In the other AL Divisional Series, Vermillion Cliffs defeated Big Lake. While VER was very strong all season, most people believed the Big Lake team was equally strong and would give them issues. VER rolled through BIG as fast as BEL did with WYN, winning the series in 5 games setting the stage for the two best AL teams to face off in the ALCS.
Arrieta vs. Fiers
Hughes vs. Stroman
BEL took an early lead 2-0 but VER fought back to tie in the 4th;
In the 6th, VER put together 4 runs on 5 hits and cruised to a 6-2 win with a complete game from Stroman. VER had 12 hits and met every pitching change with a clutch hit. The big question about this loss was whether Hughes was pulled too early allowing some match-up advantages to move in VER's favor. (McCutchen's lack of hitting is very concerning as his playoff average is down to .167)
Wainwright vs. Tillman
BEL dinked and dunked for 4 single runs while Wainwright, Betances, Giles and Chapman held VER to 2 hits over the final 5 innings for a relatively easy 4-1 win. 7 of the final 9 outs were Ks. Note: The BEL manager pulled his stud starter early and this time it worked very well.
Game 5...
Fister vs. Garza
VER took a 1-0 lead and BEL responded with a 2 run rally for a 2-1 lead going into the 9th;
in the top of the 9th, Chris Stewart was nailed at home on a one out double by Reyes setting up an exciting bottom of the 9th.
VER got a walk sandwiched around two outs brought up Alexi Ramirez who promptly singled to send a runner to 3rd. With John Jay due up, BEL brought in Betances who got a groundball to short. Game over right? It sure was, as a single and an error by Reyes scored both baserunners for a heartbreaking loss for BEL.
This returned the series to BEL's home park for the (hopefully) final two games. Of course, BEL has to beat Arrieta who they couldn't do much with in Game 2, won by VER, 4-1. At least it's not this year's Arrieta!
BEL strikes first on a walk to McCutchen a steal (Arietta is a +9) and a single by Adams.
VER responds with a H&R double by Utley to score Bourn. Kurt Suzuki breaks the tie in the 4th with a HR. Encarnacion responds with a HR in the 6th to tie (3rd of the series). Both team threaten and get 2 runners on in the 7th but none score;
Arrietta is cruising and BEL uses most of it's relievers. In the 9th, it's Fiers vs. Arrietta and no one scores until an opportunity in the bottom of the 11th. McCutchen leads off by getting HBP and then stealing 2nd and 3rd. Markakis hits a Sac Fly to win the game. (In hindsight, the VER manager believed he made a mistake in not removing Arrieta and bringing in a reliever who had a better "hold" rating to avoid the easy quick rally for BEL.)
BEL managed only 5 hits VER had 10 hits and 3 walks but but VER's clutch hitting dissipated and BEL was able eke out a win.
Game 7 was a repeat of Games 1 and 4, Wainwright vs. Tillman;
BEL won game 1 but Wainwright didn't fair well and BEL struggled to hit Tillman; Game 4 was a win for BEL and Wainwright allowed only 2 hits but it was BEL's bullpen that was decisive.
This was a tight well-pitched game. BEL took a lead in the bottom of the 1st on a leadoff double by McCutchen and then a passed ball put him on 3rd with one out. Encarnacion hit a HR on a split of HR1 flyball 2-20. (BEL was feeling very lucky at this point.)
Wainwright was near perfect allowing no runners through the first 3 innings, then a leadoff double in the 4th followed by 3 more perfect innings. In the 8th Ortiz lead off with a single but was erased on a DP leading us to the 9th with BEL ahead, 2-0.
After a leadoff double in the 9th by Carpenter, BEL went to the bullpen and brought in Giles to get Ramirez and then Chapman to face Mayberry (K) and John Jay (K).
BEL heads to the World Series!! First time in this franchise history.
Here is the Game 7 boxscore...
VER features a few players who are really good but had down years in 2014 so their Stratomatic impact for this series is muted. Cespedes, Ortiz, Matt Garza, Wily Peralta and Kurt Suzuki were some of the players whose performance limited VER's strength, however, they had really strong regular seasons from Carpenter, Mayberry, Turner, Tillman and Fuld. One issue facing VER in a long playoff is the player eligibility this league allows to make sure the activity matches the player's real season work. Turner and Fuld were limited to 5 games of 2 ABs max and this might be an issue in a long series.
VER's starting pitching is strong featuring a rotation of Arrieta, Tillman, Stroman and Garza but their relief pitching is no match for BEL's in a long series with tight games since Strat does automatically tire pitchers to reflect the real life performance they attained. The best reliever on VER is Pedro Strop but he is limited to his performance and does not match the shut down ability of BEL's big three of Giles, Betances and Chapman.
Series summary
GAMES 1 & 2 @ Bellingham's home stadium which is PNC park in Pittsburgh
Game 1...
Tillman vs. Wainwright
BEL scored first and held a 2-1 lead but VER came back vs. Betances and took the lead 3-2. The game stayed that way through the bottom of the 8th with Tillman is great control. with one out Encarnacion hit a HR to tie and a double by Adams and a single by Beltre put BEL ahead 4-3. Chapman pitched the 8th and 9th and got the win with Tillman taking the loss.
Game 2...
Arrieta vs. Fiers
No score and each team had 2 hits through 5 innings. In the top of the 6th, VER rallied and broke the tie with hits by Turner and Cabrera. Two batters later, Cespedes hit a HR for a 4-0 lead. BEL could only manage 1 run and took a 4-1 loss. Arrieta over Fiers
Series tied 1-1
GAMES 3, 4 & 5 @ Vermillion's home park which is Chase Field in Arizona
Hughes vs. Stroman
BEL took an early lead 2-0 but VER fought back to tie in the 4th;
In the 6th, VER put together 4 runs on 5 hits and cruised to a 6-2 win with a complete game from Stroman. VER had 12 hits and met every pitching change with a clutch hit. The big question about this loss was whether Hughes was pulled too early allowing some match-up advantages to move in VER's favor. (McCutchen's lack of hitting is very concerning as his playoff average is down to .167)
Wainwright vs. Tillman
BEL dinked and dunked for 4 single runs while Wainwright, Betances, Giles and Chapman held VER to 2 hits over the final 5 innings for a relatively easy 4-1 win. 7 of the final 9 outs were Ks. Note: The BEL manager pulled his stud starter early and this time it worked very well.
Game 5...
Fister vs. Garza
VER took a 1-0 lead and BEL responded with a 2 run rally for a 2-1 lead going into the 9th;
in the top of the 9th, Chris Stewart was nailed at home on a one out double by Reyes setting up an exciting bottom of the 9th.
VER got a walk sandwiched around two outs brought up Alexi Ramirez who promptly singled to send a runner to 3rd. With John Jay due up, BEL brought in Betances who got a groundball to short. Game over right? It sure was, as a single and an error by Reyes scored both baserunners for a heartbreaking loss for BEL.
This returned the series to BEL's home park for the (hopefully) final two games. Of course, BEL has to beat Arrieta who they couldn't do much with in Game 2, won by VER, 4-1. At least it's not this year's Arrieta!
GAMES 6 & 7
Game 6 was a repeat of Game 2 - Arietta vs. Hughes...BEL strikes first on a walk to McCutchen a steal (Arietta is a +9) and a single by Adams.
VER responds with a H&R double by Utley to score Bourn. Kurt Suzuki breaks the tie in the 4th with a HR. Encarnacion responds with a HR in the 6th to tie (3rd of the series). Both team threaten and get 2 runners on in the 7th but none score;
Arrietta is cruising and BEL uses most of it's relievers. In the 9th, it's Fiers vs. Arrietta and no one scores until an opportunity in the bottom of the 11th. McCutchen leads off by getting HBP and then stealing 2nd and 3rd. Markakis hits a Sac Fly to win the game. (In hindsight, the VER manager believed he made a mistake in not removing Arrieta and bringing in a reliever who had a better "hold" rating to avoid the easy quick rally for BEL.)
BEL managed only 5 hits VER had 10 hits and 3 walks but but VER's clutch hitting dissipated and BEL was able eke out a win.
Game 7 was a repeat of Games 1 and 4, Wainwright vs. Tillman;
BEL won game 1 but Wainwright didn't fair well and BEL struggled to hit Tillman; Game 4 was a win for BEL and Wainwright allowed only 2 hits but it was BEL's bullpen that was decisive.
This was a tight well-pitched game. BEL took a lead in the bottom of the 1st on a leadoff double by McCutchen and then a passed ball put him on 3rd with one out. Encarnacion hit a HR on a split of HR1 flyball 2-20. (BEL was feeling very lucky at this point.)
Wainwright was near perfect allowing no runners through the first 3 innings, then a leadoff double in the 4th followed by 3 more perfect innings. In the 8th Ortiz lead off with a single but was erased on a DP leading us to the 9th with BEL ahead, 2-0.
After a leadoff double in the 9th by Carpenter, BEL went to the bullpen and brought in Giles to get Ramirez and then Chapman to face Mayberry (K) and John Jay (K).
BEL heads to the World Series!! First time in this franchise history.
Here is the Game 7 boxscore...
BOXSCORE: 2015 Vermillion Cliffs Vultures At 2015 Bellingham Bozos 10/30/2015
Vultures AB R H RBI AVG Bozos AB R H RBI AVG
M.Bourn CF 3 0 1 0 .240 A.McCutchen CF 3 1 1 0 .182
A-J.Mayberry Jr PH 1 0 0 0 .143 N.Markakis RF 4 0 0 0 .263
C.Utley 2B 3 0 0 0 .222 E.Encarnacion DH 4 1 2 2 .314
B-J.Jay PH 1 0 0 0 .389 M.Adams 1B 4 0 1 0 .273
J.Turner 1B 3 0 0 0 .300 A.Beltre 3B 3 0 0 0 .341
M.Cabrera RF 3 0 0 0 .237 B.Holt LF 4 0 1 0 .273
D.Ortiz DH 3 0 1 0 .128 S.Vogt C 3 0 0 0 .071
C.Coghlan LF 3 0 0 0 .211 D.Lemahieu 2B 1 0 0 0 .222
C.Iannetta C 3 0 0 0 .250 J.Reyes SS 3 0 1 0 .243
M.Carpenter 3B 3 0 1 0 .276
A.Ramirez SS 3 0 0 0 .278
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 29 0 3 0 Totals 29 2 6 2
A-Pinch Hit For Bourn In 9th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Utley In 9th Inning
Vultures........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0
Bozos........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 6 0
Vultures (6-4) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
C.Tillman LOSS(2-2) 8 6 2 2 4 8 1 2.70
Totals 8 6 2 2 4 8 1
Bozos (7-3) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
A.Wainwright WIN(2-0) 8 3 0 0 0 8 0 1.04
K.Giles HOLD(4th) 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.17
A.Chapman SAVE(3rd) 0 2/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
Totals 9 3 0 0 0 10 0
Totals 9 3 0 0 0 10 0
ATTENDANCE- 40,222 DATE- Friday, October 30th 2015 TIME- Night
UMPIRES- Rich Rieker, Paul Emmel, Gerry Davis, Chris Guccione
T- 2:35
LEFT ON BASE- Vultures: 2 Bozos: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Vultures: 1 Bozos: 1
DOUBLES- M.Bourn(1st), M.Carpenter(2nd), A.McCutchen(2nd), E.Encarnacion(3rd)
HOME RUNS- E.Encarnacion(3rd)
RBIs- E.Encarnacion-2(7th)
WALKS- A.McCutchen, A.Beltre, D.Lemahieu-2
STRIKE OUTS- M.Bourn, J.Mayberry Jr, J.Jay, J.Turner-2, D.Ortiz, C.Coghlan,
C.Iannetta, M.Carpenter, A.Ramirez, N.Markakis-2, E.Encarnacion,
M.Adams-3, S.Vogt, J.Reyes
GIDP- C.Coghlan, B.Holt
RLISP 2-out- M.Cabrera, J.Reyes-2, N.Markakis, J.Jay
TEAM RISP- Vultures: 0 for 6 Bozos: 2 for 8
Adam Wainwright delivered 8 solid innings as the Bellingham Bozos topped the
Vermillion Clfs Vultures by a score of 2 to 0 at PNC Park.
Bellingham took the lead off Chris Tillman in the first inning as they scored
2 runs on 2 base hits. That scoring would be all that was needed. After the
1st inning, neither team was able to score.
The win was credited to Wainwright(2-0) who went 8 innings allowing no runs.
Aroldis Chapman earned the save, his 3rd. Tillman(2-2) ended up with the
loss. He allowed 2 runs and 6 hits in 8 innings.
In the end, BEL's relief pitching played a key role supporting the limited starters performance and combined with clutch hitting, BEL barely managed to eke through this series. The usage limitations on some VER players had a big impact on how VER was managed in the last two games.
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