After starting the season 41-49, Boston caught fire to finish 87-75 in the A.L. East to finish second and earn a playoff berth.  That breaks down to a 46-26 finish.  After looking at the rosters of my playoff opponents, we didn’t expect to advance very far (actually not at all).  But my team played incredibly well defeating KC (4-2), Minnesota (4-2) and division rival NY (4-0) to earn the right to represent the A.L. in the World Series. 

 Pittsburgh boasted an all star roster.  But guess what – David defeated Goliath.  Here are the boxes and info on how the upset unfolded.

GAME 1

Nov 7, 2014                        

                         1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H E                            
Boston              0 0 0   0 2 0   0 0 0      2  7  1                               
Pittsburgh          0 0 0   0 0 0   0 2 3     5 12  0

HR-Bos - Belt off Nolasco in the 5th with 1 on base, 330 feet                                         

Pit - Davis off Cishek in the 9th with 2 on base, 418 feet

Game MVP:  Chris Davis (Pit) – Walkoff 3-run homer!!!

WP – Avilan (1-0), LP - Farquhar (0-1)

Notes:  Boston was up 2-0 through seven before my bullpen imploded.  Matt Harvey threw seven innings of one-run ball and struck out 14.  I should have left him in!

GAME 2

Nov 8, 2014                        

                     1 2 3    4 5 6   7 8 9   10 11 12   13    R  H  E
Boston          0 1 0    0 0 0   1 0 0     0  0  0      2     4  8 1                             
Pittsburgh     0 1 1   0 0 0    0 0 0     0  0  0      0     2  8  0

HR – Bos -  Pence off Darvish in the 2nd with bases empty, 398 feet                                   Carpenter off Darvish in the 7th with bases empty, 427 feet

Pit -  Alvarez off Lackey in the 2nd with bases empty, 336 feet

Game MVP:  John Lackey (Bos)   8 innings of 2-run ball

WP – Farquhar (1-1), LP – Jansen (0-1), SV – Cishek (1)

Notes:  Boston wins it in 13 on Hunter Pence’s 2-run single.  I’d have given him the MVP.  Computer gave it to Lackey.

GAME 3

Nov 10, 2014

                          1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E

Pittsburgh          1 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 0      1  1  0                                             
Boston               0 0 0   0 0 0   2 2 -       4  8  0

HR - Bos - Belt off Matusz in the 7th with 1 on base, 308 feet  (Pesky Pole!)

Game MVP:  Jason Vargas (Bos) – Complete game one-hitter!!!!!

WP – Vargas (1-0), LP – Matusz

GAME 4

Nov 11, 2014

                        1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E

Pittsburgh         0 0 0   0 0 2   0 0 0      2  5  0 

Boston             0 0 0   1 0 0   0 0 0      1  5  0

HR - Pit – Davis off Morton in the 6th with 1 on base, 330 feet

Game MVP:  Chris Davis (Pit)

WP- Gray (1-0), LP – Morton (0-1),  SV-Perkins (1)

Notes:  A pitchers’ duel between Gray and Morton.  Pittsburgh scores two in the sixth on a 2-run homer by Chris Davis

GAME 5

Nov 12, 2014

                        1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E

Pittsburgh         0 0 0   0 0 0   0 1 0      1  8  0                              

Boston             2 0 1   0 1 1   0 0 -       5 16  0

HR -  Bos - Plouffe off Nolasco in the 6th with bases empty, 339 feet

Game MVP:  Hunter Pence (Bos) – 4/4 with two RBI

WP – Harvey (1-0), LP – Nolasco (0-1)

Matt Harvey went 7.1 innings and allowed just a single run; he fanned 8.  Boston amassed 16 hits.

 GAME 6

Nov 14, 2014

                       1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E                             

Boston             0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 0      0  1  0                             

Pittsburgh        4 0 1   0 0 0   1 0 -      6 11  2   

HR – Pit - Davis off Gutierrez in the 7th with bases empty, 324 feet  

Game MVP:  Yu Darvish -  One hit allowed in 7 IP of work; fanned 11

WP – Darvish (1-0), LP – Lackey (0-1)

Note:  A combined one-hitter for the Pirates

GAME 7

Nov 15, 2014

                       1 2 3   4 5 6    7 8 9      R  H  E                      

Boston            4 0 0   0 0 0    0 2 2      8 12  1

Pittsburgh        0 2 0   0 1 0   0 0 1      4 11  0 

HR – Bos -  Belt off Withrow in the 9th with 1 on base, 359 feet                                                                                   
Pit - Napoli off Vargas in the 5th with bases empty, 337 feet

Game MVP:  Belt (Bos) – 4/5 with two doubles and a homer.  Scored three times and drove in four

WP – Vargas (2-0), LP – Teheran (0-1)