Having won Game Four and prevented a Metropolis sweep, the Cook County Maulers hope to take Game Five and send the 2014 Brassball World Series back to Metropolis. After considering starting Chris Sale on three days rest, the Maulers tapped another lefty, Cole Hamels, for the start. Metropolis stuck to its four-man rotation and sent ace Clay Buchhoz to the mound.
Hamels found himself in trouble from the start. After needing seven pitches to retire Robinson Cano, he lost Andrew McCutchen on a walk and then gave up a single to Josh Satin. McCutchen's raced to third on the hit, where he scored easily on a groundball up the middle by Jayson Werth. Shortstop JJ Hardy did get to the ball and forced Satin at second, but Cook County was in a 1-0 hole before they came to bat.
Buchholz had no trouble in the bottom of the first, striking out the Mauler's top three hitters - Shin Soo Choo, Michael Cuddyer, and Adam Jones. Hamels looked good to start the second, retiring Carlos Quentin and striking out Matt Wieters. He fell behind speedy Jose Reyes 3-1 and left a fastball at the belt, which Reyes jumped on and drove down the left field line for a solo homer. Reyes slugged just .331 against left-handed pitchers during the season, but he picked a perfect time to muscle up for his fourth homer against lefties on the year.
Buchholz cruised through the second and third innings, with the only Mauler base runner reaching on a Cano error. Buchholz did allow singles to Jones and Ryan Raburn in the fourth, but got a groundball from Wilson Ramos to end the inning. The game was 2-0 into the fifth, when Jose Bautista crushed a one-out changeup deep into the stands for a solo homer and a 3-0 Avenger lead.
Buchholz retired the Maulers in order in the fifth and called it a night. Metropolis turned to its shutdown lefty, Caleb Thielbar, for the top of the order. He looked a little shaky, giving up consecutive singles to Cuddyer and Jones and walking Raburn to load the bases with two outs. That was all for Thielbar, as righty Craig Kimbrel came in to face Ramos. Ramos fouled off two consecutive fastballs but laid off a Kimbrel slider, which bounced at his feet and got under Matt Wieters's glove for a wild pitch. That scored Cuddyer and cut the lead to 3-1 Metropolis. Kimbrel got the third strike to punch out Ramos and end the inning. Even though Cook County got on the board, they missed a chance to do more damage, as a base hit would have tied the game.
Kimbrel dominated in the seventh and eighth innings. He struck out Evan Longoria and Prince Fielder in the seventh and then K'd all three Maulers he faced in the eighth - Choo, Cuddyer and Jones.
Metropolis combined two singles and a sacrifice bunt to add to their lead in the top of the ninth. Matt Wieters led off with a single and scored just ahead of the throw after a Robinson Cano single to right. That put the Maulers in a 4-1 hole going to the bottom of the ninth with their World Series on the line.
Kimbrel stayed out for the bottom of the ninth, having already pitched 2 1/3 inning with six K's and no baserunners. David Ortiz led off with a single and moved to second on a one-out wild pitch. Kimbrel walked Ramos to bring the tying run to the plate in Evan Longoria. After a visit from the pitching coach, Kimbrel kept firing fastballs and Longoria tipped one into Wieters's glove for strike three and the second out. That left Prince Fielder as the Outlaws' last hope. Fielder had just one hit in 15 at bats series thus far, but he is easily capable of turning on a Kimbrel fastball. Unfortunately for the Maulers, Fielder's slump continued and Kimbrel got him swinging on a slider off the plate. Wieters sprinted to the mound after catching the final out and reached Kimbrel just before the rest of the Avengers got there to start the celebration.
With that, Metropolis finished off the Maulers four games to one. The win gave the Avengers their second World Series in three years and third since 2006.
Metropolis looked like the better team before the series, but no one expected them to dominate the way they did. Even if it looked like an easy 4-1 series win, Cook County could easily have one the first two games, both of which were decided by a single run in extra innings. Just a couple of good breaks in those games would have put the Maulers up 2-0.
Now, each team looks to 2015. Metropolis will need to resign or replace their #1 starter (Clay Buchholz) and top slugger (Chris Davis). They hope Corey Kluber can step up to help replace Buchholz, but they don't have anyone ready to play 1B if Davis gets away. Cook County will return nearly all of its core players, with only Shin Soo Choo and Michael Cuddyer as significant free agents. Given the success each team has had in recent years, it would not be a surprise to see them face off again in the 2015 World Series.
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| Jose Reyes celebrates his homer with Jose Bautista. |
Hamels found himself in trouble from the start. After needing seven pitches to retire Robinson Cano, he lost Andrew McCutchen on a walk and then gave up a single to Josh Satin. McCutchen's raced to third on the hit, where he scored easily on a groundball up the middle by Jayson Werth. Shortstop JJ Hardy did get to the ball and forced Satin at second, but Cook County was in a 1-0 hole before they came to bat.
Buchholz had no trouble in the bottom of the first, striking out the Mauler's top three hitters - Shin Soo Choo, Michael Cuddyer, and Adam Jones. Hamels looked good to start the second, retiring Carlos Quentin and striking out Matt Wieters. He fell behind speedy Jose Reyes 3-1 and left a fastball at the belt, which Reyes jumped on and drove down the left field line for a solo homer. Reyes slugged just .331 against left-handed pitchers during the season, but he picked a perfect time to muscle up for his fourth homer against lefties on the year.
| Jose Bautista had a tough postseason, but connected with Cole Hamels changeup. |
Buchholz retired the Maulers in order in the fifth and called it a night. Metropolis turned to its shutdown lefty, Caleb Thielbar, for the top of the order. He looked a little shaky, giving up consecutive singles to Cuddyer and Jones and walking Raburn to load the bases with two outs. That was all for Thielbar, as righty Craig Kimbrel came in to face Ramos. Ramos fouled off two consecutive fastballs but laid off a Kimbrel slider, which bounced at his feet and got under Matt Wieters's glove for a wild pitch. That scored Cuddyer and cut the lead to 3-1 Metropolis. Kimbrel got the third strike to punch out Ramos and end the inning. Even though Cook County got on the board, they missed a chance to do more damage, as a base hit would have tied the game.
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| Craig Kimbrel dominated, striking out eight batters in 3 1/3 innings. |
Metropolis combined two singles and a sacrifice bunt to add to their lead in the top of the ninth. Matt Wieters led off with a single and scored just ahead of the throw after a Robinson Cano single to right. That put the Maulers in a 4-1 hole going to the bottom of the ninth with their World Series on the line.
Kimbrel stayed out for the bottom of the ninth, having already pitched 2 1/3 inning with six K's and no baserunners. David Ortiz led off with a single and moved to second on a one-out wild pitch. Kimbrel walked Ramos to bring the tying run to the plate in Evan Longoria. After a visit from the pitching coach, Kimbrel kept firing fastballs and Longoria tipped one into Wieters's glove for strike three and the second out. That left Prince Fielder as the Outlaws' last hope. Fielder had just one hit in 15 at bats series thus far, but he is easily capable of turning on a Kimbrel fastball. Unfortunately for the Maulers, Fielder's slump continued and Kimbrel got him swinging on a slider off the plate. Wieters sprinted to the mound after catching the final out and reached Kimbrel just before the rest of the Avengers got there to start the celebration.
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| Metropolis outfielders Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper celebrate their World Series win. |
Metropolis looked like the better team before the series, but no one expected them to dominate the way they did. Even if it looked like an easy 4-1 series win, Cook County could easily have one the first two games, both of which were decided by a single run in extra innings. Just a couple of good breaks in those games would have put the Maulers up 2-0.
Now, each team looks to 2015. Metropolis will need to resign or replace their #1 starter (Clay Buchholz) and top slugger (Chris Davis). They hope Corey Kluber can step up to help replace Buchholz, but they don't have anyone ready to play 1B if Davis gets away. Cook County will return nearly all of its core players, with only Shin Soo Choo and Michael Cuddyer as significant free agents. Given the success each team has had in recent years, it would not be a surprise to see them face off again in the 2015 World Series.
BOXSCORE: 2014
Metropolis Avengers At 2014 Cook County Maulers 11/6/2014
Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG Maulers AB
R H RBI AVG
R.Cano 2B 5
0 1 1 .257
S.Choo LF 4 0
0 0 .170
A.McCutchen CF 3
1 0 0 .303
M.Cuddyer RF 4 1
1 0 .345
J.Satin 1B 2
0 1 0 .176
A.Jones CF 4 0
2 0 .172
A-C.Davis
PH,1B 1 0
0 0 .200 D.Ortiz DH 4
0 1 0 .242
J.Werth RF 3
0 0 1 .222
R.Raburn 2B 3 0
1 0 .214
Y.Cespedes LF 4
0 1 0 .273
W.Ramos C 3 0
0 0 .135
C.Quentin DH 4
0 0 0 .270
E.Longoria 3B 4 0
0 0 .217
M.Wieters C 4
1 1 0 .280
P.Fielder 1B 4 0
0 0 .186
J.Reyes SS 3
1 1 1 .208
J.Hardy SS 3 0
0 0 .219
J.Bautista 3B 4
1 3 1 .161
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 33
4 8 4
Totals 33 1
5 0
A-Pinch Hit For
Satin In 6th Inning
Avengers........
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
- 4 8 2
Maulers.........
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
- 1 5 0
Avengers
(12-4) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
C.Buchholz
WIN(5-0) 5 2
0 0 0
6 0 1.53
A1 B9
C.Thielbar 0 2/3 2
1 1 1
1 0 1.08
C1 C5
C.Kimbrel
SAVE(3rd) 3 1/3 1
0 0 1
8 0 0.00
C6
Totals 9 5
1 1 2
15 0
Maulers
(9-9) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
C.Hamels
LOSS(0-3) 5 4
3 3 1
3 2 5.40
A1 C2
T.Roark 1 1
0 0 1
0 0 3.52
C3 C7
L.Avilan 1 1
0 0 1
1 0 1.62
C8 D3
T.Clippard 2 2
1 1 0
2 0 1.76
D4
Totals 9 8
4 4 3
6 2
ATTENDANCE-
46,143 DATE- Thursday, November 6th 2014 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Jim
Joyce, Jeff Nelson, Mark Carlson, Tim Tschida
T- 2:55
LEFT ON BASE-
Avengers: 7 Maulers: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Avengers: 0 Maulers: 1
ERRORS- R.Cano,
J.Bautista
DOUBLES-
J.Bautista-2(4th)
HOME RUNS-
J.Reyes(1st), J.Bautista(2nd)
RBIs-
R.Cano(2nd), J.Werth(11th), J.Reyes(4th), J.Bautista(3rd)
SACRIFICE HITS-
J.Reyes
WALKS-
A.McCutchen-2, J.Werth, R.Raburn, W.Ramos
HIT BY PITCH-
C.Davis
STRIKE OUTS-
R.Cano, C.Davis, C.Quentin-2, M.Wieters, J.Bautista, S.Choo-3,
M.Cuddyer-2, A.Jones-2, W.Ramos,
E.Longoria-3, P.Fielder-3,
J.Hardy
GIDP- C.Quentin
WILD PITCHES-
C.Kimbrel-2
2-out RBI-
J.Reyes, R.Cano
RLISP 2-out-
R.Cano, W.Ramos-3, M.Wieters-2, C.Davis, P.Fielder
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