PudnerSports.com: October 2023

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Braves-Phils: 2nd 11-inning NLDS Classic in a Row; Phils Gain Split

Unbelievably, BOTH of our Statis-Pro NLDS Game 1s went 11 innings. The following is the same screen shot of the scoresheet we kept. Below are the score sheets for Game 1 and further down for Game 2. Click here for the Dodgers - Cubs series which is now complete.

Game 1

Spencer Strider was incredible with 14 strikeouts and only 8 base runners as he came one out from a complete game, 2-1 win. Because his Max IP is 7, his cards was lowered to a PB 2-8 for the 8th inning, but he still had a 1-2-3 inning. Then it dropped one more for an inning ending to a PB 2-7 for the 9th, and he induced two groundouts. However, he walked Kyle Schwarber, which lowered him to a PB 4-7, which means only a 50-50 chance he could keep the action on his own card against Nick Castellano so we went to Raisel Iglesias, but he allowed a walk and a game-tying single to make it 2-2.

In the 10th, Iglesias would have become the loser because Bryson Stott greeted him with a singled go Ronald Acuna in right and Brandon Marsh headed to home. However, on the resultant 83, Ronald Acuna threw him out at home with his T4 throwing arm (runners are only thrown out about 1% of the time taking an extra base on a hit, so they they always either take the extra base or decide to stop at the base they were going to on a 11-78, but a T5 throws them out on an 81-88, a T4 like Acuna on a 83-88, a T3 on 85-88 and a T2 on 87-88).

In the 11th, Acuna was the "ghost runner" to start the inning, and Michael Harris II came through with his fourth single of the game to score Acuna for the 3-2 Atlanta win.

Harris scored in the first on a Matt Olson double, and in the second inning Ozzie Albies had a deep drive, which in Atlanta goes out on an 11-43 and is caught on a 44-88, and it was a 38 to sneak just out of the park and make it 2-0 Atlanta. However, they did not score again until the 11th. The Phillies first run came on a Trea Turner single and stolen base, and then JT Realmuto hit a sharp ball toward second and Albies failed to come up with the Clutch Defensive play, letting it get by him for a single to score Turner.

Game 2

Trea Turner and JT Realmuto both hit 2-run homers to seal a 5-1 Phillies win and tie the best of five series a game a piece before heading back to Philadelphia.

Phillies Players in Scoresheet

Trea Turner

J.T. Realmuto

Bryce Harper

Kyle Schwarber

Nick Castellano

Alec Bohm

Brandon Marsh

Bryson Stott

Atlanta Players in Scoresheet

Michael Harris II

Matt Olson

Ozzie Albies

Spencer Strider

Raisel Iglesias

AJ Minter

UPDATE - SERIES COMPLETE, SCROLL -11 Inning Game 1 Statis-Pro Classics for Both Dodgers-Cubs and Phils-Braves NLDS

Both of our Statis-Pro NLDS Series featured 11-inning classics. The Dodgers-Cubs game is detailed below, and you can click on this Braves-Phillies highlights. Both posts include a play-by-play scoresheet.

The Dodgers dominated our Statis-Pro season with a 36-18 mark, while the Cubs got a wild card 8 games behind them at 34-32. During the actual season the Dodgers were almost as good at 100-62 but were swept three games to none by the 84-78 Arizona Diamondbacks who beat the Cubs for the last playoff spot by one game. This series could have been the match-up if the Cubs won just one more game this season.

We picked a great day to keep our scoresheet in the computer so we could print the Cubs at Dodgers Game 1 below, in an 11th inning Statis-Pro classic. (Update: We have now updated for the whole series - just scroll down to look for Game 1, 2 etc. headers.)

Game 1 - After Stunning Sweep in Real MLB, LAD Opens with Another Loss

In this Statis-Pro game, it appeared the Cubs might have repeated the Diamondbacks upset of the Dodgers, as they won a thrilling 4-3 game in 11 innings. In the photo I am holding up the card of Dansby Swanson, whose top Clutch Defense (CD5) led to a game saving play in the field in addition to his big 2 RBIs late. On the scoresheet below we listed each players fielding, and while the Error (E) and Throwing arm (T) vary by position, a CD5 like Swanson always means a gold glove level fielder, CD4 is strong, CD3 is average fielding, CD2 is below average and CD1 is very low.

Notes on the scoresheet. Clayton Kershaw and Justin Steele did not disappoint in their starts, both allowing just one run in 7 innings. The number below each opposing line-up shows they both started with 15 of endurance (SR 15). That number drops by 1 every time they allow someone on base unless its an error, and another one if the runner scores, and then they drop another number at the end of each inning.

That means Kershaw started at 15, was a 12 after the 1st inning, a 10 after the second inning etc. Neither pitcher ever ran out of endurance, but they both have a 7 IP maximum innings pitched so came out then or their PB would have been reduced by 1 to start the 8th inning and continued to drop 1 on the PB instead of just dropping the SR 1 for the same.

Most of the results probably make sense, but an "a" after a result means a runner advanced on the out, and an "r" means a run scored on the play. A (np) means a new pitcher came in the game and pitched to that batter. a "2ndb" in the extra innings indicates that player started on second base out the outset of the extra inning.

Both pitchers dominated until the bottom of the 6th inning, when Will Smith singed to center field, Max Muncy walked, and then JD Martinez hit a line drive double to left. However, the ball was hit hard and with Ian Happ's strong arm in left Muncy was not able to score from 1st base, so the Dodgers lead was held at 1-0 with just Smith scoring.

The Cubs responded immediately when Ian Happ singled in Kershaw's last inning, Dansby Swanson's 6-3a indicates he grounded out but the runner advanced. Patrick Wisdom then doubled him home.

Fielding then hurt both teams in the 8th inning.

Normally strong fielding Mookie Betts bobbled a grounder toe second base. That led to two unearned runs off a Dansby Swanson double and a 3-1 Cubs win.

In the bottom of the inning the weak fielding (CD1) centerfielder Christopher Morel made two miscues. First he bobbled a Betts double to let him go to third base. After a walk to Freddie Freeman, Smith drove a ball to centerfield that required a clutch defensive play, and any centerfielder with a CD2, 3, 4 or 5 would have caught the ball on the 45 (of 11-88) but Morel did not get to it to allow a single and another run to score. Technically that was an earned run but simply making the catch would have kept the Cubs up 3-2 but instead it was a 3-3 tie.

The big surprise was that the Cubs pen beat the Dodgers pen as the game extended to 11 innings, as the Dodgers had all PB2-8 pitchers and the Cubs did not.

Seiya Suzuki started the 11th on second base, and with one out Jeimer Candelario, who had struck out his first four plate appearances, singled in the winning run and Brandon Hughes surprised with six straight retired for the win.

Game 2 - With No Urias, Cubs Dominate to Leave LA Up 2-0

The loss of Julio Urias perhaps was part of the problem for the Dodgers both in the actual season that ended in the playoff upset against Arizona, and in Statis-Pro where the Cubs jumped all over Bobby Miller who moved up to the second spot.

Nico Hoener's A/AA speed was big as he stole based in the 1st, 3rd and 7th inning. He scored on a Ian Happ double in the first, then on a 2-run homer by Seiya Suzuki in the third inning to make it 3-0. Dansby Swanson added a 20run homer in the 6th and Ian Happ in the 8th for insurance in a 6-0 win. The Dodgers mighty offense hit and amazing 6 deep drives but all were caught, and they settled for only three singles against four Cubs pitchers. We do use Mark Leiter Jr.. as a starter, as he had some starts last season which led to projected ability to do so, and this game was closed by the temporary card of PB 2-8 Jose Cuas.

Game 3 - Dodgers Blow 6-0 Lead, Cubs Advance

Max Muncy capped the third inning with a 3-run homer to give the Dodgers a 6-0 lead, and it appeared they would at least live to fight another day as No. 3 starter Lance Lynn gave them a solid 6-2 lead with two outs in the 7th.

However Brusday Graterol, once of four PB2-8s to be used in relief, gave up a 2-run double to Suzuki to make it 6-4 after seven. Joe Kelly was lights out earlier in the series, and came in to get the first two outs, but then allowed a single to Christopher Morel and walked Yan Gomes, before Nico Hoerner delivered a clutch batting 2-run double to tie the game 6-6 after 8 innings.

Alex Vasia came in to get Bellinger to ground out, but in the 9th with the score 6-6 he ran into trouble and eventually the bases were loaded with two outs and for the final of four PB 2-8 relievers Ryan Brasier to try to keep it tied and force extra innings. Little used Miles Mastrobuoni pinch hit for Gomes which would have meant rarely used Miguel Amaya would have had to catch the extra innings, but he never had to as Brasier released a "walk off wild pitch" and the Cubs won 7-6 to sweep.

The Cubs will await the winner of the Braves and Phillies.

Here are the links to players listed on the scoresheet above.

Nico Hoerner

Cody Bellinger

Seiya Suzuki

Ian Happ

Dansby Swanson

Christopher Morel

Dodgers on Scoresheet

Max Muncy

Click for the free Statis-Pro Master Baseball Game. Click here for 60 of the all-time great MLB teams, or on teams of many of the all-time great players on teams by nation or state with one sheet for each team. Or click on the 2023 pitchers and 2023 batters in card form. You simply print two teams cards and then either print theaster link above and fast action cards in master link or buy the dice to start playing.

1978 Statis-Pro Cards Meet Modern AI Scoring App

Developing ... our Montana commissioner who had the AL this year started using an AI app to score his games so we will take a shot at it. Yes, a deck of 1978 Fast Action Statis-Pro cards and tattered board and out charts will be combined with modern AI.

As a teaser, here is the box score it automatically populated for the Astros series clinching Statis-Pro win.

The Astros now await the NL champ as we are a bit behind. We will scale down to five game series for Cubs at LA and Phillies at Braves before the winners meet.

Luckily cards do not get rusty like real players when you give them layoffs from byes!

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Braves and Dodgers What If Statis-Pro Rosters

With the actual World Series now featuring an 84-win team tied up at a game apiece with a 90-game team, we are ready to put the two 100-win teams on the field for their Statis-Pro 2023 playoff debuts where rust from sitting out the wild card series is not a factor.

The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers both dominated both the real MLB season and our Statis-Pro season using projected cards to earn a bye in both in the playoffs.

Of course for the second straight year in real baseball the bye proved to be a curse, as both 100-win rusty teams went down. However, it should not be a factor in Statis-Pro as they both prepare for their first series with the two wild card series winners Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.

Two lefties in Game 1 in LA - Cubs Justin Steele and Dodgers Clayton Kershaw

Two righties in Game 1 in Atlanta - Phillies Zach Wheeler at Braves Spencer Strider

In checking our cards against the end of season rosters, keep in mind a 10-or 15-day DL does not keep a player out of our game, so Charlie Morton can start in the Braves series and David Peralta can start in the Dodgers series.

The players without a card get a temporary card as noted by the notes after the comma for certain players. We don't anticipated 7 of the 9 temporary cards being used because they are either the weakest PB 2-4, or one of the two weakest batting cards (either a home run range of 27 or 27-28.

However, both teams add one excellent reliever who gets a PB 2-8 card - and the pen was the only weakness of both teams. Both are right handers and have maximum innings pitched of 2 innings, which means you should usually only use them for one inning BUT they can come into finish and innings and pitch the next.

Ryan Brasier was injured much of last year so did not have a card before coming back strong with the Dodgers. Pierce Johnson actually had a 4.02 ERA for the whole year, but that was because he pitched the first half in Colorado. In Atlanta he had an ERA below one and was used as a closer. Note below the rosters, we keep it simple and just write in the names of the players on each team that will use each temporary card along the bottom of that card.

Braves	STARTER	2ND
C	Sean Murphy	Travis d'Arnaud
1B	Matt Olson	Nicky Lopez, 0.632 LN c/d
2B	Ozzie Albies	Vaughn Grissom
3B	Austin Riley	Luke Williams
SS	Orlando Arcia	Nicky Lopez, 0.632 LN c/c
LF	Eddie Rosario
CF	Michael Harris II	Kevin Pillar, 0.664 RN c/c
RF	Ronald Acuna Jr.
DH	Marcell Ozuna	Chadwick Tromp
St 1&2	Spencer Strider	Max Fried
St 3&4	Charlie Morton, allow	Bryce Elder
Rel 1&2	Raisel Iglesias	A.J. Minter
Rel 3&4	Kirby Yates	Joe Jimenez
Rel 5&6	Pierce Johnson, 2-8 RHP 2 IP	Daysbel Hernandez, 2-4 RHP 2 IP
St Extra	Allan Winans, 2-4 RHP 6 IP

Dodgers	STARTER	2ND
C	Will Smith	Austin Barnes
1B	Freddie Freeman	Miguel Vargas
2B	Mookie Betts	Enrique Hernandez
3B	Max Muncy
SS	Miguel Rojas	Amed Rosario
LF	David Peralta, allow, 0.675 LN C/D	Chris Taylor
CF	James Outman
RF	Jason Heyward
DH	J.D. Martinez	Michael Busch
St 1&2	Clayton Kershaw	Bobby Miller
St 3&4	Lance Lynn	Ryan Pepiot
Rel 1&2	Evan Phillips	Brusdar Graterol
Rel 3&4	Joe Kelly	Ryan Brasier, 2-8 RHP 2 IP
Rel 5&6	Caleb Ferguson	Alex Vesia
St Extra	Emmet Sheehan, 2-4, RHP 7 IP

Friday, October 27, 2023

Cubs Win! Advance to Face Statis-Pro Dodgers

While the Texas Rangers were winning a thrilling Game 1 of the World Series with a game-tying homer in the 9th and game-winning homer in the 11th, the Cubs were winning the opening series in your "what if" Statis-Pro playoff and will now face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves will play the Phillies in the other series, and the Astros have already won the AL Statis-Pro.

In actual MLB it was the Diamondbacks who made the playoffs by 1 game over the Cubs and are now in the World Series while in Statis-Pro it was the DBacks who missed the playoffs by one game and the Cubs trying to make the same run.

Joc Pederson homered off Jason Steele in the first inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, but Steele did not allow another baserunner in seven innings and the Giants hit only 0.145 in the entire two game sweep.

Webb, the first of two PB 2-8 starters for the Giants, made the 1-0 lead hold up until Cody Bellinger tied it with an RBI triple and then scored on a Dansby Swanson single to make it 2-1. In the eighth Seija Suzuki singled and Ian Happ doubled him home and the 3-1 lead held up.

The Cubs then pounded the Giants second PB 2-8 pitcher Cobb for five runs as the 2-3-4 hitters (Bellinger-Suzuki-Happ) combined for an incredible 12 of 25 including four stolen bases and a homer in a 7-2 win to sweep. It was 5-0 when they chased Cobb in the top of the 5th inning.

No.	Pos	Cubs Batter	AB	R	H	BI	Notes
1	2B	Nico Hoerner	8	2	0	0
2	1B	Cody Bellinger	9	3	5	1	3b, 2 SB
3	RF	Seiya Suzuki	9	2	3	3	HR
4	LF	Ian Happ	7	1	4	1	2 SB
5	SS	Dansby Swanson	9	0	2	1
6	3B	Jeimer Candelario	8	1	1	0	2b
7.5	PR	Alexander Canario	0	0	0	0	CS
7	SS	Patrick Wisdom	7	1	4	1	HR
8	DH	Christopher Morel	9	0	3	0
9	C	Yan Gomes	8	0	0	0
		Cubs .297 BA	74	10	22	7

No.	Pos	Giants Batter	AB	R	H	BI	Notes
1	2B	Thairo Estrada	8	0	2	1	2b
2	3B	Casey Schmitt	6	0	1	0
3	1B	LaMonte Wade Jr.	7	0	0	0
4	DH	Joc Pederson	7	1	1	1	HR
5	3B	JD Davis	7	0	2	0
6	RF	Mike Yastrzemski	7	0	0	0
7	LF	Michael Conforto	6	1	1	0
8	C	Blake Sabol	6	1	1	0
9	DH	Mitch Haniger	8	0	1	0
		Giants 0.145 BA	62	3	9	2

Temporary Statis-Pro Cards Based on OPS and ERA - For Future Use and This Series

As the Phillies and Diamondbacks battle in Game 1 of the World Series, we set up our second wild card series for right after that game ...

When a Statis-Pro player does not have a card in the game, you can look up his OPS or ERA and then pull up this document for a quick temporary card.

Here are the cards for Giants and Cubs for this playoff series that we filled in under the appropriate temporary card.

What If 83-79 Cubs Edged 84-78 DBacks? Statis-Pro Playoffs Rosters

The Chicago Cubs faced the misfortunate of closing the season at Atlanta and Milwaukee, losing the first four of those games by a total of five runs and ultimately losing the last playoff spot to the Arizona Diamondbacks by just one game with a 83-79 record.

The lack of any home field advantage in baseball playoffs was proven once again as both the ALCS and NLCS featured a road win in Game 7 - meaning the visiting team still has an all-time edge in baseball Game 7s while the home teams in other sports dominate.

How close were the Cubs to returning to the World Series?

With wildcards seeming to dominate in the new playoff format against the top teams with wins, the Cubs may have been very close. Once again the dominant teams - the 100-win Braves and Dodgers - were cast aside and the Diamondbacks that barely caught the Cubs are now representing the NL in the real World Series starting tonight. Arizona has the worst record ever to make the World Series except for the 1973 New York Mets (lost World Series) and the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (won World Series).

In Statis-Pro it was the reverse, The Cubs grabbed a Wild Card spot and it was the Diamondbacks who fell one game short.

The Astros have already won our Statis-Pro AL World Series. The Phillies have won our first NL Wild Card series over the Brewers to move on and face the Braves. Now the Cubs play their 3-game Wild Card against our other non-real season team to make the Statis-Pro playoffs, the San Francisco Giants.

We went through the Statis-Pro cards and only kept the cards of players who were on the current MLB depth chart and NOT on the 60-day DL. This eliminated Roberto Perez. But other players who were just on the 10- or 15-day DL are kept in our game and have the note "allow" by their name below.

These are our Statis-Pro rosters for this wild card series, and the winner will get the Dodgers.

A blow the the Cubs is that even though we do select upgrades for the most improved batters and pitchers, we only adjust by one PB - so Justin Steele can only be upgraded from his project PB 4-7 card to a PB 2-7 - but not nearly as good as the PB 2-8 or 2-9 he will get next year based on this year's dominate season. Also we started out the Mark Leiter starting in Statis-Pro this season since he had started some games last year, but he stayed in the pen all year so will be the closer instead of pitching several innings a game.

If we did not have a card for the player yet, then we list the OPS and ERA on which their card is based. However, if they had fewer than 100 plate appearances or 15 games pitched then they get a below average card at best.

The only new/temporary cards of value for these playoffs are two good relievers for the Giants in a PB 2-8 Luke Jackson and a 2-7 Ryan Walker. For the Cubs, Mike Tauchman in centerfield has a slightly above average .739 OPS and gives a lefty bat with B/C speed, and reliver Jose Cuas is a PB 2-7 reliever with a 3.99 ERA over 72 games. The temporary cards can be found at the end of the 2023 pitchers and batters projected cards in the links below.

Giants	STARTER	2ND
C	Patrick Bailey .644 SN	Blake Sabol
1B	LaMonte Wade Jr.	Roberto Perez (out 60)
2B	Thairo Estrada
3B	Wilmer Flores	Casey Schmitt
SS	Marco Luciano .641 limited	Brandon Crawford
LF	Michael Conforto
CF	Tyler Fitzgerald.733 42 PA	Luis Matos .661
RF	Mike Yastrzemski
DH	Joc Pederson	Mitch Haniger allow
Rot 1&2	Logan Webb	Alex Cobb allow
Rot 3&4	Sean Manaea	Keaton Winn
Clos/SU	Camilo Doval	Tyler Rogers
Rel 3&4	Kyle Harrison 4.15 6 IP 7 Gm	Taylor Rogers
Rel 5&6	Luke Jackson 2.97 2 IP 33 Gm
Rel 7&8	John Brebbia	Ryan Walker 3.23 2 IP 49 Gm

Cubs	STARTER	2ND
C	Yan Gomes	Miguel Amaya
1B	Cody Bellinger	Jared Young
2B	Nico Hoerner allow	Miles Mastrobuoni
3B	Jeimer Candelario	Nick Madrigal
SS	Dansby Swanson	Patrick Wisdom
LF	Ian Happ
CF	Mike Tauchman .739 401 PA LN	Pete Crow-Armstrong .176 19 PA
RF	Seiya Suzuki	Alexander Canario
DH	Christopher Morel
Rot 1&2	Justin Steele	Marcus Stroman
Rot 3&4	Kyle Hendricks	Jameson Taillon
Clos/SU	Adbert Alzolay	Julian Merryweather
Rel 3&4	Mark Leiter Jr.	Drew Smyly
Rel 5&6	Brandon Hughes	Brad Boxberger allow
Rel 7&8	Jose Cuas 3.99 2 IP 72 Gm	Javier Assad

Next up the 3-game series.

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Astros Win Statis-Pro AL While Losing in Game 7 of Real MLB

While I use the projected Statis-Pro cards, the other commissioner uses these cards from the past year. Here were the stars from of his AL season.

Our joke is now that our Statis-Pro results are more accurate than real results in the new playoff format. The best teams cannot seem to survive the rust of waiting around for the wild card rounds in real MLB, so teams like Arizona that barely made the playoffs go to the World Series after staying sharp in the wild card games.

And home advantage for the better seeds mean nothing. The home teams are now 62-65 all time in Game 7s even though they have the better record in the season.

Our AL had a more realistic Orioles vs Astros ALCS

Statis-Pro American League

2023 Playoffs

Wildcard (Best of 5)

Tampa Bay vs. Texas

Despite all the injuries, the Rays still finished the regular season with the fewest runs allowed. Their pitching carried the day for a 3-1 series win. Yandy Diaz had a walk-off single in the 10th to take game two. Isaac Paredes led the series clinching win with 3 RBI’s in game four. Max Scherzer started the only Rangers win.

Game 1: Rays 13 Rangers 2

Game 2: Rays 2 Rangers 1 (10 innings)

Game 3: Rangers 7 Rays 2

Game 4 Rays 6 Rangers 3

Seattle vs Toronto

The Blue Jays looked ready to move on, they led the series (2-1) and built a 7-0 lead in game four. But the Mariners stormed back and Teoscar Hernandez hit a 2-run homer to cap a wild 12-10 victory. In the deciding game five, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit a solo shot in the 8th to tie the game 2-2. No one scored in the next nine innings (10 pitchers used during that stretch). Finally in the top of the 18th, Cal Raleigh hit the game winner to send Seattle to the ALDS.

Game 1: Mariners 4 Blue Jays 3

Game 2: Blue Jays 2 Mariners 1

Game 3: Blue Jays 3 Mariners 1

Game 4: Mariners 12 Blue Jays 10

Game 5: Mariners 3 Blue Jays 2 (18 innings)

Divisional Series (best of 7)

Houston vs Tampa Bay

The Astros pitching was dominant in this four game sweep. They only allowed 6-runs in four games. Houston had just enough offense to get the job done. Jeremy Peña delivered the walk-off single in game one to make amends for his nightmare regular season. (.152 avg). Jose Altuve drove in 3-runs in the series where the Astros did not hit a home run. The Houston bullpen allowed one earned run in a combined 12-innings of work.

Game 1: Astros 2 Rays 1

Game 2: Astros 6 Rays 3

Game 3: Astros 5 Rays 0

Game 4: Astros 4 Rays 2

Seattle vs Baltimore

This was an evenly matched series. The two teams alternated wins through the first six games. The aggregate score through those games was 30-30. The Mariners forced a seventh game thanks to Teoscar Hernandez with another clutch home run. His 2-run shot in the 11th inning gave the Mariners a 4-2 win. The Orioles clinched the series thanks to two unlikely heroes. Light hitting shortstop Jorge Mateo tallied 8 RBI’s in the series and Ramon Urias hit a crucial 2-run homer in game seven as the Orioles rallied for a 6-4 win in the deciding game.

Game 1: Orioles 7 Mariners 6

Game 2: Mariners 5 Orioles 1

Game 3: Orioles 10 Mariners 5

Game 4: Mariners 7 Orioles 6

Game 5: Orioles 4 Mariners 3

Game 6: Mariners 4 Orioles 2 (11 innings)

Game 7: Orioles 6 Mariners 4

Championship Series

Houston vs Baltimore

Once again Houston’s dominant pitching carried the day. The Orioles hit 16 home runs in the ALDS against the Mariners. They did not hit one home run in being swept by the Astros. Christian Javier started the series with 6-shutout innings for a game one win. Kyle Tucker smacked a 2-run homer to lead the Astros to a 4-2 win in game two. Jose Altuve hit a pair of home runs in game three as the Astros held on for a 5-4 win. Houston completed the sweep with a 3-1 win behind 6 1/3 strong innings from young right hander Hunter Brown. Houston rolls into the Statis-Pro World Series on an eight game winning streak.

Game 1: Astros 8 Orioles 0

Game 2: Astros 4 Orioles 2

Game 3: Astros 5 Orioles 4

Game 4: Astros 3 Orioles 1

Sunday, October 22, 2023

1st Statis-Pro Playoff Series in the Books - Phils vs Brew Crew

We played 124 Statis-Pro games this season and the average runs scored by each team was 4.7. There were only four 1-0 games of 124, thought the Phillies were involved in one of them when Aaron Nola beat Justin Verlander then of the Mets 1-0.

And yet the average score in our first Statis-Pro playoff series was 2-1 and the series ended with a 1-0 game. Here are the summaries of each of the games as the Brewers faced the Phillies then below the game accounts is a photo of the player cards and the preview.

Game 1 Action

3rd Inning - A pitchers duel between the Brewers only remaining ace (Corbin Burnes PB 2-9) and one of three true Phillies Aces (Zack Wheeler) was broken up by perhaps the worst fielding inning we've ever had in one inning. Brewers catch William Contreras does have the worst fielding ratings in the game (CD1, E3, TC). A TB or TA would have thrown Brandon Marsh out stealing 2nd, but he was safe due to the weak arm. After a walk, Jake Cave laid down a bunt (OBR A or B can do this once a game for a hit) and Contreras threw wildly to first to allow both runners to score and Cave to go to third. Then Contreras CD-1 resulted in a passed ball to score Cave. Phillies 3, Brewers 0 after 2 1/2.

4th Inning - We drew the famous "not me blind one" Z-play 16 to result in Burnes being tossed from the game for arguing. We always use the result presented, meaning him leaving the game, but you can say he was injured instead if you believe that is more realistic. However, a big pick up in Bryse Wilson, who would pitch a scoreless top of the 4th, 5th and 6th to save the Brewers' bullpen and keep them in the game.

6th Inning - Contreras got a little redemption when he scored after a single and Willy Adames driving a 2-run homer to stop Wheeler's shut out. Phillies 3, Brewers 2.

7th Inning - Tyrone Taylor singled and Brice Turang stole second to put the tying run on with no outs. Wheeler still had SR1 left so his PB 2-8 was still in place unless he allowed another runner. As strong as that is, Wheeler has great control but a high 11-25 hits allowed numbers so was vulerable but left in teh game. He struck out both Andrew Monasterio and Joey Wiemer to leave it all up to Christian Yelich. Yelich sent a line drive to center, but Bryson Stott made a diving catch on a "15" despite having the lowest clutch defensive rating at CD-1 to leave the Phillies ahead 3-2. Wheeler leaves with the lead, going 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, 6 strikeouts and not quite his normal great control with 3 walks issued.

8th and 9th Inning - Craig Kimbrel and Jose Alvarado each allowed one baserunner in the 8th and 9th, but otherwise shut the door. Kimbrel struck out the side, Alvarado struck out one then induced a game-winning double play.

Final: Phillies 3, Brewers 2 (Phils Lead 1 game to 0)

Game 2 Action

1st Inning - Trea Turner singled and stole second. With two outs Kyle Schwarber just missed a homer with a long double to score him. In the bottom of the inning, Adames (who was 3 of 4 in Game 1 with a homer) hit a DEEP drive also just missing a 2-run homer, but it was caught. Phillies 1, Brewers 0.

3rd Inning - The Brewers put together four singles - Wiemer, Yelich, Contreras and Adames, to take the 2-1 lead. Josh Donaldson then hit a DEEP drive that just missed a 3-run homer but was caught to end the inning. Brewers 2, Phillies 1.

7th Inning - The bottom of the Phillies order greeted reliever Elvin Peguero with a single (Brandon Marsh, who stole second), walk (Bryson Shott) and line drive single (Jake Cave) to load the bases with no outs and lower him to a PB 4-7 (his RR of 3 was reduced by those three baserunners). However, Turner hit a line drive back to Peguero, who because he has the highest defensive rating of all of a Clutch Defense-CD-5 not only caught the ball but threw to 3rd base for a double play based on the chart. Realmuto grounded to first and the Brewers escaped with the 2-1 lead in tact.

Trevor Megell and Devin Williams had a much easier time in the 8th and 9th, getting a hold and save to wrap up the 2-1 win.

Final: Brewers 2, Phillies 1 (Series tied a game a piece)

Game 3 Action

The deciding game. The season ending injury to Brandon Woodruff seemed to most impact this third game, where the Phillies had a third great pitching card in Michael Lorenzen, but the Brewers had to go with a PB 2-6 in lefty control pitcher Wade Miley with everyone moved up a spot.

6th inning - However, Miley matched Lorenzen's ZEROS for 5.2 innings. Then JT Realmuto hit a 2-out double. Bryce Harper followed with a line drive to right, which lowers the range of going from 2nd to home by 20 - but with Realmuto having the best OBR (A) and right fielder Jesse Winkler having the weakest arm (T2) the go ahead run scored. Phillies 1, Brewers 0.

Lorenzen finished six scoreless innings, only striking out three while walking three, but just two hits.

Both bullpens did their job, with three scoreless innings each. The final inning was between two PB2-9 closer who both give up very few hits but both are a little wild. The Phillies drew two walks off Devin Williams but he got the next three to keep it 1-0 and give the Brewers one last chance.

The Phils Jose Alvarado went 1-2-3, with the only excitement being a game-ending grounder to short that Trea Turner bobbled. He has always been a weak fielder though he improved on note this season to a CD-2, E5, and in fact the the card did call for an error if the card had an E7 or higher.

Final: Phillies 1, Brewers 0 (Phillies Win Series 2-1)

Preview Below

One of our Statis-Pro wild series are between the two teams that made our playoffs but not the real playoffs (Cubs vs Giants). However, first we are playing out two wild card teams that were also wild card teams in the real season as the Phillies visit the Brewers.

The two teams with Byes were the same Braves and Dodgers.

Here are photos of the Brewers and Phillies lineups. Results will be added.

Results will be added as we play.