The bats were alive for Vandelay and the Bombers and that’s
why they advanced to their respective championship series with the division
winners.
Vandelay advances after upending the higher-seeded Outs with
a convincing 14-7-3 win, while the Bombers edged out the Gamblers 12-10-2.
The Bombers won nine batting categories, but it still came
down to the wire on Sunday night. There was a point at about 9:30 p.m. where if
the Gamblers got one more hit than the Bombers for the rest of the night — they
each had batters going in the Sunday night game — he would have won via an
extreme tie-breaker.
But the Bombers cranked out a pair of doubles in the
nightcap to put it away. In total, he had 13 doubles, six triples, nine homers
and 37 RBIs. The Gamblers put together 49 singles, but he couldn’t match the
Bombers anywhere else.
On the pitching side, the Gamblers carried eight of the
categories, but the bullpen faltered allowing the Bombers to win. NJ won saves,
blown saves and holds to pick up the wins he need to advance.
Leading the way at the plate was Ian Kinsler (10-for-32) and
Kennys Vargas (8-for-29, 3 HRs, 9 RBIs).
For Vandelay, it was his trade acquisition of Cole Hamels
who posted 14 strikeouts, and his insane offense of Michael Brantley, Buster
Posey, Giancarlo Stanton and Matt Kemp leading the way. Posey had 13 hits and
eight RBIs, while Brantley had 12 hits. In total, Vandelay won runs (41-25),
doubles (15-8), homers (14-4), RBIs (41-19), strikeouts (39-53), stolen bases
(10-5) and average (.305-.258). It wasn’t even close.
The Outs had excelled at pitching all year, but only four
categories went his way as Vandelay edged him in ERA with a 3.25 to his 3.37.
Man, he really could have used the services of Tyson Ross (6 innings, 8
strikeouts, 1.50 ERA) and Alex Cobb (7 innings, 6 strikeouts, 0.00 ERA).
With the ALCS and NLCS set, it’s time to see if both the
Choo and Cheese can defend their No. 1 seeds and advance to the World Series.
For Choo, it’d be his second straight trip to the Series, while the Steaks are
looking to make the World Series in his first year in the JLB.
The Bombers are also looking to punch their first ticket to
the World Series, while Vandelay is vying to get back to the big dance for the
first time since 2010 when he lost to the Gameday Gamblers.
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