It was a rematch of a No. 4-No. 5 opening round sweep by Hoboken in 2013; the last time the Floating Fish made the playoffs. Hopatcong also advanced to the semifinals in 2012 and entered play with a 8-9 postseason record. It's their 7th time in the postseason, with an overall record of 23-25.
Hoboken (94-58) took the Bonds Division, 5 games ahead of Hopatcong (89-73), which settled for the 6th and final seed, 6 games ahead of Livingston. The Cutters had the edge in the season series, 10-4. Both sported losing records against the playoff field: Hoboken at 23-31 (.426) and Hopatcong, 21-33 (.389).
The Cutters outscored Hopatcong 28-20 with some former Floating Fish playing big parts in the deciding Game 5. David Ortiz (.389/.429/1.111) spent the 2010 season with Hopatcong (when they were New Jersey Team Buddah) and led all players with 8 RBI and 4 HRs in the 1st round. He had a team-high 7 hits along with Miguel Cabrera (.389/.476/.611). Overall, the Cutters hit .263/.317/.474. As a team, Hopatcong hit .224/.257/.418 with four players collecting 5 hits, including Bryce Harper (.278/.350/.778) who had a team-high 3 home runs. Hopatcong's award hopefuls fell short to some extent. Listach Award front-runner Gary Sanchez (.238/.238/.571) hit 55 homers in the regular season and added 2 HRs and 5 RBI but Robinson Cano (.158/.238/.316), who had 121 RBI in the regular season, went cold with just 1 RBI in the series, coming on a solo home run.
Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 0.67 ERA, 0.82 WHIP) was magnificent in 2 starts but didn't get much help from other starters. Kyle Hendricks (0-2, 15.63, 2.68 WHIP) will forever feel the scorn of Fish fans, getting bombed in both of his starts and while the bullpen had its moments, it also coughed up a late Game 5 lead. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 0.66 ERA, 0.73 WHIP) was even better than Strasburg and while former Hopatcong prospect Rick Porcello (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) and Max Scherzer (0-0, 13.50 ERA) had their problems, Porcello came up big in Game 5.
Hopatcong struck first, plating a run in the 2nd after a leadoff double by Sanchez, followed by a passed ball and a balk and suddenly it was 1-0 against Kershaw.
Hoboken busted open for 6 runs in the 3rd. Yasmani Grandal led off with a home run before two quick outs. Cabrera and Ortiz each singled before a walk to Adrian Beltre loaded the bases. Brad Miller drove in two with a single but Ben Zobrist then cleared the bases with a 3-run bomb. That was it for Hendricks, who was tagged for 6 runs on 7 hits in just 2 2/3 innings.
The Cutters added some insurance with a two-run dong by Ortiz in the 7th to make it 8-1. Kershaw settled down after the 2nd, allowing just 3 hits over the next 7 innings. He went 8 innings, scattering 6 hits and 1 unearned run, along with 7 strikeouts to earn the victory.
Game 2: Hopatcong 5, Hoboken 0
Harper led off the game with a home run and after two singles, Sanchez launched a three-run blast for a quick 4-0 lead on Porcello after just 4 batters. That was all Strasburg would need. He threw one-hit ball over 7 innings, striking out 8. He walked 4 but the Cutters couldn't do anything with them. Nick Wittgen and Jacob Barnes each tossed a scoreless inning in relief. Hoboken was limited to just two hits, singles by Devon Travis and Adam Eaton.Porcello settled in, allowing a home run to Jung Ho Kang in the 5th but lasted 6 innings. He took the loss, giving up 5 runs on 9 hits. Brad Hand finished the final 3 innings.
Game 3: Hopatcong 11, Hoboken 8
After one pitching gem by each team, it was time for the bats to break out. Hoboken jumped out to a 5-0 lead after plating two in the 1st and three in the 2nd. The Cutters battered Hopatcong starter Angel Miranda, who coaxed a double-play from Cabrera to escape the first before a two-out error in the 2nd preceded four hits, including a Jarrod Dyson triple to score two.
Hopatcong punched back in the 2nd. After 3 singles and a sac fly, Harper slammed a 3-run homer off Max Scherzer to tie the game at 5-5 after just 2 innings.The Fish took the lead in the 5th when Sanchez made Scherzer pay for an earlier walk to Cano via a home run. That was it for Scherzer, who was relieved by Nate Jones. Scherzer was tagged for 7 runs in in 4 2/3 innings but managed a no-decision. Miranda lasted just 3 innings, giving up 5 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits.
After two hitless innings by Jacob Barnes, Tyler Lyons started the 7th, giving up two singles before Jose Reyes blasted a 3-run homer to snatch back the lead, 8-7.
Jones was done in by the bottom of the lineup. No 8 hitter Tim Anderson singled and Billy Hamilton managed a two-run homer, putting the Fish back on top, 9-8, and it was still just the 6th inning. Jones surrendered a solo home run to Cano leading of the 7th, extending the lead to 10-8.
Hopatcong added another insurance run off Carl Edwards, Jr. when Anderson tripled home Kang, who had walked to lead off the 8th.
Tony Barnette tossed a hitless 7th and 8th, including striking out his final four batters. Aroldis Chapman yielded a one-out single but otherwise struck out the side in the 9th, giving Hopatcong a 2-1 series lead in the Best-of-5. Lyons got the win despite the blown save and Chapman earned the save. Jones registered the loss for Hoboken.
Reyes led all batters with 4 hits and 5 RBI. Anderson finished 3-for-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. The Floating Fish had 11 runs on 10 hits, leaving only 2 runners on base.
Game 4: Hoboken 6, Hopatcong 1
In a must-win situation, Hoboken turned to their ace on short rest and he came through with perhaps an even better start than Game 1. Kershaw allowed just 4 hits and a run over 5 2/3 innings with 9 strikeouts. Tyler Thornburg and Boone Logan held Hopatcong hitless the rest of the way.
The Cutters never trailed. After Matt Joyce drew a walk to lead off the game, Ortiz pummeled a Hendricks offering deep to right, quieting the home crowd early. The Fish's only run came on another lead-off homer by Harper to start the bottom of the 1st.Hoboken continued to peck away at Hendricks. Zobrist led off the 2nd with a single, took 2nd base on a passed ball and scored on Adam Eaton's single to make it 3-1. To start the 3rd, Ortiz smashed his second homer of the game to up the lead to 4-1. Hendricks issued a one-out walk to Eaton, the No. 9 hitter, and two batters later, Cabrera deposited a pitch into the right center bleachers to finish off Hendricks.
Hopatcong was fortunate to have only surrendered two runs in the 4th. Nick Wittgren came on in relief and walked two batters before getting the hook. Matt Belisle made an appearance to walk the bases loaded before Tony Watson finally got the third out, keeping it a 6-1 ballgame.
Hendricks lasted 3 2/3 innings, responsible for 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 5 but suffered his second loss of the series.
Game 5: Hoboken 6, Hopatcong 2
A rematch of Game 2 between Porcello and Strasburg lived up to a deciding game's hype but Hopatcong was done in by a trio of former Floating Fish.
Strasburg was sharp again, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. Pedro Alvarez followed up a double by Kang with a home run to give the Fish a 2-0 lead in the 2nd. In the 6th, a leadoff walk to Matt Joyce and a single by Cabrera put runners on the corners for Ortiz, whose sacrifice fly plated the Cutters' first run, to make it 2-1. Other than that, both pitchers were dealing, not allowing a runner to even get into scoring position.
Strasburg issued a one-out walk to Zobrist in the 7th and was yanked after 102 pitches. Barnette came in to face Grandal, who singled, and then a wild pitch put runners at 2nd and 3rd with just one out. Barnette preserved the 2-1 lead by striking out Eaton and Joyce to end the 7th, with a golden opportunity for the Cutters gone.
Despite Barnette's heroics, Hopatcong called on Barnes for the bottom of the 8th. It did not go well. Cabrera led off with a single and Ortiz promptly deposited a 2-run home run into left field and suddenly the Cutters led 3-2.
Barnes, who threw two hitless innings in Game 3, struck out pinch-hitter Curtis Granderson after a one-out double by Brad Miller before Zobrist delivered a run-scoring single to make it 4-2. Grandal, left unprotected in the offseason by Hopatcong, drove a 2-run home run to right to break the game open, 6-2. Matt Belisle finally came on to get the 3rd out and head to the 9th with the Fish's 3-4-5 hitters due up.Nate Jones started the 9th and immediately gave up a single to Joey Votto and Hoboken wasn't having any repeat of Game 3. After just 3 pitches, Tyler Thornburg took the mound, got Sanchez to fly out, threw a wild pitch and struck out Cespedes. Kang singled to put runners on the corners but Thornburg put down any rally by striking out Alvarez to end the game and the series.
Porcello lasted 8 innings, tossing 119 pitches, but only yielding 5 hits and 2 runs for the win. Barnes suffered the loss after blowing the save with a brutal line: 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 5 earned runs.
Hoboken advances to face No. 2 Tucson. A Hopatcong win would have sent them to face No. 1 Vancouver and would have mean No. 4 Sardine City would instead go up against Tucson.
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