Bullpen sputters but Hopatcong clinches first finals appearance

It took another 13 innings to settle the other Game 6 semi-final. The Vancouver bullpen put up a valiant effort and was rewarded with a 9th-inning rally to force extras but Hopatcong finally closed it out in the 13th for a 6-5 win.

The second-seeded Floating Fish took the best-of-seven semi-final series against No. 3 Vancouver in 6 games, 4-2, and will make their first ever appearance in the DMBL World Series. They will have home-field advantage against 4th-seeded Tucson, which dispatched of No. 1 seed Sardine City in 6 games on Monday night.

Hopatcong took advantage of Luis Castillo's early inning troubles.  Joey Votto walked and Bryce Harper singled and after  Ryan Zimmerman strikeout, Robinson Cano laced a double deep to center to score them both for an early 2-0 advantage.

Castillo walked Gary Sanchez before getting out of the 1st but he would started the 2nd by issuing two bases on balls to the bottom of the order, Zack Cozart and Jacoby Ellsbury. Marwin Gonzalez and Votto both singled, to make it 4-0, before Castillo finally retired two batters but another run-scoring single by Cano was the last straw. Trevor Rosenthal came on to strike out Sanchez and get out of the 2nd inning, down 5-0.

Castillo lasted just 1 2/3 innings, with 27 of his 51 pitches going for strikes (.529). He walked 4 and struck out two, roughed up for 5 runs on 5 hits. Vancouver would mix and match four relievers to throw 3-hit ball over the next 6+ innings to keep their hopes of forcing a Game 7 alive.

Hopatcong starter Gio Gonzalez was humming along but for a random walk or a hit through 5 innings but no real threats. In the bottom of the 6th, Johan Camargo led off with a double deep to center field and Jose Martinez followed with a homer deep to left field to cut their deficit to 5-2. J.D. Martinez followed with a double down the left-field line and fans in the IronDome were starting to believe. Martinez would reach 3rd base on a fly ball to center by Anthony Rendon but was stranded there.

Gonzalez was done after 7 innings, limiting the Iron Fist to just 2 runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. Adam Warren worked an uneventful 8th inning before closer Alex Claudio took the mound. Carlos Santana, pinch-hitting for Charlie Blackmon, grounded out to first and Claudio then proceeded to walk the bottom third of the lineup (Jean Segura, Jonathan Schoop and Wilson Ramos) to load the bases, bringing the winning run to the plate with 1 out. Leadoff hitter Austin Jackson stepped in and connected for a three-run double deep to left center field to tie the game at 5-5, sending the IronDome into a frenzy.

Claudio was lifted in favor of John Brebbia who then intentionally walked Josh Reddick. Alex Avila lined out to center and J.D. Martinez stepped in. Vancouver's Mitchell Award candidates grounded out to short to end the bottom of the 9th with the winning run on 2nd.

Jose Smith relieved Sean Doolittle to start the top of the 10th, at which point Vancouver relievers had allowed just 3 hits over the last 7 1/3 innings to keep their hopes alive. Cano singled to lead off the inning and after Sanchez struck out, Ronald Torreyes grounded a single through the hole at short to put two runners on. That was it for Smith, who got the hook in favor of starter Brandon McCarthy. He got Cozart to ground out to short, forcing Torreyes at 2nd but Cano advanced to 3rd base. Ellsbury popped out to short him there.

Vancouver threatened in the bottom of the 12th against lefty Tyler Lyons. Wil Myers, pinch-hitting for Avila, drew a one-out walk and after J.D. Martinez struck out, Rendon singled to right center, sending Myers to 3rd base with the winning run. Matt Kemp stepped to the plate against McCarthy but struck out to end the inning.

In the top of the 13th, Myers took over at 1st base for Vancouver. Cozart reached on an infield single to short to lead off. After Ellsbury flied out to center, Gonzalez lined a single to center to get two men aboard. Harper followed a Votto fly out with his 3rd single of the game, a poke to shallow right, that scored Cozart from 2nd base for a 6-5 Hopatcong lead.

With a one-run lead, the Fish turned to Aroldis Chapman to closer out the bottom of the 13th. He quickly struck out Segura and Schoop to dim Vancouver's hopes. Ramos kept the spark alive with a single to left. Taking no chances, Hopatcong brought in Mychal Givens to match up against the lefty-killer Jackson. Sanchez picked an inopportune time to allow a passed ball, letting Ramos -- the tying run -- reach 2nd base. Jackson delivered with another hit but not a double this time, a single between third and short, and Ramos was held up at 3rd base.

Hopatcong would go to the bullpen again but without any left-handers remaining, starter Ervin Santana made his first appearance in the postseason. He got Reddick to ground out to 3rd base, to secure the win and Hopatcong's first-ever DMBL World Series.

Santana earned the save and Lyons picked up the win. McCarthy took the loss, going 3 2/3 innings, allowing 3 hits and a run.

Hopatcong finished with 6 runs on 12 hits and left 13 men on base. Vancouver had 5 runs on 9 hits, stranding 12.

Cano led the Fish with 3 RBI, and Harper and Gonzalez each were 3-for-7. Votto and Cozart each walked 3 times as Iron Fist pitchers issued 9 BBs in the 13 innings. Jackson had 3 hits, including 2 doubles, and 3 RBI for Vancouver and J.D. Martinez drove in 2 RBI.

In the six games, Hopatcong outscored Vancouver 32-25, including a 13-5 affair in Game 4. The Floating Fish combined for a 3.88 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, compared with Vancouver's 5.05 ERA and 1.55 WHIP.

Cano (.294/.429/.647) led the team with 6 RBIs, followed by Gonzalez (.292/.292/.583) and Nick Castellanos (.231/.231/.423) who each had 5. Harper (.375/.483/.375) led the team with 9 hits and his 5 runs were tops on the team along with Cozart (.292/.393/.486) and Ellsbury (.313/.421/.438). Votto was just 3-for-22 (.136/.367/.136) but walked 8 times against 4 strikeouts in the 6 games.

Jose Martinez (.625/.667/2.125) led the Iron Fist with 4 HRs, also matching Justin Turner for most in the postseason so far, on the strength of his 3 HR effort in Game 2. J.D. Martinez (.302/.385/.652) led the team with 7 hits and 6 RBI.

Paxton was Vancouver's best pitcher, winning two starts in the series (0.77 ERA, 0.79 WHIP) behind a 14.7 K/9 rate. He finished the postseason 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, with 27 Ks overall in 18 2/3 innings.

Castillo had a rough postseason, with an ERA of almost 10 in 4 starts, going 0-2. He technically made a quality start Game 3 versus Hopatcong but after the Game 6 debacle had a combined 9.39 ERA and 2.09 WHIP.

Besides a hiccup in Game 6, the Hopatcong bullpen had 6 relievers who combined for 21 scoreless innings (out of 58 innings overall in the 6 games). Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez made 2 starts a piece in the series. Strasburg (1-1) recorded a 6.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 17 Ks in 12 innings. In a team-high 15 innings, Gonzalez (1-0) had a 4.20 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.