[rink23]

NOTE: I won Game 6 4-3, to force a game 7. This is almost as nerve-wracking as the real thing, and I have been to a couple of them. StL vs. Houston, 2004 NLCS (Rolen homer's off Clemens, Edmonds catch on Ausmus) and StL vs. Texas in 2006 WS (Cards beat Rangers, after Freese's big game the night before). Write up is from my thread in fictional simulations.
I started this season on Oct. 8. I play out every inning of every game. It is a grind. But I love it, especially in this messed up world. Gives me something to focus on.

One bad pitch, one bad decision.
It can be the difference between being a champion and not.
St. Louis River Walkers starting pitcher Zack Hunsinger had cruised through the first six innings.
He had allowed just three hits and thrown only 58 pitches to help his team lead 1-0 in Game 7 of the 2030 World Series against the Cleveland Juke Box Heroes at Cleveland Stadium (1980).
So when he allowed a lead-off double to Mac Horvath in the bottom of the seventh, manager Mike Renkes stuck with Hunsicker, a right-hander.
After all, switch-hitting catcher Tony Jackson was hitting just .182 in the series and dangerous right-handed hitter Joe Silverstein was on deck.
Jackson drove Hunsicker's 1-0 pitch 423 feet over the fence in right center.
And neither team would score again.
The Walkers got the game's only other run in the top of the fourth on a solo homer from Jared Thomas off Heroes starting pitcher Adonis Medina.
Medina would pitch 4.2 innings, allowing the one run on four hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Gunnar Hoagland finished the fifth and worked a silent sixth.
Bob Granillo pitched around a hit in the seventh.
Granillo (1-1) earned the win.
Cleveland closer Adam Wenger handled the final two innings.
He set the side down in order in the eighth.
In the ninth, Thomas singled with one out, but Wenger struck out Rick Scott and Jean Carmona to end it.
Medina and Wenger are both former River Walkers.
Medina was part of their starting rotation when St. Louis last won the title in 2025.
He had a career record of 41-28 in four seasons with the Walkers, before departing as a high-priced free agent after the 2028 season.
A still-young Wenger only made 11 appearances with St. Louis, all in the 2025 season, before being traded to Cleveland in the off-season.
A failed deal that saw St. Louis send Edgar Bustillos and Wegner to Cleveland for Fernando Tatis Jr.
Tatis Jr. didn't play well at all in his time in St. Louis before being traded to Des Moines for starting pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto and reliever Cory Tiller.
Bustillos and Tatis Jr. will both be MVP candidates this season.
The championship is Cleveland's first, and was their first postseason appearance.