MLB The Show 20 Players League Championship Winner Crowned as Lucas Giolito Battles Blake Snell
After 435 regular-season games followed by playoff quarterfinals and semifinals, it was time to crown a champion. The big MLB The Show 20 Players League Championship game arrived on Sunday, May 3. It was down to No. 6 seed Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox against top overall seed Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays. The two would battle in a best-of-five series to determine who the inaugural champion is.
MLB The Show 20 Players League Championship battle features Giolito vs. Snell
On Saturday, the Players League semifinals took place on FS1 and ESPN2. Giolito took down underdog Ian Happ in a White Sox vs. Cubs battle. Snell was able to defeat the New York Mets’ Jeff McNeil in their series. Now he and Giolito were set to meet for the MLB The Show 20 Players League championship.
Ahead of the game, Players League host and commentator Robert Flores spoke with both players about how they were feeling. Giolito talked about his improvement from the start of the season up until now. He also called opponent Blake Snell a solid player based on their earlier game which Snell won 9-2. Snell said he was excited about the matchup based on how much Giolito has progressed since this started.
Giolito vs. Snell championship series results
The Players League odds had Snell as one of the favorites ahead of the playoffs. He continued to show why as he jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in Game 1 behind a Willy Adames homer. Another HR made it 3-0 in the first inning of the first game. Snell would extend to a 5-0 lead behind some great hitting. Giolito managed to get one run on the board but fell 5-1 to Snell in Game 1.
Giolito would start himself on the mound to try to tie things in Game 2. Snell’s pitching and fielding kept the Sox hitless at the top of the first. In Game 2, Snell got on the board 1-0 behind Renfrow in the bottom of the first. A Ji Man Choi homer made it 3-0 early.
Giolito would pull himself off the mound in favor of Bummer to close the first inning. Giolito finally connected on a homer to chip away at the lead. It was 3-1 at top of the third with Giolito having a chance to catch up. He’d add a home run to make it just 3-2 in favor of Snell. Ultimately, the Rays ace closed it out to go up 2-0 in the series.
Blake Snell claims championship in sweep
Giolito made a lineup change by bringing in Edwin Encarnacion for Jose Abreu to try to help him in Game 3. He’d use Dallas Keuchel on the mound while Snell went with Morton after using him in Game 1. Neither Snell, nor Giolito could get on the board in the first. However, Yandi Diaz would smash a two-run homer for the Rays giving Snell a 2-0 lead in the second.
The White Sox star brought in Abreu to hit for his pitcher, but he couldn’t get anything with two men on. Later, Giolito was facing a full bases situation and had to bring in a new pitcher with Alex Colome. That didn’t work, though, and Snell pushed the lead up to 6-0 with eight hits in the second.
Giolito couldn’t recover from that hole and Snell got the three-game sweep to win it all. With that, Snell claimed the MLB The Show 20 Players League Championship trophy.
Championship series results:
- Game1: 5-1 Snell/Rays
- Game2: 3-2 Snell/Rays
- Game3: 6-0 Snell Rays
- Game4: N/A
- Game5: N/A
With the win, Snell also has a trophy on the way. In addition, $25,000 will be donated in his name to the Boys & Girls Club. Through the event, there was $5,000 donated to each player’s team’s Boys & Girls Club affiliate. All around, this was a fun event that baseball players and fans needed but also helped donate to a great cause.
Now fans will wait to see if MLB The Show honors Snell with a new high-powered card, or perhaps an MLB The Show 21 cover? Stay tuned.
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