FIRST ROUND: OAKLAND VS BROWNSVILLE

The Grapefruit Division’s 2-3 matchup featured the closest pairing of win-loss records of any of the four first-round games. As can be expected, the series went the distance, though there was a surprise before a single pitch was thrown: The Cutters left Manny Machado, who had a horrid regular season (.227, 26 HR, 78 RBI) OFF their roster, instead leaving the hot corner to Kyle Seager (.291, 16 HR) and shortstop to Paul DeJong (.256, 28 HR).

GAME 1: BROWNSVILLE @ OAKLAND

Despite the absence of Machado, the visiting Cutters struck first against the host Larks, and in a big way. Kyle Hendricks, who turned in a solid 13-6, 3.31 regular season, threw a middling 21 pitches in the top half of the first…but was lucky to record three outs. Brownsville’s first three hitters all singled, and Shohei Ohtani lofted a one-out sacrifice fly to bring in the game’s first run. DeJong then made the Brown bros look like geniuses by pulling a first-pitch three-run blast over the left-field fence at PNC Park. Scooter Gennett then wasted little time adding one to the tally, going deep for a solo shot on the second offering he saw.

Hendricks came out for the second and faced one batter, hanging a breaking ball for Yasmani Grandal to pound into center field for a hit, before Oakland management saw fit to bring in Marco Estrada. A run would score after a few outs on the bases, as Jose Abreu drove in Aaron Judge with a single. Before the home fans had even settled into their seats, their team was down by 6.

Oakland got on the board in the third frame with a Charlie Blackmon bases-loaded sacrifice fly, but the Cutters answered on a Seager oppo taco in the fourth.

Going into the fifth, Brownsville southpaw Joey Lucchesi was in control. He had struck out five through four innings while giving up four hits and three walks. Going through the heart of the order for a third time appeared dangerous, however. He walked the leadoff man on four pitches and then committed an error to put runners on the corners with no outs. A pair of singles scored a run and then loaded the bases, bringing up Robinson Chirinos. Despite a paltry .223 average in the regular season, the platoon backstop was more than capable against lefties. His .294 mark with 10 blasts in 102 at-bats in the campaign were predictive, as he fell behind in the count but launched a grand slam to left-center. All of a sudden, the Larks had pulled to within one run. A pair of outs in the air sandwiched a walk, but with Lucchesi just over 100 pitches and two of the last three batters retired, he was left in to face Chris Taylor. Taylor had singled in the first but struck out the next two times. This go-round, a 2-2 curve was hammered to straight away center field. Jay Bruce pivoted and sprinted, but he ran out of room as the ball just disappeared for an 8-7 Oakland lead!

After that, the game flew by. Judge reached twice more in the contest, but those were the only times the visitors had a man on base through their final four turns. The Larks tallied 15 strikeouts of Brownsville hitters and issued only one free pass, as the bullpen shut down the Cutters.

FINAL: OAKLAND 8, BROWNSVILLE 7

GAME 2: BROWNSVILLE @ OAKLAND, OAKLAND LEADS 1-0

After seeing a big lead slip through their hands, the Brownsville Cutters were determined to even up their best-of-five series on Oakland’s turf.

In stark contrast to Game 1, there weren’t any crooked numbers in this second contest. In fact, no one crossed the plate at all in the prescribed nine innings.

The Larks came closest in the early going, as Nolan Arenado doubled to open the second. He was stranded there, however, when Corey Kluber induced a ground out and K’d two more.

“Klubot” erred human in the sixth with a pair of one-out walks, but Arenado hit into a 6-4-3 and the side was retired.

The seventh was Brownsville’s opportunity to threaten the goose eggs. Two singles put men on the corners with none out, but their rally petered out with a pop up and two strikeouts.

The game was scoreless through nine innings, and neither team put a runner on base in the first inning and a half of extra frames. It continued as such all the way into the 13^th. With two down, Alex Colome allowed a single to Tyler Flowers – the only base runner other than a hit batter since he took the hill to start the 11^th. The Larks then put in left Ryan Buchter to set up a platoon matchup with Kyle Seager. The count went full. Buchter offered an inside fastball, and Seager turned and CRUSHED it down the right-field line…FAIR. HOME RUN!

The two-run blast was enough for Felipe Rivero to close the game out, squaring the series at one win apiece after one of the longest playoff games in BARB history!

FINAL: BROWNSVILLE 2, OAKLAND 0 (13)

GAME 3: OAKLAND @ BROWNSVILLE, SERIES TIED 1-1

Much like Game 2, the third contest between the Grapefruit’s 2^nd- and 3^rd-place teams began slowly. Blake Snell and Jacob deGrom matched zeroes for four innings, with three walks scattered by Snell and two harmless hits against deGrom.

Starling Marte had the first hit, in the second inning, before being thrown out attempting to steal. His second time up was a leadoff assignment in the fifth. After falling behind, Marte evened the count at 2-2 and fouled away a couple of pitches. Finally, deGrom made a mistake. In just a matter of seconds, the ball was a souvenir in the left-field bleachers at Cockerton Field, a 1-0 Oakland lead! The Larks added a second tally that inning, with Dee Gordon drawing a walk and scoring on a Robinson Chirinos double into the left field corner.

Entering the sixth, Snell was still working on a no-hitter. Javier Baez brought that, and the shutout, to an end with a blast to left-center to make it a 2-1 ballgame.

The home run spelled the end of Snell’s day, though he finished the frame. Hunter Strickland entered for the seventh, and in a flash the hosts were close to tying the game as Kyle Seager stroked a leadoff double. A Jose Abreu single put two on with none out. Paul DeJong, hitless since his home run in the first inning of Game 1, had a chance to be a hero, but in a 2-0 count he hit a worm-burner to shortstop Chris Taylor, who was playing in. Seager broke on contact but was thrown out at the plate. The next two hitters both struck out, and Strickland stared down the Cutters dugout as he walked off the mound with the lead intact.

The failed attempt to score seemed to demoralize the Brownsville crowd, and they were further silenced by Oakland’s top of the eighth. Carl Edwards walked Taylor and allowed a single with one out. Nolan Arenado grounded to first, where Abreu fired to the plate…JUST LATE! Taylor came across with a big insurance run for the visitors. After a strikeout, Felipe Rivero came on to face Juan Soto, a lefty swinger who had harassed southpaws in his freshman season to the tune of a .957 OPS. Playing the traditional matchup didn’t work in favor of Brownsville, as Soto victimized Rivero with a three-run round tripper to break the game open!

The Cutters showed signs of life in the home half of the eighth, scoring twice, but Jay Bruce struck out with the bases loaded, representing the potential go-ahead run, to end the threat. Brownsville didn’t put a runner on base in the bottom of the ninth, moving one loss from elimination.

FINAL: OAKLAND 6, BROWNSVILLE 3

GAME 4: OAKLAND @ BROWNSVILLE, OAKLAND LEADS 2-1

The first three games of the best-of-5 were seesaw battles, with Oakland and Brownsville trading big innings.

Game 4 was no different – at least for the home side. The host Cutters, in potentially their final home game of the season, wasted no time in barraging Oakland lefty Sean Newcomb. Tyler Flowers, in the leadoff spot for the second game in a row, drew a walk to open the bottom of the first. Javier Baez singled, and then Aaron Judge hit a monstrous blast down the left-field line and nearly out of the entire stadium for a three-run homer.

Jose Martinez followed Judge with a double, and when Kyle Seager cleared the center field wall the crowd erupted. Five batters, five runs, no outs for Brownsville!

Newcomb settled down and induced three groundouts, but the damage was done. A Flowers solo shot in the second made it 6-0, but Newcomb pitched into the fifth inning to help save Oakland’s bullpen for the nearly-certain Game 5.

For the hosts, Collin McHugh was in control for six shutout innings. He gave up two hits and walked one while striking out four in a sterling 77-pitch effort. Three relievers combined for the final three frames and preserved the shutout, sending the series to a decisive Game 5!

FINAL: BROWNSVILLE 6, OAKLAND 0

GAME 5: BROWNSVILLE @ OAKLAND, SERIES TIED 2-2

In Game 1, Kyle Hendricks was bombed by the visiting Brownsville Cutters for six runs in one-plus inning. For Game 5, the Oakland Larks turned to him again, confident that their ace could wrap up a divisional-round playoff spot.

On the other side, Brownsville made the decision to bring back Game 2 hero Corey Kluber on short rest. Kluber struck out 11 in 7 2/3 shutout innings in the second game, though he didn’t factor in the decision as his Cutters won it in the 13^th.

Brownsville went down in order in the top of the first, but after Kluber struck out Chris Taylor to open the home half, Daniel Murphy lined a double to right-center. Charlie Blackmon struck out. Nolan Arenado saw a pitch skip to the backstop, putting Murphy at third base. Arenado singled to left to score Murphy and put the hosts up, 1-0.

Oakland threatened again in the third, also seeing a Kluber wild pitch put a runner on third base, but they didn’t add to their lead until the fourth.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, David Peralta, hitless in the series to that point, turned on a slider and put it in the bullpen past the right field fence to double the Larks’ advantage.

The Cutters offense, meanwhile, was being shut down by Hendricks. Kyle Seager singled to open the fourth but didn’t move past first, and a two-out Scooter Gennett base hit in the fifth was quickly rendered null.

In the bottom of the fifth, Dee Gordon worked a full count against Kluber and lined a single to left. The speedster stole second and promptly sprinted home on a Taylor flare to shallow left, giving Oakland a 3-0 advantage.

All that was left was for the Larks to shut the door. Hendricks walked the leadoff man in the sixth before a force play and double play erased the runner, and he gave way to Mike Minor for the seventh. Minor tossed two perfect frames. Oakland handed closer Alex Colome the ball for the ninth, and all he did was retire the side in order – handing Jay Parks his first playoff series win in BARB!

FINAL: OAKLAND 3, BROWNSVILLE 0. OAKLAND WINS SERIES, 3-2

A tight series, but the team with home-field advantage came out on top. Oakland set their sights on the next round, in which they would either take on Grapefruit champion St. Francis or fourth-seed Frostbite Falls.