Phoenix Suns (54-51, .514 2nd NL West) @ Vancouver Whitecaps (53-51, .510 3rd NL West)
Vancouver is 15-9 so far in the month of July. After starting the month at 5th in the NL West with a 38-42 record, the Whitecaps have really started to put it together lately. They have a +14-run differential for the month, and have been involved in a lot of close games – so it’s hard to tell how much of this run has been skill versus how much has been the product of good fortune. They barely crack the top 6 in AVG, SB’a, RA, and Bullpen ERA – and find themselves no higher than 9th in anything else. Theirs is a club that inspires confusion – are they as good as they have seemed lately or is this just a mid-season aberration? We’ve had some success against Vancouver this season – we sit at 8-3 against them so far – let’s hope the trend continues.
106 Of 162: Ash Newman (9-5, 3.31) @ Nolan Wilkins (7-10, 4.87)
3 of our first 4 batters struck out, and the first person we got on base was the result of being drilled in the back – ahh, the proverbial inauspicious start we’ve become known for in July. We follow that mess up with 3 errors in the 3rd and an unearned run – we are nothing if not consistent. In the end, we managed to chip away at it and came away with the tight 3-2 road victory. Ash pitched wonderfully over 8 innings – 7H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 4K. He really let our fielders eat as he induced a lot of groundballs in the effort and save the disastrous 3rd our retooled defense handled it well. Suns win, 3-2.
Note: Orlando City scored 22 runs against the St. Louis Rams at home today. Every player in the lineup got a hit, and 6 of them got 3 or more. Recently traded (like this morning recent) Hamza has been penciled into the leadoff spot for his debut with the 49ers. Glad he’s getting the vote of confidence from his new club. Pepper Grant is getting no love in Chicago… he’s been moved to first and seems to get ~2 starts per week – oh how the mighty(ish) have fallen. Rad Taylor is set to get his first start with AAA Salt Lake tomorrow against the Tulsa Drillers - let's hope that it goes swimmingly for the dude.
Strangeverse Report Notes:- Pace of play is bringing me down – toying with the idea of moving to a monthly summary format. Not sure yet.
- July MLB summary is up next…
Another note: When I pulled up my game save to complete the July MLB write-up a
glitch in the matrix occurred – somehow the game I described above didn’t save and when I moved to 8/1 (before I noticed that the previously played game was no longer in the books), I saw that – in this new multiverse – we lost Game 1 of the 2-game set to Vancouver by a score of 5-3, extending the Whitecaps winning streak to 6 instead of ending it at 5. Well, that’s frustrating – the universe is a strange and mysterious place.