Tuesday, October 16, 2012

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.

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