NL Wildcard Series Summary

Thanks to Noel (Philly) for writing.

In a tight series, the Granbury Engineers won the NL Wild Card Series 4 games to 1 against the Philly Smackdown in H2H action. The Engineers won all 4 games by 1 run, and hit a backbreaking homer in the late innings in each one. Carlos Marmol, a key trade deadline acquisition by the Smackdown to shore up the bullpen, was absolutely brutal, serving up 3 of those homers. Here's how it all went down.

Bruney was named series MVP, pitching 4 SHO innings and picking up 3 saves.

Game 1: Engineers win 4-3 in 11 innings, leads series 1-0

The series started with the marquee pitching matchup of CC Sabathia for the Engineers versus Jake Peavy of the Smackdown. Sabathia had his good stuff, going 6 1/3 innings and giving up 2 runs. Peavy, on the other hand, did not. After giving up 2 runs in the first, he was pulled in the 4th with the bases loaded. Craig Breslow, who was huge all series except for one critical moment, stuffed that rally. The Smackdown plated one run in the 4th on a Dustin Pedroia home run and then rallied for 2 in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead. Garret Anderson had a key 2 out pinch hit RBI single to give the Smackdown the lead into the 9th. They just needed Marmol to hold the lead and jump out to an early lead in the series, KO'ing the Engineers ace in the process. Marmol had done his job in the 8th, coming in for one out with a runner in scoring position. But in the ninth, he gave up a solo shot to Andre Ethier to tie up the score. The Smackdown then started the 10th with 2nd and 3rd on a single by Matt Holliday and double by Adrian Gonzalez (in hindsight, maybe Holliday should have been sent home against Alex Rios' EX arm but he had already thrown out one guy at home so the Smackdown 3rd base coach was gun-shy). After the Engineers smartly intentionally walked Pedroia to load the bases with no outs, the Smackdown couldn't plate a single run as the next three guys made outs, although Jeff Baker lined to the drawn-in second basemen for the second out. Oscar Salazar led off the 11th for the Engineers with a walk, and pinch runner Felix Pie stole second. After a ground out moved him to 3rd, Eric Hinske hit a sac fly to give the Engineers a 4-3 lead. The Smackdown went down weakly in the bottom of the 11th and the Engineers took game 1.

Game 2: Smackdown win 5-0, series tied 1-1

Justin Duchscherer of the Smackdown pitched 8 stifling innings to give the bullpen a rest and Dustin Pedroia went 3-4 with a triple, his second homer of the series, and 3 ribbies. The Engineers had some chances, but Duch was on his game. Dana Eveland went 5 innings for the Engineers and gave up all 5 runs.
Game 3: Engineers win 6-5, leads series 2-1

With the series tied 1-1, it was on to Engineers' Rangers Ballpark. Neither starting pitcher (Jonathan Sanchez for the Engineers and Jesse Litsch for the Smackdown) distinguished themselves, each giving up 4 runs in less than 6 innings of work. The Smackdown had a 4-1 lead on a 2 run homer by Adrian Gonzalez, but the Engineers cut that to 4-3 in the 4th on a 2-out 2-run single by Russell Martin. After the Engineers tied it up an inning later, the Smackdown manufactured a run in the 7th on a double and two sac flies to go up 5-4. Breslow started the inning but gave up a single to Jeff Clement so he handed the ball reluctantly to Marmol. After getting Fernando Tatis to fly out for the second out of the inning, Marmol again served up a devasting homer, this time a 2-run shot to Rios to give the Engineers a 6-5 lead. In contrast to that pitiful display of relief, the Smackdown did nothing against the Engineers tough relievers in the 8th and 9th innings and the Engineers emerged victorious.

Game 4: Engineers win 2-1, leads series 3-1

In a rematch of the game 1 pitching matchup, both Sabathia and Peavy pitched on 3 days rest. Sabathia was touched for 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. His only blemish was a 2-out run-scoring single to Holliday in the 5th. Peavy was even better, simply brilliant, carrying a no-hitter into the 6th inning. After Alex Cora broke up the no-hitter with a single, Peavy got the next two outs. But Ryan Ludwick smoked a 2-out triple to plate Cora and tie up the game. After Breslow put out a 2nd and 3rd fire in the 7th, he stayed in to pitch the 8th so he could face Ethier for the lefty on lefty matchup. Unfortunately for the Smackdown, that didn't pay off as Ethier hit a tie-breaking solo shot to put the Engineers up 2-1 for the 3rd tieing or tie-breaking late inning Engineers dinger of the series. Despite getting speedster Rajai Davis to second with one out in the top of the ninth, Brian Bruney worked out of that mini-jam to preserve the win for the Engineers.

Game 5: Engineers win 1-0, wins series 4-1

The shell-shocked Smackdown sent Greg Maddux to the mound to try to send the series back to Philly. The Engineers pitcher Eveland on 3 days rest. As one can tell from the score, this was a great pitcher's duel. In his last appearance ever for the Smackdown, the retiring Maddux went 7 innings and only gave up 3 hits with no walks. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 8th and the appreciative Engineers home crowd classily gave him a standing ovation. Coco Crisp, the pinch hitter walked and went to second on a single by Holliday. Michael Young killed that rally by grounding into a double play. For some reason, the Smackdown went back to Marmol to try to hold the scoreless tie. He got the first two batters out, but instead of going to Breslow against Russell Branyan for the lefty-on-lefty matchup, the tactically challenged Smackdown manager left Marmol in. Despite being pitched around, Branyan did indeed launch a solo shot to break the tie. Pedroia led off the ninth with a single as the Smackdown tried to launch a last-gasp attempt to keep the series going. Bruney shut the door again and the Engineers pulled out their 4th 1-run win of the series.