NL Round One Recap

Underdog Iowa and their dynamic pitching attack brought out the brooms! The big Blago bats never busted out, getting shut out twice while batting .149 for the series with just a single homer in the three game sweep. Iowa's Sam Wilson spun a beauty in the clincher, giving up one hit in 7-plus innings. Wilson's performance was huge, as there was little margin for error with the loss of offensive sparlplug Emmanuel Aquino to injury in game 2. John Ueno earns series MVP honors for hitting .455 and setting the tone in two of the wins. He got the scoring under way with a three-run blast in game one, and a two-run shot in game 3. The sweep helps Iowa by getting their pitching lined up for their next series against division rival Tampa Bay. The over/under for total runs scored in that series is 20.5! (I'm leaning towards the under.) Chicago will undoubtedly be back in the hunt for a title next season. Congratulations on a great season Blagos!

St. Louis took advantage of an uncharacteristically wild Kevin Jenkins in game one to set the tone for the series, leading the way to a 3-1 series victory over Scranton. Chuck Merrick came up big with the walk-off hit. This could have been a different series if Jenkins had been able to give Scranton a little more, as the Redbirds gift-wrapped game 2 by making 5 errors and walking 9 Squirrels. The Redbirds got back to business by taking the next two to wrap up the series. Fritz Mullin was brilliant in the clincher, giving up two hits and no runs through 6. Merrick gets MVP honors for batting an astounding .647 with 3 homers and 9 RBI. Let's see if tmantom's Booya gives him the Bonds treatment and walks him every time up in the next series starting in Burlington. This should be a good match up. Burlington took 8 of the 10 meetings between the clubs during the season, but you can throw that out the window as the Redbirds surely know what it takes to win in the postseason. I'm looking forward to this one! Congrats to Scranton on a great season. They appear to back as a perenial playoff contender after going through a moderate rebuilding phase. They play the game right, with a balanced attack and never beating themselves.