In 2012, Fleetwood and Metropolis went to Game Seven in the NL
Division Series and didn't decide the game until the 12th inning. Now, in 2013,
the teams find themselves in another Game Seven, this one to decide who will
represent the National League in the World Series. Fleetwood had momentum in the series after winning games two, three, and four, but failed to close out Metropolis and lost games five and six. Now the teams have one game to keep their season alive.
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| Zack Greinke started strong in Game Seven |
Now, each team sends its best starter to the mound - Zack Greinke for the Walkers and R.A. Dickey for the Avengers. The two also matched up in Games One and Four, with each team winning one and losing one. There was no guarantee that either starter would last long enough to get a decision in Game Seven, as neither team would be shy about going to the bullpen at the first sign of weakness.
Greinke and Dickey had no need for that bullpen support in the first few innings. Greinke breezed through the Avenger lineup the first time, allowing only singles to David Freese in the second Jose Reyes in the third. Dickey might have been even better, holding the Walkers hitless through three innings and allowing just two walks.
| R.A. Dickey's knuckleball baffled Walker hitters and his own catcher, Carlos Ruiz |
Metropolis had their best hitters scheduled in the fourth and
were hoping to get on the board first.
Second baseman Robinson Cano led off and singled for the first hit of
the game – for either team. Andrew
McCutchen followed and got a pitch to hit, but popped it up into the outfield
for the first out. Alex Gordon, however,
didn’t miss his pitch and hit a line drive into right field that sent Cano to
third. David Freese knew that even an
out could send Cano home, but his soft liner to short didn’t do the trick. Andy Dirks also failed, striking out to end
the inning.
| Bryce Harper scored the game's first run |
Fleetwood collected two hits of their own in the fifth, but a
double play grounder by Alex Avila erased Torii Hunter and Nick Markakis flew
out to end the inning and strand Asdrubal Cabrera on first.
Greinke started the fifth strong, retiring Jose Bautista and
Jose Reyes on routine ground balls.
Greinke momentarily lost his control and plunked outfielder Bryce Harper
to give the Avengers a two-out baserunner.
Moments later, Ruiz singled up the middle and Harper slid headfirst into
third base and Metropolis suddenly had a rally.
Cano came up and many expected him to face a lefty reliever, as he had
so many times in the series. Instead,
Fleetwood stayed with their ace and Cano made them pay, singling the other way
and driving in Harper to put Metropolis on the board. McCutchen came up looking to add to the lead,
but Greinke struck him out to keep the lead at one and end the inning.
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| Raul Valdes was great all series and struck out three Walkers in Game 7 |
Metropolis called on reliever Raul Valdes to start the sixth
and replace Dickey, who had been great all day.
Valdes, however, had been great all series, particularly against the
best hitters in the Fleetwood order.
This time he was called on to face Mike Trout, Matt Joyce and Miguel
Cabrera and the lefty was up to the task.
He struck out all three Walkers and looked good doing it. That gave him nine strikeouts in just 5 2/3
innings of work in the NLCS.
Greinke and Fleetwood reliever George Kontos kept the score 1-0 in the bottom
half of the inning and Avenger righty Huston Street came on to start the top of
the seventh. He picked up right where
Valdes left off, striking out David Wright and Chase Utley to start the inning. With that, the first five Walker hitters to
bat after the Avengers scored the game's only run had all struck out.
Some teams talk about “shutdown innings” as being critical, but there’s
no better way to shut down a potential rally by not even allowing your opponent to
put the ball in play.
Metropolis went 1-2-3 in the seventh and then sent
flame thrower Aroldis Chapman to the mound for the eighth. He got the first out, but Asdrubal Cabrera
singled to give Fleetwood the runner they needed. Carlos Quentin came on to hit for lefty Nick
Markakis, but could only lift a Chapman fastball into the outfield for the
second out. That brought rookie
superstar Mike Trout to the plate with the chance to put Fleetwood ahead with a
single swing. Cabrera, however, tried to move himself into scoring position and took off for second on Chapman’s first
pitch. Ruiz has a solid arm behind the
plate, but he was aided by Chapman’s 100 MPH heater and nailed Cabrera with
a good, but not great, throw to second.
Cabrera briefly complained to the second base umpire, but it was likely he was mostly embarrassed for ending a rally with Trout at the plate, and not really upset with the call.
| David Freese's homer put Metropolis ahead 2-0 |
Fleetwood gave the ball to Tom Wilhelmsen for the bottom of
the eighth and he got two quick outs.
David Freese, however, was a tougher matchup than either McCutchen and
Gordon were. Freese hit two hard
foul balls and was obviously seeing the ball well. On the fourth pitch of the at bat, Freese
pulled a fastball down the left field line.
It was just high enough to get past a leaping Travis Snider and over the
wall for a homer and a 2-0 Avenger lead.
Trout, left with the bat in his hand to end the eighth, faced
Chapman again to start the ninth, but couldn't catch up to the lefty’s fastball. Chapman struck him out and
Fleetwood had just two outs left.
Catcher Chris Ianetta swung through two fastballs, but was patient
enough to work a walk and bring Brassball home run and RBI champ Miguel Cabrera
to the plate. Cabrera isn’t known just
for his power and RBI’s, but also for his patience. Cabrera waited for a pitch he could
hit, but that patience instead earned him a walk, pushing Ianetta to second base. Fleetwood now had the tying run on base
without collecting a hit. Chapman’s back-to-back walks sent him to the showers, as Craig
Kimbrel came in from the bullpen to try and send Metropolis to the World
Series.
Kimbrel has been an anchor of
the Metropolis bullpen since his midseason acquisition in 2012. He’s been called on to get the Avengers out
of many jams, but few have been as critical as this one. David Wright came to the plate and Kimbrel didn't flinch. He came straight at
Wright with his fastball and got him on a foul tip which Ruiz held onto for the
second out of the inning.
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| Chase Utley heads to the dugout after making the last out |
Chase Utley followed Wright to the plate. Utley had been the Walkers’ best hitter all
series and was now fighting to not be their last hitter. Kimbrel kept throwing heat and got ahead of
Utley 2-1. Everyone expected another 99
MPH fastball, but Kimbrel threw a perfect slider instead. Utley was out in front of the pitch and
wasn’t ready for it to drop below as much as it did. Ruiz caught the last strike and bolted out of
his crouch to meet his pitcher on the mound, where they were quickly met by the
rest of their teammates to celebrate the Avengers’ return trip to the World
Series.
Kyle Lohse was the unexpected NLCS MVP for his surprising shutout in Game Five which turned the series around. Fleetwood looked like it was going to roll to an easy series win before Lohse put their bats on ice. In fact, after Lohse took the mound, the Walkers scored one run the rest of the series. Lohse and the other Metropolis pitchers allowed 14 hits and struck out 29 batters in the final 27 innings, compiling a 0.33 ERA. Add in the last six innings of Game Four and the numbers are 1 run, 18 hits and 38 strikeouts in 33 innings for a 0.27 ERA. Even more impressive, that performance came against the best offense in all of the Game. Fleetwood led Brassball in runs and batting average, while scoring 5.93 runs on more than 10 hits a game. They were shut out in games Five and Seven after being shutout in just five games all season long.
| Kyle Lohse was the NLCS MVP and may start Game One in the World Series |
Up next – Metropolis gets to stay home for a couple days
before hosting the American League champions for the first two games of the
World Series. Home-field advantage is
nice, but Fleetwood pushed Metropolis to the limit and the Avengers will have
to figure out how to schedule their pitching staff. Neither of their top pitchers, Dickey and
Kris Medlen, are available for Game One, which leaves the Avengers choosing
between Kyle Lohse and Doug Fister.
Fleetwood, on the other hand, turns its attention to
2014. The team has had a remarkable run
of success, averaging 111 wins over the last years, in which they have won the
NL Central five times and made the playoffs each year. For some reason, they have been unable to
take that regular-season success into the playoffs, as they have been knocked
out short of the World Series each of those eight years. The Walkers return the core of their team for
2014, with Cabrera, Trout, Wright, Markakis, and Utley returning to the offense
while Greinke and James Shields will anchor the rotation. The big question is what Fleetwood will do in
free agency, as they have already committed $40,000,000 in salary and may be
find it difficult to add an impact player. Even if that’s true, Fleetwood
clearly has the weapons to make a trip back to the NLCS in 2014 - or maybe even the World Series.
BOXSCORE: 2013
Fleetwood Walkers At 2013 Metropolis Avengers 10/29/2013
Walkers AB
R H RBI AVG Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG
N.Markakis DH 2
0 0 0 .222
C.Ruiz C 4 0
1 0 .250
B-C.Quentin PH,DH 1
0 0 0 .296
R.Cano 2B 4 0
2 1 .304
M.Trout CF 4
0 0 0 .288
A.McCutchen CF 4 0
0 0 .286
M.Joyce RF 3
0 0 0 .379
A.Gordon LF 4 0
2 0 .333
C-C.Iannetta
C 0 0 0 0 .231
D.Freese 3B 4 1 3 1 .357
M.Cabrera 1B 3
0 0 0 .277
A.Dirks DH 4 0
0 0 .379
D.Wright 3B 3
0 0 0 .275
J.Bautista 1B 2 0
0 0 .103
C.Utley 2B 3
0 0 0 .268
J.Reyes SS 3
0 1 0 .244
T.Hunter LF,RF 3
0 1 0 .178
B.Harper RF 2 1
0 0 .148
A.Avila C 2
0 0 0 .357
A-T.Snider
PH,LF 1 0
0 0 .167
A.Cabrera SS 3
0 2 0 .200
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 28
0 3 0
Totals 31 2 9 2
A-Pinch Hit For
Avila In 8th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For
Markakis In 8th Inning
C-Subbed
Defensively (C ) For Joyce In 8th Inning
Walkers.........
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 0 3 0
Avengers........
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
- 2 9 0
Walkers
(7-6) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
Z.Greinke
LOSS(1-3) 5 8
1 1 0
5 0 6.58
A1 C5
G.Kontos 1 2/3 0
0 0 1
1 0 3.86
C6 D1
J.Howell 0 1/3 0
0 0 0
0 0
13.50 D2 D2
T.Wilhelmsen 1 1
1 1 0
1 1 1.35
D3
Totals 8 9
2 2 1
7 1
Avengers
(8-3) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
R.Dickey
WIN(4-1) 5 2
0 0 3
6 0 5.40
A1 C1
R.Valdes
HOLD(4th) 1 0
0 0 0
3 0 0.00
C2 C4
H.Street
HOLD(2nd) 1 0
0 0 0
2 0 1.80
C5 C7
A.Chapman
HOLD(2nd) 1 1/3 1
0 0 2
1 0 0.00
C8 D4
C.Kimbrel
SAVE(2nd) 0 2/3 0
0 0 0
2 0 0.00
D5
Totals 9 3
0 0 5
14 0
ATTENDANCE-
48,296 DATE- Tuesday, October 29th 2013 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Eric
Cooper, Marty Foster, Derryl Cousins, Angel Hernandez
T- 2:38
LEFT ON BASE-
Walkers: 6 Avengers: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Walkers: 2 Avengers: 1
HOME RUNS-
D.Freese(3rd)
CAUGHT STEALING-
A.Cabrera
WALKS-
N.Markakis, C.Iannetta, M.Cabrera, D.Wright, C.Utley, J.Bautista
HIT BY PITCH-
B.Harper
STRIKE OUTS-
M.Trout-3, M.Joyce-3, M.Cabrera-2, D.Wright-3, C.Utley-3,
A.McCutchen-2, A.Gordon,
A.Dirks-2, B.Harper-2
GIDP- A.Avila,
C.Ruiz, J.Reyes
PASSED BALLS-
C.Ruiz
2-out RBI-
R.Cano, D.Freese
RLISP 2-out-
C.Utley-2, A.Dirks, A.McCutchen
WEB GEMS- Top
5th: Bryce Harper robbed Nick Markakis of an extra base hit.
Top 7th: Andrew McCutchen robbed
Torii Hunter of an extra base hit.
Bot 7th: Mike Trout robbed Carlos
Ruiz of an extra base hit.
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