The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

[royals19]

We managed to dodge the bullet of Verlander in game one... OK, so things are looking good... Until we find out that Max Scherzer is taking the mound. For whatever reason we simply cannot hit him. He lays everything over the plate for you to hit but it's like there's too much movement or whatever on the ball.


Today started out to be one of those days... Three straight guys grounded out to Jhonny Peralta in the first inning immediately promising me a long day. Joe Maddon figured that Lester would give him 6 or 7 strong and then we could turn it over to the pen for the rest of the game.

Unfortunately, we couldn't score runs and Detroit damn near broke the game open in the 4th, 5th and 6th but we were able to hang tough.

Eventually, Nick Castellanos hit a homerun and put us down in a situation we figured we couldn't dig out of. Down by one + Scherzer on the hill = a virtual checkmate. But again, we hung tough and stayed in there hoping for a miracle.

Detroit has won so many of these close ball games that it's a spirit crusher. Combine that with the fact that we almost let a rookie single handedly beat us, we just couldn't go out like this... Even if it is Nick Castellanos.



Luckily though, Hosmer was able to come through with a SHOT in the 9th inning. I would've had a video for you all but adobe premiere grinds my gears a lot. So Hosmer gets the credit for the late game heroics tonight. And that would signify the end of Bruce Rondon's closing duties tonight and potentially for tomorrow... I don't think whoever the new Tiger's manager is, is going to be happy.

It took me 3 hours of playing time to get to this point, so I would stop and pick it back up the following day...

[royals19]

So we would roll on into extra innings... Damn.

Luckily today is getaway day but still, extra inning games, this early in the series are bad news. You burn your bullpen then you have to focus more on managing you're pitchers the rest of the series...

Luckily, Joe Maddon is the best at managing his bullpen and kept everybody except for two pitchers to one inning apiece no matter the pitch count.

The first exception is Taijuan Walker.


Taijuan Walker came in and threw 3 scoreless innings. It doesn't sound like a big deal but this is a huge deal for our ball club. The fact that a rookie can come in and blow away those 3 hitters and pitch 3 scoreless innings... let alone in a playoff game is something to watch. I'm a huge fan of Walker and watching him blow away Miggy, Prince and V-Mart was awesome.

This is exactly what we envisioned when we put Taijuan on the roster. We want him to have that same impact that David Price had for the Rays during their run in 2008.

The second pitcher that threw more than one inning was Chris Reed.



...Yeah, that's a lot of pitches but here's the thing, He threw 169 in 7 innings... Reed actually pitched 12 innings and threw 211 pitches... That's unbelievable... and he some how managed to not allow a run despite having the bases loaded in 6 of the innings he pitched. It's safe to say that Chris Reed will not be pitching in the rest of this series and you probably won't see him in the ALCS if we make it that far.

So, hats off to Chris Reed for throwin' a hell of a ball game.

Again, after 7 more extra innings I saved the game, ready to finish it off on day 3.



And FINALLY, Mike Moustakas wins the ball game for us. The more time I invested in this game, the more I wanted to win it. I wasn't about to let this baby slip through my fingers... even if it did take Chris Reed 200 pitches... even if it did take me 3 days to finish it... I was going to win this thing hell or high water.

For precautionary reasons, I researched how long the longest playoff game was and came up with the following answer:

Quote:

There was an 18 inning game in the National League Divisional Series on October 9, 2005 between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves that the Astros won 7-6. Also in 2005 the Houston Astros played in the longest World Series game. On October 24 2005, (The game actually ended on the 25th), the Houston Astros lost game 3 to the Chicago White Sox 7 - 5. Chicago broke the tie in the top of the 14th on a home run by Geoff Blum with 2 out. Houston, then managed to give the White Sox a 2 run lead with a bases loaded walk. Houston did not manage to bring in any runs in the bottom of the 14th and the world's longest MLB World Series game was over after a record 5 hours 41 minutes.

Therefore, this sets the record, for longest playoff game by far. It was a 1:10 game and according to the scoreboard, the last pitch was thrown at 7:12.


So after this 3 day adventure, we head on up to Detroit to hopefully end this thing in 3 and get some much needed rest before the ALCS.

[AC]

Holy crap. Epic game.

[beamerball811]

26 innings!?!?!?!?!?!? DANG!!!!!

[WaitTilNextYear]

You know you've played a pretty epic game when: 1) you can't finish it in one sitting and/or 2) describing it won't fit in a single post. Well played, sir.

[Guccilafluer]

Well... That was beyond epic.. Good win brotha

[Bluejaysfan65]

Damn.... 26 innings? That is one epic game.

[royals19]

That game will definitely find itself among some of the greatest games I've ever played in this franchise. As you can see below, it's in good company.

Quote: Originally Posted by Greatest Games Ever Played

2013 Wild Card Game Vs. Texas (Win) 2013 ALDS Game 5 Vs. Detroit (Loss in 14 innings) 2014 ALDS Game 2 Vs. Detroit (Win in 26 innings)

My only problem though is that this didn't happen in like a Game 3 or Game 5 situation. All of the key moments in this series are happening in games that don't mean a whole lot; or games where the microscope is on us. I'll admit though, I was pretty burned out due this game that I had to take 2 days off myself just to clear my head and let the Show gain more of its luster.

Now after partying it up on the Charter to Detroit, we arrived at the hotel by 6:00 AM and were out on the field for the 7:10 game by noon.

Detroit had Doug Fister going instead of Verlander in a shocking last minute change. I almost hate Fister more than Verlander, the looping curve the 2 seam with a ton of movement, it's nearly unhittable. Fister drops that curve and we can't lay off of it and it gets frustrating after a while.



So after finding out Fister was starting, we scratched Shields in favor of Cashner. Shields will instead start Game 1 against either Toronto or LA in the ALCS on 5 days rest... but we still gotta win this game first. Ultimately, the decision came down to either Ventura or Cashner but Joe Maddon handed the ball to Cashner due to his postseason experience.

Cashner spent most of the season in AAA but the way he carved up Detroit hitters tonight was almost otherworldly... Throughout the game, I had a tough time wrapping my mind around the fact that this was indeed the Andrew Cashner who couldn't throw 5 innings to save his life.

Fister and Cashner went back and forth matching each other pitch for pitch and it looked as though our offense was mired in yet another slump. We could get the leadoff hitter on, then comes the double play ball followed by a roll over... I wanted to punt my controller into my TV but against my better judgement I chose not to.

Eventually, things got rather dicey for Detroit in the 7th inning. Jed Lowrie singled back up the middle, we pinch ran for him with Bonifacio and Boni stole second on the first pitch to Alex Gordon. Then with the runner in scoring position, we small balled it and had Gordon bunt Boni over to third, however on an error Gordo reached first.

Enter Dom Brown. On a 2-1 count, Brown ripped a shot to the warning track that was reeled in by Austin Jackson somehow but Bonifacio was able to tag up and score the go ahead run in the top of the 9th.


Put in Donnie Joesph for the save and it's virtual checkmate against the hated Detroit Tigers.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jim Leyland

I might be the Farm Director now, but wait until I come back... The Kansas City Royals embarrassed our franchise. Absolutely embarrassed us... and that's not OK. I know they've got a beef with Cleveland and Minneosta. You can go ahead and count us in on that.

OK Jim.... simmer down... simmer down. I think it's safe to say that we just made a new friend...