Arizona Arrows 89-74* vs. Assateague Stallions 108-54

 

Arizona wins series 4-3

Game 1 – Trevor Rogers squared off against Kevin Gausman in game one of the NL Divisional Series. They had a scoreless pitchers’ duel for 6 innings. Rogers exited due to his pitch count and Jose Suarez was brought in for Arizona to face the tough RH hitters of Assateague in the bottom of the 7th. Lourdes Gurriel drew a leadoff walk. Suarez got Giancarlo Stanton to pop out and Ramon Laureano to fly to deep center. Jonathan Schoop stepped to the plate. Schoop tattooed a 1-1 offering 349 feet down the LF line for a 2-run homer and a 2-0 lead for the Stallions. Luis Robert started the top of the 9th off with a double. With Adam Frazier up against Josh Hader, Robert took off on the hit & run; except Frazier, who rarely misses the pitch in this situation, missed the pitch and Robert was caught stealing. Frazier subsequently grounded out and Tyler Stephenson popped out to end the game. Arrows’ skipper Joe Hornback took full responsibility for the play call in his post-game interview. Gausman got the win and was named Game MVP. He struck out 11, allowed 5 hits and no walks in 7 innings. Hader got the save and Suarez the loss. Schoop and Laureano each had a pair of hits for AST. Kyle Tucker had 3 of ARA’s 6 hits.

Game 2 – After being shutout in game one, the Arrows wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the top of the first. Teoscar Hernandez singled and later scored on an Alejandro Kirk single. Two batters later, Geo Urshela plated Luis Robert with a sac fly to deep left-center. In the bottom half of the 4th inning, Fernando Tatis singled and scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s bomb down the LF line. Lourdes Gurriel copied Stanton’s feat and Assateague had a 3-2 advantage. Buster Posey went yard in the 5th to make it 4-2 AST. Arizona tied it up in the 7th on an RBI triple down the first base line by Adam Frazier followed by Nate Lowe’s RBI single. The Stallions’ bullpen had no answers for the Arrows lineup in the top of the 8th. ARA tacked on 3 more runs to go up 7-4. Zack Littell pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Justin Romano did the same in the 9th to pick up his first post-season save.  Jesse Chavez was the pitcher of record when the visitors took the lead. Cole Sulser was tagged with the loss. Tatis was 3-4 with a double for the home team. Robert, Frazier and Kyle Tucker each had 2 hits for Arizona. The Arrows are very excited to earn a split in Nationals Park. 

Game 3 – The series shifted to Truist Park. Giancarlo opened the scoring in the first with a 388-foot blast to left center that scored Jesse Winker; 2-0 Assateague. Harrison Bader hit Arizona’s first HR in the bottom of the 3rd to make it a one-run differential. Buster Posey joined the derby in the 5th, hitting a solo shot 417 feet, making it 3-1 visitors. Rafael Devers had an RBI double and Mitch Haniger a 2-run home run in the top of the 6th to close out the scoring and give the Stallions home field advantage back with the 6-1 victory. Max Scherzer got the win, earning Game MVP with 9 strikeouts, 3 hits and only one run in 7.1 innings. Tyler Mahle was saddled with the loss. Devers was 2-3 with a walk to lead AST. Adam Frazier had 2 of ARA’s 4 hits.

Game 4 – Steven Matz got the start in Game 4. The Arrows’ management felt like this was a must-win game and Matz was clutch in the Clemente Division playoff game against the SouthWest Roughnecks. He helped himself with the bat as well. In the 2nd inning, he laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Harrison Bader to 2B. The next batter up, Nate Lowe, grounded a 2-2 offering back up the box and Bader raced home for the early lead. Assateague came right back in the 3rd; Rafael Devers plated their pitcher, Adam Wainwright, who led off the inning with a double. Ramon Laureano scored the go-ahead run on a doubleplay. 2-1 Stallions. In the bottom half, Lowe doubled and scored on JP Crawford’s single. Two innings later, with two outs, Tyler Stephenson and JD Davis each singled. Then Wainwright plunked Bader and tempers flared. Austin Barnes grabbed Bader to keep him from charging the mound, but the home plate umpire had seen enough and sent Waino to the showers. Mike Mayers took over for the Stallions. Gio Urshela pinch-hit for Matz and grounded a single between short and third that put the Arrows ahead 4-2. The Stallions loaded the bases in the 8th with one out against ace setup man, Art Warren. JT Chargois came on and Trey Mancini greeted him with a fly ball to center that Bader corralled on the warning truck, but easily deep enough to make it a one-run game. He then got Mitch Haniger to line to 3rd to end the threat. Justin Romano started the 9th with a save in mind.  Fernando Tatis gave the Truist Park crowd a big scare as he gave Romano’s 1-1 pitch a ride to deep left, but the ballpark contained it and the Arrows were 2 outs away from evening the series.  Giancarlo Stanton walked, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. Lourdes Gurriel grounded to second for the force out, but beat the throw to first to keep Assateague’s hopes alive. Romano got Luis Arraez to fly to right-center to end the game. Matz got another huge win and Wainwright took the “L”. Romano earned his 2nd save of the post-season. Arraez, Mancini and Anthony Santander had a pair of hits each for the visitors. Four Arrows finished with 2 hits each. Lowe was named Game MVP with a 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 2B performance.

Game 5 – Game 5 featured Trevor Rogers (6 IP, 6 H, 0 runs in game 1) against John Means (13-2, 2.31 ERA for season). A 2-RBI double by Buster Posey and 2-run home run by Fernando Tatis gave Assateague a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Trey Mancini made it 5-zip with a dinger in the top of the 4th. The Arrows got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 4th when Alejandro Kirk’s deep fly made it over the fence in left-center. JP Crawford made it a 5-2 ballgame in the bottom of the 7th, plating Nick Maton with a single. Harrison Bader led off the bottom of the 9th with a solo shot down the LF line. Josh Hader came on and struck out Adam Frazier and got Crawford to ground out. JD Davis drew a walk, which brought the tying run to the plate in Nate Lowe. Lowe gave Hader’s 1-2 pitch a ride to deep right-center, but it wasn’t deep enough as Giancarlo Stanton camped under it to retire the threat and send the series back to Nationals’ Park with Assateague up 3-2. Means allowed 5 hits and fanned 5 in 6 innings for the victory. Hader picked up save number 2. Rogers took the loss. Luis Robert and Kirk each had two hits for Arizona. Rafael Devers and Posey had a pair for the Stallions. Tatis was named Game MVP.

Game 6 – Former Arizona Arrow and game one winner, Kevin Gausman, took the hill for the Assateague Stallions. Arizona countered with their ace Carlos Rodon, who was roughed up for 4 runs and 8 hits in 5 innings of game 2. Fernando Tatis broke up the scoreless game in the bottom of the 4th, going yard down the LF line. Arizona tied the game in the top of the 6th as Luis Robert grounded a 2-out single between short and third to score JP Crawford. The Arrows went ahead 2-1 on a bases loaded fielder’s choice as the Stallions couldn’t pull off the DP. The visitors’ bullpen shined after Rodon exited. They allowed only one hit and an intentional walk over the last 4 innings, sitting the last 7 batters down in order to preserve the win. Miguel Castro was on the hill for ARA when the go-ahead run was scored to get the win. Scott Barlow was the pitcher of record for Assateague. Justin Romano got his 3rd save in 3 opportunities. Robert and Tyler Stephenson each had 2 hits for ARA. Giancarlo Stanton had a pair of singles for AST. Game MVP honors went to Carlos Rodon for allowing only 1 run off 5 hits while striking out 7 batters.

Game 7 – After both teams went down 1-2-3 in the first to start this winner-take-all Game 7 of NLDS 1, Kyle Tucker hit Julio Urias’ 1-1 pitch 376 feet down the RF line to lead off the 2nd with a dinger. Two outs later, Adam Frazier scored on a Nate Lowe single and the Arrows were up 2-0. It was a short-lived advantage, as the NL’s top HR team had Giancarlo Stanton walk and score on Mitch Haniger’s blast down the LF line. It was 2-2 after 2. Both starting pitchers settled in and the score remained tied until the top of the 6th inning. Alejandro Kirk and Luis Robert singled to start it off. Tucker’s double to right-center plated Kirk, but Robert stopped at third. Mike Mayers came in for Urias and got Teoscar Hernandez to hit a sac fly, then he fanned Frazier. Lowe came thru again, this time with a 2-run shot over the RCF wall and Arizona had a 7-2 advantage. But, Joe Hornback felt no lead was big enough against the Stallions home run-hitting lineup. Today, though, it proved to be enough. Four Arrow relievers combined to scatter 4 hits and fan 3 batters while allowing no one to score. The Arizona Arrows defeated the Assateague Stallions 8-2 to advance to the NLCS. It’s the first time Arizona has been in the League Championship Series since the 2007 season when they lost the World Series to the Chatham Bluefish. The Stallions had 11 homers to the Arrows’ 5, but, the big difference was the ARA bullpen posting a 1.40 ERA to AST’s 4.50. Tucker went 2-4 with a double, home run and 2 RBI to get the MVP nod. Lowe and 2 other Arrows had two hits each as well. Luis Arraez and Buster Posey had a pair of hits for AST. Tyler Mahle got the win, Urias the loss. After the game, the crowd gave Posey a standing ovation as he had announced he would retire at the end of the campaign. 

* won one-game playoff against SouthWest for the Clemente Division Title