[abell1198]

Hi folks!! Welcome back to Day 2 action at the 2015 March Madness Tourney. Today the second half of the teams play their games to see who else makes it to the Round of 32. There were some great games, some upsets and some upset tournament bracket owners who had their brackets busted early. On to the action.

Game 1: Ted Williams Region

#12 1940 Cincinnati Reds vs. #5 1912 New York Giants
Paul Derringer (20-12, 3.06) vs. Christy Mathewson (23-12, 2.12)

The Giants take an early lead on Fred Merkle's homer in the bottom of the 1st. It's the only run of the game until the bottom of the 8th, when the Reds pull Derringer and replace him with Junior Thompson. Red Murray singles and advances to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by Fred Snodgrass. Merkle is intentionally walked, bringing up Art Fletcher. Fletcher singles Murray to third, but an error on right fielder Ival Goodman allows Murray to score and the other runners to advance. Chief Meyers hits a single to score Merkle.

1912 New York Giants 4 1940 Cincinnati Reds 0


Game 2: Willie Mays Region

#10 1930 Philadelphia Athletics vs. #7 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers
Lefty Grove (28-5, 2.54) vs. Bobo Newsom (13-19, 4.73)

Honestly, I thought the Dodgers had no chance with Newsom on the mound. But he pitched well, shutting out the Athletics for eight innings, allowing only two hits. Brooklyn scores a run in the bottom of the 6th on a Dixie Walker RBI single and it's all they need. Les Webber came in to close the game out. Webber made it interesting, walking Mule Haas with one out, but he got Al Simmons to ground into the 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

1942 Brooklyn Dodgers 1 1930 Philadelphia Athletics 0


Game 3: Babe Ruth Region

#11 1928 New York Yankees vs. #6 1946 Boston Red Sox
George Pipgras (24-13, 3.38) vs. Tex Hughson (20-11, 2.75)

The Red Sox strike first in the bottom of the 2nd with two outs. George Metkovich walks, then scores on a Pinky Higgins double down the left field line. The Yankees tie the game in the top of the 4th with one out when Lou Gehrig homers. Babe Ruth then hits a triple and Bob Meusel singles Ruth home, giving New York the lead. In the bottom of the 6th though, Ted Williams is up to the plate with two outs. Williams draws a walk. Bobby Doerr singles and Williams advances to second. Rudy York then hits a single to score Williams and we're all tied up at 2. Neither team can score again and we go to extra innings. Al Shealy is in relief for the Yankees in the bottom of the 11th. He issues walked to both Doerr and York. A Hal Wagner single loads the bases. Metkovich draws the walk and wins the game for the Red Sox in walk-off fashion.

1946 Boston Red Sox 3 1928 New York Yankees 2 11 Innings


Game 4: Babe Ruth Region:

#15 Detroit Tigers vs. #2 Philadelphia Athletics
Harry Coveleski (22-13, 2.45) vs. Lefty Grove (31-4, 2.06)

***UPSET ALERT***
The Tigers score the game's only runs in the top of the 2nd when Sam Crawford walks to get on base, then steals second. Ossie Vitt singles Crawford home. An error on SS Jimmy Dykes allows Vitt to advance to third and he scores on Oscar Stanage's base hit. Coveleski pitches eight innings and holds the Athletics to two hits. Bill Steen comes in for the save.

1915 Detroit Tigers 2 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 0


Game 5: Ted Williams Region

#9 1975 Cincinnati Reds vs. #8 1911 Philadelphia Athletics
Gary Nolan (15-9, 3.16) vs. Eddie Plank (23-8, 2.10)

The Big Red Machine struck in the top of the 1st. Dave Concepcion doubles to lead off the game. Pete Rose then singles, moving Concepcion to third. After strikeouts by Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, George Foster steps to the plate and doubles home both runners. It was in the bottom of the 2nd when things went bad for the Reds. Bris Lord works a full count and doubles to lead off the inning. Jack Lapp singles Lord to third. Rube Oldring hits into a fielder's choice, which scores Lord. Jack Barry works a full count before flying out to right for the second out. Down 2-1, Eddie Plank singles and Eddie Collins doubles to score two, giving the Athletics the 3-2 lead. Stuffy McInnis singles Collins home and later scores on a Danny Murphy base hit. That's it for Nolan, who only made it 1.2 innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs. Lapp hits an RBI triple in the 7th inning.

1911 Philadelphia Athletics 6 1975 Cincinnati Reds 2


Game 6: Ty Cobb Region

#9 1986 New York Mets vs. #8 1915 Boston Red Sox
Sid Fernandez (16-6, 3.52) vs. Ernie Shore (19-8, 1.64)

Boston strikes hard and early in the bottom of the 1st. Harry Hooper singles, Hal Janvrin gets a base hit and Tris Speaker doubles, scoring Hooper and moving Janvrin to third. Duffy Lewis hits a sacrifice fly to center to score Janvrin and advance Speaker. Dick Hoblitzell grounds into the 6-3, but Speaker is fast enough to score and put the Red Sox up 3-0. In the bottom of the 3rd, Boston would score again. Janvrin doubles and advances to third on a wild pitch. Speaker then hits a sacrifice fly to center to score Janvrin and the Red Sox lead 4-0. The Mets would rally, though. With two out in the top of the 4th, Kevin Mitchell singles. Darryl Strawberry then hits the first pitch he sees down the right field line for a home run, cutting the lead in half!!! In the top of the 6th, the Mets would score again. Wally Backman singled, then stole second. After Mitchell popped out to first, Strawberry steps in and hits a 2-2 double to score Backman and get to within one run. Keith Hernandez flies out to center for the second out. Gary Carter reaches base on an error by Janvrin at third, which allows Strawberry to get 90 feet from home. Ray Knight steps into the batters box and grounds a single past the second baseman to score Strawberry and the Mets tie the game at 4!!! The magic was still working for the Mets in the top of the 8th when Strawberry gets a base hit with one out and then scores on a Hernandez double to give the Mets the lead and the win!!! Guess who the Player of the Game was?? Strawberry was 4 for 5 with a home run, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored.

1986 New York Mets 5 1915 Boston Red Sox 4


Game 7: Ty Cobb Region

#12 1934 Detroit Tigers vs. #5 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers
Schoolboy Rowe (24-8, 3.45) vs. Carl Erskine (20-6, 3.54)

***UPSET ALERT***
Detroit scores a run in the 2nd, two runs in the 4th and one more in the 6th. Rowe pitches eight innings and allows only three hits. At the plate, Rowe was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI.

1934 Detroit Tigers 4 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers 0


Game 8: Ty Cobb Region

#13 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. #4 1904 New York Giants
Deacon Phillippe (25-9, 2.43) vs. Red Ames (4-6, 2.27)

***UPSET ALERT***
The Pirates break the scoreless tie in the top of the 5th when Ginger Beaumont scores on Claude Ritchey's RBI single. In the top of the 7th, the Pirates would strike again, scoring three more runs to take a 4-0 lead. Another run in the 8th makes the score 5-0. In the bottom of the 9th, relief pitcher Lave Winham can only get one out and allows the Giants to score two. But Kaiser Wilhelm would come in and record the final two outs for the save.

1903 Pittsburgh Pirates 5 1904 New York Giants 2


Game 9: Willie Mays Region

#14 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. #3 1932 New York Yankees
Whit Wyatt (22-10, 2.34) vs. Red Ruffing (18-7, 3.09)

The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the 8th, when the Yankees score two runs on Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth RBI singles. Ruffing pitches 7.1 innings and allows a single hit to Wyatt in the top of the 3rd. Ruffing had 14 strikeouts and allowed seven walks. Lefty Gomez get the win in relief and Jumbo Brown gets the save.

1932 New York Yankees 2 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers 0


Game 10: Ted Williams Region

#16 1909 Detroit Tigers vs. #1 1954 Cleveland Indians
George Mullin (29-8, 2.22) vs. Mike Garcia (19-8, 2.64)

***UPSET ALERT***
The Detroit Tigers have taken out the top seed Cleveland Indians in the 1st Round!!!! Detroit scores one in the 2nd and two more in the 8th, all with two outs. Mullin pitches eight innings, allowing six hits, while striking out five and walking two. Garcia makes it 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run, 11 strikeouts and one walk.

1909 Detroit Tigers 3 1954 Cleveland Indians 0


Game 11: Babe Ruth Region

#14 1994 Montreal Expos vs. #3 1939 New York Yankees
Jeff Fassero (8-6, 2.99) vs. Lefty Gomez (12-8, 3.41)

***UPSET ALERT***
The Expos broke the scoreless tie in the 5th inning. Mike Lansing hits a single, then steals second. Two outs later, Lansing is on third. Marquis Grissom gets a base hit to score Lansing. In the top of the 8th, Grissom gets another hit. Two outs later, Grissom is on second. Larry Walker walks and Wil Cordero triples to score both runners. Lenny Webster then hits a two run shot to extend Montreal's lead. The Yankees load the bases in the bottom of the 9th. John Wetteland is on the mound in relief, facing George Selkirk. Three pitches later, Selkirk has struck out and the Expos advance!!

1994 Montreal Expos 5 1939 New York Yankees 0


Game 12: Ted Williams Region

#13 1914 Philadelphia Athletics vs. #4 1912 Boston Red Sox
Eddie Plank (15-7, 2.87) vs. Smoky Joe Wood (34-5, 1.91)

Philadelphia made a statement early, when Home Run Baker hit a home run in the top of the 4th to give the Athletics the early 1-0 lead. Philadelphia would threaten again in the top of the 5th with runners at second and third with one out. Eddie Collins would fly out to left for the second out. Plank tags up at third and heads home. Duffy Lewis rifles the ball home, throwing out Plank!!! That would be the momentum changing moment of the game. In the bottom half of the 5th, Larry Gardner singles home two runs to give the Red Sox a lead they would not relinquish. They would score again in the bottom of the 6th and add four more runs in the 7th. Boston advances to the 2nd round in a rematch of the 1912 World Series against the 1912 New York Giants!!

1912 Boston Red Sox 7 1914 Philadelphia Athletics 1


Game 13: Willie Mays Region

#11 1941 New York Yankees vs. #6 1909 Chicago Cubs
Marius Russo (14-10, 3.09) vs. Orval Overall (20-11, 1.42)

The Yankees are held to two hits, the first of which didn't come until the 6th inning. The Cubs score runs in all the even innings.

1909 Chicago Cubs 4 1941 New York Yankees 0


Game 14: Babe Ruth Region

#10 1903 Boston Americans vs. #7 1910 Chicago Cubs
Cy Young (28-9, 2.08) vs. Mordecai Brown (25-14, 1.86)

The game was scoreless until the 7th inning. The Americans get on the board with one out in the top of the 7th. Freddy Parent is able to draw the walk and gets home on a Jimmy Collins triple. The Cubs would answer in the bottom of the 7th. With one out, Solly Hofman hits a single. Frank Schulte then steps to the plate and launches the 3-1 pitch out of the park!! Brown gets the win with eight innings of work, allowing only three hits, striking out ten and walking two. Ed Reulbach comes in and gets the save in the 9th.

1910 Chicago Cubs 2 1903 Boston Americans 1


Game 15: Willie Mays Region

#15 2004 St. Louis Cardinals vs. #2 1907 Chicago Cubs
Chris Carpenter (15-5, 3.46) vs. Jack Pfiester (14-9, 1.15)

The Cardinals would score first in the top of the 2nd with two outs and Jim Edmonds on first. John Mabry hits a home run on the first pitch he sees from Pfiester and St. Louis has an early 2-0 lead. The Cubs would answer in the bottom of the 3rd. Johnny Evers hits an RBI single to score Joe Tinker from second and the lead is down to 2-1. Let's fast forward to the bottom of the 9th and face the agony that was all too familiar to those of us who are Cardinals fans. That's right, Jason Isringhausen was brought into the game for the save. The cloud of dread hangs over Cardinals fans as they watch Isringhausen get Evers to ground out, 1-3. Solly Hoffman singles, but Frank Chance flies out to center for the second out. The cloud grows into a raging thunderstorm, as Isringhausen allows Frank Schulte to single. Johnny Kling singles on an 0-2 pitch to score Hofman and blow the save!!! Another 0-2 pitch and another single, this one by Jimmy Sheckard and Schulte scores. Game over, thank you Isringhausen......stupid Isringhausen.....don't know why they kept putting that guy in...just goes to show you that OOTP is extremely accurate.

1907 Chicago Cubs 3 2004 St. Louis Cardinals 2


Game 16: Ty Cobb Region

#16 1923 New York Yankees vs. #1 2001 Seattle Mariners
Bullet Joe Bush (19-15, 3.43) vs. Freddy Garcia (18-6, 3.05)

Garcia pitches a complete game, holding the Yankees to two hits. Seattle scores two runs in the 7th and Mike Cameron adds a home run in the 8th.

2001 Seattle Mariners 3 1923 New York Yankees 0

That's the end of Day 2. Onto the Round of 32.