Showdown Cup Finals Game 4

We aren't done yet as the royals pulled off the comeback against the Cubs being down 3-1 after the top of the third, they came back to win the game 4-3 on a walk off double from Ben Zobrist. The scrappy never quitting Royals are now down 3-1 in the series and will need a lot of magic to stay alive. The spirit of this team to not give up in this game showed as the pitching staff locked in and didn't allow the Cubs to run away with the game. Now the hard part for the Royals, they must do this 3 more times but they seem up to the challenge.

     

Showdown Cup Finals Game 3

Things are starking to look grim for the 2015 Royals falling down 3-0 to the Cubs in the finals. The Cubs took a 3-0 lead into the 7th inning before Alex Gordon tied the game with a 3 run home run pushing the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11th inning Jorge Soler doubled scoring Anthony Rizzo, this was followed by an Addison Russell single sending in Ben Zobrist pushing the lead out to 5-3. The Cubs closed the game out and took the 3-0 lead looking like we may be crowning our very first Showdown Cup Champion very very soon. For a 3-0 lead this feels so much closer, losing in extras and losing game one 2-1 makes it feel like Kansas City could be in this series. Now they will have to play perfect over the last 4 games to make this a series.

  

Showdown Cup Finals Game 2

Game two is in the books and the Chicago Cubs have taken a 2 games to none lead over the Royals. This one was not as close as game one but the royals still had plenty of chances but couldn't get their runners across. Jake Arrieta remained the only undefeated pitcher in the duel of the starters. They bottom half of the order for the Cubs came up huge scoring 4 runs between their 8 and 9 hitters. This was the key for the Royals, preventing the lower half of the order from getting involved in the scoring. The Royals will look to right the ship when the series shifts to Kansas City for games 3 and 4 of the Showdown Cup.

     

Showdown Cup Finals Game 1

The first game sure started the finals off with a bang. The Royals strike first with an Eric Hosmer single in the top of the first scoring Lorenzo Cain. The Cubs come right back and answer in the bottom half with an Anthony Rizzo single scoring Dexter Fowler. Then in the bottom of the second Javy Baez lead off with a double, followed by a Dexter Fowler single scoring and giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead and they never looked back. From this point forward it was a shut out on both sides with all the pitchers dominating the bats. Some of the things discussed in the preview like for the Royals to keep the lower half of the order in check basically happened. Only one hit but it was the lead off double by Baez to lead to the winning run for the Cubs. A 1-0 series lead for the Cubs gets them off to the right start but if the games all play this close, do not count the scrappy Royals out of it just yet.

        

Showdown Cup Finals Series Preview

Showdown Cup Finals Preview

Here is the preview for the finals of the Showdown Cup. The 2016 Chicago Cubs will be taking on the 2015 Kansas City Royals. I will be breaking down the match ups in this series and look at the ways each team may have an advantage.  Here are the Statistics for both teams throughout the tournament so far. 

Showdown Cup Playoffs RD 2 Wraps Up

I decided to lump the rest of the second round of the playoffs all together in one post leading to game 1 of the finals of the Showdown Cup on Sunday. I will start with the Chicago Cubs knocking off the Marlins in game 5 for a 4-1 series win  beating the 6-5 thanks to an Anthony Rizzo three run home run in the 7th. The Cubs had the best record in tournament play, and will be looking to capture the inaugural showdown cup.

2001 Seattle Mariners

The winningest regular season team of all time, the 2001 Mariners racked up an incredible 116 wins over 162 games. Since Showdown squads are entirely based on regular season performances, this team is understandably a really good Showdown team... which is surprising, since they just came off losing superstars Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez. However, the arrival of AL MVP and ROY Ichiro injected a real spark in the team, which got career seasons out of players like Bret Boone and rode deep pitching and a well-rounded lineup to their hefty win total.

Showdown Cup Playoffs Rd 2 Games 3&4

Two days worth of games come at you today as I fell behind this week. The game 3's gave us the first opportunity to see a potential sweep as the Cubs outlasted the Marlins in a duel 1-0. Kris Bryant hit another home run and Kyle Hendriks threw a complete game 2 hitter with 14 strike outs keeping the Marlins from getting any offense going in the game. The Cubs will now take a 3-0 lead into game four looking for a four game sweep. In the second game of the day we saw the Mariners finally get a win in the series. Ichiro went 4/4 sparking the offense to their 4-2 win.Aaron Sele gave the Mariners 6 innnings on the mound before swinging to their power packed bullpen to shut down the Royals the rest of the way.

Game 3 Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs RD 2 Game 2's

The second games of the second round of the playoffs have been completed and we are looking at two 2-0 leads by the number one seeds for each side. Kris Bryant ssems to be breaking out at the right time homering in the first inning and going 3 for 4 in the game. The Marlins had plenty of offensive opportunities but just couldn't get the big hit to knock in any more runs coming up short 5-1. The Royals and Mariners had quite the pitchers duel for the second game in a row. Edison Volquez improved to 5-0 in the tournament and threw a complete game shut out. While Jamie Moyer lost his first game in 6 innings pitched and only allowing 2 hits. Mike Moustakas was the hero of the game blasting a 2 run home run in the top of the 7th sending off Jamie Moyer. Now we stand wit htwo teams in command as we switch locations for the road teams to try and pick up some momentum back and not getting swept hopefully.

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup RD 2 Playoffs Game 1's

The stage is set for the Semi-Finals and all four teams are ready to make their case on who should be the first ever Showdown Cup Champion. An interesting day with the two games both coming to a final score of 3-1. First game we had was the Marlins visiting the Chicago Cubs with the Cubs pulling out the victory behind another dominant start from Jon Lester. Lester improved to 4-0 in the tournament and the Marlins didn't get their only run until the ninth inning which opened the door for the closer Aroldis Chapman to come into the game. Unlikely hero Jason Heyward provided 2 RBIS on 3 hits for the Cubs in the victory. Over on the American League side the Royals struck early with 2 runs in the third and another in the fourth helping them cruise to a 3-1 victory over the Mariners. Johnny Cueto was stellar with 10 strikeouts over seven innings before making way to the bullpen to shut this game down. In this series if either team has a lead going into the 7th inning it will be interesting to see if a team can comeback against these two dominant bullpens.

Player of the Day:

Showdown Cup Playoffs Game 5's

Three win or go home games today to advance to the next round of the Showdown Cup and we started off with an amazing 10 inning game between the Yankees and Marlins that saw the Marlins advance on a walk off hit by Ivan Rodriguez in the bottom of the 10th. Up next was the Mariners and the Diamondbacks which resulted in a big win for the 01 Mariners as Curt Schilling continued to struggle in the playoffs to keep runs off the board. Finally we had the Royals and Dodgers and we saw the Royals jump out to an early lead from a Alex Gordon Grand Slam en route to a 6 run inning and the Royals advancing over the Dodgers. In what were some very close series, the results didn't change, the team with home field advantage won each series.

Player of the Day: