Lions End Huskies' Bid For Back-To-Back Titles

Three, two, one . . . blast off!

Mohawk Valley captured its first MMDA championship in its 13th year in the league by defeating the No. 3 Fighting Irish in the first round, the No. 2 Brooklyn Dodgers in the second round and the No. 1 Northeast Huskies in the World Series. The Lions went 12-4 (.750) in the playoffs while defeating a trio of opponents who could objectively be labeled as the three best teams during the regular season because they led the MMDA in runs scored and run differential.

Yu Darvish fired 7.2 shutout innings in Game Seven of the
World Series to pitch the Lions to victory

In the World Series, the Lions jumped out to a two games to one advantage before dropping two in a row at home to send the series back to Northeast, with the Huskies needing only one victory to clinch a second straight MMDA title. The fate of the Mohawk Valley season hinged on Games 6 and 7 starters Stephen Strasburg and Yu Darvish, plus whatever help ace relievers Joe Nathan and Koji Uehara could provide.

As it played out, that quartet of pitchers held the Huskies scoreless on 10 hits over 18 innings, and the Mohawk Valley offense scored just enough runs to win two games and claim the World Series. The Lions eked out a 2-0 win in Game 6, with the runs scoring on a wild pitch and an infield groundout, and then led Game 7 by a 1-0 score heading into the ninth inning, when a series of fluke defensive outcomes goosed the lead to 5-0.

The Lions outscored the Huskies 23-17 in the seven-game World Series, despite being out-homered 5-2. Mohawk Valley pitchers were the story all postseason, for they allowed opponents to hit just .197 against them—the best opponent average in the playoffs—while finishing runner-up in strikeout rate (24.3 percent of all batters) and home run rate (0.79 per nine innings).

The Lions' top three starters shined in the World Series. Darvish, Strasburg and Alexi Ogando combined to post a 1.91 ERA over 37.2 innings, while allowing 25 hits and striking out 41 against a stout Huskies lineup. Strasburg, the World Series MVP, went 2-0, 0.73 in his two starts, while Darvish went 1-2, 2.89 but came up huge in Game 7 by firing 7.2 shutout innings while nursing a 1-0 lead.

Top relievers Nathan and Uehara logged a 2.00 ERA over nine World Series innings, allowing five hits and striking out 11. Even lower-leverage relievers like Steve Cishek, Neal Cotts and Tom Wilhelmsen helped keep the score close by allowing zero runs over nine total innings.

"This World Series title really validates a lot of the shorter-term moves the club has made this year," Lions manager Matt Eddy said after Game 7. "We drafted for card value in February, selecting veterans like Ryan Raburn and Neal Cotts, then traded for hitters Prince Fielder and Carlos Quentin early in the season, then added more card value at the trade deadline by picking up Eric Chavez, Nate McLouth and Derrick Robinson. All those players mentioned contributed in the playoffs."