I finally played through the World Series after a short hiatus from the game and it was a thrilling 7 game set. Pitching dominated for most of the series, with neither team scoring more than 5 runs in a single game. Games 6 and 7 added to the drama with both games going to extras. Here's a short summary of each game:
Game 1: The Cubs got off to a quick 1-0 lead thanks in large part to a dominating performance by Jake Arrieta. Jake threw 6 shutout frames and Anthony Rizzo provided the power with a solo shot to help the Cubs win the game 3 to 1.
Box Score:
Game 2: The Blue Jays answer in Wrigley with a victory of their own to even the series at 1 game a piece. Kyle Schwarber had a solo shot in the third inning, his first in the playoffs, which gave the Cubs a 2 to 0 lead. The big blow, however, was a 3 run home run by Jose Bautista in the 6th inning that ultimately knocked Jon Lester out, giving the Blue Jays a 3 to 2 lead. Marco Estrada pitched 7 strong innings and the Blue Jays added insurance in the seventh thanks to Troy Tulowitzki. The game ended in a 4 to 2 victory for the Jays.
Box Score:
Spoiler
Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago Cubs
Oct 27, 2016
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Toronto (1-1)
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
0
0
4
8
0
Chicago (1-1)
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
8
1
W: Marco Estrada (2-1) L: Jon Lester (0-1) S: Roberto Osuna (4)
Game 3: The series shifts to Toronto where pitching continued to be the prevailing theme. Kyle Hendricks pitched 8 very strong innings, his only mistake being a solo blast by Jose Bautista in the fourth inning. The Cubs jumped out to a 2 to 0 lead early thanks to knocks by Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist and didn't look back since. The game ended in a 3 to 1 victory for Chicago.
Box Score:
Game 4: The Blue Jays answered back once again, jumping all over John Lackey early, knocking him out after 2 2/3 innings. Troy Tulowitzki had a huge game, going 2 for 4 with a home run and 4 runs driven in. That, combined with Rubby De La Rosa's complete game shutout, evened the series back at 2 games a piece.
Box Score:
Game 5: With both teams looking to take a 3 to 2 lead back to Chicago, the Cubs threw Jake Arrieta against Gavin Floyd for the Jays. The Cubs got the jump on Floyd in the second inning thanks in part to a 3 run blast by Miguel Montero to make it 3 to 0 Cubs. Jake Arrieta pitched 7 very strong innings, striking out 8 and giving up only 1 run. Javier Baez added a solo blast in the top of the ninth and the Cubs won 5 to 1, making it 3 to 2 Chicago heading back to the Windy City.
Box Score:
BASERUNNING: SB: Fowler (2), Baez (1) CS: Russell (1)
Toronto Blue Jays
HITTERS
AB
R
H
RBI
BB
SO
HR
AVG
Kevin Pillar, CF
4
0
1
0
0
0
0
.238
Troy Tulowitzki, SS
4
0
0
0
0
1
0
.275
Josh Donaldson, 3B
3
0
0
0
1
2
0
.220
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
4
0
1
0
0
1
0
.372
Jose Bautista, DH
3
1
0
0
1
1
0
.307
Domonic Brown, RF
4
0
1
1
0
1
0
.153
Russell Martin, C
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
.250
Michael Saunders, LF
3
0
1
0
0
1
0
.281
Jose Ramirez, 2B
3
0
1
0
0
1
0
.156
TEAM TOTALS
31
1
5
1
2
8
0
BATTING: 2B: Brown (1) 3B: Ramirez (1) RBI: Brown (4)
Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
HR
ERA
Jake Arrieta (W, 3-0)
7.0
4
1
1
0
8
0
1.14
Hector Rondon, (H, 6)
1.0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2.45
Aroldis Chapman
1.0
0
0
0
2
0
0
1.45
TEAM TOTALS
9.0
5
1
1
2
8
0
Toronto Blue Jays
PITCHERS
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
HR
ERA
Gavin Floyd (L, 1-1)
5.0
6
4
4
5
6
1
4.37
Aaron Loup
1.0
2
0
0
0
2
0
1.00
Brett Cecil
2.0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0.00
Roberto Osuna
1.0
2
1
1
1
1
1
3.17
TEAM TOTALS
9.0
11
5
5
7
10
2
Game 6: This game was the very definition of a back and forth game. Jon Lester faced off against Marcus Stroman and both pitchers didn't disappoint. Lester gave up one run in 7 strong while Stroman gave up 2 in 7 innings. Toronto got out to an early 1 to 0 lead which set the stage for Kris Bryant, coming into this game hitting .100 in the playoffs. Bryant tied the game up immediately after with a solo blast. Bryant finished the game 4 for 6, breaking out of a long slump. Toronto scored 1 in the eighth off Pedro Strop, but Dexter Fowler answered right back in the bottom half off Marcus Stroman, hitting it out for a solo shot. Neither team would score against until the fourteenth inning where Jake Marisnick provided the crucial hit off Hector Rondon, who was into his third inning of work. Marisnick's two run double proved to be the difference as the Cubs' rally in the bottom half fell short, leaving the bases loaded against R.A. Dickey. Toronto ties the series at 3 games a piece after a 5 to 3 victory.
Box Score:
Game 7: Yet another back and forth game and another one of epic proportions. Kyle Hendricks and Marco Estrada were the starters tabbed for this one. Edwin Encarnacion led off the scoring with a solo blast way out onto Sheffield Avenue in the top of the second. In the bottom half, Anthony Rizzo answered back with a solo shot of his own to left center field. Kyle Hendricks was knocked out after 4 1/3 innings, continually getting into trouble, but only allowing 1 run. Carl Edwards Jr was able to get a K in the top of the fifth with 2 runners on, preventing the 1 to 1 tie to be broken. Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh and Aaron Loup enters for Marco Estrada after Estrada pitched 6 good innings of 1 run baseball. The only batter Loup faces is Kris Bryant, who hits his second home run in as many games to give the Cubs a 2 to 1 lead. Jake Arrieta comes into the game in the top of the eighth, but experiences some wildness, allowing the tying run to score on a wild pitch. Neither team would score again until the sixteenth inning. Some notable performances pitching wise include Jon Lester pitching 2 1/3 a night after going 7 innings. Lester struck out 5 (including the first 4 he faced). Roberto Osuna went 2 shutout innings for the Blue Jays, striking out 4 and only walking 1. Bottom of the sixteenth, and Aaron Sanchez is on for the Blue Jays against Kris Bryant with the winning run on first. Bryant launches to right center field and over the fence to walk off the Cubs to their first World Series since 1908, winning a 4 to 2 thriller in 16 innings.
Some box score notes; I couldn't fit all of the pitchers on the Cubs' lineup, so I'll summarize a bit. Chris Coghlan hit for Carl Edwards Jr in the sixth inning, Tommy La Stella hit for Jake Arrieta in the eighth, Javier Baez came in due to a double switch involving Justin Grimm and Kyle Schwarber, shifting Ben Zobrist to left field, Miguel Montero hit for Justin Grimm in the eleventh, David Ross came in as part of a double switch, taking out Willson Contreras and bringing in Jon Lester to hit in that spot, and Jorge Soler hit for Jason Hammel in the fifteenth.
The World Series MVP happened to be Miguel Montero, who hit well in the series, providing a 3 run home run and hitting for over a .400 average. The playoffs MVP was Anthony Rizzo, who hit .312 with 5 HRs and 9 RBIs. Next up for the franchise is the offseason, where the Cubs will look to provide a team capable of making it back to back titles.
The Buccos followed up their sweep of the division leading Cubs by sweeping the visiting Braves. The four game series highlight was a 9-7 come from behind victory in the opener in which Pittsburgh plated five runs in the bottom of the 8th.
With the sweep, the Pirates have now won eight in a row and now sit only 1.5 games behind the Cubs. Next up, the Rockies come to town for a weekend series.
I'm deep into the 2018 regular season and hold a 8.5 game lead Boston Red Sox. Longo is having a great bounce back season as he has hit 34 home runs compared to only 20 last season and he is leading RBI's with 116. One thing that I have noticed though now that I'm deep into the season is that when some of my batters walk up for the first time it highlights their avg. and then that it says leading the A.L. but I know they aren't. Does this bug happen to anyone else?
Question - do cpu teams in franchise also get sponsorships? I haven't used them until now because I don't want to gain an unfair advantage over cpu teams.
Just had a Epic comeback Win in Game 2 of the ALDS in my Mariners Franchise.
ALDS: Mariners(99-63) Vs Royals(82-80)
Game 1: Mariners Win 4-3
Game 2: Royals Were Aggressive early in the game scoring 2 in the first inning and 1 in innings 2 and 3. the Mariners just could not get anything going at all having just 1 hit in the first 3 innings. Going into the bottom of the 4th inning now Royals up 4-0, Kyle Seager came up to bat, hit a Deep bomb to give the Mariners a run(Finally!!!). 3 more innings pass by with either team giving up a run. Now heading into the bottom of the 8th, Ian Kennedy is pitching lights out for the Royals, 2 Mariners stepped up and both grounded out, then the next 2 batters managed to pull out singles, 2 men on first and second with 2 outs. Leonys Martin stepped up to the plate, and Smashed a 3 Run Wall Scrapper Home Run to TIE the Game.
Top of the 9th now, Mariners managed to ground out the first batter from the Royals, then the 2nd batter managed to hit a double, then they pinch runner with Brent Burns, next Batter grounded out to 3rd, so now Burns is stuck on 2nd still but he then manages to pull off a steal to 3rd base giving the Royals a chance to take the lead but with 2 outs, Lorenzo Cain(who has been mashing this series for the Royals) came up to the plate, and Mariners Managed to get him to ground out to 2nd leaving the game tied going into the bottom of the ninth.
First batter up the plate, Robinson Cano, hits a bullet down to the 3rd baseman who caught it, 1 down, Nelson Cruz comes up to the plate, BAM Smashes a Line Drive Home run to Right giving the Mariners a Comeback Win and a Chance to Sweep the Series back in Kansas City.
Question - do cpu teams in franchise also get sponsorships? I haven't used them until now because I don't want to gain an unfair advantage over cpu teams.
They do not unfortunately. If you use 30 team control you can go through and randomly assign them. That's what I did.
Just started a 29-game Season mode and created an all-prospect team...
(I usually play Franchise mode, in Season mode a lot more players hit Free Agency, due to the 40 man rosters, especially young talent which made acquiring these guys a little easier)
Houston Astros:
C - Ozzie Ramirez(CPU made, B potential) FA
1B - L Jake Bauers, FA
2B - S Ian Happ, FA
SS - R Dansby Swanson, Trade
3B - L Colin Moran, Trade
LF - R Tyler Goeddel, FA
CF - L Brandon Nimmo, Trade
RF - L Bradley Zimmer, FA
DH - R Mitch Haniger, Trade
Bench - R Taylor Motter, Trade
R Tyler White, Trade
L Chace Sisco, FA
L Dylan Cozens, Trade
SP - RH Carson Fulmer, Trade
SP - RH Tyler Beede, FA
SP - LH Tyler Jay, FA
SP - RH Alec Mills, Trade
SP - LH Brian Johnson, Trade
CP - RH Edwin Diaz, Trade
Pen - LH Mike Montgomery, Trade
RH Ryne Harper, FA
RH Armando Rivero, Trade
LH Patrick Schuster, FA
RH Zack Burdi, FA
RH Gary Sharp, FA
2nd season with NYY. Finished the season 95-67, winning the division 4 games over Red Sox.
Currently 1-1 in WS against the Giants. Wish me luck after losing in ALSC against Seattle the year prior! I'm going to finish the WS tonight!
I'm going to do this as short as possible!
As far as trades go, I was more active the 1st year than this current year. On top of my head:
McCann, Ellsbury, Headley were all traded for everything I could get
Traded Judge + Beltran + prospects for Springer + Keuchel
Traded Tanaka (can't pitch with him) + prospects for Kluber + Santana
Traded Pineda + Andrew Toles for Osuna
Played Teixeira (had 2 awesome years with him) but decided to no resign him for the current season as he was getting old. and I wanted Bird to be an everyday player (got injured for 6-8 weeks previous season)
Julio Teheran (previously acquired) for Yordano Ventura
Sign Price Fielder to 2y (2nd year being club option which I'll decline after WS)
I'm quite happy with both of my drafts, building a good foundation of young high rated players/C potential and couple of B's.
As for now
New York Yankees
C - Gary Sanchez
1B - Greg Bird
2B - Starlin Castro
SS - Didi Gregorius
3B - Carlos Santana
LF - Ty Kelly
CF - Jake Cave (for RHP)/Clint Frazier (for LHP)
RF - George Springer
DH - Joe Handy (2nd draft pick (contact/speedy guy---2B-3B-OF)
Bench -
Billy McKinney (that I will put back in minors/trade this offseason)
Prince Fielder
Pedro Valencia ( 3rd round draft pick--C-3B)
CP - Delin Betances
SU Adam Warren
RH Dave Reese (SP to RP, 1st draft pick)
RH Roberto Osuna
LH Jake McGee
LH Fernando De Los Santos (4th round draft pick)
As far as FA agency goes, 1st year I did anything. This year, I'm pretty confident Carlos Gonzalez or Jose Bautista will hit the market.
If so, my main goal is to offer a ton of money to Gonzalez as I'd like to put Kelly on the bench. He seems to want 25M/year. I'd go up to 30-32M for 3-4Y.
If he refuses (or don't hit FA), my plan B is to sign Bautista for 1-2Y as a stop gap and keep developing my farm.
If both don't come, I'll roll with Kelly-Frazier as a rotation for LF and bring up a new rookie on my roster who will get playing time.
I do have 100M on my payroll, but even if I didn't set myself a limit, I try to keep it somewhat realistic as far as my payroll goes(aka not throwing 50M to Gonzalez or whatever upcoming star on FA)
Overall, I'll finish WS & do my offseason plan. Then. I'll start my new season on 16 and will carry it on 17... can't wait !!!
02-04-2017, 11:22 PM
!!!
