Main Playoffs

Expos 2, Giants 0: The NL East champions struggled to start the series, with a run differential of less than 20 for Game One, but their defense came through and held the NL West champsions even lower for a 19-14 victory. They then turned around and scored a blockbusting 77 runs in Game Two, officially credited with a 47-24 win to sweep the series. Julie Dunkel highlighted the Game Two action, going 11-for-11 with seven doubles, one triple, and three home runs.

Astros 2, Marlins 1: The NL Wild Card winners had defeated the powerhouse NL Central winners during the regular season, and started the series strong with a 29-9 win to take the edge. However, a forfeit midway through Game Two brought the Astros back into contention. Game Three ended up being an extremely close affair, each team keeping the other down, and three runs scored by the AI Marlins nearly made the critical difference. The home team modifier resulted in a final matchup score of 16-16, and the Astros took the tie and the series by virtue of being the home team. A rally-killing pitching performance by Sammy Sosa in the sixth inning stopped the Marlins in the nick of time.

LCS Matchup: Expos vs. Astros. Astros win the tiebreaker for home field advantage, as they defeated the Expos 36-25 during their regular season contest. Because of that contest the Astros are considered favorites.

Royals 2, Hornets 0: The AL Central champions and best team in the regular season were back to their high-scoring ways, attaining a run differential of 50 at home to take Game One. There was a lot of speculation as to how the speed-reliant team would far at Sandy Flats, against the AL West winners’ great arms, but in the end that barely mattered as the Royals attained a run differential of 34. That was probably enough to sweep the series, but the Hornets eventually forfeited Game Two to seal the deal.

Indians 2, Monsters 1: The AL Wild Card winners were hoping for the upset and put up a good Game One performance, but the AL East champions were comfortable at home and won easily with a score of 32-15. Not to be deterred easily, the Indians bounced back in Game Two, taking advantage of their home field to steamroll the Monsters, 36-10. The momentum from this victory would prove to be enough, as the Monsters were somewhat deflated in Game Three and the Indians upped their performance in Tin Can Alley, resulting in a narrow 23-19 win for the only upset in the primary playoffs.

LCS Matchup: Indians vs. Royals. The Royals are considered the favorite in this series by virtue of their extreme strength throughout the season, but the Indians can’t be counted out after beating the Royals at the end of the regular season by holding them to just three runs.

Tier 2 Playoffs

Melonheads 2, Mets 1: The series started out by seeming as though the higher-seed Mets would take a routine victory against the lower-seed Melonheads, as the ‘Heads struggled to accomplish anything in Game One and were routed 20 to -1. However, the Melonheads were determined for revenge after their loss, and surged forth in Game Two while the Mets fell back, and a 19-8 victory sent the series into a third game. Game Three was a very close affair, but the Mets’ offense dried up after the third inning while the Melonheads broke out late in the game, aided by a trio of Aluminum Power bats, ultimately taking the game 17-15 to win the series.

Brewers 2, Dodgers 0: The Brewers worried about having to host the Dodgers at Sandy Flats for the first game, as they have struggled there all season. However, this disadvantage was counterbalanced by a struggle by the Dodgers to score many runs in both games, and the Brewers won with scores of 12-4 and 17-5 to sweep the series.

LCS Matchup: Melonheads vs. Brewers. The two teams are 1-1 against each other in the regular season, but between having a more powerhouse offense and a better record, the Brewers are considered favorites. The Melonheads’ hope for victory is in the game(s) at Sandy Flats, where they were able to defeat the Brewers at the beginning of the season.

Red Sox 2, Wombats 0: The Red Sox missed out on the primary playoffs via tiebreaker, and they took that frustration out on the Wombats in this series. The Wombats put forth some impressive scores, but that didn’t matter at all as the Sox’ powerful lineup racked up run after run, ultimately sweeping the Wombats with scores of 49-34 and 39-22.

White Sox 2, Mariners 0: The White Sox were on a hot streak, while the Mariners had mostly squeezed into Tier 2 by luck, and it showed in this brief series. The Mariners had struggled against the Sox in the regular season, and continued to do so in this series, putting up only the faintest of resistance as they were swept with scores of 13-4 and 8-1.

LCS Matchup: White Sox vs. Red Sox. Red Sox are the tentative favorites for this matchup thanks to the sheer run production that they can muster, but the White Sox defeated them in the regular season and are on a hot streak heading into the series.

Tier 3 Playoffs

Rockies 2, Cubs 0: The Cubs only won one game during the regular season, but nearly managed to sneak Game One away, losing narrowly in a 6-6 contest that the Rockies took through home team advantage. That loss seemed to kill their spirits, as they completely imploded in Game Two to lose 10 to -6 and give the Rockies the series sweep.

Fishes 2, Bombers 1: This series illustrated only too well that the Bombers had some serious holes in their defense, and the Fishes pounced on that to rack up runs at the Bombers’ home of Tin Can Alley. Game One was a Fishes victory of 16-6, but the Bombers surged back at Dirt Yards, now poking holes in the Fishes’ defense to win 19-12. However, the Fishes completely blew Game Three away with a score of 28-4 to secure an upset and move on in the playoffs.

LCS Matchup: Fishes vs. Rockies. The Rockies are the tentative favorites, as they defeated their division rivals in both regular-season contests, but those were close games and the Fishes are hot right now, which could let them surge past this time.

Rangers 2, Orioles 1: The O’s had been winless all season long, but were able to keep things surprisingly close in the lowest-scoring series of the entire round. The Orioles secured their first victory of the season in Game One, 4-2, but the Rangers turned up their offense in response to take two tight victories with scores of 5-4 and 3-2. Three runs scored by the AI Rangers made the difference in the final game, the Orioles’ worse defense proving to be a critical point.

Athletics 2, Devil Rays 1: Everything was looking up for the Devil Rays to start with, as they’d not only beat the A’s in the regular season but then took Game One by a score of 8 to 5. However, six runs scored by the AI Athletics in Game Two became a deciding factor, and the home team advantage kept the A’s alive with a close 3-3 victory. That tilted the balance, and the A’s were able to win the deciding game by a score of 6-2 to take the series.

LCS Matchup: Athletics vs. Rangers. The division rivals are 1-1 against each other, leaving no clear favorite. However, the slight edge is given to the Rangers, as they have home field advantage and their win against the A’s came at home.

Statistics

• Four out of twelve series ended in upsets, with the Indians, Melonheads, Fishes, and Athletics overcoming superior foes to advance.
• Half of the series were two-game sweeps, and half went to three games.
• Five of the six three-game series were won by the team that lost game one, including three of the four upsets.
• Five coaches had both of their teams eliminated this round: areyoutyler, Crazyei8hts, Mavfatha, Yurya, and GSchlim. Five others had both teams advance: gmchappe, jibbodahibbo, psanchez55, GreenDayEagles, and Ellman. Two had one team advance and one get eliminated: Eauxps I. Fourgott and psanchez55’s dad.
• The Expos scored the most runs of any team in round one, with 94 runs in two games. The Rangers scored the fewest runs of any winning team, with only 12 runs across their three games, while the Cubs ended with the lowest run differential of all teams, at 0. Of the losing teams, the Wombats scored the most runs, with 58 in two games.
• Four out of the six League Championship Series matchups will take place between division rivals, with only the Expos-Astros and White Sox-Red Sox contests breaking the pattern.
• The N