BRASSball Post-Season 2012: Superior at California - Game 7

Game 7: Superior (Felix Hernandez 7-13, 3.71) at California (Roy Halladay 18-13, 2.98)

Ah yes, a game seven. Can you feel the tension in the air? Summer has ended, but things are heating up in California as the final game of the AL Wild Card series is at hand. The last time King Felix threw for the Blues, the Roadrunners didn't manage to get a single hit. Doc Halladay is 0-2 this post-season, while Hernandez is 2-0. Which team will keep their hopes alive for a BRASSball championship and which team will go home wondering where it all went wrong? It's time to find out.

After getting a hit and making a spectacular play in center field in game six, Torii Hunter was rewarded with another start. With one out in the bottom of the first, he wanted his teammates to know that everyone was capable of hitting King Felix this time around. He took Hernandez deep out to center field and gave California a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the second, Halladay began to unravel early like he has all post-season. Justin Upton and Evan Longoria singled, putting runners at first and third with no outs. Mark Trumbo grounded out to the pitcher, advancing Longoria to second. Ryan Roberts then hit a deep fly to right field, sending Kosuke Fukudome back to the warning track. Fukudome made the catch, but both runners advanced, and the Blues tied the game at one each. Cliff Pennington then struck out to end the inning.

A walk is as good as a hit, right? It's especially true if you're facing Felix Hernandez. With back-to-back walks by Hunter and Ryan Braun in the bottom of the third, the Roadrunners were able to take a 2-1 lead. With runners at first and second, Josh Hamilton singled in Hunter, moving Braun to third. With one out, Aramis Ramirez then walked to load the bases. Mitch Moreland hit a big fly to right, but it was caught. It was deep enough, however, to score Braun from third, giving California a 3-1 lead. Hamilton was thrown out trying to advance to third, but the damage had been done.

In the top of the fourth, Longoria hit a long fly ball to deep center field that cleared the wall and cut the Roadrunner lead down to one. Halladay was able to finish off the inning, but the Blues were keeping the home crowd on pins and needles, reminding everyone that they would fight back.

Fight back the Blues did, by scratching out yet another run in the top of the fifth. Pennington singled and Ichiro followed him up with an infield single. A balk was called while Halladay was busy trying to keep track of the runners on an attempted double steal. With runners on second and third and two outs, Adam Jones singled to center, scoring Pennington, and tying the game 3-3. Superior then took the lead when Justin Upton singled to right to score Ichiro. Longoria struck out to end the inning, but the Blues were in business and up 4-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, it was time to work on the knockout punch against Hernandez. Ramirez singled to right to start the inning, and Moreland moved him to second with a single of his own. With runners on first and second, J.J. Hardy was given the green light to swing away, and he went oppo to drive in Ramirez from second. The game was now tied 4-4, and California had runners on first and third with no outs. Superior yanked Hernandez and replaced him with Brad Ziegler. After getting pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu to pop out, Mark Ellis tapped a ball in front of home plate and was safe after some confusion between Ziegler and catcher Kurt Suzuki. Neither of them appeared to want the ball, and Ellis beat out the throw from Suzuki by a step. Moreland scored on a head's up play to give the home team the lead, 5-4. Ziegler then struck out Fukudome to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Halladay trotted out to the mound. In one of the more interesting decisions, the Roadrunners opted to leave the starter in there, possibly to give him some confidence in the chance the team would advance. Instead, the plan backfired, and the Blues capitalized on the mistake. Big time. Jose Tabata launched a two-run home run deep into the rocks in left-center, giving the Blues the lead once again. Finally, a dejected Halladay was relieved from the game in favor of lefty Sean Marshall. Marshall was relieved by Jason Motte after Motte allowed two baserunners. Yorvit Torrealba then threw the ball into center field when Longoria attempted to steal second. This allowed Upton to score on the error, and Superior was now up by two runs, taking a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Braun cut the lead in half with a solo shot, changing the score to 7-6 in favor of Superior. Sergio Romo was called on to relieve Ziegler and faced the lefty Josh Hamilton. Hamilton flied out to right for the second out. Ramirez hit a two-out single to keep things going and that brought Moreland to the plate. Moreland hit a line drive to left-center just out of the reach of Ichiro. The ball was hit hard enough, though, that Ramirez couldn't score from first. Hardy then struck out, stranding the tying and go-ahead runs on base to end the inning.

The final two innings were quiet for both teams and the Blues finished off an amazing two-game ride at California. Superior now moves on to face Santa Barbara in the ALDS.

BRASSball Post-Season 2012: Superior at California - Game 6

Game 6: Superior (Javier Vazquez 12-4, 2.43) at California (Dan Haren 17-13, 3.68)

The series returned to California after the Roadrunners took two-out-of-three games from the Blues at Superior. Javier Vazquez got the call after he lost game two, while Dan Haren started his second game of the series as well. Haren was knocked around in game three, but was pulled after three innings and took a no-decision in the team victory.

Haren appeared as if he couldn't handle the short rest from the very first pitch. After a lead-off walk to Jose Tabata, Adam Jones blasted a two-run home run that just cleared the wall in left-center. Superior was out in front, 2-0. Then, with two outs, Evan Longoria hit a long ball to almost the exact same spot that Jones did and the Blues added to their lead, 3-0. Mark Trumbo struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done, and the Roadrunners were now in catch-up mode.

In the bottom of the first, the top half of the California lineup was called on to pick Haren up. Torii Hunter was given the start over the struggling Bobby Abreu and responded with a one-out single to center. Ryan Braun then singled, and both runners advanced a base when Josh Hamilton grounded out to the pitcher. With two outs and first base open, Vazquez fired a 2-2 fastball and Aramis Ramirez smacked it into the rocks to tie the game at three apiece. Mitch Moreland struck out, but not before the home team reset the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the second, the Roadrunners got power from an unlikely source in Mark Ellis. With two outs and the bases empty, Ellis took some high cheese and sliced it over the center field wall, giving California a 4-3 lead.

Everything was quiet until the top of the sixth. Adam Jones singled off Haren and stole second. Justin Upton was then hit by a pitch, and it appeared as if Haren had run out of gas. With the right-handed Longoria due up next, California called on Jason Motte to clean up Haren's mess. Longoria wasted no time and hit a double off the wall in left-center. Jones scored to tie the game, but Upton was held at third. The game was now tied 4-4 with no outs.

Mark Trumbo stepped in with first base open, and the Roadrunners had their biggest decision of the game: issue the free pass to Trumbo, or try and strike him out. The intentional walk was chosen, and Ryan Roberts was given a chance to make the Roadrunners pay. And pay they did as Roberts hit a hard ground ball between Ellis and Moreland to score both Upton and Longoria. The Blues had a 6-4 lead with runners on first and third and nobody out. Chad Pennington grounded out to Ellis for the first out, but Roberts advanced to second. Kurt Suzuki was up next and tried to get under one, hoping for a sacrifice fly. He hit a lazy fly ball into right that Fukudome was able to charge. Superior picked the wrong time to get aggressive on the base paths and decided to send Trumbo. Fukudome's throw was right on the money and Trumbo was out at home. The damage was done, though, as the Blues led by two heading into the bottom of the sixth.

California could not do anything against the Blues' bullpen, and the game ended 6-4 in favor of Superior. The AL Wild Card series now moves on to a game seven with the winner advancing, and the season ending for the loser.

BRASSball Post-Season 2012: Superior at California - Game 2

Game 2: Superior (Javier Vazquez 12-4, 2.43) at California (Ian Kennedy 16-10, 3.72)

The second game of the series featured Javier Vazquez of Superior against Ian Kennedy of California. Kennedy quickly made it through the first to give the anxious Roadrunner offense a chance to hit.

Vazquez ended up walking the first two batters he faced, but was able to strike out Ryan Braun. Clearly upset with the calls behind the plate, a frustrated Vazquez then walked Josh Hamilton to load the bases. After words were exchanged between the home umpire and pitcher, Aramis Ramirez took the first pitch he saw and planted it into the rocks in left center for a first-inning grand slam. California was in business with a 4-0 lead to start the game.

Kennedy was able to enter the second inning calmly, but lost command of the game and allowed a second and third situation to almost get away from him. Brian Roberts doubled, but Superior played conservative Baseball once again and held Justin Upton at third with two outs. Cliff Pennington then struck out to end the inning, but not before Kennedy had thrown a significant number of pitches.

In the bottom of the 4th, the Roadrunners were hungry to add to their 4-0 lead. Mitch Moreland led off the inning with a walk. J.J. Hardy followed with a single that moved Moreland over to third with no outs. Miguel Olivo hit a deep fly to center that plated Moreland, putting California up by five.

The Roadrunners weren't finished though, as another run crossed the plate in the bottom of the 8th. Josh Hamilton scored the sixth run for California after Olivo drove him home with a two-out single. Would that be enough to hold off Superior in the 9th?

Down to their final three outs, the Blues' Evan Longoria led off the inning with a double off Kennedy. Immediately, the California bullpen got busy, with both Sean Marshall and Mariano Rivera getting loose. Mark Trumbo followed with a walk, and it was clear that Kennedy was in trouble. After a quick visit to the mound, the home team decided to leave the starting pitcher in to face one more batter. Ryan Roberts hit a ground ball right at second baseman Mark Ellis, who started the 4-6-3 tailor-made double play. The Superior bench watched on as their last batter, Cliff Pennington, grounded out to end the game.

California took the second game 6-0 behind a complete game shut out by Ian Kennedy. The series now moves on to Superior for three games.

BRASSball Post-Season 2012: Superior at California - Game 1

Game 1: Superior (Felix Hernandez 7-13, 3.71) at California (Roy Halladay 18-13, 2.98)

The aces were up in the first game of the series as Superior sent Felix Hernandez to the mound while the Roadrunners called on Roy Halladay. Neither starter allowed a hit through the first three innings, but the Blues made a bit of noise in the top of the 4th.

Ichiro Suzuki laced a single to center, and then stole second. Justin Upton then singled to center, but Superior's third-base coach decided to hold Suzuki at third. Evan Longoria then flied out to right to end the inning, stranding Ichiro at third.

Superior's offense could not be contained any longer. Possibly rattled by the previous inning, Mark Trumbo launched a solo "Trum-Bomb" into deep left-center to give the Blues a 1-0 advantage.

In one of the more surprising post-season moves, Superior decided to pull Hernandez from the game after only six innings pitched. This was six innings of no-hit Baseball we're talking about. Brad Ziegler got the call in the bottom of the 7th. Ziegler struck out Ryan Braun, but Josh Hamilton decided to stroke a single to center to break up the no-hitter. Aramis Ramirez hit into an inning-ending double play, and that was all California could muster through seven.

In the top of the eighth, it was the other Suzuki that got things started for the Blues. Kurt Suzuki lined a single to center after just missing a solo home run. He was moved over to third after Ichiro singled. Andruw Jones then stepped up with two outs and singled through the infield to center to give Superior a 2-0 lead. Halladay was pulled from the game in favor of Jason Motte who was able to get Justin Upton to fly out to center to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, and Ziegler still in the game, Mitch Moreland walked. Sergio Romo was quickly called in to face J.J. Hardy who lined out to Longoria at third. Miguel Olivo then hit into a double play, and Superior had once again kept the California offense and home crowd quiet.

Romo took care of the Roadrunners in the ninth, and preserved an outstanding overall performance from the Superior pitching staff. The Blues took game 1, 2-0, but one can only wonder if we missed out at a chance for history when King Felix was pulled.