Brassball World Series Metropolis vs. Santa Barbara - Game Seven

Justin Verlander has been great all season
and all postseason for the Outlaws.

The Brassball World Series has been a back-and-forth affair for six games and a winner-take-all Game Seven is on deck.  Two aces take the mound, Justin Verlander for the home town Santa Barbara Outlaws and C.C. Sabathia for the visiting Metropolis Avengers.  It was the third matchup for the two stars, with Verlander and the Outlaws winning Games One and Four.

Verlander retired the Avengers in order in the first and Sabathia also impressed, allowing a single to Carlos Santana but also striking out Drew Stubbs, Adrian Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez.

Metropolis 1B Lucas Duda came up with one out in the second.  He was hitting in the five spot, which had been Robinson Cano's spot for the first six games of the Series.  Cano got moved all the way to the nine spot after going just 5-24.  Duda, on the other hand, had been on of the Avengers' best hitters, going 6-17 with two homers and five RBIs.

Travis Hafner thought he missed his
pitch, but his ground out still scored a run.

Duda immediately made the move look good, working an an impressive 10 pitch at bat and finally reaching first on a base on balls.  Corey Hart didn't need ten pitches, hitting Verlander's second pitch past a leaping CF Curtis Granderson for a double.  Duda held at third, despite the third base coach trying to send him home.  Travis Hafner got a fastball he thought he could hit, but could only manage a ground ball to second base.  He was out at first, but it was enough to send Duda home and put Metropolis up 1-0.

Down a run, Santa Barbara put the pressure on in their half of the second inning.  Granderson walked and Brandon Phillips moved him to third with a single.  Sabathia then struck out Carlos Gonzalez for the first out and got Gerardo Parra for the second.  With two outs and two on, Metropolis made a surprising move and went to the bullpen.  David Herndon came in to face Elvis Andrus, getting him to hit a lazy fly ball to Alex Gordon for the third out.

After allowing the run in the first, Verlander returned to dominating Metropolis.  He put down the Avengers in order in the top of the third inning.  Given the way Verlander looked, Metropolis was likely thinking they would have to make their one run stand up, as scoring a second would not be easy.

Metropolis used its deep bullpen aggressively to protect its slim lead, playing matchups to keep the Outlaw hitters off balance.  In the third inning Aroldis Chapman retired Daniel Murphy and Sergio Santos came in to face Santana and Carlos Gonzalez to finish the inning.

Kenley Jansen was great
in his short stint.

Santos got two quick outs to start the bottom of the fourth, but then ran into trouble.  Phillips singled and Carlos Gonzalez walked, putting the go-ahead run on base.  Parra came up and hit a single up the middle, scoring Phillips to tie the game.  That was it for Santos and Kenley Jansen retired Andrus on a ground ball to end the threat, but the Outlaws had tied the game at one.

Santa Barbara had to be relieved, knowing they had the game's best pitcher dominating on the mound in a tie game.  However, Jansen proved to be up to the challenge for the Avengers.  He retired all seven batters he faced and traded zeroes with Verlander in the fifth and sixth innings. 

Duda stunned the Outlaws with his homer.

Verlander looked strong heading into the seventh and his fastball was still in the high 90s.  Duda, however, led off the inning and had no trouble catching up with Verlander's heater.  He turned on a 97 mph fastball and pulled it over the right field wall for his third homer of the series, putting the Avengers back in the lead 2-1.  Verlander got the next three hitters, but the damage was done.

Jeremy Affeldt came on to face lefties Carlos Gonzalez and Parra in the seventh.  He retired them both and passed the ball to Craig Kimbrel.  Kimbrel got a ground ball from Andrus and the Avengers were six outs from a World Series championship.

Verlander stayed in for the eighth and made quick work of the Avengers.  He retired Cano, Jose Reyes and Jose Bautista in order to bring the Outlaws back to the plate.  Unfortunately for the Outlaws, Kimbrel was just as dominant, striking out Murphy and Adrian Gonzalez on the way to his own 1-2-3 inning.

Metropolis threatened to add an insurance run in the top of the ninth.  Andrew McCutchen singled with one out and moved to second on a Verlander balk.  Verlander continued to show he was tiring and walked Duda on five pitches.  Santa Barbara finally went to the bullpen, bringing in Mike Adams to face Corey Hart.  Hart struck out and Adams then got Travis Hafner to hit a weak ground ball to end the inning and send Game Seven to the bottom of the ninth.

Brandon Phillips had
three hits on the day

Alex Rodriguez led off the ninth with a single and the Outlaws had the baserunner they needed.  Metropolis went to their pen again, bringing in Stephen Strasburg to try and finish off the game and the season.  Eduardo Nunez pinch hit for Curtis Granderson and popped up for the first out but Phillips collected his third single of the game to push ARod to second.

Jose Reyes misplayed a grounder that
could have ended the series.

With two on and one out, Strasburg got just what he needed, a ground ball right to Reyes.  It looked like a custom-built double play ball, but Reyes couldn't pick it cleanly and Carlos Gonzalez beat the throw to first.  Instead of a double play to end the game, Strasburg instead had to deal with the bases loaded and just one out.   

Santa Barbara called on another pinch hitter, Endy Chavez, to hit for Gerardo Parra.  With the tying run at third, Metropolis brought the corners in for a play at the plate.  The Outlaws, in keeping with their aggressive style that worked all season, called for a suicide squeeze.  Chavez got down a good bunt, but third baseman Bautista fielded it cleanly, his throw beat ARod home and Matt Wieters held onto the ball for the second out.

ARod was thrown out trying to score the game-tying run
on Endy Chavez's suicide squeeze.

Bautista's play protected the Metropolis lead, but only momentarily.  The Outlaws still had the bases loaded and the odds were high that Elvis Andrus's at bat would decide the World Series one way or the other.  With an out, Metropolis wins the title.  With a hit, Phillips and Gonzalez are likely to score and make Santa Barbara the champions.  

Strasburg still had his good stuff and quickly got ahead in the count 0-2.  Andrus took a changeup just off the corner for a ball and then swung at a 96 mph fastball right at the knees.  Andrus made only weak contact and pushed the ball down the first base line.  Duda, who scored both Avenger runs on the day, fielded the ball cleanly and flipped it to Strasburg for the final out.  The two were quickly mobbed by the rest of the Avengers as they celebrated their first title since 2006.

Endy Chavez laid down a good bunt,
but it wasn't good enough.

In a series as close and back-and-forth as this one, it was only fitting that the ninth inning of Game Seven saw a suicide squeeze, an error that almost cost one team the title and three stranded runners.  How else could it have ended?  Metropolis finally found a way to beat Verlander, but it took everything they had, including seven relievers.  The two teams combined for just ten hits and five walks on the day.  As great as Verlander was, it was the Avenger pitchers who struck out 13 batters.  Verlander and Adams combined for five on the day.

Duda was the Avengers' best hitter
 and MVP of the World Series.

Duda was named World Series MVP in a fairly close race against Kimbrel.  Duda was easily the Avengers' best hitter, totaling .368/.500/.842 with three homers and six RBIs.  Of course, he also hit the homer that put the team ahead in Game Seven.  Kimbrel may have been the team's MVP across all three playoff series, but Duda's Game Seven heroics likely won the World Series MVP for him. 

Now that the World Series is behind them, both teams have to look to the off-season and free agency.  Verlander is an unrestricted free agent and is thought likely to seek a huge contract.  Jose Bautista is also a free agent, but word is that he enjoyed his stay in Metropolis and is open to returning for the long-term.  There are also rumors that Sabathia was not as happy in Metropolis as he had hoped, so the team may look to trade him in the right deal.

Of course, all of that comes later, and for now the Avengers get to celebrate while the Outlaws have to ask "what if?"  They had the best team in Brassball all season long, going 127-35 on the year and finishing the season on a 20-2 run, but came up just short in the last inning of the last game of the year.  Both teams look like contenders to return to the 2013 World Series, so it's possible the Outlaws may get another chance at the Avengers.

BOXSCORE: 2012 Metropolis Avengers At 2012 Santa Barbara Outlaws    11/9/2012

  Avengers           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Outlaws            AB  R  H RBI AVG

  J.Reyes SS          4  0  0  0 .198     D.Stubbs DH         1  0  0  0 .176 

  J.Bautista 3B       4  0  0  0 .268   A-D.Murphy PH,DH      3  0  0  0 .250 

  A.Gordon LF         4  0  0  0 .131     C.Santana C         2  0  1  0 .366 

  A.McCutchen CF      4  0  1  0 .286   B-B.Posey PH,C        2  0  0  0 .304 

  L.Duda 1B           2  2  1  1 .259     A.Gonzalez 1B       4  0  0  0 .304 

  C.Hart RF           4  0  1  0 .250     A.Rodriguez 3B      4  0  1  0 .220 

  T.Hafner DH         4  0  0  1 .204     C.Granderson CF     2  0  0  0 .281 

  M.Wieters C         2  0  0  0 .220   C-E.Nunez PH          1  0  0  0 .000 

  R.Cano 2B           3  0  1  0 .185     B.Phillips 2B       4  1  3  0 .209 

                                          C.Gonzalez RF       3  0  0  0 .288 

                                          G.Parra LF          3  0  1  1 .291 

                                        D-E.Chavez PH         1  0  0  0 .333 

                                          E.Andrus SS         4  0  0  0 .218 

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     

         Totals      31  2  4  2                 Totals      34  1  6  1

A-Pinch Hit For Stubbs In 3rd Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Santana In 5th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Granderson In 9th Inning

D-Pinch Hit For Parra In 9th Inning

Avengers........ 0 1 0  0 0 0  1 0 0  -  2  4  1

Outlaws......... 0 0 0  1 0 0  0 0 0  -  1  6  0

Avengers (12-9)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

C.Sabathia                1 2/3   2   0   0   1   4   0   1.67  A1 A8

D.Herndon                 0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0  10.80  A9 A9

A.Chapman HOLD(1st)       0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  B1 B1

S.Santos BS(1st)          1 1/3   2   1   1   1   2   0   3.38  B2 B8

K.Jansen WIN(5-1)         2 1/3   0   0   0   0   4   0   2.28  B9 C6

J.Affeldt HOLD(3rd)       0 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  C7 C8

C.Kimbrel HOLD(1st)       1 1/3   1   0   0   0   2   0   0.00  C9 D4

S.Strasburg SAVE(2nd)     1       1   0   0   0   0   0   3.46  D5

Totals                    9       6   1   1   2  13   0

Outlaws (11-6)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

J.Verlander LOSS(4-2)     8 1/3   4   2   2   3   4   1   2.50  A1 D5

M.Adams                   0 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   1.69  D6

Totals                    9       4   2   2   3   5   1

ATTENDANCE- 49,491 DATE- Friday, November 9th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average

UMPIRES- Derryl Cousins, Angel Hernandez, Eric Cooper, Marty Foster

T- 2:55

LEFT ON BASE- Avengers: 5  Outlaws: 8

DOUBLE PLAYS- Avengers: 0  Outlaws: 0

ERRORS- J.Reyes

DOUBLES- C.Hart(4th)

HOME RUNS- L.Duda(3rd)

WALKS- L.Duda-2, M.Wieters, C.Granderson, C.Gonzalez

STRIKE OUTS- A.Gordon, L.Duda, C.Hart-2, M.Wieters, D.Stubbs, D.Murphy-2,

             C.Santana, B.Posey, A.Gonzalez-2, A.Rodriguez-2, C.Granderson,

             B.Phillips, C.Gonzalez, G.Parra

BALKS- J.Verlander

2-out RBI- G.Parra

WEB GEMS- Top 3rd: Justin Verlander robbed Alex Gordon of a base hit.