LCS After 3 Games

American League

Passing of an era? Cleveland has topped Jackson in each of the last 2 ALCS's, but the Holes seem poised to end that run.

Jackson used the classic longball + stifling pitching formula to take Game 1 - Collier and Long scattered 5 hits and Costello, (former Katana) Manzanillo and Perez jacked solos.

Game 2 saw Cleveland tie in the 8th on a 2-run Piedra shot, but Billy Ray Hernandez doubled home Maranon in the 9th for a 6-5 win and 2-0 lead.

In Game 3, the teams posted similar offensive stats - the Katanas even outhomerd the Holes 2-1. But Jackson clustered their 12 hits better than Cleveland did with their 10, and the Holes won 8-4 for a commanding 3-0 lead.

National League

Meanwhile, Oakland is mounting its own challenge to Charleston's NL dominance.

The Surenos blasted 6 round-trippers in Game 1 for a 10-6 win. 2 of the shots were by rookie C J.T. Burns, who with 41 HR's, 98 RBI's and a .957 OPS had very comparable numbers to likely ROY winner Derrek Walker of San Jose (but didn't make the ROY ballott).

Charleston's not going quietly, though. They charged back in Game 2 with 7 homers of their own, winning an 11-8 donnybrook to tie the series at 1. Burns mashed his 5th HR of the playoffs for Oakland.

Kaz Lim broke out the "Charleston playbook" (pitching, pitching, pitching) in Game 3. Lim was dominant despite giving up 2 unearned runs, thanks to a dropped fly and a hit batter, and the offense banged 3 more homers for a 6-3 win.