The 2014 Brassball World Series is a rematch of the 2006 series, when Metropolis beat Cook County 4-2. This year Cook County was the best team in the AL (106-56) and Metropolis dominated the NL (121-41). Both teams are playing well and the series starts at Metropolis's Hall of Justice with aces Max Scherzer and Clay Buchholz on the mound.
Buchholz took the mound with a perfect 4-0 record in his four postseason starts, but things started rough. He hit Shin Soo Choo to start the game and followed by walking Michael Cuddyer. Buchholz induced a ground ball double play from Adam Jones and was nearly out of danger, but it only got worse. Buchholz walked David Ortiz and Evan Longoria to load the bases with two outs. That brought Prince Fielder to the plate, and he wisely took a few pitches to see if Buchholz regained his control. Buchholz couldn't and he walked Fielder to force in the game's first run.
Metropolis quickly got the bullpen active, worried that a big hit could put the game out of reach before the Avengers even took their first at bat. With long reliever Alexi Ogando warming up, Buchholz finally got out of the inning when Wilson Ramos grounded to shortstop. Cook County had a 1-0 lead but had to feel like they let an opportunity get away, as they had five base runners in the inning.
Scherzer gave up a leadoff double to Robinson Cano in the bottom of the first but got out of the inning after issuing an intentional walk to Chris Davis and striking out Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper. Cook County was looking for more in the second, but Buchholz had settled down and retired the Maulers in order. From that point on, it was a pitchers' duel.
Buchholz and Scherzer kept the game 1-0, but each had a little help. Buchholz allowed some base runners, but got ground ball double plays in the third, fourth and sixth innings to avoid any more damage. Scherzer didn't give up many base runners, but got lucky when the spacious Hall of Justice turned several possible home runs into long outs. Avengers Chris Davis, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper each hit balls to the warning track in the bottom of the sixth, but each stayed in the park for an easy out.
Buchholz gave the ball to the bullpen after 6 2/3 innings, having allowed just three hits and the single run. Amazingly, he didn't walk another batter after the first inning. Scherzer stayed on and struck out Carlos Quentin to start the seventh. The next hitter, Jarrod Saltalmacchia hit another deep fly ball, but this one was higher and deeper than the others and cleared the center field wall for a solo homer and a 1-1 game.
The bullpens were strong in the eighth and ninth innings, sending the game to extra innings tied at one. Avenger reliever Caleb Thielbar hit Prince Fielder in the tenth but got out of the inning. Cano singled for Metropolis in the bottom of the inning, but Andrew McCutchen ended the inning with a double play grounder.
Thielbar breezed through the 11th, striking out Ryan Raburn and Choo before getting a lazy fly ball from Michael Cuddyer to end it. Tony Watson started the 11th inning for Cook County and allowed a single to lefty Chris Davis. That was all for Watson and Tanner Roak came on in relief. Roak walked Jayson Werth, moving Davis into scoring position. Bryce Harper followed with a single and Davis lumbered home with the winning run. However, right fielder Rajai Davis made a strong throw to nail Davis at the plate for the first out. Carlos Quentin followed with a ground ball that sent Werth home, but shortstop JJ Hardy nailed him at the plate for the second out of the inning. That brought up Saltalamacchia, who hit a clean single between Hardy and second baseman Ryan Raburn, easily scoring Harper for the winning run.
Thielbar got credit for the win, but Nick Vincent was just as impressive. The two Avenger relievers combined for 4 1/3 innings without a hit or walk while striking out five Maulers. Metropolis took the 1-0 lead in the World Series but both teams know they could easily have won or lost the game. Cook County turns to lefty Chris Sale for Game Two, when he'll face Metropolis righty Stephen Strasburg.
BOXSCORE: 2014 Cook County Maulers At 2014 Metropolis Avengers 11/1/2014
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| Buchholz reacts after walking Prince Fielder to force in a run. |
Metropolis quickly got the bullpen active, worried that a big hit could put the game out of reach before the Avengers even took their first at bat. With long reliever Alexi Ogando warming up, Buchholz finally got out of the inning when Wilson Ramos grounded to shortstop. Cook County had a 1-0 lead but had to feel like they let an opportunity get away, as they had five base runners in the inning.
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| Scherzer kept the Avengers in the park. Barely. |
Buchholz and Scherzer kept the game 1-0, but each had a little help. Buchholz allowed some base runners, but got ground ball double plays in the third, fourth and sixth innings to avoid any more damage. Scherzer didn't give up many base runners, but got lucky when the spacious Hall of Justice turned several possible home runs into long outs. Avengers Chris Davis, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper each hit balls to the warning track in the bottom of the sixth, but each stayed in the park for an easy out.
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| Saltalmacchia's homer tied the game at one. |
The bullpens were strong in the eighth and ninth innings, sending the game to extra innings tied at one. Avenger reliever Caleb Thielbar hit Prince Fielder in the tenth but got out of the inning. Cano singled for Metropolis in the bottom of the inning, but Andrew McCutchen ended the inning with a double play grounder.
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| Brycer Harper celebrates just prior to scoring the winning run. |
Thielbar got credit for the win, but Nick Vincent was just as impressive. The two Avenger relievers combined for 4 1/3 innings without a hit or walk while striking out five Maulers. Metropolis took the 1-0 lead in the World Series but both teams know they could easily have won or lost the game. Cook County turns to lefty Chris Sale for Game Two, when he'll face Metropolis righty Stephen Strasburg.
BOXSCORE: 2014 Cook County Maulers At 2014 Metropolis Avengers 11/1/2014
Maulers AB
R H RBI AVG Avengers AB
R H RBI AVG
S.Choo LF 4
1 0 0 .200
R.Cano 2B 5 0
2 0 .300
M.Cuddyer RF,1B 4
0 2 0 .333
A.McCutchen CF 5 0
1 0 .306
A.Jones CF 4
0 0 0 .163
C.Davis 1B 3 0
1 0 .188
D.Ortiz DH 3
0 0 0 .250
J.Werth RF 4 0
1 0 .220
E.Longoria 3B 3
0 1 0 .259
B.Harper LF 5 1
1 0 .167
P.Fielder 1B 2
0 0 1 .222
C.Quentin DH 5 0
2 0 .277
A-R.Davis
PR,RF 0 0
0 0 .412 J.Saltalamacchia C 5
1 2 2 .308
W.Ramos C 3
0 0 0 .161
J.Reyes SS 4 0
0 0 .200
B-V.Martinez
PH 1 0
0 0 .000 J.Bautista 3B 4
0 0 0 .122
C-R.Martin C 0
0 0 0 .111
J.Hardy SS 4
0 0 0 .231
D.Lemahieu 2B 3
0 0 0 .091
D-R.Raburn
PH,2B 1 0
0 0 .229
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 32
1 3 1
Totals 40
2 10 2
A-Pinch Ran For
Fielder In 10th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For
Ramos In 10th Inning
C-Subbed
Defensively (C ) For Martinez In 10th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For
Lemahieu In 11th Inning
Maulers.........
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 - 1 3 0
Avengers........
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 - 2 10 0
Maulers
(8-6) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
M.Scherzer 7 4
1 1 2
9 1 2.05
A1 C9
L.Avilan 0 2/3 1
0 0 0
2 0 1.98
D1 D3
J.Henderson 0 1/3 0
0 0 0
0 0 4.00
D4 D4
T.Clippard 2 2
0 0 0
1 0 1.46
D5 E2
T.Watson 0 1
0 0 0
0 0 3.60
E3 E3
T.Roark
LOSS(0-1) 0 2/3 2
1 1 1
0 0 4.05
E4
Totals 10 2/3 10
2 2 3
12 1
Avengers
(9-3) IP H
R ER BB
SO HR ERA
SCORESHEET
C.Buchholz 6 2/3 3
1 1 4
4 0 1.78
A1 C6
N.Vincent 2
0 0 0
0 3 0
1.86 C7 D3
C.Thielbar
WIN(1-0) 2 1/3 0
0 0 0
2 0 0.79
D4
Totals 11 3
1 1 4
9 0
ATTENDANCE-
47,597 DATE- Saturday, November 1st 2014 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Sam
Holbrook, Gerry Davis, Brian Gorman, Bruce Dreckman
T- 3:06
LEFT ON BASE-
Maulers: 4 Avengers: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS-
Maulers: 1 Avengers: 4
DOUBLES-
R.Cano(6th), C.Quentin(5th)
HOME RUNS-
J.Saltalamacchia(2nd)
RBIs-
P.Fielder(5th), J.Saltalamacchia-2(3rd)
STOLEN BASES-
R.Davis(1st), A.McCutchen(1st)
WALKS- M.Cuddyer,
D.Ortiz, E.Longoria, P.Fielder, C.Davis-2, J.Werth
HIT BY PITCH-
S.Choo, P.Fielder
STRIKE OUTS-
S.Choo-2, A.Jones, D.Ortiz, W.Ramos-2, J.Hardy, D.Lemahieu,
R.Raburn, R.Cano, A.McCutchen-2,
C.Davis, J.Werth, B.Harper-2,
C.Quentin-2, J.Reyes-2, J.Bautista
GIDP- A.Jones-2,
P.Fielder, A.McCutchen
2-out RBI-
P.Fielder, J.Saltalamacchia
RLISP 2-out-
W.Ramos-2, B.Harper-2, J.Werth, J.Reyes, J.Hardy
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