AL Division Series Recap - Milwaukee vs. Tacoma

AL DIVISION SERIES RECAP:

MILWAUKEE BUCKS VS. TACOMA PIONEERS
Milwaukee Bucks win the series, 3-0.


Game 1 - Tacoma-5 Milwaukee-6
Down 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Milwaukee overcame adversity and scored four runs in the last two innings of the game to steal the win from Tacoma in, winning Game 1, 6-5.

"We were having a tough run against Peter Baek. He held us to five hits in the game, but we never lost our focus," commented Milwaukee fourth year bench coach, Terry Giles. "Moreno came through for us tonight with that homer."

Rafael Moreno only batted .245 on the season, but he came through in a big way in the bottom of the ninth. With two men on base and two out, Moreno hit a walk-off home run to left center that barely cleared the wall to give Tacoma the win.

"I know I'm good... I just proved it again tonight," said a confident Moreno. "Anyone who doubted me was wrong, and I say to them, 'it's time to believe'".

Milwaukee was able to shake off a shaky start from Raymond Walton, and Jim Nathan pitched a scoreless 3.2 innings to set up Cameron Knight for the win.

2B Sal Moore had two hits and two runs on the night to aide in the cause.

Tacoma's offense was provided by 1B Jackson Cooper, who went 3-5 on the day with three RBI, two runs, and a stolen base.

LF Vinny May and starting pitcher Peter Baek knocked in a run each as well. Baek pithced eight strong innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs, and a walk while striking out six.

Reliever J.J. Blank gave up two hits and two earned runs in .2 innings for the Pioneers, blowing the save opportunity and taking the loss for Tacoma.


Game 2 - Tacoma-1 Milwaukee-5
Wesley Stanley and Julian Hartley homered, and P.T. Ramirez pitched six strong innings as Milwaukee won Game 2 of the five game series, 5-1, at Miller Park.

The Bucks gained the early lead with an RBI double in the first inning by Danny Harding and a two-RBI single by P.T. Ramirez in the second.

Tacoma put their first run on the board off of a groundball single by Norberto Manuel, bringing in Jackson Cooper. Manuel was 2-for-3 on the night while Cooper was 2-for-4.

Solo home runs by and Julian Hartley and Wesley Stanley put the game out of reach for the Pioneers, giving Milwaukee the 2-0 series lead.

P.T. Ramirez had an outstanding outing, giving up only one earned run and three hits in six innings, while striking out six. Cameron Knight, Abraham Guerrero, and Tomas Olivares closed out the game for the Bucks, giving up no runs, two hits, and two walks to close out the game. Olivares earned his first save of the postseason.

Pioneer starter Brandon Ellis took the loss for Tacoma, giving up six hits and three runs. Ellis struck out three. Relievers J.J. Blank and Duke Ford pitched an inning and gave up a run each.


Game 3 - Milwaukee-13 Tacoma-7.
Milwaukee had a lot of motivation going into this game... their first appearance in the League Division Championship Series in organization history... and they made it known to Tacoma that they were going to have a battle on their hands, to which Milwaukee ended up victorious, 13-7, to make organization history.

"We are quite proud of this unbelievable achievement in our organization's history," said team GM and owner waydogg5. "We can't revel in this achievement just yet since our eye is on winning the world championship."

Tacoma did not waste time in their must-win game, scoring a run in the bottom of the first.

Milwaukee answered in the top of the second with a 2-run home run by Heinie Miller.

The Pioneers battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Ray Hines.

Tacoma tied the game in the bottom of the third on a play at home in which Vinny May avoided the tag on a throw from Orber Sierra.

"It was a great throw by (Orber) Sierra, and I thought he may have had me," May told reporters. "Somehow I was able to .avoid the tag and get the run."

"That was a great play by May to avoid the tag," Bucks coach Terry Giles remarked. "He has a great head on his shoulders and saw where he needed to slide in to avoid the tag. That run was huge for us."

Milwaukee countered in the top of the forth inning with a monster 2-run home run by Chris Bellhorn, his first home run of the post-season.

Jackson Cooper didn't waste any time in the bottom of the fourth inning, hitting a home run as the lead off batter to left field. The Pioneers deficit was down to one.

Milwaukee decided once and for all that they didn't want to keep Tacoma in the game, scoring five runs in the top of the fifth inning. Sierra and Danny Harding knocked in a run each while Miller knocked in his third and fourth RBI of the game. Sal Moore scored in the inning off of an errant to first by Tacoma left fielder Vinnie May.

The Bucks added two more runs off of a Harding triple and a Stanley single in the top of the sixth.

Tacoma tallied four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut their deficit to four runs. With two runners on base, Peter Herndon grounded out to shortstop, but pitcher Keith Donovan scored on the play. On the next play, Tony Rodriguez doubled to score Quilvio Belliard. Jackson Cooper hit his second home run of the game, a two-run home run, to score Tacoma's fourth run of the inning.

Milwaukee added two runs in the eighth inning to seal the victory, and the series, for the Bucks.