Game 1: Jake Peavy has dazzled for the Cyclones in the playoffs up to this point, but the Quakes have no problem solving him, pounding him for six runs in six innings. Andruw Jones, fresh off of winning the MVP for the 2nd Round of the Playoffs, throws his hat into the ring for the same honor in the Championship, driving in two runs with a double in the first inning, and clubbing a two-run homer in the fifth. Meanwhile, Brett Myers cruises, giving up just one run and four hits in eight innings, while striking out 10. The only Brooklyn run comes on Cliff Floyd’s homer in the fourth, and Castaic wins 8-1.
Game 2: The Cyclones get off to a good start on Ty Wigginton’s two-run round-tripper in the first, but the Quakes tie it up in the bottom of the inning. By the 4th, Brooklyn’s clinging to a 3-2 lead, but some aggressive base-running blows the game open. With two out and Alex Gonzalez on first, Carlos Zambrano hits a single to right. The third base coach, quickly calculating that Gonzalez has no more than a 55% chance of advancing the extra base, puts up the stop sign, but Gonzalez blows right through it, just barely beating the throw as Zambrano takes second. Juan Pierre hits a 17-hopper up the middle, and winds up on second as Zambrano lumbers to the plate, beating the throw again. Wigginton lines one to left to cap the three-run inning, which finishes off the scoring for the game, as Brooklyn evens the series with a 6-2 win.
Game 3: The first two games weren’t close, and as the teams move to Brooklyn, neither is this one. Zach Duke, in a surprise start for Brooklyn, holds up fairly well, but can’t get out of the 6th, and Castaic pummels three Brooklyn relievers for six runs in a 9-4 victory.
Game 4: Peavy gets pounded again, giving up five runs in the first two innings. He settles down after that, but it’s too late: Myers turns in another masterful game, pitching a 1-hit shutout as Castaic takes a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 6-0 win.
Game 5: Seeking to force the series back to Castaic, the Cyclones send Zambrano to the mound, but Jones solves him for a three-run homer in the first, and the game enters the eighth inning with Castaic holding a comfortable 5-1 lead, just six outs from a world championship. Once more, though, Brooklyn’s daring on the basepaths pays off. With one out, Wigginton’s double and Chase Utley’s triple, followed by a wild pitch, bring the Cyclones to within two. Aramis Ramirez works a walk, and after Cliff Floyd flies out, Jeremy Burnitz rifles one into the right-field corner. Burnitz foolishly tries to take third on the throw as Ramirez heads for the plate, but the throw is cut off by Quakes’ 1B Lyle Overbay, and Ramirez is a dead duck. Or would have been, if Overbay hadn’t thrown the ball down the left field line, as Burnitz gets to his feet and comes in with the tying run. The Cyclones score 3 in the 12th, and force a sixth game with an unlikely 8-5 victory.
Game 6: Overbay, weighted down by the fear that he will take his place alongside Billy Buckner in baseball lore, goes 0 for 3, but it doesn’t matter. Four singles off of Brandon Webb in the bottom of the 2nd lead to three Castaic runs, and the only thing the Cyclones can muster against Jason Jennings is Burnitz’s solo homer. Castaic wins the championship in six games with a 4-1 win.
STUDS AND DUDS. Brett Myers picks up the Series MVP award with brilliant pitching performances in the 1st and 4th games: his series line is a 2-0 record, 0.53 ERA, with 5 hits and 4 walks in 17 IP. Jones was hardly a non-entity, capping a spectacular season and playoff run with a .333 BA, and 2 HR and 7 RBI in the six games. In fact, most of the Castaic hitters had an excellent series: the team hit .290, with no fewer than 10 players hitting .300 or better. The pitchers weren’t too bad, either, finishing with a 2.53 ERA and holding Brooklyn to a .224 batting average for the series. One of the few Quakes who did have a bad series was Dave Roberts, who managed only a .136 average from the lead-off position.
As for Brooklyn, they’d surprised in the playoffs, winning two series despite finishing the season only two games over .500. But they came down to earth in the championships. Their star hitter, Aramis Ramirez, who’d batted .296 with 32 HR’s, hit only .192 for the Series. Jake Peavy, who’d gone 12-3 with a 2.99 ERA on the season and had won 4 games in the playoffs, went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA. Alex Gonzalez was the only Cyclone to hit over .300, and Clay Hensley pitched 4 2/3 innings of hitless relief.
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