After starting the season 10-18 (.357 winning percentage) in April, the Metropolis Avengers righted the ship and went on a five-month tear, going 107-27 (.798) the rest of the way. That gave them a 117-45 (.722) record and the best record in Brassball. The Avengers earned a first-round bye and they watched Parkland and Sacramento battle it out in the Wild Card round. The Green won the deciding seventh game of that series, heading to Metropolis as the Senators went home for the winter.
Parkland played Metropolis close during the regular season, winning three of the seven matchups between the teams. Despite the close regular season series and the Green's excellent 94-68 record, the Avengers came into the National League Division Series as heavy favorites. They had the better offense, the best pitching staff in baseball and home field advantage.
Game One
Parkland sent Wade Miley (13-12, 3.88 ERA) to the mound in game one and Metropolis countered with Cy Young candidate R.A. Dickey (21-4, 2.49 ERA). The Green were ready, jumping to a quick 1-0 lead as Nick Swisher singled home Dexter Fowler after Dickey had walked Fowler and Dustin Pedroia. Avenger trade-deadline acquisition Carlos Ruiz quickly got the run back for the Avengers, taking a Miley fastball over the wall for a leadoff homer and a 1-1 tie.
The Green top of the order started another rally in the third, as Pedroia hit a line drive double with two runners on. The speedy Fowler scored the go-ahead run easily, but slugger Joey Votto chugged around the bases and was nailed by a good-but-not-great Jose Reyes relay throw. After the game, Parkland manager Tom Keenan defended his third base coach's decision to waive Votto home, "He's our best player and a professional athlete - we all thought he was going to score."
Parkland held onto their 2-1 lead into the fourth, when Metropolis finally put together some baserunners. Andrew McCutchen singled and Franklin Gutierrez doubled, putting two on with one out. David Freese hit a sharp ground ball, and the Green conceded the run rather than try to throw out the fast McCutchen at the plate. Outfielder Yeonis Cespedes singled home Gutierrez to put Metropolis ahead 3-2, their first lead of the 2013 postseason.
Dickey completed the top of the fifth and then turned the game over to the deep Metropolis bullpen. Raul Valdes, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Huston Street combined on four no-hit innings, allowing just one walk and striking out six hitters. Metropolis added runs on solo homers by Jonny Gomes in the seventh and McCutchen in the eighth and closed out Game One 5-2.
Game Two
Metropolis sent its mid-season pickup Kris Medlen (8-0 2.06 ERA with Metropolis) to the mound to face Parkland's Ryan Vogelsong (14-10, 2.85 ERA).
Medlen dominated the game, tossing a complete-game shutout while scattering just three hits and three walks. He kept Green hitters off balance all night, inducing weak contact and never getting into real trouble. From the other dugout, Vogelsong started strong but was stung by an Andrew McCutchen triple and a Jed Lowrie in a four-run third inning.
Metropolis added insurance runs in a fifth-inning rally and on a David Freese solo homer in the seventh inning. Medlen retired Green catcher Martin Maldonado to ground out for the last out of the game, giving the Avengers a 2-0 series lead as the NLDS moved to Parkland.
Parkland played Metropolis close during the regular season, winning three of the seven matchups between the teams. Despite the close regular season series and the Green's excellent 94-68 record, the Avengers came into the National League Division Series as heavy favorites. They had the better offense, the best pitching staff in baseball and home field advantage.
Game One
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| Carlos Ruiz's leadoff homer tied the game 1-1. |
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| Joey Votto was out by a step in the third. |
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| Aroldis Chapman is just one weapon in the Metropolis bullpen. |
Dickey completed the top of the fifth and then turned the game over to the deep Metropolis bullpen. Raul Valdes, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Huston Street combined on four no-hit innings, allowing just one walk and striking out six hitters. Metropolis added runs on solo homers by Jonny Gomes in the seventh and McCutchen in the eighth and closed out Game One 5-2.
Game Two
Metropolis sent its mid-season pickup Kris Medlen (8-0 2.06 ERA with Metropolis) to the mound to face Parkland's Ryan Vogelsong (14-10, 2.85 ERA).
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| McCutchen's third inning triple plated the first two runs of the game. |
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| Kris Medlen gets a hug after his Game Two shutout |
BOXSCORE: 2013
Parkland Green At 2013 Metropolis Avengers 10/8/2013
Green AB R H
RBI AVG Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG
D.Fowler CF 3
2 1 0 .343
C.Ruiz C 3 1
1 1 .333
J.Votto 1B 1
0 0 0 .375
R.Cano 2B 4 0
1 0 .250
D-W.Middlebrooks
PH,3 1 0
0 0 .450 A.McCutchen CF 4
2 2 1 .500
D.Pedroia 2B 3
0 1 1 .324
F.Gutierrez RF 2 1
1 0 .500
N.Swisher RF 4
0 2 1 .500
A-A.Gordon PH,LF 1 0
0 0 .000
C.Crisp LF 3
0 0 0 .037
D.Freese 3B 4 0
0 1 .000
J.Lowrie SS 3
0 0 0 .167
Y.Cespedes LF 2 0
1 1 .500
G-Y.Escobar
PH 1 0
0 0 .111 B-B.Harper PH,RF 2
0 0 0 .000
M.Maldonado C 4
0 0 0 .308
J.Guzman 1B 2 0
0 0 .000
S.Rolen 3B 3
0 0 0 .091
F-J.Bautista PH,1B 1 0
0 0 .000
E-C.McGehee
1B 1 0
0 0 .190 J.Gomes DH 3
1 1 1 .333
Y.Grandal DH 2
0 0 0 .321
J.Reyes SS 3 0
0 0 .000
C-L.Cain
PR,DH 0 0
0 0 ----
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 29
2 4 2
Totals 31 5
7 5
A-Pinch Hit For
Gutierrez In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For
Cespedes In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Ran For
Grandal In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For
Votto In 7th Inning
E-Subbed
Defensively (1B) For Rolen In 7th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For
Guzman In 7th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For
Lowrie In 9th Inning
Green...........
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 2 4 0
Avengers........
1 0 0 2 0 0 1 1
- 5 7 1
Green (4-4) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
W.Miley
LOSS(1-2) 5 5
3 3 0
5 1 6.23
A1 C2
P.Strop 1 0
0 0 0
2 0 3.38
C3 C6
E.Frieri 1 1
1 1 0
3 1 2.08
C7 D2
G.Holland 1 1
1 1 0
1 1 1.29
D3
Totals 8 7
5 5 0
11 3
Avengers
(1-0) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
R.Dickey
WIN(1-0) 5 4
2 2 3
8 0 3.60
A1 C4
R.Valdes
HOLD(1st) 1 0
0 0 0
0 0 0.00
C5 C7
K.Jansen
HOLD(1st) 0 2/3 0
0 0 1
2 0 0.00
C8 D1
A.Chapman
HOLD(1st) 1 1/3 0
0 0 0
3 0 0.00
D2 D5
H.Street
SAVE(1st) 1 0
0 0 0
1 0 0.00
D6
Totals 9 4
2 2 4
14 0
ATTENDANCE-
49,058 DATE- Tuesday, October 8th 2013 TIME- Day WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Gary
Cederstrom, Fieldin Culbreth, Jim Reynolds, Tim Timmons
T- 2:43
LEFT ON BASE-
Green: 6 Avengers: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Green: 0 Avengers: 1
ERRORS- R.Dickey
DOUBLES-
D.Pedroia(4th), F.Gutierrez(1st)
HOME RUNS-
C.Ruiz(1st), A.McCutchen(1st), J.Gomes(1st)
SACRIFICE HITS-
C.Crisp
WALKS- D.Fowler,
J.Votto, D.Pedroia, Y.Grandal
HIT BY PITCH-
J.Votto, C.Ruiz, A.Gordon
STRIKE OUTS-
D.Fowler-2, J.Votto, W.Middlebrooks, N.Swisher-2, C.Crisp,
M.Maldonado, S.Rolen-3, C.McGehee,
Y.Grandal-2, R.Cano,
A.McCutchen-2, F.Gutierrez,
A.Gordon, D.Freese-2, J.Guzman,
J.Bautista, J.Reyes-2
GIDP- C.Crisp
2-out RBI-
Y.Cespedes
RLISP 2-out-
N.Swisher, M.Maldonado, B.Harper
----------------------------
BOXSCORE: 2013
Parkland Green At 2013 Metropolis Avengers 10/9/2013
Green AB R H
RBI AVG Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG
D.Fowler CF 3
0 0 0 .316
C.Ruiz C 5 1
1 0 .250
J.Votto 1B
4 0
0 0 .321 R.Cano 2B 4
1 0 0 .125
D.Pedroia 2B 4
0 0 0 .289
A.McCutchen CF 3 2
1 2 .429
N.Swisher RF 3
0 0 0 .455
A.Dirks DH 3 1
2 1 .667
C.Crisp LF 4
0 2 0 .097
D.Freese 3B 4 1 3 2 .375
J.Lowrie SS 4
0 0 0 .125
A.Gordon LF 4 0
2 1 .400
M.Maldonado C 3
0 0 0 .250
J.Bautista 1B 3 0
0 0 .000
S.Rolen 3B 2
0 1 0 .154
B.Harper RF 4
0 0 0 .000
Y.Grandal DH 3
0 0 0 .290
J.Reyes SS 4 0
1 0 .143
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 30
0 3 0
Totals 34 6 10 6
Green...........
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- 0 3 1
Avengers........
0 0 4 0 1 0 1 0
- 6 10 0
Green (4-5) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
R.Vogelsong
LOSS(1-2) 2 1/3 6
4 2 1
1 0 4.50
A1 B5
W.Wright 2 1
1 1 2
0 0 8.44
B6 C5
A.Crow 2 2/3 2
1 1 0
2 1 3.60
C6 D6
C.Durbin 1 1
0 0 0
1 0 8.31
D7
Totals 8 10
6 4 3
4 1
Avengers
(2-0) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
K.Medlen
WIN(1-0) 9 3
0 0 3
6 0 0.00
A1
Totals 9 3
0 0 3
6 0
ATTENDANCE-
49,739 DATE- Wednesday, October 9th 2013 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Larry
Vanover, Mike Everitt, Mike Dimuro, Tim McClelland
T- 2:58
LEFT ON BASE-
Green: 7 Avengers: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Green: 0 Avengers: 0
ERRORS- J.Lowrie
DOUBLES-
C.Crisp(1st), A.Gordon(1st)
TRIPLES-
A.McCutchen(1st)
HOME RUNS-
D.Freese(1st)
WALKS- D.Fowler,
N.Swisher, S.Rolen, A.McCutchen, A.Dirks, J.Bautista
HIT BY PITCH-
M.Maldonado
STRIKE OUTS-
D.Fowler-2, D.Pedroia, J.Lowrie, Y.Grandal-2, R.Cano, A.McCutchen,
J.Bautista, B.Harper
WILD PITCHES-
K.Medlen
2-out RBI-
D.Freese
RLISP 2-out-
N.Swisher-2, C.Crisp, J.Bautista-2, B.Harper-3, M.Maldonado,
Y.Grandal
WEB GEMS- Top
6th: Bryce Harper robbed Dustin Pedroia of an extra base hit.
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