FIRST ROUND: BROOKLYN VS CAROLINA

The combined regular season win total of the Cactus Leagues’ 2nd and 3rd seeds was 204, easily the most combined victories of any 2018 playoff matchup. Carolina, led by infielders Eric Hosmer (.330, 42 doubles and 24 homers) and Jon Schoop (.282, 32 HR, 99 RBI), finished with 112 victories and only a win in game 163 away from their first division title. On the other side Brooklyn fielded a 92-win squad led by 1B Freddie Freeman (.289, 74 XBH, 107 RBI) and All-Star game MVP Francisco Lindor (54 doubles, 30 HR, 104 RBI). The regular season series was won 9-5 in favor of Carolina but there were only a 9-run differential between the two teams in those 14 games. Would this series be more of the same or will Brooklyn come out on top?

GAME 1: Brooklyn @ Carolina

Game 1 featured two pitchers who finished in the upper echelon of the League Cy Young award race. For Carolina, Chad Green, who ultimately would finish 2nd to Brownsville’s Corey Kluber, began the season as a dominant high-leverage reliever and turned into a reliable short inning starter and would finish the season with a great stat line (14-3, 2.13 ERA, 13.7 K/9). Green quickly disposed of the first 3 batters of Brooklyn’s lineup as Christian Yelich struck out, Mitch Haniger popped out to Schoop and Lindor grounded out back to the mound.

Opposite of Green was Brooklyn starter Justin Verlander who was one of three Brooklyn starters to put up Cy Young worthy numbers (15-9, 290 K’s in 223 IP, 1.16 WHIP). While Verlander had had a good season his half of the inning was not quite as quick as Green’s as he walked Eric Hosmer and Josh Donaldson to open the game. Carolina then took the lead on an RBI single by Yasiel Puig. Verlander looked to be settling down a bit when he fired in two quick strikes to Michael Conforto but the young outfielder proceeded to launch the next pitch deep into the seats in right field to give Carolina a 4-0 lead! Carolina continued to threaten in the bottom of the 1st but Verlander got Tucker Barnhart to ground out to third with two men on to end the inning.

After Green shut down the top of the 2nd, the Wildcats were at it again in the bottom half. Verlander struck out Hosmer but then walked Donaldson, allowed a single to Puig, then walked Conforto to load the bases before he was pulled. The usually steady veteran only recorded 4 outs while walking 5 in 1.1 innings of work. Mid-season acquisition Brad Peacock came in for him and proceeded to do what he was brought in for inducing a ground ball to second but it was just slow enough for Avisail Garcia to beat the throw to first, scoring Donaldson from third. Things fell apart for Peacock as well after that as he walked Schoop scoring Puig, bringing up Colin Moran with the bases loaded. Moran, who played pretty much exclusively against right handed pitching hitting .291 with a .805 OPS in 230 ABs, worked the count to 2-1 then laced a perfect gap shot to left center that scored two! Peacock, still in the game, then hit Odubel Herrera with a pitch loading the bases again. This time however the righty struck out the next two batters ending the 2nd inning.

After the first two innings though the bats stayed quiet for both teams until Brooklyn had a legitimate chance to score a few runs in the 7th. Green started the inning and immediately gave up a single to Willson Contreras that would chase him after 6+ innings of 4 hit ball with 11 Ks. With an 8 run lead Carolina brought in Bud Norris and he walked Ben Zobrist on five pitches. Norris then got Odor to fly out, advancing the runner to 3rd, but hit Ian Desmond loading the bases. Tom Murphy then struck out on a payoff pitch bringing up Christian Yelich who would sky the very next pitch out to Puig in right to end the inning.

Brooklyn’s last shot to at least score a run or two came 2 innings later when new Wildcats pitcher Dominic Leone walked Contreras to open the inning before getting pulled for former MOAB Sonny Gray. Gray, taken off of Brooklyn’s roster in the 2016 draft, fired in a ball and a strike to Daniel Murphy before Murphy ensured his team wouldn’t be held scoreless by crushing a high fastball deep over the right field fence! Anthony King decided he had seen enough of the short right hander and brought in trade deadline addition Adam Ottavino to close the game out. He did his job, and the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the series.

FINAL: CAROLINA 8, BROOKLYN 2

GAME 2: BROOKLYN @ CAROLINA, CAROLINA LEADS 1-0

After watching one of their aces get tagged for 7 earned runs Brooklyn turned to another in Madison Bumgarner, who missed some time during the regular season but turned in a stellar season otherwise (10-4, 2.62 ERA, 1.05 WHIP). 

Starting on the mound for Carolina in the top of the 1st was the Wildcats ace, Clayton Kershaw, who in 26 regular season starts went 17-2 with a 2.43 ERA and finished top 5 in Cy Young Voting as well. Kershaw lost the leadoff batter Lindor on a full count but made quick work of the rest of the inning getting 3 outs in 8 pitches.

Bumgarner got off to a fast start retiring David Freese and Avisail Garcia in 3 pitches total. But Josh Donaldson worked a two-out walk that brought up Jon Schoop. Schoop was arguably the Wildcats best hitter during the regular season and he continued his strong run by crushing the third pitch of the AB deep down the left field line to give the Wildcats a quick 2-0 lead in game 2!

After a quick 2nd frame Brooklyn started the 3rd with some promise as Kershaw walked the first two batters in the inning but responded by getting Lindor to ground into a double play. Freddie Freeman stepped up with a runner on 3rd and two outs. On the 4th pitch of the AB Freeman smashed a curveball that hung a bit too much to deep right field, the right fielder Puig retreated to the track before making the catch just feet away from the wall saving the run and ending the 3rd.

Another quick inning by Bumgarner and Brooklyn was back on the offensive. Christian Yelich stepped up with one gone and worked the count to a favorable 3-1 forcing Kershaw to come right at him and after Yelich fouled off four straight pitches, the Wildcats ace hung another one of those big curveballs and this time Yelich didn’t miss. Again Puig raced back to the wall but quickly ran out of room as he watched the ball sail over the wall and into the stands. The homer cut the Wildcats lead in half and gave Brooklyn some needed momentum in an important game 2.

Kershaw and Bumgarner continued to duel, only giving up one hit combined in the next 3 1/2 innings. To start the 8th however it was Carolina who blinked first and it would end up costing them as Blake Parker would relieve Kershaw after 7 full innings of 1 hit ball with 10 Ks. Parker, who was very solid in the regular season, struck out Albert Almora but walked Jose Peraza and allowed him to steal a base. Peraza then advanced to 3rd on Ben Zobrist’s fly out to left field and with two outs and a man on 3rd holding a 1-run lead, the usually reliable reliever lost the handle on a pitch down and away allowing the run to score to tie the game at 2! Parker looked to be a little overwhelmed after the wild pitch as he fell behind to Francisco Lindor 3-1 but Lindor swing at a potential ball four and grounded out to first to end the frame. The damage had been done however and, with Carolina going down quietly in the 8th, the game was tied going into the final inning.

Blake Parker stayed in the game for the 9th and he seemed to settle down quite a bit as he quickly disposed of the 2,3,and 4 hitters in Brooklyn’s lineup. The MOABS finally decided to pull Bumgarner after 8 innings of 2-run ball and decided to go with steady Jeurys Familia to send the game to extras. He got Avisail Garcia to a 1-2 count before inducing soft contact on a groundout to 3rd, bringing up Josh Donaldson with one away.

Donaldson, hitless in the game but responsible for drawing a walk just before Schoop’s home run back in the 1st, took the first pitch for a ball, then smashed the next pitch DEEP down the left field lineeeee… JUST FOUL! A visibly shaken Familia then missed low with a sinker before delivering the next pitch, an inside fastball, that Donaldson would crush down the left field line again but this time it would stay fair for a walk-off solo shot!! The Wildcats would celebrate at the plate knowing that one win over the next three games would earn them a spot in the next round.. but they would have to go through Brooklyn ace Max Scherzer on the road if they wanted to make it a clean sweep.

FINAL: CAROLINA 3, BROOKLYN 2

GAME 3: CAROLINA @ BROOKLYN, CAROLINA LEADS 2-0

In a huge Game 3 for Brooklyn at home, the MOABS would turn to yet another Cy Young contender in Scherzer who finished the regular year 2nd in strikeouts with 312 and a 1.11 WHIP in 218.2 IP. And after he threw a scoreless beginning frame Brooklyn would try to strike first against Carolina starter Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel had a good regular season going 18-7 with a 3.22 ERA but he found himself in some trouble early on. The leadoff man Lindor scored then advanced to second on a groundout before Willson Contreras banged a single between Schoop and Hosmer that would score Lindor after Puig chose not to make the risky throw home giving Brooklyn a 1-0 lead!

Carolina would respond in the 3rd via an RBI single by Yasiel Puig and would take the lead in the next inning when Keuchel helped himself with a bloop single that scored Colin Moran from second. 

The Wildcats were at it again just an inning later as Donaldson re-created his majestic homer from the night before with another blast to make it 3-1. Scherzer’s day was done in the 6th after walking the leadoff batter and Zach Britton relieved him. Carolina capitalized again scoring two more runs in the inning, making it 5-1 after 6.

Brooklyn showed signs of life in the 7th as Almora doubled off the wall then Zobrist continued his hot series by smoking an RBI triple down the right field line and chasing Keuchel in the process. Dominic Leone would come in and strike out Lindor however, ending the threat. Adam Ottavino, Blake Parker, and Brad Hand would combine for the final two innings and seal the series sweep for the Wildcats. The Brooklyn players could only watch from the home dugout while watching Carolina celebrate on the mound. The Wildcats would await the winner of the Yuma-Casselton series to see who their next opponent would be on their quest for their first World Championship.

FINAL: CAROLINA 5, BROOKLYN 2, CAROLINA WINS SERIES 3-0

FIRST ROUND: FROSTBITE FALLS VS ST. FRANCIS

It is becoming a tradition: the teams of Scott Hatfield and Andrew Haynes squaring off in the BARB playoffs. From their first meeting in the 2003 World Series through 2016, Haynes’ Santa Barbara Storm and Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels were masterful against Hatfield’s Delta V’s, Darwin Finches and St. Francis Friars/Kansans, taking three World Series and one divisional-round title. The 2016 series was the first to go the distance, with Frostbite Falls escaping in the fifth game of the best-of-five.

In 2017, the Kansans flipped the script. After taking the Grapefruit division in commanding fashion, Hatfield’s charges had little trouble with Haynes’ Cactus wild card squad, sweeping the series in three games.

The 2018 regular-season series went the way of St. Francis, though not by much the Kansans took eight of the 14 games between the two but only outscored Frostbite Falls by six in those 14 matchups. Their seven-game difference in the standing was somewhat deceiving, with the Flying Squirrels turning in a slightly better margin of runs scored against runs allowed than their hosts. So how would this series turn out?

GAME 1: FROSTBITE FALLS @ ST. FRANCIS

For Game 1 at The Monastery, the Kansans chose to start crafty veteran Rich Hill, who had a history of solid playoff performances – as well as a couple great starts in 2018 – against his former squad.

Immediately, the Squirrels put together a rally. Alex Bregman singled to center and advanced on a swinging bunt groundout, then Nick Hundley punched a seeing-eye single up the middle to score the speedy Bregman for a 1-0 lead.

Opposing Hill was hard-throwing James Paxton. With an early lead, Paxton promptly walked Jose Altuve and went to a full count on Justin Turner, but a double play erased the runner and ended the threat.

The Kansans went down quietly in the second, but Kike Hernandez tripled to open the third. Surely, the hosts would tie the score, right? Nope. Strike out, pop out, ground out and the Big Maple got his team off the field with the lead intact.

Their pitcher stranding the runner gave momentum to the Squirrels offense, and they capitalized with a two-run fourth. Josh Reddick was nailed by Hill’s first offering of the frame, and with one out he stole second base. A groundout put him at third, but the tally wasn’t confirmed until Elvis Andrus hammered a 2-2 offering to left field – a 3-0 advantage for the visitiors!

Frostbite Falls continued to put pressure on St. Francis pitching, but they were unable to tack on insurance despite a leadoff triple in the sixth and Mike Trout walk and stolen base to open the seventh.

Paxton, meanwhile, issued just two walks from the fourth through the sixth, and he was under 100 pitches into the seventh.

That’s when the Kansans showed life with the bats. Turner opened with a single, and with one out Eugenio Suarez lined a hit to center field. Squirrels manager Mike Noakes went to the ‘pen, installing Justin Wilson to face Wilson Ramos. There was no Improvement for the Home-standing Kansans, as Frostbite took the Wilson-Wilson battle thanks to a can of corn to right field. Tim Beckham then grounded back to the mound in a pinch-hitting appearance to strand both runners.

Turner tried to kick-start a last-ditch rally in the ninth, but his leadoff double went for naught as Josh Fields and Corey Knebel finished things off. There would be no St. Francis sweep of Frostbite Falls this time around, and the Flying Squirrels had wrested home-field advantage from their counterparts.

FINAL: FROSTBITE FALLS 3, ST. FRANCIS 0

GAME 2: FROSTBITE FALLS @ ST. FRANCIS, FROSTBITE FALLS LEADS 1-0

The second game started much the same as the first, with the visiting Squirrels putting up a run before the Kansans even came to bat. In fact, before any of the other 17 hitters starting the game stepped to the dish, Mike Trout clobbered Walker Buehler’s second pitch of the game out of the park to left-center, stunning a Kansans crowd that had yet to settle into their seats.

St. Francis, facing another youngster in Jack Flaherty, earned a pair of walks in the home half but couldn’t put either across.

A two-on, one-out situation in the third came up empty for the hosts. In the fourth they did the same – but finally came up with a clutch hit. Eugenio Suarez and Kyle Schwarber walked, and Wilson Ramos blooped into left field. Suarez was sent around third as Adam Eaton’s throw came toward Gary Sanchez. The normally stone-gloved Sanchez caught the throw on a hop, turned and swiped at Suarez…OUT! The Kansans were held off the board once again, and the Frostbite lead held.

Sanchez, apparently hyped up after his tag, found an extra gear and beat out an infield single to start the fifth. With one out, he motored to third base on and Elvis Andrus double. Trout was walked intentionally to load the base with two down, and Eaton fell behind 1-2. That’s when Buehler lost the handle on a slider, and it pegged Eaton in the thigh to drive in a run and double the Frostbite lead!

After three tough innings in the first four, Flaherty settled down and retired eight in a row. He issued his sixth walk with two out in the seventh and was sent to the showers after 110 pitches while Brad Boxberger finished the frame.

Still leading, 2-0, the Flying Squirrels tacked on one more in the eighth. Trout singled against Josh Hader and then sprinted all the way around on a Nick Hundley pinch-double.

Boxberger, Adam Morgan and Corey Knebel had little trouble setting down St. Francis in the final two innings, and Frostbite Falls came away with their second win on the road – giving them two chances to take the series at home.

FINAL: FROSTBITE FALLS 3, ST. FRANCIS 0

GAME 3: ST. FRANCIS @ FROSTBITE FALLS, FROSTBITE FALLS LEADS 2-0

In need of just one win with two chances at Rocky Top @ Bullwinkle Corner, the Flying Squirrels put veteran right-hander Jake Arrieta on the mound to face Charlie Morton.

Despite a walk and an error in the top of the first, Arrieta kept his composure and induced an inning-ending double play to extend St. Francis’ scoreless streak in the series to 19 innings.

Frostbite Falls, on the other hand, continued their habit of scoring in the first. Mike Trout singled and stole second base and Adam Eaton walked. Paul Goldschmidt, silent in the series, continued his cold spell with a force out – though his hustle kept the home team out of a double play. The fruits of his hustle showed two batters later, as Alex Bregman soared a fly ball deep to right with the bases loaded. It didn’t go out, but with one down it was enough to bring Trout across with the game’s first run.

The game was quiet until the bottom of the fourth. Bregman singled and stole second base, and with one out Morton was replaced in favor of Cole Hamels with the Kansans in emergency mode on the brink of elimination. Hamels did his job and induced weak contact…but it was TOO weak. Josh Reddick beat out a 20-bouncer toward second base to put runners on the corners. Stephen Strasburg entered and hit Elvis Andrus, loading the bases, but Yoan Moncada struck out.

That turned the lineup over for Trout. Strasburg tried to sneak a fastball by Trout on the outside, but the slugging righty went with it and laced the ball into the right-field corner. All three runners scored, sending the crowd into a frenzy with their team just innings away from a sweep.

The aforementioned scoreless streak turned in by Flying Squirrels pitching continued on through the fourth, reaching 22 frames in the series without allowing a run. That abruptly came to a halt in the fifth, when Adam Duvall homered to bring the Kansans within three.

Two innings later, St. Francis struck again. Arrieta, clearly tiring, gave up two singles around a strikeout of Duvall. Kyle Schwarber was put in to pinch-hit for Wilson Ramos, but Justin Wilson trotted out of the bullpen and struck out the slugger on three pitches.

Maybe Wilson should have remained in the game. Wilson’s job done, erstwhile Kansans reliever Ken Giles entered prepared face a string of his former teammates, all right-handed hitters. He hit the first, Justin Turner, to load the bases, and Jose Altuve jumped on a hanging breaking ball. The line drive dropped in shallow center field, scoring two runners. Josh Fields took over and walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases, but Eugenio Suarez grounded out to end the inning. The damage was done, however – St. Francis was right back in the game, down 4-3.

Fields tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and after Josh Hader walked Goldschmidt to open the bottom of the eighth Kenley Jansen made an appearance. Goldschmidt, though, put himself in scoring position with a stolen base, and he advance to third on a Matt Holliday fly out. Bregman then grounded toward the right side. The infield was in, but Altuve had to lunge to his left and was out of position to make the throw home. Goldschmidt scored, giving an insurance run to Frostbite Falls as they went to the ninth.

The 8-9-1 hitters were due up for St. Francis. Andrew Heaney got Didi Gregorius to pop out. Kike Hernandez was announced as a pinch-hitter for Schwarber, but the Squirrels countered with Corey Knebel. A ground out and a Turner strikeout followed, sending the underdog Flying Squirrels onto the field in celebration while Scott Hatfield lamented the new league policy of allowing the division’s fourth-best team into the playoffs – taking away what would have been a bye for his squad. Instead, he would have to watch from home a year after coming within a game of taking his first World Championship.

The Squirrels, meanwhile, celebrated their sweep and awaited the winner of the Brownsville-Oakland series to find out who they would face in an attempt to advance to the 2018 World Series.

FINAL: FROSTBITE FALLS 5, ST. FRANCIS 3. FROSTBITE FALLS WINS SERIES, 3-0

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.