Divisional Series Game 4

ZSY - 6   MMD - 4   F

ZSY wins best-of-five series 3-1

W - D'Amico (1-0)   L - Schilling (0-1)   S - Graves 04 (1)

ZSY: D'Amico: 6 IP, 2 ER, QS (1) 

MMD: Schilling: 7 IP, 6 ER

ZSY: Harvey: 2-4, HR (2), 3 RBI (4)

ZSY: Kiner: 3-4, 2B, RBI (6)

MMD: Zaun: 2-4, HR (1) , 2 RBI (3)

The script was flipped in this exciting Game 4, which saw what appeared to be the rather lop sided pitching matchup of control 2 Jeff D'Amico going up against control 5 Curt Schilling. D'Amico was shaky early on and got burned early by a towering two run homer off the bat of hot hitting Gregg Zaun. It also looked like he was going to get tagged again in the third, but got out of a bases loaded jam thanks to a the heroics of his third baseman Jeff Cirillo who successfully turned a double play ball. On the other side of things, "Schilling was chilling" as they say, and made mincemeat of the Z-Slayers lineup, giving up only one hit and no walks in the first three inning. But here is where things changed. D'Amico pitched a strong top of the fourth; Schilling ran into trouble in the bottom of the inning. After surrendering two consecutive singles to Juan Pierre and Jack Wilson, a sacrifice fly from Albert Pujols moved Pierre to third. The rise was unnecessary however, as next batter Ralph Kiner split the right center field gap with a line drive, a double that brought home Kiner's sixth RBI of the series. Things went from bad to worse with the very next batter, second baseman Ken Harvey who brought Kiner and Wilson home with a three run homer. With that, the tables had turned D'Amico pitched the next two innings with confidence while Schilling was constantly under siege by the Z-Slayers attack, which added another two run rally in the fifth. With a comfortable 6-2 lead, Lord Sith turned to former Zachrian Ricardo Rincon, his team's best reliever this year. Rincon was a little shaky in the seventh, and even worse in the eighth, where he found himself in a bases loaded jam with only one out. After giving up a run, he was bailed out again by his defense coming up with a huge double play. Going to the top of the ninth, Z-Slayer closer Danny Graves entered the game in a save situation even though he was on short rest having pitched in the game prior. To the delight of the hometown MMD fans, in a matter of a few pitches Graves had loaded the bases without a recording any outs. In a very strange scene, Coach Sith was picked up and carried fireman style by General Manager Sinister out to a meeting on the mound. It is unsure what was said in this meeting, only that upon reaching the mound, Sith was handed over to Albert Pujols but slipped out of the first baseman's hands and limply fell into the dirt where he laid splayed out while Sinister gave the pep talk to his pitcher and infielders. After Sith was picked up and dragged back into the dugout, MMD shortstop Marco Scutaro hit a ground ball that barely dribbled into the outfield, good for an RBI single that brought MMD within two runs of tying the game. The next batter was Gregg Zaun, who had homered earlier in the game. He almost repeated that feat, rolling a 2 on his own card that was almost a 20. After him was Ryan Freel, who completed the tragedy by grounding out into a double play to end the game and the season for MMD. It was certainly a tumultuous season for the team, with the murder of their long time coach perhaps being one of the biggest stories of the year. Their future is uncertain, but if rumors are any indication, it's probable that the franchise will most likely be abolished in the offseason.  As for the Tuldarian Z-Slayers, this win sets up a long awaited showdown between them and the Bobians in what has been termed "the real Championship final." Although the games were close, the Bobians swept the Z-Slayers during their regular season matchup in Series 12.

Divisional Series Game 3

ZSY - 3   MMD - 1   F
ZSY leads best-of-five series 2-1
W - Graves (1-0)   L - Miceli (0-1)
ZSY: Day: 8 IP, ER, QS (1)
MMD: Pavano: 7 IP, 0 ER, QS (1)
ZSY: Kiner: 1-4. HR (2), 3 RBI (5)
MMD: Williams: 2-4. 2B. RBI (1)
ZSY: Crawford: 4-5, SB (3)

Former Cy Young winner Carl Pavano got off to a rough start. His first pitch was hit for a double by Carl Crawford and his second pitch was a Juan Pierre single. When Crawford attempted to score from second and was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Eric Chavez, the crowd knew that they were in for a good game. Especially when, in the bottom of the inning, their home town team celebrated first blood in the form of a Bernie Williams RBI double. The Z-Slayer starter Zach Day struggled in the first couple of innings, but then settled down and was absolutely dominant, only surrendering three hits between the third and eighth innings. Back on the other side, Carl Pavano also showed why he is a former Cy Young winner, and handled the dangerous Z-Slayer batting order with relative ease. So with the score standing at 1-0, this pitching duel went very fast as batter after batter got mowed down. Fast forward to the top of the ninth, where Ralph Kiner smashed a three run jack, putting the Z-Slayers ahead for the first time in the contest. By the way, that's Kiner's second home run of the series, and his fifth RBI. That ended up being the ball game, as Tuldarian closer Danny Graves put MMD to rest in the bottom of the ninth and secured the win. Game 4 will feature the rather lopsided pitching matchup of fourth starter Jeff D'Amico (ZSY) vs second starter Curt Schilling (MMD). It will be D'Amico's second career playoff appearance, the first of which was a victory over the Darkpaws back in Season 4. As for Schilling, a former Bryn and Z-Slayer, his career playoff record is 1-2 in five appearances with a complete game.
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RED - 4   MAX - 5   F
MAX wins best-of-five series 3-0
W - Halladay (1-0)   L - Takatsu (0-1)   S - Urbina (1)
MAX: Halladay: 7 IP, 4 ER
RED: Sheets: 6 IP, 3 ER, QS (1)
MAX: Matsui: GW 2R HR (1), 2 RBI (3)
MAX: Martinez: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 R, HR (1), RBI (1)
RED: Pierzynski: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI (2)

In Game Three, the Maxion Bombers had the chance to knock off their division rivals, the Red Clay Aces, who were fighting for their very survival. Things did not get off to the best of starts for them however, as their former ace Roy Halladay stumbled badly out of the gate. In the second inning he gave up two runs thanks to a bottom of the lineup rally from the Aces. The big hits came in the form of an RBI double for catcher A.J. Pierzynski and an RBI single from shortstop Miguel Tejada. Halladay ran into problems again in the third when A.J. Pierzynski increased Red Clay's lead to 3-0 with yet another RBI double. By this point the Maxion faithful had been completely silenced by the results so far, but they were brought back into the game when Edgar Martinez homered in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 3-1. But the wind was out of the Maxion sails soon after that, when Halladay was smoked for a solo homerun off the bat of All Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano. After a few quiet innings, the Maxion bats awoke in the bottom of the sixth, when Tony Clark and Derek Jeter hit back to back solo homeruns to make the score 4-3 in favor of Red Clay. Aces starter Ben Sheets was able to finish the sixth and earn a quality start; besides the back to back jacks he surrendered just before leaving, he had been rather dominant. But as by-lines go. this is exactly the kind of start the has earned Sheets a reputation as the most reliable pitcher in the league. Getting back to the game, Halladay lasted until the seventh, having pitched much better after the fourth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, the Aces elected to go with long relief specialist Shingu Takatsu over Paul Quantril, who had pitched in the game previous. GM Ishmael von Corrin afterward stated that this decision was rooted in the fact that he wanted a rest day for Quantril as well as the fact that Takatsu in theory would be able to pitch two games in a row if needed with fourth starter Ramon Ortiz possibly needing help in a theoretical Game 4. Either way, the decision was the wrong one. After Takatsu easily grounded out lead off man Richie Ashburn and second hitter Corey Koskie, he walked three hitter Fredgar Martinez. Then came the fatal blow: a two run homerun off the bat of left fielder Hideki Matsui, giving the Bombers a lead for the first time in the game. With their entire season on the line, the Red Clay Aces went on the attack in the top of the eighth. But Maxion reliever Mike Stanton managed to pour water on the hot hitting bottom of the Red Clay lineup and earn a hold. Come the ninth inning, the Bombers had to make a bullpen decision of their own: use their closer Mariano Rivera on short rest or someone else? Eventually the call was given to back-up closer Ugueth Urbina. The Maxion faithful were shocked to see him walk leadoff hitter Tom Goodwin. But with the tying run on base, Urbina went into beast mode and threw six consecutive strikes against Miguel Tejada and Alfonso Soriano, two of the best hitters in the league. Urbina then considered intentionally walking the heavy hitter Paul Konerko, but eventually opted to pitch to him. The result? A shallow fly ball to center field that was harmlessly caught by Richie Assburn, ending the Aces season and giving the Bombers their first playoff series win since Season 1 as well as their first franchise playoff series sweep. While the Bombers celebrated the continuation of their miracle season, the Red Clay Aces yet again struggle in the playoffs. "This wasn't our year," said general manager Ishmael von Corrin. "I'll tip my hat to the Bombers; they simply out pitched us. I wish them luck in their next series against Mao." Von Corrin's team, who had lost four straight games against the Bomber's including the last regular season game of the year, will have a brand new waterfront stadium in Red Clay to look forward to next year, but Von Corrin was mum on any word of personnel changes. He did say however that he will remain as one of the most vocal and active GMs in the league, especially as the discussion comes up as to a possible rearranging of the divisions. As for the Bombers, they will now prepare to take on the two year defending champs Mao's Tycoons for a chance to play in the championship. When the Tycoons swept the Bombers in Series Four, the Bombers were mired in the middle of their nine game losing streak. It's safe to say that now, the Bombers are a changed team. Game 1 starting pitchers have yet to be announced.