2013 Major League Playoffs – Division Series

New York Cobra (97-65) vs. Denver Rabbits (98-64)

Game 1

Both teams are fairly healthy coming into the series, Denver will be missing catcher Otto Tingley for the first 4 games, while New York will be without Brett Solo for the first 4 games.  Game 1 is a matchup of each team’s respective aces, Pedro Lewis and Ruben Ramirez. 

Ricky Buckley takes the first pitch of the series and goes deep for a leadoff HR to give New York the 1-0 lead.  Denver ties it in the 4^th on a single, New York goes up 1 in the 5^th on a Marcus Redmon HR, and Denver ties it again in the 6^th on an Alex Maldonado HR.  In the bottom of the 7^th, Alex Hamilton hits a ball to the centerfield wall – Chad White slams into the wall and can’t make the catch.  It’s a triple, and White will be out for the rest of the series and possibly longer.  Pedro Lewis then bears down and gets a groundout that is not deep enough to score the runner from 3^rd.  Denver then elects to keep Ruben Ramirez in the game, and he strikes out.  Pedro then gets Butters Stotch to fly out to end the inning. 

In the top of the 8^th, Ramirez gets the first out, then New York pinch hits Ted Trosky for Pedro Lewis.  Trosky makes an out, but Ricky Buckley draws a two-out walk.  After stealing second, Buckley scores on Keith Lee’s single.  W. Gehrig Bear works a walk and Keith Vasbinder singles home Keith Lee to make it 4-2, and knock Ruben Ramirez out of the game.  Denver’s bullpen shuts down New York the rest of the way, but New York brings in ace closer Jonathan Papelbrad to close out the game. 

After getting the first out, Alex Hamilton reaches first on a Manfred Mueller throwing error, throwing wide of the late to arrive Papelbrad.  Hamilton then steals second and scores when a comebacker fielded by Papelbrad is thrown wide of third base (not taking the safe out at first).  Now, the score is 4-3 with 1 out, and the tying run in scoring position.  Denver pinch hits with Clyde Frogg who grounds to Papelbrad.  This time, Papelbrad learns his lesson and takes the sure out at first.  Butters Stotch comes up with the tying run on 3B.  He scorches a line drive right back through the box, but Papelbrad catches the ball behind his back on a split second reaction.  New York takes Game 1 by the final score of 4-3.  Pedro gets the win, going 7-4-2-2-3-9.  Ruben Ramirez takes the loss going 7.2-4-4-4-4-5.

Game 2

This one matches the big Elf, Buddy Dervish against Denver’s Clint Meyers.  Denver gets off to a quick 4-0 lead after 2 innings highlighted by a Joey Renseller triple.  The score would hold up as Clint Meyers was dominant, going 8-3-0-0-2-7, beating Dervish 7-9-4-4-3-7.

Game 3

Bartolo Fatone vs. Roscoe Savage.  Neither pitcher has their best stuff as the game is tied at 4 after 6 innings with Savage being removed after 3.2 innings.  In the bottom of the 7^th, W. Gehrig Bear hits a 2-run HR to give New York a 6-4 lead.  Papelbrad then comes in for the 2 inning power save, shutting down the Rabbits with two 1-2-3 innings.  New York wins game 3 6-4, and lead the series 2-1.

Game 4

Matt Bridges vs. Johnny DeMario.  Marc Crawford hits a solo HR in the first inning and Denver takes a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9^th.  Bridges goes 8-5-0-0-2-9, while DeMario goes 8-5-2-2-4-7.  Big Cheese then brings in his ace closer Troy Lewis to try to force a game 5.  Keith Lee hits a triple and then Eric Hollins works a walk to put the tying run on base.  Lewis settles down, getting Manfred Mueller to fly out and Marcus Redmon to strike out.  Luciano Cedeno hits a deep fly ball to left, but it stays in the park and Denver forces Game 5 with a 2-0 victory.

Game 5

This is a rematch of the Game 1 starters.  With Brett Solo back in the lineup, Juan Alou decides to keep the hot hitting Juan Biras in the lineup by playing him in centerfield in lieu of Keith Vasbinder.  In the top of the 2^nd, Juan Biras hits a 2-out, 2-run single and then scores on a W. Gehrig Bear double to make it 3-0 New York.  In the bottom of the third, Denver ties it up on a rally keyed by a Clyde Frogg pinch hit hit by the pitch (he took one for the team in the head like a true frog).  Marc Crawford hits a double and a sacrifice fly from Maldonado make it a tie game. 

In the top of the 4^th, Denver goes to the bullpen in the form of Jerry Greenwell.  Greenwell coughs up 3 solo HRs to Redmon, Biras, and Bear to make it 6-3 New York.  In the 5^th, Denver goes to Clint Meyers and he surrenders a HR to Manfred Mueller to make it 7-3.  Denver gets a run back in the bottom of the 5^th on a Leopold Stotch solo HR, but Pedro Lewis settles in after that.  New York takes an 8-4 lead going into the bottom of the 9^th.  Lewis goes 8-7-4-2-2-10.  Papelbrad comes in to close out the series and allows 1 hit and gets 2 outs before striking out Joey Renseller to end the series.  New York wins the game 8-4 and wins the series 3-2.