Kansas City 3, Milwaukee 1
Yordys Valdes went 4-for-4 and drove in a fifth-inning run to ensure that the Milkmen wouldn’t get shut out for the entire series, but that would be all as Kansas City again overwhelmed the Milwaukee offense to finish off a decisive sweep.
The Monarchs twice squandered bases-loaded chances and did little outside of solo homers from Tyler Gentry in the second and Grant Richardson, but it didn’t matter. A bizarre RBI single from J.D. Davis that seemingly went right through the glove of Delvin Perez at shortstop gave Kansas City the lead for good in the sixth as their pitching staff again rose to the occasion.
Michael Mariot allowed seven hits over 5.0 innings, but limited the damage to just the single tally, which came in his final inning of work. A line of succession from the bullpen was brutally effective: Ryan Anderson, Emmanuel Chapman, Tyler Myrick, and Durbin Feltman all threw a scoreless inning while allowing only two total baserunners.
The defense rose to the occasion as well: the infield turned four double plays and Saul Garza provided one final highlight with an outstanding diving stop at first to deny Milwaukee a leadoff single in the ninth.
In the end, the Monarchs have their fourth championship in Joe Calfapietra’s nine seasons at the helm. They are the first American Association franchise to hoist the Miles Wolff Cup four times, with Joe Cal the first manager to lead four title-winning teams in the AA as well.
Outfielder Tyler Gentry took home Finals MVP after going 4-for-12 with a double and a pair of homers, capping off a record six-homer postseason. However, the real story was the pitching staff.
The roster changes as much as anyone’s from year-to-year and even in-season, but Calfapietra knows where to find guys and does it better than just about anyone. Despite churning through 32 pitchers, the Monarchs managed to post the league’s best ERA during the regular season and saved their very best for last:
27 innings, 1 run allowed. 3 wins, 1 championship.
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