First Round Playoff Series - Buckeyes vs Warpigs

Cards and dice.

First 2 games at The BallPork

Game 1 - Warpigs win 7-5. The Warpigs blasted A.J. Burnett for 6 runs in the 1st inning, 3 coming on a home run by Scott Van Slyke. Adam Wainwright was shaky, but went 8.2 innings for the win, getting last out save help from Michael Wacha. Austin Jackson had an RBI double in the 1st and an RBI triple in the 3rd. That 3rd inning triple was the last hit the Pigs would get.

Game 2 - Warpigs win 2-1. The Buckeyes had runners at the corners in the 9th, but Jose Fernandez was called in to get the last out for the save. Tyler Lyons threw 2.1 dandy innings to get the win in relief of Stephen Strasburg, who pitched pretty well himself. The game-winning hit was a solo homer by Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the 8th off of R.A. Dickey. The Buckeyes outhit the Warpigs 10-5.

Next 3 games at the Buckeye Bandbox

Game 3 - Buckeyes win 6-4. The Buckeyes built a 4-0 lead behind Jeanmar Gomez, but the Pigs scored 4 in the top of the 8th, the last 3 coming on a pinch hit homer by Yoenis Cespedes. But Jose Fernandez could not get Ryan Doumit out. He jacked a 3-run homer in the 6th and a 2-run shot in the 8th, both off of Fernandez. Doumit, dammit.

Game 4 - Warpigs win 6-2. The Warpigs scored in each of the first 4 innings. Yadier Molina and Yoenis Cespedes both hit home runs, and A.J. Pollock hit two bombs, both off of Travis Wood. Tyler Lyons (1.2), Casey Fien (1.2), and Jose Fernandez (2.2) shut down the Buckeye bats after Wily Peralta threw a gutsy 3 innings.

Game 5 - Warpigs win 2-0. Adam Wainwright went 5.2, Tyler Lyons got David Ortiz out in the 6th with the tying run at 2nd, and Jose Fernandez threw the last 3 innings in this shutout. Scott Van Slyke homered in the 2nd and later added a 9th inning RBI double (on a 2b-1, out the rest that scored Molina from 1st 1-10 with 2 outs).

The Buckeyes outhit the Warpigs in 4 of the 5 games, and outhit them 43-32 for the series. The Series MVP goes to Tyler Lyons, who went 2-0 and threw 7.1 innings in 4 games, allowing 4 hits, no runs, no walks, while striking out 7. Adam Wainwright also went 2-0. Jose Fernandez had 3 saves.

The Warpigs advance to play the top-seeded Fungoes in round 2.