Finals: 1973 Giants win title in seven games over 2019 Cardinals

Game One: Cardinals 6, Giants 4
WP: Flaherty (5-1)
LP: Bryant (3-5)
Save: Hicks (4)
HR: Goldschmidt (10), McCovey (9)

Game Two: Giants 5, Cardinals 4
WP: Moffitt (1-1)
LP: Gant (2-1)
Save: McMahon (1)
HR: Molina (2)

Game Three: Cardinals 11, Giants 2
WP: Mikolas (3-2)
LP: Bradley (5-3)
Save: Wacha (1)
HR: Kingman (9), Matthews (4), Wong (1), Bader (1)

Game Four: Giants 11, Cardinals 3
WP: Bryant (4-5)
LP: Wainwright (2-2)
HR: Goldschmidt (11), McCovey (10)

Game Five: Giants 3, Cardinals 1
WP: Barr (6-2)
LP: Flaherty (5-2)
Save: Moffitt (6)
HR: Maddox (4)

Game Six: Cardinals 4, Giants 3
WP: Gallegos (4-0)
LP: Sosa (0-2)
HR: Edman (2)

Game Seven: Giants 3, Cardinals 2
WP: McMahon (2-0)
LP: Webb (0-2)
Save: Moffitt (7)

The 1973 San Francisco Giants emerged at the unlikely champions of Tournament Three. The final series was their third series that went the full seven games.

The homestanding Cardinals took control of Game One early, knocking Ron Bryant out after three innings and taking a 5-0 lead. Two of the runs off Bryant were unearned. Willie McCovey homered in the fourth off winner Jack Flaherty and tripled in a two-run ninth in which the Cardinals needed three pitchers to get three outs and secure with win.

The Cardinals held a 4-0 lead after six innings of Game Two, but the Giants scored three in the seventh off Andrew Miller and two more in the eighth off John Gant to take a 5-4 lead. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, Paul Goldschmidt walked and Marcel Ozuna doubled off Elias Sosa; Don McMahon relieved to strike out Harrison Bader, who had entered the game for defensive purposes when the Cardinals had that 4-0 lead.

The series moved to 1973 and Candlestick Park, and the Cards bombarded Tom Bradley and reliever Jim Willoughby for 11 runs in fourth through seventh innings.  Bader and Kolton Wong each hit three-run homers for St. Louis. Miles Mikolas went five innings for the win, and Michael Wacha threw four innings for the save.

The Giants returned the favor in Game Four, evening the series with an 11-3 win. Bryant went the distance despite a two-run homer by Goldschmidt. San Francisco got four extra-base hits off Adam Wainwright in one-plus innings --  doubles by Chris Speier and Ed Goodson, a triple from Garry Maddox and a homer by McCovey.

Jim Barr gave up one run in seven innings in Game Five, with McMahon and Randy Moffitt each tossing a hitless frame. Maddox threw out Goldschmidt at the plate to end the fourth inning, then led off the bottom of the inning with a hit and scored the first run of the game. Maddox hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Barr and the relievers took it from there.

Back in St. Louis, the Giants shifted plans and gave the start to Juan Marichal, giving the Hall of Famer a chance to wrap up the series. The Dominican Dandy allowed three runs in six innings, leaving with the game tied at three. Elias Sosa went the rest of the way for the Giants, surrendering the winning run on a two-out ninth-inning single by Dexter Fowler. Giovanny Gallegos was credited with his fourth win of the tournament after getting the final two outs of the ninth.

Game Seven pit Bryant and Mikolas, and there were no runs through four innings. Tito Fuentes led off the fifth with a single. The Giants put on the hit-and-run, and Dave Rader singled Fuentes to third. Bryant bunted Rader to second. St. Louis pulled the infield in, and Bobby Bonds singled past shortstop Paul DeJong to plate both runners. The Cardinals tied it in the sixth; Fowler singled to lead off and advanced on Goodson's error. DeJong singled Fowler home and stole second ahead of Goldschmidt's walk. After Wong fanned, Jose Martinez walked to load the bases, and Speier couldn't complete the double play on Tommy Edman's grounder. The tie held into the eighth. Tyler Webb entered at the start of the inning to strike out McCovey. He then walked Gary Matthews and got Goodson to ground out, with Matthews advancing to second. John Brebbia came into face Speier, but Spieir doubled to bring home Matthews with the final run of the tournament. McMahon, who entered to get the final out of the seventh, pitched a scoreless eighth, and Moffitt allowed a leadoff single in the ninth but then got a double play and a strikeout to end the game, the series and the tournament.

Stat break: 2019 Minnesota Twins

 Hitters

Name              AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Adrianza         36     5  10    7        2    2     3      1      0    .278
Arraez             69     9  20    8       3     0     2      7      0    .290
Astudillo           2     0    1    1       0    0      0      0      0    .500
Buxton            82   16  23    8       8     2     1      5      1    .280
J Castro           41     7    8    1       1     1     0      3      0    .195
Cave                19     3    6    5       1    0     1       4      0    .316
Cron                59   12  18    3       7     0     1      4      0    .305
N Cruz          105   13  27  22     11     0     6      3      0    .257
Garver             66   17  22  14       4    0     6    14      0    .333
M Gonzalez    78   10  22  15       2     0     3      4      0    .282
Kepler           117  20   27  16       4     1    6     14      0    .231
Polanco         125  19   42  22     11     1    5     11      1    .336
Rosario         106  13   30  18       7     0    3       4      0    .283
Sano               54   10  11     8        1    0     4    10      0    .204
Schoop           56     4  12     5       3    0     2       3      0    .214

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Berrios               9      9    55.6    56    23    23   10     51       0      4     1    3.72
Duffey             14      0    14.3     10      5      5     6     14       0      1    1     3.14

Gibson               4      4    19.3    17      9      9      9    22       0      2     0    4.19

Harper             14      0    14        14    10    10      5    11       0      1    1     6.43
Littell              12      0    13        16      5      5      4    14       0      1    0      3.46

May                 13      0    13       14       8      5     3     14       1      1    0      3.46

Odorizzi            7     7      36       38    13    13    18    27       0      3     3     3.25
Perez               10      2     20       33    18    14      8    13       0      0     3     6.30

Pineda               6      6     37.6    30      9      8      9   31       0      4     0      1.91
Rogers            11      0     17.3     11     2      2      2    17       3      1    0       1.04

Romo              17      0     14.6     17   10   10      1    19       2      0     1      6.13

Smeltzer            3      0       8          7     5      5      0      3       1     0     0      5.63

--

Astudillo           1      0       1         3     0      0      0      1       0     0     0      0.00

Stat break: 1973 San Francisco Giants

    

Hitters

Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,

Arnold               12      2    5     3       0     0     0       3      0     .417

Bonds            129     28   41   20      7     1      8    17      7     .318

Fuentes         124     18   34   19       5    3      2      9      0     .274

Goodson       106       9   26   14       7    0      2      4      0      .245

Howarth             7      3     1     0       1    0      0      1      0      .143

Kingman          79    14   16    18       0    0     8    13      2     .203

Maddox         132    26   40    15       3    6      3      3      2     .303

Matthews       123    23   41    17      4    1      3    19       1     .333

McCovey         94    14   24    25      3     1     8     19      0      .255

Phillips               6      1     0     0      0     0     0       0      0      .000

Da Rader         96    12   23   14      6    0      3      6       0      .240

Sadek              14      1     1     0      1    0     0       2       0      .071

Speier            110    11   28    13      3     1     2    17      1      .255

Thomasson      12     4      5     5       1    0     1       3      0     .417

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Barr                 7      7    52         42   17    13      6    26       0      5     2     2.25

Bradley            8      8    49.3     52   26    26    14    42       0       5     2    4.74

Bryant            10    10   66         49   37    34    30    36       0      3     4     4.64

Carrithers        4      0      6.3       4     1      1      3       4      0      0     0      1.42

D'Acquisto       2      0       3          1     0      0      2      5      0      0     0      0.00

Marichal          8      6     45        42   18    16    10    27       0      4    1       3.20

McDowell         8      0      6.3       7     0      0      2      3      0       0     0      0.00

McMahon        6      0       7          8     3      3      0      6       0      1     0    3.86

Moffitt            10      0     14.3       8     3      3     4    10      5      0    1       1.88

Sosa             14      0     17        14      7      4     4    14      5     0     1       2.12

Willoughby      6      0     13        11      9      7     6    11      0      2     0      4.85

Final Four: 1973 Giants defeat 2019 Twins in six games

Game One: Giants 15, Twins 8
WP: Willoughby (2-0)
LP: Perez (0-3)
HR: Bonds (5), Gonzalez (3), Kingman (7), Cruz (6), Polanco (5)

Game Two: Giants 2, Twins 1
WP: Barr (5-1)
LP: Odorizzi (3-2)
Save: Sosa (5)
HR: Speier (2)

Game Three: Twins 7, Giants 3
WP: Pineda (4-0)
LP: Bradley (4-2)
HR: Bonds (6), Garver (5), Rosario 2 (3)

Game Four: Giants 12, Twins 8
WP: Marichal (4-1)
LP: Harper (1-1)
Save: Moffitt (5)
HR: Bonds (7), Goodson (2), McCovey (7), Garver (6), Kepler (5)

Game Five: Twins 3, Giants 2
WP: Berrios (4-1)
LP: Barr (5-2)
Save: Romo (2)
HR: McCovey (8), Kepler (6), Adrianza (3)

Game Six: Giants 11, Twins 4
WP: Bradley (5-2)
LP: Odorizzi (3-3)
HR: Bonds (8), Maddox (3), Thomasson (1), Kingman (8), Arraez (2)

The Giants scored in double digits in three of their wins, blasting 11 homers in the six games of the series to match the powerful Bomba Squard in four-baggers while adjusting their pitching plans on the fly.

Game One, in Target Field, was quite the slugfest.  Bobby Bonds hit a three-run homer in the second as the Giants took a 5-0 lead. The Twins scored three in the second, with Marwin Gonzalez hitting a two-run homer. Gonzalez drove in two more in the third with a double as the Twins knocked Ron Bryant out of the box. But Jose Berrios couldn't survive the fourth, and the score was tied at seven after four innings. The Giants blasted three Twins relievers for six runs in the fifth inning, with Dave Rader, Bonds, Gary Matthews and Ed Goodson each hitting RBI doubles. John Willoughby held the Twins to two runs in six innings of relief for the win.

Game Two was a pitchers duel. Jake Odorizzi allowed one hit in the first four innings but left in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out. The Twins couldn't turn the double play on a Dave Rader grounder, and the Giants took a 1-0 lead. Chris Speier homered in the seventh off Sergio Romo. The Twins got a run in the seventh off Jim Barr, but Sam McDowell retired Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco with the tying run on second to escape the inning, and McDowell and Elias Sosa didn't allow a runner the rest of the way.

Eddie Rosario had a big day in Game Three, hitting homers in his first two Candlestick Park at-bats and diving in five runs in all. Michael Pineda allowed two earned runs in seven innings for the win. 

The Giants bats exploded again in Game Four. Goodson capped a four-run first with a three-run homer off Kyle Gibson, and San Francisco took a 5-0 lead into the fourth. The Twins then ralled for seven runs, with the first eight hitters reaching base against Bryant (one on an error). Bryant walked two and hit a batter. The Twins added a run in the fifth to lead 8-5. But Gary Thomasson doubled in two runs pinch-hitting for Don McMahon to make it a one-run margin, and Juan Marichal, pressed into relief duty because of all the short starts, worked two scoreless innings. Bonds and Willie McCovery each slugged two-run homers in the seventh to take the lead, and Randy Moffitt sealed the win with two scoreless innings.

The Twins staved off elimination with a 3-2 win in Game Five. Ehrie Adrianza and Kepler homered in a three-run fifth ofr a 3-2 lead. Berrios and relievers Tyler Duffey and Sergio Romo made that margin stand up.

But that was the last lead for the series for the favored Twins. Goodson doubled in a pair of runs in the first for the visiting Giants in Game Six, Bonds doubled in another run in the second, Dave Kingman homered in the third and the Giants had five runs off Odorizzi. Rosario doubled in two runs in the bottom of the third, but Bonds and Garry Maddox hit back-to-back homers in the fifth of Martin Perez. The Giants scored two runs in each of the last two innings. Tom Bradley went seven innings, allowing four runs on 12 hits, with Sosa getting the final six outs.

Player availability: No injuries, and the Giants bullpen will be fully available for the first game of the finals.

Projected rotation: Unsettled. Marichal pitched two games in relief in this series, but is available to start Game Two if needed. Bryant will start Games 1, 4 and, if necessary, 7. Preliminary plan: Bryant-Barr-Bradley-Bryant-(Barr)-(Bradley)-(Bryant)

Stat break: 2019 Washington Nationals

    

 Hitters

Name                AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,

Adams              40      4     9     2       1    0     1      2      0      .225

A Cabrera        18      3      4     5      3    0      1      2      0      .222

Difo                   10      0     2     2      1    0      0      0      0      .200

Dozier               64      5   14     1       2    1      0     8      0      .219

Eaton                97    16   32     9      5    2      2      8      2      .330

Gomes             56       7  15     6       1    1      1      6      0      .268

Kendrick           57      9   20     8      3    0     4       4      0      .351

Parra                21      4     6     4      1    0      1      1      1      .286

Rendon            90    15   25   26      4    0      6    16      0      .278

Robles             97    17   23   13      2     2     3       1      1      .237

Soto                77       5   21   13      3     0     3     12      0      .273

Suzuki             32      5     9     8      0     0     3       5      0      .281

Turner            109   20   32   10      8     0     4        5      4     .294

Zimmerman     39     4     8     3      0     0      1       1      0     .205

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Corbin             5      5     30.6     19     5     5      8    32       0      5     0       1.47

Doolittle         15      0     13.3     19     9     9      1    12       7      0.   3       6.08

Fedde              4     0        9          7     2     2     2      2       0      1     1       2.00

Grace            10     0        7.3     10     4     4     0      4       0      0     0        4.91

Guerra           10     0       9.6     10     8      8      3     4       0      1     0       7.45

Hudson           7      0       6.3      6     1      1      3      7       3      0    0        1.42

Rodney         16      0     13.6    14      9      9     8    15       0      0     0      5.93

Rainey             8      0      8         3     1      1      7      9       0      0    0       1.13

Ross                2      0      4.3      7     3      3      1      2       0      1.    0       6.24

Sanchez          5      5    26.3    35   21    19      5    17        0     1    1        6.49
Scherzer         8      8    48.6    32    10   10     16   55       0      4     1       1.85

Strasburg        5      5    26       21     9      9      8    31        0     4     0       3.12

Suero            10      0    12.3      4     2      2      2    12       3      0    0        1.46

Stat break: 2019 St. Louis Cardinals

 

Hitters

Name              AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Bader               69   10   13     4       4    0    0     9      2    .188
M Carpenter    67     5   18     9       4    0    2     8      2    .269
DeJong          102   13   20   13       2   0     3     4      3    .196
Edman             96     9   33   11       7    3    1     7      2    .344
Fowler             86     9   19     9       3    1    2     8      3    .221
Goldschmidt  110   20   38   23       7    0    9   16      1    .345
J Martinez       26     4     3     4      0    0     1      5      0    .115
Molina            99     9    24     7      4    0     1   10      0    .242
Munoz            21     4      4     1        0    0    0     1     0    .190
O'Neill            13     0     1     0       0    0     0      0     0    .077
Ozuna           113   12   22   16       8     1    5    12     1    .195
Wieters           14     7     9     9       2     0    4      2     0    .643
Wong            110   12   28     7       7     1    0    12     5    .255

Pitchers

Name                 G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L     ERA

Brebbia             10      0    15.6       6     2     2       5    15        0      2     1      1.15
Flaherty              9      9    52.6     38   19   17     12    43        0      4     1      2.90
Gallegos           13      0    12.3       3     0     0       4      9        0      3     0      0.00
Gant                  12      0   14.6     14      8     8    10     10        0      2     0      4.91

Hicks                10      0    11.6       4      0     0      4      9        3      1     0      0.00

Hudson               6      6    30.3    23      9     8     16    12       0       2     1      2.37
C Martinez       11      0    13          8     2     2       3    12        6      0     0      1.38

Mikolas              5      5    26        27   14   14     10    21        0      2     2      4.85

Miller               15      0    14.3     13     8     8       6    21       1      1      0      5.02

Ponce de Leon   5      0    10.3     12     6     6       5    13        0      0     0      5.23
Wacha                6      0    16          9     3     3       5    10        0      1     0     1.69
Wainwright        7      7    33        36   13   13    10     24        0     2     1      3.55

Webb                15      0    10       10      2     2      4       4       0      0     1      1.80

Final four: 2019 Cardinals defeat 2019 Nationals in five games

Game One: Cardinals 6, Nationals 5 (15 innings)
WP: Gant (1-0)
LP: Fedde (1-1)
Save: Hicks (1)
HR: Robles 2 (3), Ozuna (4)

Game Two: Cardinals 3, Nationals 1
WP: Gant (2-0)
LP: Doolittle (0-3)
Save: Hicks (2)
HR: Wieters (3), Goldschmidt (8)

Game Three: Nationals 9, Cardinals 6
WP: Corbin (5-0)
LP: Mikolas (2-2)
Save: Hudson (3)
HR: Wieters (4), Suzuki (2), Edman (1)

Game Four: Cardinals 8, Nationals 6
WP: Wainwright (2-1)
LP: Sanchez (1-1)
Save: Hicks (3)
HR: Eaton (2), Ozuna (5), Goldschmidt (9)

Game Five: Cardinals 4, Nationals 0
WP: Flaherty (4-1)
LP: Scherzer (4-1)

The impressive run of the 2019 Washington Nationals -- 16-2 through the first four rounds -- ended rapidly against the 2019 St. Louis Cardinals.

Game One was a bullpen-draining 15-inning marathon in Nationals Park. Victor Robles homered twice for the Nats -- a two-run shot in the second to give Washington the lead, and another in the 11th to even the score after St. Louis had taken the lead. Marcel Ozuna homered in the top of the 15th for another lead, and Jordan Hicks made it stand up. 

Paul Goldschmidt homered in the second inning of Game Two, and the Nats tied it in the sixth off Andrew Miller. The score remained 1-1 until the ninth, when Matt Wieters homered leading off against Sean Doolittle. For the second game in a row, John Gant was credited with the victory, with Hicks retiring the side in the ninth for the save.

Game Three in St. Louis was a high-scoring affair. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run double in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. Wieters pinch-hit a two-run homer in the fifth, but the Nats took advantage of three walks by Gant in the sixth to score two runs and expand the lead to 6-2. Cabrera blasted a two-run homer in the eighth off Michael Wacha. The Cardinals scored twice in the ninth to force Daniel Hudson into the game but could not get a hit off him.

The Cards won their own slugfest in Game Four. Ozuna drove in four runs with a double and homer, and Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter each drove in a pair. Adam Wainwright picked his way through five innings, and even though Miller wild pitched two runs home, the St. Louis bullpen was just good enough.

Jack Flaherty and three relievers combined for a six-hit shutout in Game Five. Ozuna scored two runs for the Cardinals. Flaherty left with one on and one out in the seventh; Tyler Webb struck out Geraldo Parra, then Giovanny Gallagos fanned Brian Dozier. John Brebbia worked the eighth and ninth innings, allowing one single and striking out five.

Player availability: No issues for the Cardinals going into the finals

Projected rotation: Flaherty-Hudson-Mikolas-Wainwright-(Flaherty)-(Hudson)-(Mikolas)