I can't go against Alan and his Saints.  Been here too long to go out in the LDS.   

The San Antonio Saints rode the hot bat of Lucas Duda and the strong arm of Matt Garza to a ALDS win over the Los Angeles Halos in five games.  Duda blasted three homers in the deciding game and slugged 1.200 for the series.  Garza bested Kory Kluber in both of his starts.

Game 1: SAS 2, LAH 1

The Halos started the series with a bang as Brett Gardner singled with one out and scored an out later when Garza committed a balk before a Curtis Granderson single.  The Saints tied it in the 3^rd when Jose Reyes singled, moved to 2^nd on a ground out and scored on a Jose Bautista double.  It stayed that way until the bottom of the 5^th when David Wright and Duda both doubled off Kluber.  The Halo righthander deserved better as he whiffed 11 Saints and walked none in his complete game.  The SAS pen was flawless as Fernando Abad and David Robertson each worked 2/3rds of an inning in relief of Garza, with the latter getting the save.  W- Garza L- Kluber, S- Robertson

Game 2: SAS 2, LAH 0

The Saints needed no bullpen help in the 2^nd game as Kyle Lohse hurled a two hit shutout. Kurt Suzuki and Norichika Aoki had singles.  Bautista homered to start the bottom 1^st inning for the Saints, who got a Buster Posey RBI single in the 5^th to complete the scoring.  W- Lohse L- Miller

Game 3: SAS 4, LAH 3

After the series moved to Tinseltown the starting pitchers took the spotlight.  David Price and Tyson Ross each sat down the batters in the first 3 frames without giving up a hit.  But then Buster Posey struck for the Saints.  After two leadoff singles in the 4^th the All Star catcher launched a three run homer to left center.  An inning later he added a sac fly for a 4-0 bulge.

“We knew it wasn’t over at that point,” Posey said.  “This Halos team is too good to give up.  But you could tell that their fans were deflated.  A lot of them left after the top of the 5^th.”

That is a shame because the ones who left early missed a spirited comeback that almost tied the game.  It started with a Mark Teixeira solo in the bottom of the frame and a Gardner solo in the 6^th.  The Saint pen dodged more damage when Joaquin Benoit struck out Adam LaRoche to strand a runner on 2^nd.  In the 8^th Jason Heyward was hit by a pitch and stole 2^nd base.  He scored on a two out Suzuki single. The Halos almost tied the game in the 9^th as Granderson led off with a single.  He was gunned down stealing 2^nd base and may have been the difference in the series because JJ Hardy blistered a double a couple of pitches later.  Jeff Beliveau struck out pinch hitter Matt Dominguez to end the game. W- Price L-Ross S-Beliveau

Game 4: LAH 3, SAS 2

Facing elimination the Halos sent Andrew Cashner to the hill to face Michael Wacha.  Neither would figure in the decision, though both pitched well for most of the game.  The Halos again struck first as LaRoche launched a solo in the bottom of the 2^nd.  Duda led off the top of the 4^th with a single and moved to 3^rd an out later when Kirk Nieuwenhuis doubled.  Neil Walker chased them both home with a double of his own.  Neither team got a runner into scoring position with less than two outs after that.  So many of the Halo fans had already left the parking lot when Saint reliever Pedro Baez walked Hardy with two outs in the bottom of the 9^th.  LaRoche thought he might face Abad, but manager Lehmann stuck with the righty.  LaRoche made the decision sting as he ripped a walkoff homer for a 3-2 win. W-Storen L-Baez

Game 5: SAS 7, LAH 0

The reprieve didn’t last long.  Duda started the fireworks with a one out solo off Kluber in the top of the first.  In the 3^rd, Jose Reyes muscled up to yank a leadoff solo that barely stayed fair down the right field line.  After an umpire’s conference and a video review the homer was upheld.  Later in the inning David Wright doubled and scored on a David Peralta sac fly for a 3-0 lead.  Duda roughed up the stunned Kluber for three more runs with a 5^th inning solo and a 7^th inning two run homer.  Adrian Gonzalez capped the ugly affair with his own 8^th inning solo .  Kluber, who gave up only 17 HR in 252 innings this season, look stunned in giving up five to the Saints in the clincher.  W- Garza L-Kluber

Besides the blowout in the clincher, all of the other games were tight and could easily have gone to the Halos.  Until the five in the finale, San Antonio had been out homered by Los Angeles through four games.  Greg got the most out of his squad in the series and all season.  He played like a true gentleman, though that was no surprise.  He always has.

Duda was easily the best hitter, with a .533/.588/1.200 slash line and nobody had more than his 5 runs and 5 RBI.

San Antonio now advances to the ALCS where it will face the winner of the Toronto-Jersey matchup.