The surprising sixth-seeded Astros finally met their match
Monday, as the top-seeded Cubs handed them a 5-2 loss to advance to
the National League championship of the Bronco Division.
The surprising sixth-seeded Astros finally met their match Monday, as the top-seeded Cubs handed them a 5-2 loss to advance to the National League championship of the Bronco Division.
The Astros, who went 1-15 during the regular season only to win their first two playoff games, fell to the loser’s bracket with the loss and will need a win today at 4:30pm to gain a rematch with the Cubs in the championship game of the double-elimination tournament.
The Astros struck first when Jerry Jacob reached on an error and later scored on a passed ball to take a 1-0 lead after a half inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Cubs responded. Sean Silveira delivered a leadoff single, Nader Elaskary drew a walk and after both runners moved up a base, Jack Ross hit a sharp single to the outfield to score both runs and give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
After the Astros tied the score in the top of the second, the Cubs answered with another run in the bottom of the second. Steven Baird reached first base and moved to third on a pair of passed balls before scoring on a ground out by Sean Silveira to make it 3-2.
Ty Gardner added an RBI single to push the lead to 4-2 and they added a late insurance run to account for the final score.
Ross, the Cubs starting pitcher, struck out seven and allowed no hits over his four innings of work to earn the win. Silveira pitched the final three innings for the Cubs and faced the minimum while striking out six and earning a save.
The Cubs will await the winner of today’s loser’s bracket final and will play in the NL championship game Monday at 5:30pm, with a second game if necessary being played Wednesday at 5:30.
In American League play, the Angels advanced to the loser’s bracket finals by beating the Rangers and the Yankees this week.
The Angels knocked off the Rangers 3-2 Tuesday, before taking down the Yankees 11-4 Thursday.
The Angels struck first against the Rangers when Conor Havstad walked, stole second base, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a passed ball.
They added a run in the fourth when Nelson Pyle singled and eventually scored on a single by Havstad.
The Rangers scored once in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1. They tied it up an inning later when Matt Bergantz walked, stole second and third before scoring on a passed ball.
The Angels regained the lead for good in the seventh when Tyler Pederson was hit by a pitch. He took second on an error, third on a passed ball and then scored when Jim Hagan doubled.
The Angels’ Mitchell Pasek set the Rangers down in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.
In the win over the Yankees, the Angels again took the early advantage with a run in the first inning.
Pyle led off with a single and scored when Clayton Howard drove a double down the first base line to make it 1-0.
The Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the second. Mitch Crowley singled, moved up to third on an error and a sacrifice and scored on a single by Chris Houle.
Two runs by the Angels in the second made it 3-1. Pyle led off with a double, and Havstad and John Forestieri both singled and Hagan added a sacrifice.
The Yankees trimmed it to 3-2 in the bottom of the third when Brett Kirchick walked, stole second and scored on a double by Joey Persons. But that was as close as it would get.
The Angels scored five times in the fifth inning to make it 9-2. They pushed the lead to 11-3 by the seventh inning.
The Yankees got a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Angels retired he side to earn the 11-4 win.
Mustang Division
The top-seeded Yankees backed up their strong 14-2 regular season record by winning a 10-8 slugfest over the Indians in the American League semifinals.
The Yankees, led by all stars Mitch Hickey, Domenic and Wesley Guild, struck early with nine runs in the first three innings.
Hickey, the team’s regular season MVP, had two hits and scored twice and Zanotta reached base three times and scored two runs. Guild also reached twice and had an RBI double.
The second-seeded Indians fought back, and closed the gap to 9-8 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the fifth, the Yankees’ Hickey was thrown out at the plate to complete a double play, and the Indians kept the momentum. But with two outs, Christian Ukanwa immediately singled, stole second and scored when Zanotto lined a single to left to make it 10-8.
Hickey followed that up by striking out the side in the top of the sixth to seal the win for the Yanks, who will await an opponent for Monday’s AL championship game.
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