REGIONAL #60:   The first round of Regional #60 featured one minor upset featuring the 79-win 2014 Mets crushing the 87-win 1962 Phillies 10-2, with Philadelphia starter Cal McLish not making it out of the 2nd inning.  With some holdover from the 2010 Mets team that won Regional #58, perhaps this squad will be blessed with similar good fortune.  They will meet the 2016 A's, who dispensed with the 1986 Brewers 7-3 behind homers by Lowrie and Semien.  The bottom half of the bracket was a more challenging draw, with a two good squads facing off as the 1987 Reds came from behind to beat the 2004 Phillies 5-4 in the 10th inning, with Nick Esasky nailing a walkoff Triple 1-3/flyB off Billy Wagner's card.  The Reds will face the 2014 Tigers, who squeaked past Bobo Newson and the 1938 Browns 2-0, thanks to a 5 hit shutout by Scherzer.

In the first semifinal, the luck of the 2014 Mets continues as Zack Wheeler recovers from allowing a 1st inning solo HR to Ryon Healy and ends up with a complete game 2-hitter against the 2016 A's.  The Mets retaliated in the bottom of the 1st with a solo shot from Lucas Duda and an RBI single by Granderson, and that was it for the Mets but it was enough for a tight 2-1 victory.   The Mets move on to the finals without DH Eric Young, lost for 7 games with an injury, but again this can be viewed as more Mets luck as he was arguably the least important member of the lineup and his replacement (Nieuwenhuis, how do they get _that_ on the back of the jersey?) is actually a better hitter.

The other semifinal was a hard-fought battle between two good teams, but the 2014 Tigers ultimately prevailed over the 1987 Reds, 5-4.  The difference in the game was Reds starter Tom Browning, who tossed gopher balls to Victor Martinez, Torii Hunter and Ian Kinsler off his card (a solid 4-8 HR, ouch), and would have had a 4th 4-8 blast if John Franco hadn't relieved him in the 7th.  An 8th inning homer by Eric Davis narrowed the gap to one, but David Price hung on for the complete game win, and the trip to the regional finals against the Mets.

The finals pitted two 2014 teams against each other, and ultimately the one that was a division winner prevailed, with the 2014 Tigers edging the 2014 Mets 4-3.  The Tigers jumped out to a 2 run lead in the first, rattling Mets starter Dillon Gee, but a walk, David Wright double, and two-run single by Lagares tied the game for the Mets in the 6th.  However, in the bottom of the 6th leadoff batter Alex Avila hit his 1-2 roll HR, and that was the game-winner.  The Mets threatened in the 9th when Rajai Davis let a ball get past him for a double to the leadoff hitter, but Detroit starter Rick Porcello rewarded his manager's confidence by retiring the top of the Mets lineup in order for the regional win.