Monday, June 29, 2015

George bracket: Orioles (69) defeat Athletics (09) in seven games

Game One: 69 Orioles 6, 09 Athletics 2
WP: Cuellar (2-0)
LP: Cahill (1-1)
HR: F. Robinson (5)

Game Two: 69 Orioles 7, 09 Athletics 2
WP: McNally (1-0)
LP: Anderson (1-1)
HR: Powell (2), B. Robinson (2)

Game Three: 09 Athletics 3, 69 Orioles 2 (10 innings)
WP: Bailey (1-0)
LP: D Hall (0-1)

Game Four: 09 Athletics 8, 69 Orioles 1
WP: G. Gonzalez (2-0)
LP: Phoebus (1-1)
HR: Powell (3), Suzuki (2)

Game Five: 69 Orioles 3, 09 Athletics 1 (17 innings)
WP: Leonhard (1-0)
LP: E Gonzalez (0-1)
HR: Crosby (1)

Game Six: 09 Athletics 9, 69 Orioles 8
WP: Breslow (1-0)
LP: Phoebus (1-2)
Save: Bailey (3)
HR: Powell (4)

Game Seven: 69 Orioles 9, 09 Athletics 4
WP: Palmer (2-0)
LP: Braden (1-1)
HR: Ellis (2), Powell (5)

The underdog A's put up a tough fight, but the 1969 Orioles prevailed in the end.

The series looked early on like a rout for Baltimore. Boog Powell singled home two runs in the first inning of the opener, and the Orioles added another run in the second and two more in the fourth. The A's scored twice in the sixth of Mike Cuellar, but Frank Robinson got one back with a solo homer in the seventh to cap the scoring.

Game Two was even easier for the Birds. Oakland held a 2-1 head going int he fifth, but with two outs Don Buford singled. Davy Johnson scored him with a double. Frank Robinson plated Johnson with a single, and Powell followed with a home run. Brooks Robinson added a homer in the eighth.

The series shifted to Oakland and 2009, and the O's struck quickly for two runs in the first inning, as Paul Blair and Curt Motton had RBI doubles. Daric Barton doubled home Matt Holliday in the fourth to make it 2-1, but Jim Palmer was in command until the ninth. Jason Giambi led off with a base hit, and pinch runner Rajai Davis scored on Mark Ellis' double to tie it. Dick Hall relieved in the 10th and didn't get an out. Ryan Sweeney singled, Kurt Suzuki singled him to third, and Holliday singled over the drawn-in outfield for the winner.

The A's jumped on Tom Phoebus for six runs in Game Four's first inning. Phoebus retired just two men. Suzuki hit a two run homer to open the scoing, and Adam Kennedy and Cliff Pennington each drove home two runs in the inning. Pennington added another RBI later.

Game Five was a marathon classic -- 17 innings with the lead in the series in the balance. Bobby Crosby homered in the second for the A's. Davy Johnson plated Elrod Hendricks in the third to tie it. Both teams had repeated chances to break the deadlock.

In the top of the ninth, Brooks Robinson led off with a walk, and Hendricks followed with a single. But Mike Wuentz entered to get Make Belanger to fly out and fan Buford and Johnson. In the top of the 10th, Frank Robinson doubled and Powell walked, but Wuentz stuck out Blair, popped up Motton and got Brooks Robinson to ground out.

In the bottom of the 10th, Adam Kennedy led off with a single off Pete Richert, and Jack Cust added another single. Pennington bunted the two men over. Eddie Watt relieved to pop up Davis and Sweeney. In the 13th, the A's loaded the bases with two outs against Watt but couldn't get the run in.

In the 17th, after four futile innings against Edgar Gonzalez, the Orioles finally broke through. Johnson singled, Frank Robinson doubled him home, and Powell doubled Robinson in. Dave Leonhard threw five perfect innings for the win.

The series returned to Memorial Stadium in 1969 Baltimore, and the A's stung Dave McNally with another six run first inning. The A's got six singles and a walk before McNally got an out. The Bird fought back, scoring twice in the first and twice in the second. Powell hit a two run homer in the fourth to tie it at 6, and Andy Etchebarren drove in Johnson to give Baltimore a 7-6 lead in that inning.

But Phoebus, who had relieved McNally, couldn't hold the lead. Oakland scored one in the fifth and two more in the sixth, and while the Orioles got one back in the bottom of the sixth, they couldn't get a man in scoring position against Craig Breslow and Bailey the rest of the way.

That set up a climatic Game Seven. The Orioles scored a first inning run off Dallas Braden without benefit of a hit, but Ellis hit a three-run homer off Jim Palmer in the second for a 3-1 lead. The Orioles tied it in the third, and erupted for five runs in the fourth. Buford singled, Johnson walked, Frank Robinson singled, and Powell hit a grand slam. One out later, Merv Rettemund, subbing for the injured Blair, doubled and scored on Belanger's base hit. That was more than enough for Palmer and reliever Pete Richert.

Player of the series: Boog  Powell had four homers for Baltimore and drove in 12 runs.

Player availability: Blair must sit out Game One of the second round. The Oriole bullpen was hard used by the two short starts in Games Four and Six and the marathon Game Five, but with the off day to rest Marcelino Lopez (7.2 innings in Game Four), Leonhard (5 innings in Game Five), Watt (2.2 innings in Game Five) and Dick Hall (three innings in Game Six), and with Phoebus (four innings in Game Six) not scheduled to start until Game Four, they should be good to go.

Projected rotation: Cuellar-McNally-Palmer-Phoebus-(Cuellar)-(McNally)-(Palmer)

Friday, June 26, 2015

The halfway mark

The first round is complete. I started with 64 teams when I started play in late December; now, in late June, I'm down to 32.

Two teams that won at least 95 games got bounced in the first round (1987 Tigers and 2009 Dodgers). There are three second-round matchups that pit 90-plus win teams (2009 Angels vs. 1969 Mets in the John bracket, 2009 Phillies vs. 1969 Cubs in the George bracket, 1987 Expos vs. 1987 Giants in the Ringo backet), so at least three good teams will be ousted.

But quite a few poor teams remain in the pool; that's the inevitable result of the way I set up the tournament. Five of the 32 survivors lost at least 90 games. Other than the three aforementioned series, only one other pits two above-.500 teams (1987 Royals vs 1987 Twins in the Ringo bracket).

Eight of the 32, of course, are from the 1987 season (Ringo bracket). Ten are from the 1969 season and the other 14 from 2009. The 10-14 split in the 1969-2009 matchups looks wider than it is; it's only a two series difference. Only one sub-.500 club from 1969 advanced (the Pilots). There's a decent chance the 69ers will advance at least as many to the third round as the 09ers do.

A few other notes:

Of the 16 series in the second round:
  • Four pit 1987 teams against each other (Ringo bracket.) 
  • Two are all 1969 (Astros-Tigers, Pilots-Braves). 
  • Four are all 2009 (Pirates-Giants, White Sox-Cardinals, Indians Yankees, Padres-Red Sox). 
  • The other six pit 1969 teams versus 2009 teams, and the 1969 team won more games in five of those pairings.  
So I like the 1969 teams' chances to advance. I say that despite theorizing fairly early in the John-Paul-George play that the 2009 teams have a significant advantage because of lower e-ratings, particularly in the infield.

The 32 survivors are evenly split across leagues: 16 American League, 16 National. (The original 64 was 31 AL, 33 NL, caused by the move of the Brewers from the American League to the National; the Pilots won that first-round series.) The second round has eight cross-league matchups, four AL matchups and four NL matchups. Half the intra league series are, of course, in the Ringo bracket.

There will be three all-DH series in the second round, and two of them are in the Ringo bracket. Five series will be partially DH.  

Thursday, June 25, 2015

John bracket: End of Round 1

Advancing: 09 Angels, 09 Cardinals, 09 Giants, 69 Mets, 09 Nationals, 09 Pirates, 69 Twins, 09 White Sox.

Eliminated: 69 Angels, 69 Cardinals, 69 Expos, 69 Giants, 09 Mets, 69 Pirates, 09 Twins, 69 White Sox.

Two 1969 teams advance, six 2009. There will be no all-DH series in the second round and only one part DH series (09 Angels-69 Mets).

Five of the series went the full seven games, two went six, one went five. There were no sweeps. For the 56 possible games, 52 were played.

----

The biggest upset was the 2009 Pirates knocking off the 1969 Pirates. The 2009 Giants won fewer games than the 1969 Giants, but their win was hardly a stunner.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Stat break: 69 White Sox

Hitters


Name                  AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Aparicio                30      6   10     3       2    0      0      4      1      .333
Berry                    24      4     8     3       3    0      0      1      0      .333
Bradford               16      4     4     1       0    0      0      0      0      .250
Hansen                   7      1     2     0       1    0      0      0      0      .286
Herrmann             15      5     2     0       1    0      0      1      0      .133
Hopkins                15      0     0     0       0     0     0      2      0       .000
Josephson              1      0     1     1       0    0      0      0      0     1.000
Knoop                  21      5     7     8       1    1      0      3      0       .333
C May                  28      5   11     6       0    0      1      1       0      .393
McCraw               11      1     2     4       1    0      1      0       0      .182
Melton                  29      4   10     7      3     0      3      1       0      .345
Pavelitch              11      1     2     1       0     0      0      3       0     .182
Ward                    12      3     2     0       0     0      0      2       0     .167
W Williams           23      2     7     5       2     0      0      0       0     .304


Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
Ga Bell            4      0         5        7     5      5      2       3        0      0     0       9.00
Edmondson     2      0         2.3     5     1      1      3       2       0       0     1       3.86
Horlen             2      2       13      11     6      5      6       5       0       0     0       3.46
John                2      2       14      15     7      5      4       7        0      1     1       3.21
Nyman            1      0         2        3     1      1      0       1        0      0     0       4.50
Osinski            2      0         5.3     1     0      0      0        2        0      0     0       0.00
Peters              2     2         9.6   12     9      8      8      10        0      1     1      7.45
Secrist            2      0         0.6     1      0      0      0       0        0      0     0       0.00
Wood             2      0         1        4      3      3      0       0        0      0     1      27.00
B Wynne        1      1        5         4      0      0      0       5        0      1     0        0.00

Stat break: 09 White Sox

Hitters


Name                  AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Beckham               22      3     5     2       0    0      1      4      0      .227
Dye                       24      4     8     5       0    0      1      5      0      .333
Fields                      6      0     1     1       0    0      0      0      0      .167
Getz                      14      2     4     3       1    0      1      0      0      .286
Konerko                28      3     9     3       0    0      2      0      0      .321
Kotsay                     6     0     1     0       1     0      1      0      0     .167
J Nix                     11      2     5     2       0     1      1      0      0     .455
Pierzynski             26      3     8     3       1    0      0      3      0      .308
Podsednik            13      2     4     2       1    0      0      1       1      .308
Quentin                19      2     3     3       0    0      1      2       0      .158
Ale Ramirez         25      5     7     6       0     0      1      2       1     .280
Rios                     16      2     3     0       1     0      0      1       2     .188
Thome                 17      3     4     1       0     0      0      4       0     .235


Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
Buehrle             2      2      14      13     8      8      4      5        0      1     1       5.14
D Carrasco      1      0         2.6     4     1      1      1       2       0      0     0       3.37
Conteras          1      1         5.3     7     3      3      0       1       0      0     1       5.07
Danks              2      2       13      10     6      6      7       6        0      0     0      4.15
Dotel                3      0         3        7     3      3      2       6        0      0     0      9.00
Floyd                2      2      11      12    10      8      6       9        0      1     1      6.55
Jenks               2      0         2        1      0      0     0       1        1      1      0      0.00
Linebrink           1      0        0       4      5      4      0       0        0      0     0      inf
Richard            2      0         5       8      4      4      2       5        0      0    0       7.20
Thornton          3      0        4        3     2      2      1       6        0      1     0      4.50

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

John bracket: White Sox (09) defeat White Sox (69) in seven games

Game One: 09 White Sox 8, 69 White Sox 1
WP: Buehrle (1-0)
LP: John (0-1)
HR: Dye (1), Quentin (1), Getz (1)

Game Two: 09 White Sox 6, 69 White Sox 5
WP: Thronton (1-0)
LP: Edmondson (0-1)
HR: Beckham (1)

Game Three: 69 White Sox 9, 09 White Sox 5
WP: Peters (1-0)
LP: Floyd (0-1)
HR: Konerko (1), Melton (1), C. May (1)

Game Four: 69 White Sox 7, 09 White Sox 1
WP: Wynne (1-0)
LP: Contreras (0-1)

Game Five: 69 White Sox 15, 09 White Sox 4
WP: John (1-1)
LP: Buehrle (1-1)
HR: McCraw (1), Konerko (2), C May (2), Melton (2)

Game Six: 09 White Sox 3, 69 White Sox 2
WP: Jenks (1-0)
LP: Wood (0-1)
HR: Ramirez (1), Melton (3)

Game Seven: 09 White Sox 5, 69 White Sox 4
WP: Floyd (1-1)
LP: Peters (1-1)
Save: Jenks (1)
HR: J Nix (1)

The home team won every game in this series, with the 2009 White Sox getting two of those wins in walk-off fashion, The losing team outscored the winners 43-32 for the series.

Game One, in 2009's U.S. Cellular, was the victors' sole laugher. The 69 Sox scored in the first, when Carlos May singled home Luis Aparicio. The home team tied it in the fifth (Chris Getz singling home Alex Rios) and took the lead with a three-run sixth highlighted by a two-run homer from Carlos Quentin. The 09 team turned it into a rout with a four-run eighth off Gary Bell, with homers from Jermaine Dye and Getz.

The 69 Sox led Game Two 4-0 after three innings, but the 09ers tied it at five in the sixth inning. Paul Edmonson, working his third inning of relief for Joel Horlen for the 69ers, didn't get an out in the ninth inning. Jim Thome walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and Dye singled pinch-runner Rios to third. A.J. Pierzynski then singled off Don Secrist for the winner.

The Series shifted to Old Comiskey Park for Game Three, and both teams set about battering the opposing starters. Gary Peters, starting for the home team, walked three men in a two-run first inning, but Carlos May tied it with a two-run home in the bottom of the frame, A Ken Berry single in the second put the home team in front, but Paul Konerko homered in the first for another tie. But Berry collected RBI hits in the fourth and fifth innings as the 69sers opened a lead, and Bill Melton's two-run homer in the sixth gave Peters and relievers Bell and Wilbur Wood plenty of margin. Wood got a triple play off the bat of Gordon Beckham in the ninth to end the game.

The 69 Sox evened the series in Game Four. Jose Conteras and Billy Wynne kept the game scoreless into the fifth, when Berry doubled and scored on a pinch-hit single by Duane Josephson. Relievers Edmondson and Secrist combined to escape a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the top of the sixth, and the home team ripped Conteras and Matt Thornton for four runs in the bottom of the inning, the big blow being a three-run double by Bobby Knoop. The 09ers averted a five-pitcher shutout by scoring a single run in the ninth off Bell.

The visitors led Game Five 3-2 through four innings, but the home team scored three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth off Mark Buehrle, with Walt Williams driving in three of the runs. Scott Linebrink was unable to get any outs in the seventh, and Tommy McCraw pinch-hit a grand slam off Octavio Dotel. Williams doubled home another run in a two-run eighth. Tommy John went seven innings for the win, with Jerry Nyman mopping up.

The 69 Sox came oh-so-close to wrapping up the series in Game Six. Melton homered in the second to give Horlen a 1-0 lead, A Buddy Bradford error set up an unearned run for the home team to tie it in the fifth, but May singled home Berry in the sixth for a 2-1 lead, which stood into the ninth, when Wood entered in relief of Horlen. Pierzynski singled; Scott Podsednik pinch-ran; and Alexi Ramirez homered. Wood never retired a batter.

In a reprise of Game Three, starters Floyd and Peters struggled early. Melton doubled home Aparicio in the top of the first; Dye countered with a two-run single after a wild pitch put Beckham and Ramirez in scoring position. Aparicio singled home Ed Herrmann to tie it in the top of the second; Jayson Nix homer in the bottom of the inning. But then Floyd settled down, keeping the visitors off the board until the seventh, while Pierzynski and Nix singled home runs in the third to chase Peters.

Dan Osinski threw 3.1 scoreless innings to keep things close, and the 69ers scored twice in the seventh with the help of a Konerko error and a wild pitch, but Matt Thronton stuck out Gail Hopkins, May and Melton with the tying run in scoring position. The 69ers got only one base runner the rest of the way off Thornton and Bobby Jenks.

Player of the series: Alexi Ramierz was "only" 7-for-25 (.280) but the shortstop led the 2009 Sox in runs and RBIs. He scored in each of their four wins and, of course, had the dramatic game-winning homer in the pivotal Game Six.

Player availability: Danks could start Game 2 with penalty. Floyd cannot start until Game 3.

Projected rotation: Buehrle-unknown-Danks-Floyd-(Buehrle)-(unknown)-(Danks)






Thursday, June 18, 2015

Paul bracket: End of Round 1


Teams advancing: 1969 Astros, 1969 Braves, 2009 Indians, 1969 Pilots, 2009 Reds, 1969 Senators, 1969 Tigers, 2009 Yankees.

Teams eliminated: 2009 Astros, 2009 Braves, 2009 Brewers, 1969 Indians, 2009 Rangers, 1969 Reds, 2009 Tigers, 1969 Yankees

Five 1969 teams advance, three 2009 teams.

Four of the series were decided in five games, two in six, two in seven, Forty-six of the potential 56 games were played.

This is the one bracket in which this is relevant for the first round: An American League team (69 Pilots) defeated a National League team (2009 Brewers).

There will be one all-DH series in the second round (2009 Yankees-2009 Indians); the other series will be entirely no-DH.

---

Upsets in this bracket: The 1969 Pilots over the 2009 Brewers was noteworthy because the Pilots are the one first-year expansion club to advance, The 1969 Reds, winner of 89 games, fell to a 2009 Reds team that won 78. Neither result eliminated a likely championship contender.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Stat break: 09 Rangers

Hitters


Name                  AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Andrus                  24      2     2     0       0    0      0      1      1      .167
Blalock                  17      1     2     2       1    0      1      2      0      .118
J Borbon                 2      0     1     0       0    0      0      0      0      .500
Byrd                        8      0     3     1       1    0      0      0      0      .375
N Cruz                  24      4     4     4       1    0      3      0      0      .167
Ch Davis               15     1     3     3       0     0      1      0      0      .200
Hamilton               16      0     3     0       2     0     0      1      0      .188
Kinsler                  22      4      5     3       2    0      1      3      0      .227
Murphy                 20      2     4     3       0    0      1      4       0      .200
I Rodriguez            4      0      1     0       0    0       0     0       0     .250
Saltalamacchia    15      0      2     0       0     0      0      2       0      .133
M Young              23     1      4     0        1    0      0      1       0      .173


Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
Feldman            2      2      13.3     8     4      3      6      4        0      0     2      2.03
Francisco          1      0        1        2     1      1      0       2       0      0     0       9.00
Holland             3      0        1.3      1    2      2      2       1       0      0     0     13.53
T Hunter           1      1        5.3      9     6      6     2       3        0      0     1    10.13
Jennings           2      0        2.3     0     0      0      1       1        0      0     0      0.00
Millwood           2      2      14      11     5      5      6       6        0      0     1      3.21
Nippert             3      0        3.3      2    1      1      3       3        0      1     0      2.73
O'Day               1      0        0.6     0     0      0      0       0        0      0    0       0.00
Padilla              1      1        8         4     0      0      2       4        0      1     0      0.00
Wilson              3      0        3.6      6     6     5       3      4        0       0    0     12.26

Monday, June 15, 2015

Stat break: 69 Senators

Hitters


Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
B Allen               17      2     3     2       0    0      0      2      1      .176
H Allen                 2      0     0     1       0    0      0      0      0      .000
Alyea                   5      1     1     0       0    0      0      0      0      .200
Brinkman           21      0     4     2       1    0      0      2      0      .190
Casanova          10      2     3     1       0    0      0      1      0      .300
Cullen                  2      0     0     0       0     0      0      0      0     .000
Epstein              20      5     4     6       0     0     2       5      0      .200
French               10     1      1     0       0    0      0      1       0     .100
Howard             23      4     7     4       3    0      2      2       0      .304
Maye                 17      0      4    0       0    0       0     0       0      .235
McMullen          23      3      5    2       3     0      0      2       0      .217
Stroud               14     4      5    1        1     1     0      3       1      .357
Unser                22     2      6    1        0     1     0      6       1      .273
Versalles            0      0      0     0       0    0      0      1      0        ---


Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
Baldwin             2      0        3.3     5     3      3      0       3       0      0     0       8.11
Bosman            2      2       15.6     9     3      3      4    20       0      2     0       1.72
Coleman           2      2       17       7     3       3      3    15       0      1     0       1.59
C Cox               1      1         7       7     3      3       2      3        0      1     0      3.87
Hannan            1       1        5.6     3     3      3      3       1        0      0     1      4.76
Humphries        2      0        1.6     2     1      1      1       1        0      0     1      5.39
Knowles           2      0        2.3      2     0      0      1       2        2     0     0       0.00
Moore               1      0       1         1     0      0      1       0        0      0    0       0.00
Shellenback     1      0        1         1     0      0      0       0        0      0     0      0.00

Paul bracket: Senators (69) defeat Rangers (09) in six games

Game One: Rangers 2, Senators 1 (10 innings)
WP: Nippert (1-0)
LP: Humphries (0-1)
HR: Epstein (1), Blalock (1)

Game Two: Senators 3, Rangers 2
WP: Bosman (1-0)
LP: Feldman (0-1)
Save: Knowles (1)
HR: Howard 2 (2)

Game Three: Senators 9, Rangers 3
WP: Cox (1-0)
LP: T Hunter (0-1)
HR: Epstein (2), Kinsler (1), N Cruz (1)

Game Four: Rangers 5, Senators 1
WP: Padilla (1-0)
LP: Hannan (0-1)
HR: Ch. Davis (1)

Game Five: Senators 5, Rangers 2
WP: Coleman (1-0)
LP: Millwood (0-1)
Save: Knowles (2)
HR: Murphy (1), N Cruz (2)

Game Six: Senators 6, Rangers 2
WP: Bosman (2-0)
LP: Feldman (0-2)
HR: N. Cruz (3)

There were fewer runs scored in this series than anticipated, and the Washington Senators moved through.

Game One, in Texas, set a low-scoring tone as Joe Coleman and Kevin Millwood dueled. Hank Blalock homered in the fourth inning to give the Rangers the lead; Mike Epstein tied it with an eighth-inning homer off C.J. Wilson. Bob Humphries relieved Coleman in the bottom of the 10th; Elvis Andus singled, stole second and scored on Ian Kinsler's single.

The Senators evened the series on a pair of homers by Frank Howard -- a solo shot in the sixth and a two-run bomb in the eighth. Dick Bosman carried a shutout into the eighth, when he gave up doubles to Kinsler and Nelson Cruz. Darold Knowles entered and yielded another double to pinch-hitter Marlin Byrd, but then retired the next four men to get the save.

The series shifted to Washington and 1969. The Ranges took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth of Game Three, but the Senators scored three runs, with Epstein and Ken McMullen cracking back-to-back RBI doubles. In the sixth a misplayed bunt opened the door to four more runs by the Senators, with Epstein cracking a two run homer off reliever Derek Holland to cap the rally. Epstein had four RBIs in the game.

The Rangers rode a five-run sixth inning to a 5-1 win in Game Four. Jim Hannan, working a three-hitter, walked three men in the frame and left with the bases loaded and two outs. David Murphy singled off Dave Baldwin for two runs, and Chris Davis followed with a three-run homer. Vincente Padilla went eight innings for the win.

Coleman went eight innings for the win in Game Five, giving up solo homers to Murphy and Cruz. Coleman doubled home a run himself in the three-run second. Knowles ptiched the ninth; after giving up a walk and a single to begin the inning, the lefty got Blalock to hit into a triple play to end the game.

The Senators wrapped up the series on the road, with Bosman throwing eight innings of four-hit, one-run ball. A pair of bases-loaded walks in the third to Howard and Epstein gave the Senators a 2-0 lead, and Scott Feldman's error provided an unearned run in the fourth. Murphy misplayed a ball into a single and error in the eighth as the centerpiece of a three-run rally by the visitors, and Cruz's ninth-inning homer off Baldwin was too little too late for the Rangers.

Player of the series: Bosman allowed three runs in 15.2 innings in his two starts, and he gets the honor.

Pitcher availability: Bosman cannot pitch until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Coleman-Casey Cox-Bosman-Hannan (or Jim Shellenback)-(Coleman)-Cox-Bosman



Monday, June 8, 2015

Stat break: 69 Reds

Hitters


Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Beauchamp         8      1     3     1       0    0      0      2      0      .375
Bench                24      5     9     3       0    0      2      4      1      .375
Chaney                8     0      0     0       0    0      0      1      0      .000
Corrales              0      0     0     0       0    0      0      1      0        ---
Helms                19     3      5     1       1    0      0      3      0      .263
Ale Johnson      25      7     8     2       0     0      0      0      1      .320
L May                19      1     5     3       2     0     1       0      0      .263
T Perez             27     4      6     6       3    0      2      1       0      .222
Rose                 28      6   10     2       1    1      2      3       0      .357
Ruiz                  11      1      4    4       1    0       0     0       0      .364
Savage               0      0      0    0       0    0      0      1       0       ---
Tolan                 29      7    14    8       2    1      3      1       0      .483
Woodward        15      2      4     2       1    0      0      2      0      .267


Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
Arrigo                1      0        1        1     0      0      0       0       0      0     0       0.00
Carroll               4      0        6        6     4      3      0       4       0      1     0       4.50
Cloninger          2      2        9.3   13   13    12      4       8       0      0     2     11.58
Culver               1      0        3.6     6     1      1      1       5        0      0     0      2.45
Fisher               1      0        2        3     0      0      0       0        0      0     0       0.00
Granger            4      0       5         8     4      4      2       4        1      0     2      7.20
Maloney            1      1       7         3     3      3      3       4        0     1     0       3.86
Merritt               2      2     11       12     7      6      4       6        0      0    0       4.91
Nolan                1      1       6         8     4      4      3       4        0      0     0      6.00
Ramos             2      0        4         3     1      1      1       1        0      0     0      2.25

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Stat break: 09 Reds

Hitters


Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Bruce                 24      5     5     4       0    0      2      2      0      .208
Dickerson          15      2     4     2       1    0      0      3      1      .267
Encarnacion         4     2     3     0       1    0      0      0      0      .750
Gomes              12      2     3     2       2    0      0      2      0      .250
Gonzalez           13      1     3     1       0    0      1      0      0      .231
Hanigan               8      2     4     2       0    1      0      0      0      .500
R Hernandez    15      1      3     2       0     0     0       0      0     .200
Janish                  8     1      1     2       0    0      0      2       0     .125
L Nix                 11      1      5     6       2    0      1      0      0      .455
Phillips              26      5      8     0       1    0       0     0       0     .308
Rolen                14      5      6     2       2    0      0      5       0     .429
Rosales              3      1      2     1       2    0       0      1       0     .600
Tavares            20      2      2     0       1     0      0      0       1     .100
Votto                25      5      9     4       3     0      1      3       0     .360



Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
Arroyo               2      2      12.3   12     7      7      2       5       0      0     0       5.11
Burton               3      0        3.6     3     0      0      0       4       0      1     0       0.00
Cordero             3      0       3        6     3      3      1       5       3      0     0        9.00
Cueto                2      2     12      19     9      9      1       9        0      2     0       6.75
Harang              1      1       6      10     7      7      0       0        0      0     1    10.50
Herrera             2      0       1.3      2     2      2      1       0        0      0     0    13.53
Masset              5      0       5.6      7     6      6      4       3        0     0     0       9.52
Owings             1      1       6         6     2      2      2       2        0      0     0      3.00
Rhodes             2      0       1.6      2     0      0      0       0        0      0     0      0.00
K Wells             3      0       5         4     2      2      1       6        0      1     1      3.60

Paul bracket: Reds (09) defeat Reds (69) in six games

Game One: 09 Reds 5, 69 Reds 4 (10 innings)
WP: Burton (1-0)
LP: Granger (0-1)
Save: Cordero (1)
HR: L May (1), Bench (1)

Game Two: 09 Reds 10, 69 Reds 9
WP: Cueto (1-0)
LP: Cloninger (0-1)
Save: Cordero (2)
HR: Nix (1), Rose (1), Tolan (1)

Game Three: 69 Reds 9, 09 Reds 4
WP: Maloney (1-0)
LP: Harang (0-1)
HR: Tolan (2), Bench (2)

Game Four: 09 Reds 8, 69 Reds 7
WP: K Wells (1-0)
LP: Granger (0-2)
HR: A Gonzalez (1), Bruce (1), Tolan (3)

Game Five: 69 Reds 6, 09 Reds 5
WP: Carroll (1-0)
LP: K Wells (1-1)
Save: Granger (1)
HR: Perez (1), Votto (1), Rose (2)

Game Six: 09 Reds 4, 69 Reds 3
WP: Cueto (2-0)
LP: Cloninger (0-2)
Save: Cordero (3)
HR: Perez (2), Bruce (2)

The 2009 Reds won four one-run games to take a high-scoring series.

Game One, played in 1969's Crosley Field, opened with a bang. The 09 Reds peppered Jim Merritt for four runs on five hits (two of them doubles) and a walk in the top of the first. The home team chipped away one run at a time -- Johnny Bench homered in the second, pinch-hitter Jimmy Stewart doubled and scored in in the fifth, Bobby Tolan had an RBI single in the seventh and Lee May tied it at four with a homer in the eighth. But in the 10th, Brandon Phillips singled, took second on a ground out and scored on Scott Rolen base hit, and Francisco Cordero navigated the potent middle of the 69ers lineup for the save.

The 09ers had another big inning to open Game Two, with Laynce Nix capping a five-run first with a grand slam. All the action followed a pair of strikeouts. The 09ers added another five runs off starter Tony Cloninger and reliever George Culver in the second, at one point garnering six consecutive singles. Culver and bullpen mates Jack Fisher, Granger and Garry Arrigo shut out the visitors after the second inning, but the 69ers couldn't quite catch up. Tolan hit for the cycle: singles in the first and sixth innings, double in the third, homer in the fifth, triple in the ninth.

The series shifted to 2009 and Great American Ballpark. Once again the visitors ran up a big number in the top of the first. Pete Rose led off with a triple. Alex Johnson singled, and Tolan homered. Two outs later, Bench homered for a 4-0 lead. Jim Maloney gave much of that lead back in the second (a bases-clearing double by pitcher Aaron Harang), but the 69ers never gave up the lead,

Game Four broke the pattern and was scoreless through four innings. But then the runs started coming in again. It was 4-2 for the 09 reds after six innings, 6-4 for the 09ers after seven, 7-6 for the 69ers after eight. Wayne Granger couldn't get an out in the bottom of the ninth, however. Jay Bruce led off with a home run, Rolen walked, Chris Dickerson doubled Rolen to to third and Ryan Hanigan singled over the drawn-in outfield to end it.

The 69 Reds staved off elimination in Game Five. Woody Woodward and Chico Ruiz (the latter playing first base for the injured May) singled home runs in the second inning and Rose homered in the third as the 69ers built a 4-1 lead. But errors by Tolan and Tommy Helms helped the 09 Reds even the score at 4 after seven innings. Tony Perez broke the tie in the eighth and Ruiz added an insurance run with a ninth-inning double, which proved useful when Joey Votto hit a two-out homer off Granger in the bottom of the inning.

Game Six was back in Crosley Field, and Perez hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first to stake Cloninger to an early lead. An error by Johnson allowed the visitors to tie the score in the fourth, and Bruce broke the tie with a sixth-inning homer. Another Johnson misplay with two outs in the seventh allowed an insurance run to score. A ninth inning rally against Cordero scored one run and left the tying run on third when May flew out to end the game and the series.

Player of the series: Bobby Tolan was 15-for-29 in a losing cause with three homers, six runs and eight RBIs.

Player availability: Rolen, if active for the second round, will have to miss Game 1 with an injury. Johnny Cueto cannot start until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Arroyo-Harang-Cueto-Bailey-(Arroyo)-(Harang)-(Cueto)



Tuesday, June 2, 2015

George bracket: End of Round 1

Teams advancing: 2009 Red Sox, 2009 Padres, 2009 Athletics, 1969 Orioles, 1969 Cubs, 2009 Phillies, 2009 Royals, 1969 Dodgers.

Teams eliminated: 1969 Red Sox, 1969 Padres, 1969 Athletics, 2009 Orioles, 2009 Cubs, 1969 Phillies, 1969 Royals, 2009 Dodgers.

Five 2009 teams advance, three 1969 teams advance.

Four of the series went the full seven games. Two went six games, and two were sweeps. None went five games. Of the maximum 56 games, 48 were played.

The second round will involve one no-DH series (1969 Cubs-2009 Phillies) and three partial DH series (09 Red Sox-09 Padres, 69 Orioles-09 A's, 69 Dodgers-09 Royals). There will be no all-DH series.

---

There were two notable upsets: The 1969 Dodgers knocked off the 09 Dodgers, a result that eliminated one of the prime candidates to win the tournament, and the 2009 A's swept the 1969 A's. The '69 A's had enough holes that they probably weren't a top contender in the tourney, byt they did win 88 games, and the '09 A's were 13 games worse.

An upset of a milder sort was the 2009 Royals topping their 69 predecessor. The 69 Royals were a first-year expansion club, but they did have a better won-loss record than the '09 team.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Stat break: 69 Dodgers

Hitters


Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
W Crawford       15      2     3     0       0    0      0      1      0      .200
W Davis             28      1     7     2       2    0      1      3      0      .250
Gabrielson           3      0     0     0       0    0      0      2      0      .000
Haller                 16      0     5     3       2    0      0      1      0      .313
Hutton                  3      1     0     0       0    0      0      1      0      .000
Kosco                15      3     7     4       1     0     2       0      0      .467
Lefebvre            13      0     0     1       0    0      0      1       0      .000
M Mota              16      3      8    0       2    0      0      1      0       .500
Parker               26      3      9     1       4    0       0     1       0     .346
Russell                6      0      0     0       0    0      0      1       0     .000
Sizemore          24      3      5     2       0    0      1      2       0      .208
Sudakis            21      1      3     0       1     0      0      0       0     .143
Torborg              9      0      3     1       1     0      0      0       0     .333
Wills                 31      0      1     0       0     0      0      0       1      .032



Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA
J Brewer            5      0       6.3      5     2      2      3       2       2      1     2      2.84
Drysdale            2      0       3         3     1      1      0       1       0      0     0      3.00
A Foster            2      0       5         5     0      0      1        2       0      0    0       0.00
McBean             1      0      1          4    4       4      1       1        0      0    0     36.00
Mikkelsen          2      0       2.3      0     0      0      0       2        0      0     0      0.00
Osteen              3      3     23.3    20     7      7      6       6        0     1     0       2.70
Singer               2      2     14         3     2      2      3       8        0      1     0      1.29
Sutton               2      2     10         8     5      2      3       8        0      1     1      1.80