The Online Baseball Simulation League
OBSL Logo created by Glenn Millard
Carlos Zambrano coming off the mound in the 8th inning of his August 19, 2006, perfect game.
(Picture courtesy of Chris Dunn)
Welcome to the OBSL website!
Tuesday, November 18
AL MVP
Ryan Braun, Baltimore Orioles
Monday, November 17
NL MVP
Rich Harden, Washington Nationals
Thursday, November 13
AL Cy Young
Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins
Wednesday, November 12
AL GM
Ken Kurlak, Boston Red Sox
NL GM
Howard Trager, New York Mets
Tuesday, November 11
NL Cy Young
Rich Harden, Washington Nationals
Monday, November 10
AL Gold Gloves
C -- Mike Redmond, Detroit; 1B -- Mark Teixeira, Minnesota Twins; 2B -- Placido Polanco, Texas Rangers; 3B -- Mike Lowell, Tampa Bay Devil Rays; SS -- Michael Young, Baltimore Orioles; OF -- Ryan Church, Toronto Blue Jays, Melky Cabrera, New York Yankees, and Austin Kearns, Toronto Blue Jays; P -- Brian Bannister, Cleveland Indians
NL Gold Gloves
C -- Ivan Rodriguez, Houston Astros; 1B -- Justin Morneau, Atlanta Braves; 2B -- Kazuo Matsui, San Francisco Giants; 3B -- Alex Gordon, San Diego Padres; SS -- Omar Vizquel, Philadelphia Phillies; OF -- Andruw Jones, Milwaukee Brewers, Nick Markakis, New York Mets, and Garret Anderson, Houston Astros; P -- Derek Lowe, Cincinnati Reds
AL Rookie of the Year
Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees
NL Rookie of the Year
Nate Schierholtz, Arizona Diamondbacks
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CHICAGO CUBS, THE 2008 OBSL WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!
2008 World Series
Wednesday, October 22
Chicago jumped out to a good lead over Boston's Clay Buchholz within the first two innings. Manny Ramirez and Josh Hamilton hit run-scoring singles in the 1st and Brian Roberts hit a three run homer in the 2nd. The Red Sox fought back some, as Magglio Ordonez scored on an Alex Rodriguez single in the 1st and Jacoby Ellsbury scored their second run on a single by Dustin Pedroia in the 2nd. But, Boston grew patient on C.C. Sabathia's fastballs in the 3rd, as Sabathia issued three consecutive two out walks, the last of which scored Russell Martin, and then Pedroia jumped on C.C.'s first pitch fastball for a grand slam to round out the inning. Ryan Howard cut the score to 7-6 in the 5th with a solo shot, but that would be the closest the Cubs got to the lead again. In the 7th, Ellsbury hit a run-scoring double, and in the 8th, Ordonez singled in Pedroia and A-Rod hit a three run shot off of Akinori Otsuka to put the game out of reach. Jonathan Papelbon closed out the 8th and 9th innings to help give Boston the first win in the series.
Thursday, October 23
Jake Peavy's postseason woes carried over into his first start in the 2008 OBSL World Series. Ryan Howard started the scoring with a double to bring in Brian Roberts and send Miguel Cabrera to third. Then, after a walk to Manny Ramirez, Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam to make the score 5-0 after half an inning. Boston got on the board in the 3rd when Alex Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to score Jacoby Ellsbury. But, Chicago came right back in the 4th with five more runs. Brian Roberts singled in Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera hit a three run homer, and Ryan Howard went back-to-back with him with a solo shot. In the 5th, the Cubs got another run on a single by Ichiro Suzuki that scored Hamilton. Alex Rodriguez homered in the 7th to give Boston their second run, and Dustin Pedroia singled in Magglio Ordonez in the 9th. But, that would be all the offense Boston could muster against Chicago's staff. Game 3 will convene at Wrigley Field on Saturday, October 25, with the series tied one game apiece.
Saturday, October 25
Boston got the early lead in the 1st inning on a two run homerun by Alex Rodriguez. Chicago got a run back later that inning when Miguel Cabrera singled in Brian Roberts. The Cubs then took the lead in the 2nd as both Ryan Howard and Troy Tulowitzki homered to give them a one run advantage. Jeremy Hermida hit a two run homerun in the 4th to put the Red Sox back on top by a run. In the 5th, Josh Hamilton tied the game with a single then scored the go-ahead run on a Ryan Howard double, and Manny Ramirez gave the Cubs a two run lead when Victor Martinez beat out an infield single. The Red Sox came back in the 6th as Kelly Shoppach singled in Hermida, Hanley Ramirez doubled in Jacoby Ellsbury to tie the game, and Dustin Pedroia drew a bases-loaded walk to score Shoppach for the go-ahead run and make the score 7-6. But, Ryan Howard, Marlon Byrd, and Troy Tulowitzki went back-to-back-to-back in the bottom of the 7th inning to give Chicago a two run lead that it wouldn't relinquish. The Cubs have a two games to one lead on Boston as Game 4 is set for Sunday, October 26, at Wrigley Field.
Sunday, October 26
Boston's Hanley Ramirez gave the Red Sox an early lead with a leadoff home run off of Tim Lincecum in the 1st inning. Magglio Ordonez added to the lead with a solo shot in the 3rd inning. And, Albert Pujols made the score 3-0 with a solo shot in the 5th inning. Victor Martinez got the Cubs on the board with a two run shot in the bottom of the 5th. But, Pujols homered again in the 7th, this time a two run shot off of Billy Wagner that put Boston back up by three runs. Jonathan Papelbon came to the mound in the 8th and struck out Ichiro and Brian Roberts to end the inning. But Miguel Cabrera hit a leadoff single in the 9th followed by a Ryan Howard double that got Cabrera over to third. After Manny Ramirez flied out to Jeremy Hermida, Papelbon intentionally walked Josh Hamilton to get to Marlon Byrd, who was pinch hitting for Andy Pettitte. But, Papelbon hit Byrd with a fastball, which scored Cabrera and kept the bases loaded. Rocco Baldelli then came on to pinch hit for Ryan Theriot, and Baldelli made Papelbon pay for his mistake by knocking a long double down the third base line, which cleared the bases for the walkoff win. Chicago now leads Boston three games to one in the Series, and Game 5 will be Monday, October 27, at Wrigley Field.
Monday, October 27
Jake Peavy finally demonstrated why Boston traded away so much talent for him last offseason. Peavy held Chicago to three runs on eight hits, four walks, and four strikeouts over six innings to earn his first World Series win. His counterpart, C.C. Sabathia, on the other hand, couldn't keep Boston off the basepaths, as he gave up six earned runs on thirteen hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts in seven innings. Alex Rodriguez started things off with a two run homerun and Jeremy Hermida doubled in Dustin Pedroia in the 1st inning. Peavy gave up a run-scoring single to Ichiro in the 3rd that put the Cubs on the board. Magglio Ordonez scored on a single by Russell Martin in the 5th, and Chicago came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a solo shot by Troy Tulowitzki and a double by Miguel Cabrera that pulled them within a run. But, in the 7th, Magglio Ordonez and Albert Pujols hit back-to-back homers to increase Boston's lead to 6-3. And, in the 8th, A-Rod hit a grand slam to put the Red Sox up 10-3. Ordonez singled in Jered Weaver in the 9th to complete Boston's scoring. Chicago missed quite a few scoring opportunities down the stretch as they put runners on second base in each of the last five innings. But strong pitching from Peavy, Cla Meredith, and Weaver made the difference today. The series will now go back to Fenway for Game 6 on Wednesday, October 29.
Wednesday, October 29
Chicago struck early and hard against Roger Clemens, roughing him up for five earned runs on ten hits, a walk, and three strikeouts in just 3.2 innings. Miguel Cabrera had a run-scoring double in the 1st, Victor Martinez hit a solo shot and Brian Roberts singled in Troy Tulowitzi in the 2nd, and Cabrera and Ryan Howard knocked in two more runs in the 4th to finally send Clemens to the showers. But, Manny Delcarmen, who replaced Clemens in the 4th, fared no better. In the 5th, Geovany Soto doubled in Josh Hamilton and Tulowitzki singled in Martinez and Soto to make the score 8-0. Boston finally got on the board in the bottom of the 5th when Magglio Ordonez drew a bases-loaded walk and Aramis Ramirez singled in Albert Pujols. But, in the 7th, Chicago got those two runs back when Cabrera singled in Ichiro Suzuki and Howard grounded out to second which allowed Brian Roberts to score their tenth run. Hanley Ramirez scored on a passed ball by Victor Martinez and Pujols scored on a Magglio Ordonez groundout in the bottom of the 7th to complete the scoring. Boston had a few other chances to cut the lead and get back in the game, but Alex Rodriguez left runners in scoring position in the 1st and 3rd innings, Jeremy Hermida struck out with runners on the corners in the 4th, Dustin Pedroia popped out with Ordonez at second in the 5th and again with Ordonez on third and Aramis Ramirez on second in the 7th and Ordonez struck out with bases loaded in the 8th. Chicago's Scott Kazmir got his second win of the World Series by holding Boston to two runs on eight hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts in six innings. Ryan Howard was named Series MVP, hitting .440 with eleven hits including four doubles and four homeruns and knocking in seven runs and scoring seven times.
League Divisional Series
Wednesday, October 1
Baltimore's Ramon Castro broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 7th with a two run homerun off of Minnesota's Jesse Crain. Brandon Webb ended up with the win as he went seven innings and gave up an earned run on six hits, a walk, and nine strikeouts.
New York's Yovani Gallardo held San Diego to only one run on seven hits, a walk, and three strikeouts to pick up his first postseason win. Six Mets players knocked in runs for the team, while San Diego's Zack Greinke got the only RBI for his team.
Washington's Rich Harden was knocked around for five earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and four strikeouts in seven innings. His counterpart, C.C. Sabathia, gave up four earned runs on seven hits, five walks, and four strikeouts in 6.2 innings but ended up with the win. Manny Ramirez knocked in two runs, and Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Howard, and Josh Hamilton had a RBI each.
Thursday, October 2
Both starting pitchers gave up five earned runs -- Joe Blanton went eight innings, giving up eight hits, two walks, and striking out three while Jake Peavy went seven innings and gave up five its, three walks, and struck out six. But, Mark Loretta and Alex Rodriguez came through with run-scoring singles in the bottom of the 9th to give Boston the win.
John Smoltz shut out New York for six innings, giving up two hits and three walks while striking out two. Hong-chih Kuo went 1.1 innings, recording a walk and a strikeout, and J.J. Putz gave up a hit and had one strikeout to get his first save of the postseason.
Down by a run in the top of the 9th, Washington rallied for five runs as Ryan Ludwick scored on a groundout by Brad Hawpe, Jimmy Rollins hit a two run single and Chase Utley finished off the rally with a two run homerun off of Chicago's Joe Nathan. John Bale ended up with the win for Washington.
Friday, October 3
Boston scored nine runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to put this game away early. Magglio Ordonez hit a two run double and scored as Aramis Ramirez hit into a double play. Albert Pujols scored on a single by Russell Martin who also scored when Dustin Pedroia drew a bases-loaded walk, and Hanley Ramirez hit a grand slam off of Tom Glavine to complete the rout.
Minnesota led the whole game, riding the bats of Randy Winn (four hits, including two doubles, and three RBI) and Josh Willingham (two doubles and two RBI). Kelly Johnson added three hits and a RBI and J.J. Hardy had two hits with a RBI. Kevin Slowey got the win for going seven innings and giving up two unearned runs on five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.
Saturday, October 4
Chicago's Miguel Cabrera hit a solo shot in the top of the 9th to tie this game up and send it into extra innings. But, Washington's Ryan Zimmerman hit a walkoff three run shot in the bottom of the 10th to give Washington the win and a two games to one lead over the Cubs. Aaron Harang got the loss for giving up the homerun to Zimmerman, while Saul Rivera got his first win of the 2008 postseason.
Yuniesky Betancourt doubled in Alex Gordon in the 5th to give San Diego the first lead. But, New York came back with six runs in the top of the 6th. Nick Markakis and Esteban German hit run-scoring singles, Grady Sizemore hit a three run homerun, and B.J. Upton added a solo shot right after. The Mets added two more runs in the 7th to put the game way out of reach.
Sunday, October 5
Boston took an early lead in this game and never looked back. Albert Pujols hit a solo shot in the 1st, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia knocked in a run each in the 2nd, and Alex Rodriguez hit a three run homerun in the 5th. Oakland got two runs in the 8th and two more in the 9th, but they weren't enough to stave off elimination. Boston now awaits the winner of the Baltimore-Minnesota series.
Minnesota's Felix Hernandez pitched seven strong innings, giving up an earned run on five hits, two walks, and nine strikeouts, to help Minnesota go up a game on Baltimore. Joe Mauer led the offense with three hits and a RBI, while Kelly Johnson and Pat Burrell contributed two hits and a RBI each. Baltimore's Garret Olson got the loss, giving up all five runs on ten hits, two walks, and six strikeouts in six innings.
Tim Lincecum went eight innings and gave up an earned run on eight hits and seven strikeouts to get his first postseason win and help Chicago tie up their series with Washington. Brian Roberts had two RBI and Ichiro Suzuki had three hits and a RBI to pace the Cubs' offense. Shawn Hill got the loss for Washington, giving up all three Cubs' runs on nine hits, three walks, and two strikeouts in six innings. Game 5 will be Tuesday, October 7, at Wrigley Field.
New York took their series with San Diego today as Javier Vazquez pitched seven innings, giving up one earned run (three total) on nine hits, a walk, and seven strikeouts to earn the win. B.J. Upton and Jorge Posada had two RBI each and David Wright and Esteban German had two hits and a RBI each in the win. The Padres' Jeff Francis gave up five earned runs in six innings to get the loss. New York now awaits the winner of the Washington-Chicago series.
Monday, October 6
Minnesota clinched the last spot in the ALCS with a 7-6 win at Baltimore. Mark Teixeira led the way with three hits, including a homerun and a two run single, as the Twins' bats thumped Brandon Webb for seven earned runs on eleven hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts in seven innings. Minnesota will travel to Boston for the first game of the American League Championship Series.
Tuesday, October 7
Chicago clinched their NLCS with Washington with a one run win over Washington as C.C. Sabathia went 7.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on ten hits, a walk, and eight strikeouts. The Cubs got to Rich Harden early when Manny Ramirez scored on a groundout by Josh Hamilton in the 2nd. And, after Washington's Chris Iannetta hit a sacrifice fly in the 4th to tie the game, Ramirez and Hamilton both homered in the bottom of the inning to give Chicago its permanent lead. Harden got chased early, leaving after 4.1 innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits, six walks, and four strikeouts on 103 pitches. Chicago will host New York on Thursday, October 9, in the first game of the NLCS.
League Championship Series
Thursday, October 9
Jorge Posada hit a two run homerun in the top of the 1st to get the ball rolling for the Mets. Victor Martinez scored on a groundout by Troy Tulowitzki to put Chicago on the board and Scott Kazmir singled in Josh Hamilton to tie the game in the 2nd. Hamilton gave Chicago the lead in the 4th with a solo shot. But, New York came back in the 7th as Ramon Hernandez scored on a double by Shane Victorino. And, the Mets took the lead for good in the 8th. Wily Mo Pena hit a pinch hit run-scoring single, Hernandez doubled in Nick Markakis, Esteban German singled in Pena, and Hernandez scored on a sacrifice fly by Victorino. Chicago countered with a run in the bottom of the 8th and another in the 9th, but Ryan Theriot left the tying and go-ahead runs on the bases with a bases-loaded groundout to end the game.
Friday, October 10
Boston got out to an early 1-0 lead in the 1st when Albert Pujols singled in Magglio Ordonez. Minnesota's Joe Mauer doubled in rookie Matt Tolbert to tie the game in the 3rd, but the Red Sox struck for three runs in the bottom of the inning as Ordonez singled in Hanley Ramirez and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez, and Russell Martin scored on a passed ball allowed by Mauer. In the 5th, Minnesota got a run back when Tolbert singled in Jason Kubel. And in the 6th, Mark Teixeira started a four run inning by scoring on a groundout by Bill Hall. Barry Bonds then scored on a single by Josh Fields, who later scored on an error by Hanley Ramirez, and Pat Burrell scored on a groundout by Tolbert to give the Twins a 6-4 lead. In the 8th, Pujols scored on a groundout by Martin that made the score 6-5. But, the Twins out the game away in the 9th as Teixeira doubled in Mauer and then scored on a single by Hall. Kevin Slowey got the win despite getting injured in the 6th inning. Jake Peavy took the loss for Boston.
Jorge Posada singled in Grady Sizemore to give New York an early lead, but Chicago's Miguel Cabrera tied the game by doubling in Ichiro Suzuki later that inning. The, the Cubs bats took off. In the 2nd, Victor Martinez led off with a solo homerun and Troy Tulowitzki scored on a single by Ichiro. And, in the 3rd, Josh Hamilton and Tulowitzki went back-to-back to drive in three more runs. But, the Mets came storming back with a four run 4th inning, as Adam Dunn scored on a James Loney single, Yunel Escobar scored on a double by Sizemore, Loney Scored on a groundout by B.J. Upton, and Sizemore scored when David Wright beat out an infield single to cut the lead to 6-5. In the 8th, Posada tied the game with a single that drove in Esteban German. But, in the 10th, Marlon Byrd gave the Cubs the victory by singling Josh Hamilton with a 3-2 count and two outs. Joe Nathan got the win for Chicago while Heath Bell took the loss for New York.
Saturday, October 11
Minnesota's Kelly Johnson homered on the first pitch he saw to lead off Game 2 of the ALCS today. Francisco Liriano held Boston scoreless on one hit until the 4th inning as Hanley Ramirez led off with a triple and then scored on a single by Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez would later score to put the Red Sox up 2-1 after four. The Sox would take a 5-1 lead in the 6th after a two run homerun by Aramis Ramirez and an error by rookie Matt Tolbert that allowed Russell Martin to score. But, Minnesota came back in the later innings. In the 7th, Barry Bonds singled in Joe Mauer, and Josh Fields would hit a two run single to cut the lead to 5-4. In the 8th, Kelly Johnson hit his second solo homer to tie the game up. And, in the 9th, Bonds homered to give Minnesota their first lead since the 1st inning. But, B.J. Ryan got himself in trouble early in the bottom of the 9th. He gave up consecutive singles to Kelly Shoppach and Dustin Pedroia and then walked Hanley Ramirez to load the bases with no outs. And, Magglio Ordonez made Ryan pay for his mistakes by driving in Shoppach and Pedroia with a double down the right field line. Ryan got the loss for Minnesota and Jered Weaver got the win as the ALCS heads westward to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Monday, October 13.
Sunday, October 12
New York's Ramon Hernandez let Chicago get on the board early with two passed balls in the 1st inning that set Brian Roberts up on base to eventually score and Ichiro Suzuki to score as well to give the Cubs a 2-0 advantage. It was a lead they wouldn't relinquish. New York got on the scoreboard in the 2nd as Yunel Escobar scored on a double by Freddy Sanchez. But, Chicago lit up Phillip Hughes for five runs in the 3rd. After walking and stealing second and third, Roberts scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Howard. Miguel Cabrera then scored on a single by Victor Martinez. C.C. Sabathia helped his own cause with a two run single, and Troy Tulowitzki scored on a single by Ichiro to round out the inning. In the top of the 4th, Victor Martinez hit a two run homerun and Josh Hamilton scored on a Tulowitzki single to make the score 10-1. New York came back in the bottom of the 7th as Jorge Posada doubled in BB.J. Upton and Nick Markakis doubled in Posada and David Wright to cut the lead to 10-4. In the 8th, the Mets got two more runs on a single by Freddy Sanchez and a groundout by Posada that allowed Michael Barrett, and Nick Markakis scored on a groundout by Freddy Sanchez in the 9th to bring New York within three runs. But, that was as far as the Mets would get as Joe Nathan got Adam Dunn to ground out harmlessly to first to end the game.
Monday, October 13
Minnesota struck first when Barry Bonds hit a two run homerun in the bottom of the 3rd. Boston's Alex Rodriguez countered with a two run shot in the top of the 4th. In the bottom of the 6th, the Twins' Josh Fields singled in Bill Hall to give them the lead once more. But, once more, Boston came back the very next inning as Jacoby Ellsbury singled in Alex Rodriguez in the top of the 7th. But, in the top of the 9th, Boston took the lead for the first time. A-Rod got on base thanks to a Pat Burrell error, and, after two quick groundouts by Aramis Ramirez and Kelly Shoppach, Rodriguez found himself on third. After a walk to Ellsbury, Twins' closer B.J. Ryan was brought in to close out the inning. But, Mark Loretta legged out an infield single to score Rodriguez, then Ryan walked Dustin Pedroia to load the bases, and Hanley Ramirez doubled to clear them and give Boston a four run lead. Jason Kubel struck out to lead Minnesota's half of the 9th, but rookie Matt Tolbert beat out a throw to first and rookie Max Scherzer walked Kelly Johnson to set up a scoring opportunity for Joe Mauer. But, Mauer grounded into a game-ending double play off of a curveball from Scherzer. Boston now leads Minnesota two games to one in the ALCS. Game Four will be Tuesday, October 14, in the Metrodome.
Chicago never trailed in this game thanks to the timely pitching of Rich Hill. Hill went seven innings, giving four hits, a walk, and striking out five. He induced two double plays in the first four innings and allowed only two runners to get to second base during his stint on the hill. Josh Hamilton gave Hill all the runs he'd need with a two run shot in the top of the 4th. Victor Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to score Brian Roberts in the top of the 5th, and in the 8th, Martinez scored on a single by Troy Tulowitzki who scored later that inning on a double by Roberts to complete the Cubs' scoring. New York's Ramon Hernandez hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, but that was all the offense New York could muster against Chicago's pitching as Billy Wagner came to strike out three straight batters and induce a groundout from rookie Yunel Escobar to end the game. Chicago now leads New York three games to one in the NLCS, and Game 5 will be Wednesday, October 15, at Shea Stadium.
Tuesday, October 14
Boston struck first in the 3rd inning when Dustin Pedroia doubled in Jeremy Hermida. Minnesota struck back with two runs in the bottom of the 4th as rookie Matt Tolbert singled in Pat Burrell and Joe Mauer hit a sacrifice fly that scored Jason Kubel and put the Twins ahead 2-1. Boston retook the lead in the 5th as Jacoby Ellsbury tripled in Russell Martin to tie the game and then scored the go-ahead run on an error by Tolbert. But, in the bottom of the 6th, Minnesota struck for six runs, starting with a run-scoring single by Mauer, a two run single by Mark Teixeira, a run-scoring single by Bill Hall, and a two run double by Josh Fields. Boston got two runs back in the 8th off of an Albert Pujols homer, but that was all the offense the Red Sox could muster as the Twins tied up the ALCS at two games apiece. Matt Garza got the win for Minnesota, giving up two earned runs on five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts, while Kason Gabbard got a blown save and the loss for Boston, giving up four earned runs on three hits, a walk, and one strikeout in one-third of an inning. Game 5 will be Thursday, October 16, at the Metrodome.
Wednesday, October 15
Javier Vazquez sparked the Mets to a much-needed win in Game 5 of the NLCS today by holding Chicago to two runs on nine hits, a walk, and three strikeouts in 7.2 innings. New York's offense helped Vazquez out as Jorge Posada gave the Mets an early lead with a two run homerun in the bottom of the 1st. Josh Hamilton countered for Chicago with a solo shot in the top of the 2nd. But, New York got two more in the bottom of that inning as Miguel Cabrera committed an error that allowed Freddy Sanchez to score and B.J. Upton hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-1 after two innings. The Mets added their fifth and final run in the 3rd when David Wright scored on a groundout by Yunel Escobar. Chicago got a run back in the top of the 5th off of a Troy Tulowitzki homerun. But they wouldn't score again until the 9th when Rocco Baldelli would knock in Manny Ramirez and Victor Martinez with a long single to left center field. Baldelli would then make it to third base on a single by Ichiro Suzuki to set up the tying run with two outs and runners on the corners. But, Brian Roberts would end the game with a soft grounder to Freddy Sanchez, who threw out the speeding Roberts by a foot for the final out. Tim Lincecum got the loss for Chicago, as he gave up all five New York runs on five hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts in six innings. Game 6 will take place at Wrigley Field on Friday, October 17.
Thursday, October 16
Minnesota's Bill Hall gave the Twins an early lead with a two run double, and Josh Fields followed right after by singling in Hall to make the score 3-0 in the bottom of the 1st. But, three straight errors by Minnesota's defense allowed Boston to score two runs in the top of the 2nd. The Red Sox tied the game in the 4th when Jacoby Ellsbury singled in Aramis Ramirez. Minnesota got the lead back later that inning as Jason Kubel singled in Hall to make the score 4-3. But, Boston's bats took over in the 5th, as Albert Pujols singled in two runs with the bases loaded, Magglio Ordonez scored on a sacrifice fly by Aramis Ramirez, and Pujols scored on a sacrifice fly by Ellsbury to make the score 7-4. In the 6th, Alex Rodriguez upped the lead to 9-4 with a two run double off of Doug Slaten. Minnesota got a run back in the 7th when Pat Burrell scored on a groundout off the bat of rookie Matt Tolbert. But, Dustin Pedroia got that run back for Boston by scoring on a double by Magglio Ordonez to complete Boston's night at the plate. Jonathan Papelbon closed out the 8th and 9th innings to preserve the win for the Red Sox and send the ALCS back to Boston for Game 6 on Saturday, October 18.
Friday, October 17
The Chicago Cubs punched their ticket to the 2008 World Series with a 5-3 win over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field today. The Mets began the scoring when B.J.Upton singled in Shane Victorino in the top of the 1st. Rookie Yunel Escobar doubled in Nick Markakis in the 4th to make it a 2-0 game. But, Manny Ramirez led off the bottom of the inning with a double and Ryan Howard brought him home with a two run homerun to tie the game. In the 4th, Josh Hamilton gave the Cubs their first lead with a solo shot. And, in the 8th, Joe Nathan helped out with a run-scoring single to bring in Miguel Cabrera and Troy Tulowitzki hit a sacrifice fly to score Hamilton and give Chicago a three run lead. Grady Sizemore tried to start a comeback in the 9th by leading off the inning with a monster solo shot over the upper deck seats in right field and onto Sheffield Avenue. Then, after B.J. Upton struck out, Jorge Posada doubled to centerfield to set up a scoring situation. But, David Wright popped out to third and Nick Markakis struck out swinging to end the Mets' postseason run. Chicago now awaits the winner of the ALCS.
Saturday, October 18
Minnesota got on the board first after Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to score Joe Mauer in the 1st inning. The Twins got out to a five run lead in the 3rd as Kelly Johnson hit a two run homerun and Josh Fields hit a two run double, all off of Roger Clemens. Boston put up a scoring threat in the bottom of the inning when Hanley Ramirez singled and Magglio Ordonez walked. But, Felix Hernandez struck out Albert Pujols to end that threat. Finally, in the bottom of the 5th, Boston got on the board thanks to a run-scoring single by Ordonez and a two run single by Aramis Ramirez. An error by Pujols in the 6th allowed Jason Kubel to get on base and he would eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Joe Mauer. In the bottom of the inning, Jeremy Hermida and Hanley Ramirez scored to cut Minnesota's lead to 6-5. But, in the 7th, Josh Fields doubled in Bill Hall and then Fields scored on a line out to right field by Kubel to make the score 8-5, where it would stay for the last 2-1/2 innings. Boston got a runner on second in both the 8th and 9th innings. But, Hanley Ramirez and Magglio Ordonez both struck out in the 8th and Aramis Ramirez was picked off first base and Russell Martin struck out in the 9th to end both scoring threats, respectively. Game 7 of the ALCS will be Sunday, October 19, at Fenway Park.
Sunday, October 19
Minnesota struck first in this deciding game when Joe Mauer doubled in Kelly Johnson to make the score 1-0. But, Boston came back in the 1st with two runs as Daric Barton singled in Hanley Ramirez and Aramis Ramirez singled in Alex Rodriguez. In the 2nd, Hanley Ramirez doubled in Jeremy Hermida, Dustin Pedroia scored on a groundout by Magglio Ordonez, Hanley Ramirez scored on a single by Barton again, and Aramis Ramirez singled in Alex Rodriguez for the second time to make the score 6-1. And, in the 3rd, Minnesota's Grant Balfour helped Boston out by throwing a wild pitch with the bases loaded that scored Hermida and Pedroia scored again on a groundout by Ordonez to make the score 8-1, Boston. In the 5th, the Twins got two runs on a homer by Bill Hall. But, the Red Sox got four more runs in the bottom of the inning on a two run double by Barton, a fielding error by Twins third baseman Josh Fields, and a groundout off the bat of Russell Martin that allowed Barton to score from third. In the top of the 7th, Randy Winn hit a three run homerun to cut Boston's lead to 12-6. But, Josh Fields made another error, this time an errant throw to first, that allowed Hermida to score their thirteenth run of the game. In the bottom of the 8th, Barton singled in Ordonez, Martin grounded out to third which scored A-Rod, and Hermida singled in Martin to complete Boston's scoring and increase their lead to 16-6. In the 9th, Mark Teixeira led off with a double, Barry Bonds walked, and Winn singled in Teixeira to get a run back and set up more chances with runners on the corners. But, Cla Meredith got Josh Willingham to pop out to Martin, struck out Pat Burrell swinging, and induced a ground out from Jason Kubel to end the game. Boston will now host the Chicago Cubs in the World Series, which starts Wednesday, October 22.
2008 All-Star Game
Both league's first starting pitchers kept the other teams off the field pretty effectively. The AL's Jake Peavy struck out four and walked two in his two innings of work while the NL's Johan Santana struck out three, walked none, and retired all six batters he faced. Clay Buchholz came on in relief of Peavy and gave up a hit and a walk, while Rich Harden did the same as well as striking out a batter in his two innings of work. Francisco Liriano, who ended up with the win, struck out two, walked one, and gave up two hits in his effort. But, Yovani Gallardo gave up three earned runs on two hits and a walk while not recording an out. Hanley Ramirez hit a single to score Ryan Braun for the first run, Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly to score Jorge Posada, and Ramirez stole second and then scored on a single by Nick Swisher. In the 6th, Ramirez hit a three run homerun, the only bomb of the game, which also netted him the MVP trophy.
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