It was perhaps one the single greatest series I've played in all my 34 years of Strat.  The series was marked by dramatic hits, 2 out rallies, Game ending walkoff HR's. Starting ace's crunched, heroes from the pen. Unlikely bench subs coming up huge.  It was the series for the ages.  The war for the right to meet the Skokie Wolfman.

Game 5:  It was sick!.  One of the all time great games in CBA history.  Brooklyn jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind a Furcal triple, his 2nd of series and a long Cabrera HR.  The pitching was sharp.  R.A. Dickey was throwing a gem all night long keeping Philly off balance.   Nelson Cruz who had a terrific series then hit a solo bomb cutting the lead to 2-1. Brooklyn came right back scoring on another Cabrera HR to make it 3-1.  It went all the way to the 9th. With 2 outs, Utley walked against CBA save king Mariano Rivera.  Mariano was called in for a 4 out save. After Utley walked, Russell Branyan caught the cutter, and sent it deep to Right field pavillion for a game tying  2 RBI blast.  Rivera closed the inning and the game went until the 11th.  Andres Torres ripped a base-hit.  Chase Utley stepped up to the
plate and he reached on an error.  After an out was recorded, Russell Branyan
stepped in and he slapped a single to load the bases.  J.D. Drew followed
next and he laced a one-base hit resulting in a mighty exciting win for
Philly and the 53,416 home town fans in attendance.  Philly had a total of 9
hits for the game.  A dramatic Branyan HR and the Phanstastics led the series 3 games to 2.

Game 6:
Back to the House of Pain where Brooklyn feels at home.  When this game started, it was all Brooklyn.  Not so fast.  After a heartbreaking and nearly devastating loss in Philly game 5, the Superbas gathered up and struck for 8 runs against lefty Francisco Liriano.  Everyone in the lineup hit.  Markakis 4 for 5, Cabrera again 3 for 5, Jeter had a big game 2 for 5, Howard knocked in a pair, Rolen went 3 for 4 and had a big HR to seal the game after Philly mounted a furious comeback to make the game 8-7 by the top of the 4th!  Philly got huge hits from their whole lineup.  Utley had 3 hits knocked in 3.  Starlin Castro knocked in another 3, roughing up David Price and sending the Brooklyn #2 right to the showers.  But as throughout the whole series, (save Dickey's gem) the Brooklyn bullpen closed the door behind Sergio Romo and rev Righty Sergio Mitre. The Phanatstics always kept coming.  Abreu and Drew had some big hits, and some RBI's as well to round out the Philly attack.  These two powerful teams slugged it out. Philly edged back closer. Ivan Rodriguez who had a terrific series, added an RBI on his 3rd hit of the game.  Later Scott Rolen put it away against the lefty Tony Sipp with a 3 run bomb.  Final Brooklyn 13 Philly 8 series tied.

Game 7
 For the ages.  Greatest CBA playoff game ever for Brooklyn. Halladay vs Hamels.  Perhaps one of CBA's biggest ever.  Series tied at 3.  It was a good day for baseball, and Philly looked to make it a great upset victory in the House of Pain.  Brooklyn jumped out early when Nick Markakis doubled. Miguel Cabrera knocked him in for a 1-0 lead.  Philly came back with 1 in the 4th when Nelson Cruz and Russell Branyan hit back to back doubles and a JD Drew single off starter Roy Halladay who had been cruising till then, tied the game at 1.  It then fell apart for Doc in the 5th, he self destructed in games 1 and 4 as well.  Zobrist let the air out of Superbas fans chests after the super sub replacing banished Longoria hit a solo HR to give a 2-1 to Philly.  Two batters later, little Andres Torres hit another solo blast to make it 3 to 1 Philly.  A lead that the excellent Philly bullpen would hold onto until the 7th inning.  With 1 out Casey Blake was summoned from the bench and he doubled to left center :)   Derek Jeter then came up against the lefty starter Cole Hamels and singled. Next key RF Nick Markakis doubled and Blake scored jeter was cut down at the plate by Torres on a 1-15 drawing a 17.  The score was cut to 3 to 2, but the inning ended on a Cabrera K.  The game went 3-2 as Brooklyn's Burnett and Hensley quieted Philly for 2 more innings giving Brooklyn their last opportunity in the bottom of the 9th.  Arthur Rhodes and Tony Sipp had been great this series and held Brooklyn in check and down by 1.  After two walks in the 8th, Arthur Rhodes induced a Double play from Ryan Doumit.  To the 9th.  Hensley mows 'em down, and Brooklyn faces lefty Tony Sipp to pitch to the Brooklyn top of the lineup.  He gets Denorfia PH for Vernon Wells, to pop out.  Omar Infante comes up and hits a gapper double to left center, and with 1 out Brooklyn was in business but would it be enough?  The fans were screaming at the top of their lungs as Brooklyn's Nick Markakis stepped up.  Markakis had been red hot this series and facing lefties was dangerous.  Hite replaces Sipp with Heath Bell to face Derek Jeter.  With no subs on bench Jeter had to hit vs the Righty Bell.  He grounded weakly to SS. Now with 2 outs and the lefty Markakis up, Hite stayed with Bell.  Markakis promplty deposited a game tying single allowing a play at the plate and safe score for Infante!.  Game tied.  Miguel Cabrera red hot at the plate.  The pitch the swing.....LONG LONG BACK BACK BACK GONE!!!!  Walk off HR for Miguel Cabrera.  Brooklyn wins round 1 vs Philly 5 to 3!!  Huge win  for Brooklyn.  The story an absolutely gutty hard fought nearly won series played expertly by Rob Hite.  Hite played this team that was hit by overuse on two best hitters to the max.  A fine gentleman, and fun as heck to play gainst.  My hats off to you Rob for a whale of a fun series win or lose.





BOXSCORE: 2011 Brooklyn Superbas At 2011 Philly Phantastics         10/4/2011

[1]  Superbas           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Phantastics        AB  R  H RBI AVG
  R.Furcal SS         3  1  2  0 .500     A.Torres CF         5  1  1  0 .200 
B-O.Vizquel SS,2B     2  0  0  0 .222     C.Utley 2B          4  1  2  0 .368 
  O.Infante 2B        3  0  0  1 .182     N.Cruz RF           5  1  2  1 .429 
C-D.Jeter SS          2  0  1  0 .455     R.Branyan 1B        5  1  2  2 .500 
  M.Cabrera 1B        3  2  2  2 .471     J.Drew LF           5  0  1  1 .190 
  R.Howard DH         6  0  2  0 .318     V.Martinez C        4  0  1  0 .300 
  R.Braun LF          5  0  1  0 .238     C.Lee DH            3  0  0  0 .375 
  V.Wells CF          3  0  0  0 .125   E-L.Berkman PH        0  0  0  0 .333 
D-C.Denorfia PH,CF    0  0  0  0 .125     B.Zobrist 3B        2  0  0  0 .211 
  S.Rolen 3B          5  0  1  0 .188     S.Castro SS         4  0  0  0 .227 
  R.Doumit C          2  0  0  0 .167                                         
A-I.Rodriguez C       2  0  0  0 .286                                         
  N.Markakis RF       5  0  1  0 .190                                         
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
[1]         Totals      41  3 10  3                 Totals      37  4  9  4

A-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Doumit In 4th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Furcal In 6th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Infante In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Wells In 10th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Lee In 10th Inning

Superbas........ 2 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0  0 0 -  3 10  2
Phantastics..... 0 0 0  1 0 0  0 0 2  0 1 -  4  9  1

[1]Superbas (2-3)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
R.Dickey                  7 2/3   5   1   1   0   4   1   1.17  A1 C8
M.Rivera L(0-1) BS(1st)   2 1/3   2   3   3   2   1   1   8.10  C9 E1
C.Hensley                 0 1/3   2   0   0   0   0   0   6.00  E2
[1]Totals                   10 1/3   9   4   4   2   5   2

[1]Phantastics (3-2)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Verlander               7       8   3   3   1   3   2   4.91  A1 D3
E.O'Flaherty              1       0   0   0   1   0   0   0.00  D4 D6
A.Rhodes                  0 1/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   0.00  D7 D8
H.Bell                    1       1   0   0   1   3   0   3.86  D9 E4
T.Sipp                    1       1   0   0   2   2   0   0.00  E5 F1
L.Gregerson WIN(1-0)      0 2/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   6.75  F2
[1]Totals                   11      10   3   3   7   8   2

ATTENDANCE- 53,416 DATE- Tuesday, October 4th 2011 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
T- 3:00
LEFT ON BASE- Superbas:13  Phantastics: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Superbas: 2  Phantastics: 1
ERRORS- S.Rolen, C.Hensley, C.Utley
DOUBLES- R.Furcal(1st), D.Jeter(1st), S.Rolen(1st)
TRIPLES- R.Furcal(2nd)
HOME RUNS- M.Cabrera-2(3rd), N.Cruz(1st), R.Branyan(4th)
STOLEN BASES- R.Howard(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- O.Vizquel, C.Utley, N.Cruz
SACRIFICE HITS- B.Zobrist
SACRIFICE FLIES- O.Infante
WALKS- O.Vizquel, M.Cabrera-3, V.Wells, C.Denorfia, I.Rodriguez, C.Utley,
       L.Berkman
HIT BY PITCH- B.Zobrist
STRIKE OUTS- O.Vizquel, R.Howard-2, R.Braun, V.Wells, S.Rolen, I.Rodriguez,
             N.Markakis, A.Torres-2, J.Drew, C.Lee, S.Castro
GIDP- R.Howard, A.Torres, R.Branyan
WILD PITCHES- J.Verlander, T.Sipp
PASSED BALLS- I.Rodriguez
2-out RBI- N.Cruz, M.Cabrera, R.Branyan-2

The Philly Phantastics and the Brooklyn Superbas locked up in an exciting
one-run game at Ameriquest Field.  The final score was the Philly Phantastics
4, the Brooklyn Superbas 3 in 11 innings.

The score was tied at 3 after nine.  Finally, Philly prevailed in the 11th
inning.  Andres Torres ripped a base-hit.  Chase Utley stepped up to the
plate and he reached on an error.  After an out was recorded, Russell Branyan
stepped in and he slapped a single to load the bases.  J.D. Drew followed
next and he laced a one-base hit resulting in a mighty exciting win for
Philly and the 53,416 home town fans in attendance.  Philly had a total of 9
hits for the game. 

The victory was credited to Luke Gregerson(1-0) who went 2/3 of an inning,
allowing no runs. Mariano Rivera(0-1) ended up with the loss in relief.  He
allowed Philly 3 runs in 2 and 1/3 innings of work. 

BOXSCORE: 2011 Philly Phantastics At 2011 Brooklyn Superbas         10/6/2011

[1]  Phantastics        AB  R  H RBI AVG     Superbas           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  S.Castro SS         4  1  2  3 .389     D.Jeter SS          5  2  2  2 .364 
  B.Zobrist 3B        4  1  1  0 .235     N.Markakis RF       5  1  4  2 .353 
  V.Martinez DH       5  0  1  0 .176     R.Braun LF          5  1  1  1 .250 
  C.Lee 1B            5  0  1  1 .400     M.Cabrera 1B        5  3  3  1 .467 
  C.Utley 2B          3  1  2  2 .500     R.Howard DH         3  2  1  2 .286 
  N.Cruz CF           1  1  0  0 .333     S.Rolen 3B          4  1  3  3 .417 
A-A.Torres PH,CF      3  0  1  0 .200     C.Denorfia CF       4  1  0  1 .000 
  J.Lucroy C          4  0  0  0 .000     I.Rodriguez C       5  1  3  1 .385 
B-R.Branyan PH        1  0  0  0 .500     O.Vizquel 2B        4  1  1  0 .375 
  B.Abreu LF          4  2  2  1 .313                                         
  J.Drew RF           4  2  2  1 .313                                         
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
[1]         Totals      38  8 12  8                 Totals      40 13 18 13

A-Pinch Hit For Cruz In 4th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Lucroy In 9th Inning

Phantastics..... 0 4 0  3 0 0  0 1 0  -  8 12  1
Superbas........ 8 0 0  1 0 1  0 3    - 13 18  0

[1]Phantastics (1-3)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
F.Liriano LOSS(0-1)       4 1/3  12   9   4   1   1   0   4.63  A1 C9
L.Gregerson               2 2/3   3   1   1   0   6   1   2.25  D1 E3
T.Sipp                    0 2/3   3   3   3   0   0   1  40.50  E4 E9
A.Rhodes                  0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  F1
[1]Totals                    8      18  13   8   1   7   2

[1]Superbas (3-1)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
D.Price                   3 2/3   9   7   7   2   5   0   8.68  A1 C5
S.Romo WIN(1-0)           1 2/3   0   0   0   1   4   0   0.00  C6 D2
S.Mitre SAVE(1st)         3 2/3   3   1   1   1   1   1   1.59  D3
[1]Totals                    9      12   8   8   4  10   1

ATTENDANCE- 49,281 DATE- Thursday, October 6th 2011 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
T- 3:43
LEFT ON BASE- Phantastics: 8  Superbas: 9
DOUBLE PLAYS- Phantastics: 1  Superbas: 0
ERRORS- B.Zobrist
DOUBLES- S.Castro(3rd), C.Utley(1st), N.Markakis(1st), M.Cabrera-3(7th)
TRIPLES- S.Castro(1st)
HOME RUNS- J.Drew(1st), R.Howard(2nd), S.Rolen(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- B.Zobrist
SACRIFICE FLIES- R.Howard, C.Denorfia
WALKS- S.Castro, B.Zobrist, C.Utley, N.Cruz, O.Vizquel
HIT BY PITCH- C.Utley, D.Jeter, R.Howard, S.Rolen
STRIKE OUTS- S.Castro, B.Zobrist, V.Martinez, A.Torres-2, J.Lucroy-3, J.Drew-2,
             D.Jeter-2, R.Braun-2, M.Cabrera, R.Howard, C.Denorfia
GIDP- O.Vizquel
WILD PITCHES- F.Liriano
2-out RBI- I.Rodriguez, D.Jeter-2, N.Markakis-2, C.Lee, C.Utley-2

Scott Rolen jacked one out of the ballyard and had 3 RBI as the Brooklyn
Superbas beat the Philly Phantastics by a score of 13 to 8.

Sergio Romo(1-0) did a nice job in relief and was credited with the win.  He
allowed no hits and 1 walk in 1 and 2/3 innings and struckout 4 Philly
batters.  Brooklyn had 18 hits for the night while Philly had 12. 

Sergio Mitre was credited with his 1st save.  Francisco Liriano(0-1) took the
loss.  Brooklyn scored big getting 9 runs off him in 4 and 1/3 innings. 

BOXSCORE: 2011 Philly Phantastics At 2011 Brooklyn Superbas         10/7/2011

[1]  Phantastics        AB  R  H RBI AVG     Superbas           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Torres CF         4  1  1  1 .227     D.Jeter SS          5  0  1  0 .381 
  C.Utley 2B          3  0  0  0 .360     N.Markakis RF       5  2  3  2 .355 
  N.Cruz RF           4  1  1  0 .385     M.Cabrera 1B        5  1  2  3 .481 
  R.Branyan 1B        4  0  1  1 .435     R.Howard DH         3  0  1  0 .321 
  J.Drew LF           4  0  2  0 .276   D-R.Furcal PR,DH      0  0  0  0 .500 
  V.Martinez C        3  0  0  0 .250     R.Braun LF          4  0  2  0 .267 
E-J.Lucroy C          0  0  0  0 .000     S.Rolen 3B          3  0  1  0 .304 
  B.Abreu DH          4  0  0  0 .292     I.Rodriguez C       1  0  0  0 .350 
  B.Zobrist 3B        3  1  1  1 .231   A-R.Doumit PH,C       3  0  1  0 .222 
  S.Castro SS         4  0  1  0 .267     V.Wells CF          3  0  0  0 .091 
                                        F-C.Denorfia PH       1  0  0  0 .077 
                                          O.Vizquel 2B        2  0  1  0 .267 
                                        B-C.Blake PH          1  1  1  0 .250 
                                        C-O.Infante 2B        1  1  1  0 .250 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
[1]         Totals      33  3  7  3                 Totals      37  5 14  5

A-Pinch Hit For Rodriguez In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Vizquel In 7th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Blake In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Ran For Howard In 8th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Martinez In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Wells In 9th Inning

Phantastics..... 0 0 0  1 2 0  0 0 0  -  3  7  0
Superbas........ 1 0 0  0 0 0  1 0 3  -  5 14  0

[1]Phantastics (3-4)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
C.Hamels                  6 1/3  10   2   2   0   7   0   2.79  A1 D1
B.Morrow HOLD(1st)        1       1   0   0   2   2   0   1.42  D2 D6
A.Rhodes HOLD(1st)        0 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  D7 D7
T.Sipp HOLD(1st)          0 1/3   1   1   1   0   0   0   9.82  D8 D9
H.Bell LOSS(0-2) BS(1st)  0 1/3   2   2   2   0   0   1  10.13  E1
[1]Totals                    8 2/3  14   5   5   2   9   1

[1]Superbas (4-3)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
R.Halladay                6 1/3   6   3   3   2   6   2  10.20  A1 C9
S.Burnett                 0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   4.15  D1 D1
C.Hensley                 0 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   4.91  D2 D3
S.Mitre                   1 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   1.29  D4 D8
M.Rivera WIN(1-1)         0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   7.36  D9
[1]Totals                    9       7   3   3   2   8   2

ATTENDANCE- 47,194 DATE- Friday, October 7th 2011 TIME- Day WEATHER- Bad
T- 3:08
LEFT ON BASE- Phantastics: 6  Superbas: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Phantastics: 2  Superbas: 1
DOUBLES- N.Cruz(3rd), R.Branyan(2nd), N.Markakis-2(4th), C.Blake(1st),
         O.Infante(1st)
HOME RUNS- A.Torres(1st), B.Zobrist(2nd), M.Cabrera(4th)
STOLEN BASES- S.Castro(1st)
WALKS- C.Utley, V.Martinez, R.Howard, S.Rolen
HIT BY PITCH- B.Zobrist
STRIKE OUTS- A.Torres-2, N.Cruz-2, R.Branyan, V.Martinez, B.Abreu, S.Castro,
             D.Jeter-2, N.Markakis, M.Cabrera-2, R.Howard, R.Braun, R.Doumit,
             V.Wells
GIDP- R.Braun, R.Doumit
WILD PITCHES- R.Halladay
2-out RBI- N.Markakis, M.Cabrera-2

Miguel Cabrera left the yard and had 3 RBI as the Brooklyn Superbas came back
to win one over Philly Phantastics, 5 to 3.

Brooklyn won the game with a rally in the 9th inning plating 3 runs using 3
hits.  After an out was recorded, Omar Infante kicked off the action when he
doubled.  One out later, Nick Markakis stepped in and he stroked a single.
Cabrera then lifted one out of the park for a two run home run.  For the game
Brooklyn out-hit Philly 14 to 7. 

The win went to Mariano Rivera(1-1) who allowed no runs in 1/3 of an inning.
Heath Bell(0-2) was the losing pitcher in relief.  'Now that is what I call
fun! I just love baseball, especially games like this, of course,' Marc Wass
offered.  'Everyone at the stadium had a great time - did you see the fans go
wild there at the end?!'

 

 

 

 

 

Strat-o-matic baseball CBA 2011 page