Pitcher Perfect Postseason

If there ever were a question about the shadow of the Steroid Era of baseball hovering over the game, this postseason has offered compelling evidence that juiced batters are done and hurlers are the heroes of October. This postseason have seemingly offered us a stellar pitching performance (or two) nightly. Major League Baseball, these last few weeks, looks like the game I grew up with: one in which the pitchers decided the games and the man with the stick capable of cracking the armor of the man on the mound emerged as a gamebreaker.

So far, there have been seven shutouts in the postseason. Three of those were 1-0 final scores. Beyond stat sheet standouts, what these “A-game” performances on the mound have given postseason baseball is what compels the casual sports fan to watch the games: suspense and drama.

American League Division Series – Game 2: Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics

Former MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander tossed seven scoreless innings, but the star of the night was rookie Sony Gray of the A’s. Gray threw eight scoreless innings on 111 pitches, giving his team the opportunity to win it with a walk off in the 9^th inning. A’s closer Grant Balfour got the win, but Gray got the glory.

Tigers    0

A’s          1

FINAL – Series tied 1-1

It was a Sonny night in Oakland. 1

American League Division Series – Game 5: Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics

After dodging multiple bullets and delivering clutch hits in Game 4, the Tigers sent the series back to Oakland for a fifth and final game. The stage was set for Verlander-Gray Part II. Like most sequels, it was worth seeing, but couldn’t match up to the original. Sonny Gray was peppered and removed after five innings after giving up three runs. Justin Verlander was magnificent again, hanging eight zeroes on the scoreboard before closing pitcher Joaquin Benoit stretched the Tigers over the finish line in the 9^th inning. 

Tigers    3

A’s          0

FINAL – Tigers win the series 3 games to 2.

The master schooled the rook in the end. 2

American League Championship Series – Game 1: Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox

Anibal Sanchez got dirty in his first postseason start, getting hammered for six runs, including three homers, and being removed in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the ALDS. Sanchez redeemed himself, tossing six hitless, scoreless innings. Detroit’s pitching staff would combine to toss 8-1/3 scoreless innings before losing the combined no-hitter in the bottom of the 9^th inning. Regardless, the Red Sox, the best hitting team in baseball, may as well have had rubber hoses instead of bats, being shut out at home in Game 1.

Tigers    1

Red Sox 0

FINAL

National League Championship Series – Game 2: Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals

After outlasting the Dodgers the night before in a 13 inning marathon, 3-2, the Cardinals had to get up and do it all over again just 15 hours later. Probable National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers took the mound against rookie wunderkind Michael Wacha. Kershaw was excellent, striking out five batters and giving up one run and two hits in six innings. Wacha was bulletproof, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning before the Cardinals’ bullpen finished the job. The Dodgers only gave up four runs in 22 innings of play; the Cardinals gave up less.

Dodgers   0

Cardinals 1

FINAL – Cardinals lead the series 2 games to none.

Wacha vs Kershaw? Wacha, Wacha, Wacha! 4

National League Championship Series – Game 2: Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals

With the season effectively hanging in the balance, rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers turned in the finest performance at the most critical time in his fledgling career. Ryu pitched four hitless innings to start the game and finished giving up only three hits in seven scoreless innings. They needed the stellar effort as Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright also lasted seven innings and only surrendered two runs. The Dodgers’ pen finished the job to breathe life back into the Dodgers in this series.

Cardinals 0

Dodgers   3

FINAL – Cardinals lead the series 2 games to 1.

Ryu had no room for error, so he didn't make any. 3

American League Championship Series – Game 3: Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers

Not to be outdone by their National League counterparts, the Red Sox and Tigers served up another classic pitcher’s duel. Justin Verlander put up ridiculous numbers again but did give up his first earned run in about a month, serving up a tater to Mike Napoli of the Red Sox in the 7^th inning. Verlander went eight innings only surrendering a single run to Boston.

Red Sox starter John Lackey, who had some hard knocks in the postseason while with the Los Angeles Angels, continued his October Redemption Tour with the Red Sox. He took a shutout into the seventh inning before the relievers finished the job. The Sox shut out the Tigers and regained the home field advantage in the series.

Red Sox 1

Tigers    0

FINAL

John Lackey's ex-wife, Krista Clark...was probably not in the building to see that masterpiece. 5

Pitching Wins Championships

The adage that great pitching trumps great hitting has been illustrated repeatedly in this postseason. The aforementioned were just the highlights. Twelve playoff games had five or fewer total runs scored. Only one League Championship Series game has had more than five total runs scored. The team with the ball has controlled its fate in the playoffs, the way it should be.

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1) Image from www.pressdemocrat.com
2) Image from www.gazettenet.com
3, 4) Images from www.cbssports.com 
5) Image from www.gettyimages.com

Dodger Blue Magic

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves in dramatic fashion last night. Veteran third baseman Juan Uribe (.278, 12 HR, 50 RBI) hit a go-ahead two run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to put the Dodgers ahead of the Braves, 4-3. Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen (4-3, 1.88 ERA, 28 SV, 111 Ks, 76.2 IP) came in to nail it down in the 9th and sent the Dodgers to the National League Championship Series for the first time in four years.

The Dodgers have been the most compelling story of the 2013 MLB season. Don Mattingly was on the hot seat for his job before the (then) last place Dodgers called up a Cuban rookie right fielder named Yasiel Puig (.319, 19 HR, 42 RBI – regular season; .471, 1.029 OPS, 5 RS in the postseason) . The season became the opposite of Murphy’s Law: everything that could go right, did go right.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez (.345, 20 HR, 57 RBI) returned to the lineup from injury and caught fire. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez appeared to return to his former borderline M.V.P.-caliber self, the same Adrian Gonzalez (.293, 22 HR, 100 RBI) who earned a nine figure free agency contract just less than three years ago. Clayton Kershaw (16-9, 1.83 ERA, 232 Ks) pitched like the National League Cy Young Award winner he is all but assured of being in 2013. Zack Greinke (15-4, 2.63 ERA) returned to his tough-as-nails performances that made him an American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 and a highly coveted free agent when he left the Kansas City Royals three years ago. Every day, we saw part-owner and front-man Magic Johnson with his trademark smile sitting front and center, the expression on his face saying, “I told you so!”

The 2013 NLCS, depending on Game 5 of the other National League Division Series - Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals – will either be a classic battle of baseball titans should the Cards advance or the continuation of the Cinderella story that is the Pirates’ return to baseball’s contending class. Regardless of who is on the marquis, the Dodgers will provide the electricity.

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To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info.

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

Magic was just getting started with bringing championships to Los Angeles in the 1980s.

Image cited in a prior Hat Trick posting.