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2046 Playoffs

Divisional Round

The 2046 playoffs saw only two teams return from the previous season, New York in the east and defending champions Sanfrancisco in the west. The Senators drew Detroit in the first postseason meeting between the two teams while Charlotte would take on St. Louis in a re-match of the 2037 divisional series. Over in the west, defending western league champions Sanfrancisco were matched with a Minneapolis team making just their second playoff appearance in the last 28 years whilst Denver would play Las Vegas for the fourth time in their history were still searching for that maiden series victory.

Charlotte (back in the playoffs after a nine-year absence) travelled to #1 seed St. Louis looking for a repeat their 2037 divisional series triumph. Game one did not go to plan for the Express, as a five-run outburst in the third inning sparked by P Les Scott’s RBI-Double and capped by a CF Cullen Wilhelm homerun, saw the hometown Reds build an early 5-0 lead on their way to a comfortable 6-2 series opening win. Game two saw big performances from LF Rob Penney (3-4, HR, 4-RBI) and RF Martin Myers (3-3, HR, 2-RBI) for Charlotte and C Dmitri Lott (2-4, HR, 4-RBI) for the hosts, as the two teams combined for 17-runs in a shootout with the Express holding on to slip past St. Louis 9-8. With the series tied at one and the next two games in South Carolina, Charlotte now had the edge and their cause was aided further by the news that St. Louis star catcher Dmitri Lott would miss game three after being taken ill. The third instalment of the series was dominated by two pitching performances, one good and one not so good, veteran Brett Knight (STL) struggled surrendering five runs in just four innings of work before being relieved, while Charlotte’s man on the mound Cameron Schwenke, hurled seven strong innings striking out 9 whilst allowing only a single run, as Charlotte edged ahead in the series. St. Louis catcher Dmitri Lott announced his return with a 2-RBI Double to give the Reds an early lead in game four, but that was as good as it got for St. Louis, as Charlotte fought back eventually going ahead on 2B Luis Garza’s eighth inning homerun before Raul Romero closed the book on St. Louis’ season with a 1-2-3 ninth, sending the Reds home to lick their wounds and Charlotte onwards to the EL Pennant series.

The second EL division series saw Atlantic Division champions New York take on wildcard entry Detroit in the first ever playoff meeting between the two teams. The series was a strength-on-strength matchup featuring New York’s strong offense (#3 in the east) versus Detroit’s third ranked pitching staff with most people favouring the hometown New York Senators to take the series, but with Detroit coming in as the hottest team in baseball (on the back of an eight-game winning streak) the underdog Giants could not be written off. Game one belonged to the pitchers, both starters Nate Maddox (DET) and Julio Mejia (NY) pitched well but New York edged ahead in the sixth when C Roberto Saldana drilled a 2-out 2-RBI double. Detroit halved the deficit in the seventh before SS Gustavo Vera restored New York’s two-run advantage one inning later and although Detroit plated another run in the ninth, New York closer Jesus Tobias held his nerve to give the Senators the series lead. With both starters, David Salas (NY) and Jorge Maes (DET) on song, New York scoring late to take the lead and Jesus Tobias denying Detroit in the ninth, game two followed a similar pattern to the series opener as New York edge past Detroit 2-1 to take a commanding series lead. Both offenses finally came alive in game three, entering the sixth inning the teams had matched the output of runs from the opening two games combined, with New York leading 5-3 things were certainly looking bleak for Detroit, RF Spencer Horn chose the perfect moment to collect his first hit of the series, blasting a wayward Rueben Rodrigo pitch into the seats for a game tying two-run homer to send the game into extra innings. Neither team could muster any further scoring until the 13th inning when Spencer Horn went deep again (his second hit of the series) for a walk-off homerun sending the home fans wild and keeping the Giants playoff hopes alive. Those hopes were extinguished the following night, as despite RF Spencer Horn driving in two more runs for the Giants, New York pummelled Detroit starter Nate Maddox to the tune of seven runs in just 3.2 innings and went on to wrap up the series with a commanding 9-2 victory.

In the west, Denver welcomed Las Vegas to the mile-high city looking to claim their first ever playoff series win over the Gamblers. The Wildcats who featured both strong pitching (WL #2) and offense (WL #4) were seen by many as the favourites over a Gamblers team who also featured solid pitching but were held back by an offense that only scored 3.8 runs per game (only four teams scored less, Dallas, San Diego, OKC and Washington). Game one was a classic pitching duel between Matt Damone (DEN) and Jose Vazquez (LV), solo homeruns from C Tom Walsh and SS Trey Richardson proved just enough for Denver as the Wildcats squeezed past Las Vegas 2-0 to open the series. The following night was more of the same as neither team could muster much offense against strong pitching performances from Juan Martinez (DEN) and Lee Hollis (LV), Denver eventually broke through in the sixth via a 2B Hector Soto solo homerun. The Wildcats added a second run when RF Raul Cruz scored on a wild pitch in the seventh but failed to trouble the scorers any further, Las Vegas halved the deficit in the eighth when 3B Don Robertson drilled an RBI-Double and then put two men aboard in the ninth against Denver closer Pablo Hernandez, however they were left empty-handed as both LF Vaughan Snyder and 1B Gerald Ross struck out to end the rally and allow Denver to escape game two with another narrow victory. Las Vegas opened game three with a bang plating two runs in the first, however Denver starter Cam Gibson settled down from then on and despite allowing multiple baserunners in the third, fourth and fifth inning Gibson kept the Gamblers from adding to the score. LV starter Uwe Hale, who had been in cruise control, ran into trouble in the sixth allowing a pair of walks before surrendering a monster 3-run blast to LF Bill Lee which turned the game on its head and put Denver on top. With the game drifting towards its conclusion Las Vegas made one last push to save their season, rocking Wildcats closer Pablo Hernandez and putting two men aboard but just as in game two, Hernandez had the last laugh, striking out 3B Don Robertson and enticing 2B Eddie Brown to pop out to 1B Kanzaburo Shimizu to end the game. With the victory, Denver finally got the monkey off their back by defeating Las Vegas in the postseason and were now off to their first WL Pennant series since 2024.

The second WLDS saw two-time defending WL champs Sanfrancisco take on wildcard team Minneapolis, both teams could put runs on the board almost at will while Sanfrancisco could also call on the western league’s top pitching staff giving the Gold a significant edge in the series. Surprisingly neither team could find any offense early in game one as starters Bryan Marburg (SF) and Patrick Casey (MIN) were dealing zeros, Sanfrancisco RF Francisco Perez finally got the breakthrough, drilling a 2-run homer in the fifth but Minneapolis answered two innings later to tie proceedings and end Marburg’s night. Sanfrancisco’s bullpen coughed up an RBI-double to Minneapolis RF Javier Ortiz but the Bears own bullpen surrendered the lead immediately, giving up homeruns to LF Adrian Ramirez and RF Francisco Perez (his second of the night) as Sanfrancisco turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead heading into the ninth. Despite Sanfrancisco closer Chris Miller struggling, Minneapolis couldn’t force home any runs as the Gold held on for a 6-3 win. Game two saw more strong pitching early, this time from David Elder (SF) and Greg Younger (MIN), before Sanfrancisco took advantage of some underwhelming relief pitching to roll to a 9-4 victory and take a 2-0 series lead. In front of a partisan crowd enjoying their first home playoff game in more than a decade, Minneapolis took it to Sanfrancisco in game three, behind an excellent pitching performance from Aaron Johnston (8.0 IP, 5H, 0R, 7K), a pair of solo bombs from 1B Dan Wood and a 3-run blast from RF Ramiro Perez, Minneapolis cruised to a 5-0 victory. Game four did not start well for Minneapolis, falling behind to a CF Maximo Macias 2-RBI single in the first and losing starting pitcher Patrick Casey to injury in the second, but far from giving in to adversity the Bears rolled their sleeves up and fought back. RF Ramiro Perez got them on the board in the fourth with a solo homer before a series of singles plated the tying run one inning later. Sanfrancisco ace Bryan Marburg was kept in the game one inning too long as with his pitch count rising his control began to fade leading to him issuing a pair of costly walks ahead of surrendering a bases clearing double to 1B Dan Wood to gift the lead to Minneapolis. The Bears scored twice more against a suddenly vulnerable Sanfrancisco bullpen as they waltzed to victory tying the series and in doing so wrestled the momentum away from the Gold ahead of a winner-takes-all game five back in northern California. Two nights later in Sanfrancisco the series was decided in conclusive fashion, the hometown Gold started on the front foot determined to wrestle the initiative away from Minneapolis after back-to-back defeats. Visiting starter Greg Younger was victimised early and was chased him from the game in the second inning with the score already 7-0, the Bears bullpen fared little better as Minneapolis were forced to use every available arm (including calling on SS Bob Fieldson for the ninth inning) just to get through the game. 1B Jesus Diaz (3-5, 2x 2B, RBI, 4R), 3B Michael Langley 3-5, RBI, 4R) and CF Maximo Macias (4-4, 3B, HR, 3-RBI, 4R) all had big days for Sanfrancisco as the Gold blew away Minneapolis 18-2 to wrap up the series in style.