NLDS Game 1: Portsmouth vs. Fleetwood

The Fleetwood Walkers earned a 10th consecutive BRASSball playoff berth in 2015 on the strength of a 104-58 regular season record. This performance gave Fleetwood its third consecutive division title, and its 7th division title in the past 10 years.

Unfortunately for its loyal fans, though, Fleetwood has yet to advance to the BRASSball World Series. The Walkers have reached the NLCS five times, but have fallen short each time despite thrice pushing its NLCS foe to a decisive Game 7.

Led by star center fielder Mike Trout (.279 AVG, 36 HR, 98 RBI) and perennial slugging first baseman Miguel Cabrera (.305 AVG, 27 HR, 113 RBI), perhaps this 2015 edition would craft a different ending.

Earning the right to face Fleetwood in the NLDS were the Portsmouth Brewers. Portsmouth finished the regular season with an impressive 93-69 record and featured star hitter Anthony Rizzo (.298 AVG, 36 HR 108 RBI) and ace reliever Dellin Betances (8-4 record, 2.28 ERA, 87 IP, 123 K).

Zack Greinke: 6.1 IP, 0 R, 7 K

Starting in Game 1 for Fleetwood would be Zack Greinke (18-7 record, 2.67 ERA) while Portsmouth turned the ball over to Yu Darvish (10-8 record, 4.29 ERA).

The Walkers grabbed an early lead in the 2nd when Darvish's control temporarily escaped him. He walked two in the inning, and also threw two wild pitches. The second wild pitch plated Marwin Gonzalez, who had led off the inning via a walk.

Nick Castellanos 2-run single in 9th

Neither team would score again until the 9th, when Portsmouth's offense finally came alive. Dustin Pedroia led off the inning with a single and a stolen base against Fleetwood reliever Tom Wilhelmsen. Wilhelmsen then walked 2 batters, loading the bases for Nick Castellanos. With two outs on the board, Castellanos came through for Portsmouth, plating two runs with a hard-hit single. This gave the Brewers a late 2-1 lead.

Portsmouth sent Darvish out the mound to begin the 9th inning, looking for the complete game. He retired the first batter easily, but then gave up a one-out single to Jean Segura to put the tying run on base. This led Portsmouth to turn the game over to ace reliever Dellin Betances.

Seth Smith: 3-5, walk-off hit

Fleetwood countered with pinch-hitter Mookie Betts, who greeted Betances with a single. Pinch-hitter Derek Norris followed, drawing a hard-earned walk to load the bases.

Outfielder Desmond Jennings came up next, and drew yet another walk to tie the game 2-2. When Fleetwood mid-season acquisition Seth Smith then delivered a bases-loaded RBI single, Fleetwood had grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat with a thrilling walk-off win.

Final score: Fleetwood 3, Portsmouth 2.

W: Wilhelmsen (1-0). L: Betances (0-1). SV: None. HR: None.

Fleetwood leads series 1-0.

BOXSCORE: 2015 Portsmouth Brewers At 2015 Fleetwood Walkers         10/9/2015

  Brewers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG

  A.De Aza LF         4  0  0  0 .000     S.Smith DH          5  0  3  1 .600  

D-C.Maybin CF         0  0  0  0 ----     M.Trout CF          3  0  0  0 .000  

  D.Pedroia 2B        3  1  1  0 .333     K.Kiermaier RF      4  0  2  0 .500  

  A.Rizzo 1B          3  1  0  0 .000     M.Cabrera 1B        3  0  0  0 .000  

  J.Lucroy C          3  0  1  0 .333     F.Cervelli C        4  0  0  0 .000  

  M.Saunders RF,LF    3  0  0  0 .000     M.Gonzalez SS       2  1  0  0 .000  

  M.Napoli DH         2  0  0  0 .000   A-J.Segura SS         1  1  1  01.000  

B-J.Francisco PH,DH   1  0  0  0 .000     D.Wright 3B         3  0  0  0 .000  

  N.Castellanos 3B    4  0  1  2 .250   F-M.Betts PH          1  1  1  01.000  

E-S.Rodriguez 3B      0  0  0  0 ----     C.Utley 2B          2  0  1  0 .500  

  A.Simmons SS        4  0  0  0 .000   G-D.Norris PH         0  0  0  0 ----  

  I.Suzuki CF,RF      3  0  1  0 .333     R.Grossman LF       3  0  0  0 .000  

                                        C-D.Jennings LF       0  0  0  1 ----  

                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      

         Totals      30  2  4  2                 Totals      31  3  8  2

A-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Gonzalez In 7th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Napoli In 7th Inning

C-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Grossman In 8th Inning

D-Subbed Defensively (CF) For De Aza In 9th Inning

E-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Castellanos In 9th Inning

F-Pinch Hit For Wright In 9th Inning

G-Pinch Hit For Utley In 9th Inning

Brewers......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 2  -  2  4  0

Walkers......... 0 1 0  0 0 0  0 0 2  -  3  8  0

Brewers (0-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

Y.Darvish                 8 1/3   6   2   2   3   9   0   2.16  A1 D6

D.Betances L(0-1) BS(1st) 0       2   1   1   2   0   0   ----  D7

Totals                    8 1/3   8   3   3   5   9   0

Walkers (1-0)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET

Z.Greinke                 6 1/3   2   0   0   3   7   0   0.00  A1 C5

R.Mendez HOLD(1st)        1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  C6 C8

T.Wilhelmsen W(1-0)B(1st) 1 2/3   2   2   2   2   3   0  10.80  C9

Totals                    9       4   2   2   5  10   0

ATTENDANCE- 45,296 DATE- Friday, October 9th 2015 TIME- Day WEATHER- Average

UMPIRES- Gary Darling, Jerry Meals, Bill Miller, Paul Emmel

T- 3:00

LEFT ON BASE- Brewers: 6  Walkers: 8

DOUBLE PLAYS- Brewers: 0  Walkers: 1

DOUBLES- S.Smith(1st), C.Utley(1st)

RBIs- N.Castellanos-2(2nd), S.Smith(1st), D.Jennings(1st)

STOLEN BASES- D.Pedroia(1st), N.Castellanos(1st), M.Betts(1st)

WALKS- D.Pedroia, A.Rizzo, J.Lucroy, M.Saunders, J.Francisco, M.Cabrera,

       M.Gonzalez, C.Utley, D.Norris, D.Jennings

HIT BY PITCH- M.Trout

STRIKE OUTS- A.De Aza, D.Pedroia, A.Rizzo, J.Lucroy-2, M.Saunders, M.Napoli-2,

             N.Castellanos, A.Simmons, S.Smith-2, M.Trout-2, M.Cabrera,

             F.Cervelli, M.Gonzalez, R.Grossman-2

GIDP- A.De Aza

WILD PITCHES- Y.Darvish-2

2-out RBI- N.Castellanos-2

RLISP 2-out- F.Cervelli-2, S.Smith-2, N.Castellanos-2, K.Kiermaier, A.Simmons-2

TEAM RISP- Brewers: 1 for 6  Walkers: 2 for 10

WEB GEMS- Bot 7th: Jonathan Lucroy blocked the plate, saving a run!

The hometown crowd was rewarded with a dramatic ending, as the Fleetwood

Walkers staged a comeback win over the Portsmouth Brewers by the count of 3

to 2.

Fleetwood came through with the game-winning runs in the bottom of the 9th

inning with 2 runs utilizing 3 base hits.  After an out was recorded, Jean

Segura was the sparkplug when he stroked a one-base hit.  Mookie Betts came

to the plate and slapped a single.  Betts took his lead and swiped second.

Derek Norris stepped in and he drew a walk to load the bases.  Desmond

Jennings came up to bat and drew a walk.  Seth Smith added to the outburst

and lined a base-hit.  Fleetwood finished with 8 hits while Portsmouth ended

up with 4.  

The win went to Tom Wilhelmsen(1-0) who allowed 2 runs in 1 and 2/3 innings.

The loss was charged to Dellin Betances(0-1) in relief.  He gave up 1 run and

2 hits without retiring a batter.