2010 World Series Game 6

So far through 5 games, the home team is 0-5. Philadelphia has the momentum, and is looking to snap that streak and become the 2010 World Series Champion. This game is a rematch of the Game 3 starters, Joseph Smith Langford vs. Roscoe Savage. In the first inning, Jimmy Taylor leads off with a single, steals second, and scores on a throwing error by Charlotte SS Orlando Veras, to give Philly the 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd with 2 outs, Charlotte has runners at 1st and 2nd, but unfortunately, Langford is the batter. Langford ignores the fact that pitchers can't hit and drives a single into the gap to tie the game at 1.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Chris Gruber hits a solo HR to make it 2-1 Philadelphia. In the bottom of the 4th, Langford gets the first 2 Philadelphia batters out. Then, trouble strikes:

Gruber: Walk
Chavez: ground ball up the middle, bobbled by Veras for his 2nd error of the game. Runners at 1st and 3rd.
Ruiz: Double that bounds to the Centerfield wal, 2 runs score, Ruiz advances to 3B on the throw to the plate. Score is 4-1.
Savage: Walk
Taylor: Ground ball to SS, dives, can't make a play anywhere. Infield single. Score is 5-1.
Bulger: Strikes out to end the inning, finally.

Neither teams scores in the 5th. In the top of the 6th, Charlotte makes it interesting:

Kelso: Single
Connor: Strikeout
Perez: Double, runners to 2nd and 3rd.
Miller: Single to RF, 1 run scores, runners to 1st and 3rd.
Carillo: Line out to 1B.
PH Jackie Garrison (lefty)
Philadelphia goes to the mound, replacing Roscoe Savage with Lefty Chuck Rader.
Charlotte counters by pinch hitting Richie Jefferson for the PH Jackie Garrison.
Jefferson: Doubles to the base of the centerfield wall, 1 run scores, runners to 2nd and 3rd. Score is 5-3.
Cedeno: Ground out to 2B to end the inning.

Both bullpens settle down, and put up zeros in the bottom of the 6th, and 7th, and 8th innings.

We go to the top of the 9th, Philadelphia leads 5-3 and is bringing in their ace closer Alex Devarez, and speedy LF Reggie Winters for defense. They will face the top of the Charlotte lineup, who will be without any reserve position players for the rest of the game.

Cedeno: Walk
J. Solo: Hit and Run single to RF. Runners to 1st and 3rd. Yes, Charlotte opts for the un-conventional hit and run even though they are down by 2 runs.
A. Solo: Grounder to 2B, over to SS, over to 1B...4-6-3 Double Play. Cedeno scores to make it 5-4, but now there are no runners on base and Charlotte is down to their final out.
Kelso: Double off the right-center field fence.
M. Connor: Walk

Runners on first and second, 2 out, score is 5-4:
S. Perez: Fly ball to centerfield, caught by Rocky Balboni! Philadelphia wins the World Series!

Philadelphia wins the game 5-4, and wins the series 4 games to 2, after losing the first 2 games of the series. Savage gets the win, 5.2-7-3-3-3-3, Devarez gets the save, 1-2-1-1-2-0. Langford takes the loss, 4-4-5-1-2-4. Jerry Ruiz is named the MVP of the series, after missing the final 6 games of the Major League Championship series. Ruiz batted .286 with 2 HR's in the series, and had several big hits. However, he wins this award for his work with the glove, making 42 successful chances in 6 games, along with several DP's.

2010 World Series Game 5

Philadelphia goes with game 2 starter, Lee Harvey Oswalt and Charlotte opts for Larry Patterson, he of the 11Y rating, in lieu of going with Game 2 starter Dave Fitzgerald who pitched well in the Game 2 win. In the 1st inning, Philly loads the bases with nobody out for cleanup hitter Rocky Balboni. Balboni singles to make it 1-0, and the bases remain loaded. After a Corey Sloan strikeout, Ron Foreman connects for Grand Slam, on a homerun that is just beyond the reach of 5'-8" tall Jim York in left field (starting in place of the usual LF, 6'-1" tall Jackie Garrison who also has a 37" vertical leap). After the big HR, Charlotte pulls Patterson and brings in Game 2 starter Dave Fitzgerald.

With a 5-0 lead, Oswalt just needs to hold on and not do anything stupid. Charlotte scrapes together 1 run in each of the 1st, 5th, and 6th innings, highlighted by Homeruns from Mike Kelso and Tommy Miller. In the bottom of the 9th inning, Philadelphia turns to ace closer Alex Devarez. Devarez gets the first out, then surrenders a solo HR to Jim York, to make it 5-4. Richie Jefferson then pops out for the second out. Down to their last out, Eddie Cedeno is able to smack a single to centerfield. Cedeno then successfully steals 2nd base. With the tying run on 2B with 2 outs, Jacen Solo rips a ball into the hole between SS and 3B, but Jerry Ruiz makes a lunging grab, turns and throws in one motion, and just gets Jacen Solo at first base for the final out of the game.

Philadelphia wins Game 5 by a score of 5-4. Oswalt gets the win, 6.2-9-3-3-1-6, Rader gets the hold, 1.1-0-0-0-0-2, Devarez gets the save 1-2-1-1-0-0. For Charlotte, Patterson takes the loss, 0.1-4-5-5-1-0, Fitzgerald pitches a superhuman game in relief, going 8-4-0-0-2-6 (yes, Charlotte wishes they could hit the "undo" button on that call).

2010 World Series Game 4

Since neither pitcher worked extensively in Game 1, this will be a rematch with Charlie Zito taking on Rudy Baker. Philadelphia scores the first 2 runs of the game in the 4th, on a Rocky Balboni bases loaded double. In the 6th, Ron Foreman hits a 2 run 2B to make it 4-0. In the 7th, Philadelphia blows the game wide open with a 4-run inning, highlighted by a Paul White 3-run HR off "lefty specialist" Brian Torres.

Philadelphia wins Game 4, by the score of 10-4, and ties the series at 2 games apiece. Baker gets the win, 7-6-1-1-2-5, Zito gets the loss, 5.1-4-4-4-4-4. Paul White, Rocky Balboni, Jerry Ruiz, and Tommy Miller hit HR's in the game.

2010 World Series Game 3

The series shifts to Charlotte where the DH rule will be in effect. This one is a matchup between veteran Roscoe Savage and youngster (with pedigree) Joseph Smith Langford. Philadelphia scores 2 quick runs in the first, and leads 6-0 after the top of the 6th inning. Meanwhile, Roscoe Savage is mowing down the Charlotte batters. In the bottom of the 6th, Charlotte cuts the lead to 6-2 on RBI hits from the Solo brothers.

In the bottom of the 8th, Savage strikes out Garrison and Jim York to get the first 2 outs of the inning (his 12th & 13th K's of the game). Cedeno then singles, and after a Jacen Solo double to left, tries to score on Chris Gruber's arm. Despite Cedeno being a fast runner and getting the running start with 2 outs, Gruber nails him at the plate to end the inning, on a bang bang play. After the collision at the plate, Cedeno leaves the game. Chuck Rader shuts down the Hawks in the 9th inning, and Philadelphia wins Game 3, by the score of 6-2.

Savage gets the win, 8-6-2-2-0-13, Lanford gets the loss 4.1-9-5-5-2-2. Corey Sloan hits a 2 run HR for Philadelphia.

2010 World Series Game 2

Charlotte (Dave Fitzgerald) at Philadelphia (Lee Harvey Oswalt). This one is a good pitching duel with scoring at a premium. In the 4th, Charlotte strikes first, putting a mini rally together with a Cedeno leadoff single, stolen base, and then moves over to 3B on an infield single from Jacen Solo. Anakin Solo then singles to right to make it 1-0. Oswalt limits the damage by getting the next 3 batters to pop out, strikeout, and strikeout.

The lead is short lived however, as Philadelphia ties it in the bottom half of the inning. Foreman starts the inning with a hit by pitch and then advances to 3B on a Domingo Chavez 2B. Jerry Ruiz then hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Thats the way the score stayed until the top of the 6th, when Jacen Solo hits a solo HR to make it 2-1.

Philadelphia threatens again in the 7th, when Paul White singles to put runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out off Brian Torres (for those keeping score at home, White is now 2-2 with a HR against the "lefty specialist"). However, the inning ends as quickly as it starts on a Matt Bulger 4-6-3 DP. In the bottom of the 9th, Charlotte leads 2-1 and brings in ace Rob Porter to try to nail down the win. The first batter he faces, Jerry Ruiz, hits a solo HR to tie the game. After a Chris Gruber ground out, Jimmy Taylor hits a ball of the centerfield fence for a triple.

Charlotte manager Mark Roberts then goes with a risky strategy: He intentionally walks Ron Foreman and Paul White to load the bases. He then plays the infield in against Matt Bulger. Bulger hits a sharp grounder to 2B, and Jacen Solo briefly bobbles it, but is able to make a strong throw to the plate to get the second out, and keep the game alive. Corey Sloan then hits a deep fly to right, but Sergio Perez makes the running catch at the wall to send the game to extra innings.

Both bullpens clamp down, and the 10 inning is scoreless. In the 11th, Jacen Solo leads off with a double off lefty James Willits. After two non-runner advancing outs, a wild pitch sends Solo to 3B. Mike Connor then bloops a single to right to make it 3-2. In the bottom of the 11th, Tommy Klink records a 1-2-3 inning to get the relief win. Fitzgerald goes 6-5-1-1-3-0 and Klink goes 2-0-0-0-0-3 for the win. For Philadelphia, Oswalt goes 6-6-2-2-1-4. Jacen Solo is the player of the game with his 3-5 performance, hitting a double, homer, scoring the winning run, and cutting off the game winning run with a defensive stop in the bottom of the 9th.

2010 World Series Game 1

Game 1 Charlotte at Philadelphia. This matchup pits 2010 Superior League Cy Young winner Charlie Zito, against the team that originally drafted him and let him walk last year as a free agent, against Rudy Baker. Charlotte gets off to a 4-0 lead after the top of the 6th, thanks to some good small ball play from Eddie Cedeno and Jacen Solo (3 SB and hit and runs). Baker leaves the game with a line of 5-9-4-4-5-3 and Philadelphia is wishing they had started regular season ace Lee Harvey Oswalt instead.

In the bottom of the 6th, Philly makes it interesting. With one out, Alex Gallaway gets a pinch hit single. Then, Jimmy Taylor and Ron Foreman are hit by the pitch to load the bases for the Big Show, Paul White. White works the bases loaded walk to make it 4-1. Matt Bulger then hits into a force at second, but the score is now 4-2. Balboni then singles to right to make it 4-3, before Zito is able to get out of the inning.

In the 7th, Kelso gets a single for Charlotte. With 2 out and Kelso on first, Sergio Perez is hit by a Chuck Rader pitch. The umpire decides to exert some control over the situation (3 hit batters in a span of one inning), and ejects Rader. Tommy Miller then singles to left to make the score 5-3. Thats the way it stayed until the 8th inning, when Charlotte brings in their lefty specialist Brian Torres to face Paul White. The Big Show responds with a Big Fly, and the lead is cut to 5-4.

But the comeback was not to be. In the bottom of the 9th, Rob Porter shuts down the Philadelphia lineup 1-2-3 and Charlotte wins Game 1 5-4. Zito gets the win, 6.1-5-3-3-1-2 and Porter gets the save, 1.2-1-0-0-0-0.

2010 Major League Championship Series Game 7

Game 7 Rematch for all the marbles. Philly sends Roscoe Savage to the mound to face Suzuki MazdaHonda. New York takes a short lived 1-0 lead in the 2nd, courtesy of a Paul Hagan hit and RBI. In the 3rd, Jimmy Taylor hits a solo HR to tie the game. It stayed that way until the 5th, when Philadelphia jumped all over MazdaHonda.

After a Jimmy Taylor leadoff single, Moochie Henson then bunts him to 2nd base. Paul White then grounds out to shortstop for the 2nd out. So far, the inning is almost over and is harmless for New York. Thats when trouble struck. Bulger singled to make it 2-1. After a Corey Sloan single, Balboni singled to center to score Bulger, and Balboni advances to 2nd on the play at the plate. Gruber then follows with a single and its 5-1. New York is reeling and panicking at this point. They get Chavez to make the 3rd out without any more damage being done, but Philly is up 5-1 with only 4 innings left in the season.

New York never threatens, and Philadelphia wins the game 6-1, despite not having Jerry Ruiz for the final 6 games of the series. Savage gets the win, going 7-7-1-1-0-5, and Devarez closes out the 9th with 2 strikeouts. MazdaHonda takes the loss, going 5-8-5-5-2-4.

Philadelphia wins the Major League Championship Series 4 games to 3, and advances to the World Series to face the Charlotte Hawks. This will be the first time since 1998 that the Major League is represented by a team other than the Portland Decepticons (99, 04, 05) Florida Penguins (00, 01), or New York Cobra (02, 03, 06, 07, 08, 09). Its the first time since 1994-1 that the World Series won't feature either a human-managed team or the Utah Utes (1994-1 World Series Orlando Rugrats defeat Denver Rabbits).