the
tough veteran. Jeffers came up but could not connect and flew out harmlessly for
the 3rd out. The Thunder finally showed some offense as the score was
4-2 heading into the bottom of the 6th. Cody made quick work of it as he struck
out Jimenez and Devers and got Lowe to groundout. Tejeda led off the inning and
brought even more hope to the Thunder as he connected on a Bieber pitch for a home
run. Bieber bore down and got Pinder to strike out and White and Polanco both
to ground out. Score was now Phantoms 4-3. Cody started the 7th but
was showing tiredness. He struck out Shaw but it was a long at bat. The Thunder
Manager walked to the mound and congratulated him on holding the Phantoms scoreless
and signaled for Anderson. Anderson got Nola to ground out but gave up a single
to the ever dangerous Arraez. With two out, Anderson got Iglesias to ground out
to keep the score the same. Bieber had given his all through the 3 starts but did
not have anything left for this game. Pittsburgh went with Holland to try and close
the game out. The Thunder knew they had to somehow take advantage of this. Arozarena
led off the eighth and did not disappoint. He slammed a Holland fastball out of
the park to tie the game up. Holland was upset with himself for missing his spot
and it showed. He struck Cruz out on 3pitches. Kepler flew out weakly to Arraez
at second, and Holland then struck out Judge. The game was now tied up. Anderson
handled the bottom of the 8th with a ground out by Tucker, striking out
Buxton, giving up a double to Jimenez but ending the inning with a Devers groundout.
That brought up Jeffers to start the top of the ninth for the Thunder. Holland was
dealing and struck out Jeffers. Gardner was inserted as a pinch hitter but grounded
out and Pinder did the same. The Thunder knew that they would need to end this soon
as Anderson was only going to be able to go another inning or two. The Phantoms
felt the same. Lowe drew a walk and Shaw slammed the next pitch over the center
field wall to win the series! Phantoms win 6-4 and win the series 4-3. W-Holland
2IP 1R 1ER 2BB 3K L-Anderson 1.2IP 2R 2ER 1BB 1K Players of note Phantoms: Arraez
2-4 1RBI Jimenez 2-4 1run Shaw 2-3 1HR 3RBI 3runs Nola 1-2 1HR 2RBI Bieber 7IP 3R 3ER 2BB 10K Thunder:
Arozarena, Tejeda, White all solo HRs Cody 2.1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 3K
MVP of the series Bieber 2wins 23IP 3.52ERA 6BB 33K
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| And now there are three! Pittsburgh escapes Toronto in a razor-tight seven game series |
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| Shane Bieber shows off his MVP trophy |
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