Los Angeles Lakers (12-6, .667, 1st NL West) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (10-9, .526, 3rd NL East)
Ton Voorhis spent 7 years in Pittsburgh, 9 if you count the 2 years he spent in Nashville after being drafted 9th overall out of Nebraska. His career highlights so far – a gold glove, two silver sluggers, and 4 all-star appearances – have all come while donning the Pittsburgh kit. He was, to some, the face of that franchise during their run of 6-straight playoff appearances from 2070 – 2075… a hard-working everyman who prioritized winning above all else. The new-look Steelers look about the same as they did in 2075 – capable of making it to the postseason with a #2 ranked offense built to do all the little things and with a staff that will be fierce once they get into a little bit of a groove (this is taking some time, unfortunately, as they are only ranked #8 in the NL so far). For now, I’m buying what the Steelers are selling – sure, SP Cole Guzman has been wildly inconsistent so far with two 5+ run games charged to his account in 4 starts, but he’s a gamer who will settle into a rhythm soon enough. Pittsburgh will have to work for it though – with the changed playoff format, and with Montreal & St. Louis in their division, they’ll need to maintain focus throughout this long slog of a baseball season.
19 of 162: Newton Weiser (1-1, 2.74) @ Tim Kelly (1-1, 2.91)
Win, 5-3. Newton allowed 2 runs over 6 innings, Barbaccia picked up his 4th save over 22 pitches and despite giving up two hits, and Mario Marshburn drove in a timely run and scored twice. Hamza – the speed demon – stole his 8th bag of the season (he’s tied for 2nd for steals in the MLB), Pepper hit an RBI double (and flubbed a grounder for his 2nd error on the season), and Tony Voorhis – the consummate team-first professional that he is – hit a SAC FLY in the top of the 7th that put us up for good.
Elsewhere: LF Bakari Konate, of your CITY OF COMPTON RAIDERS, went 2 for 3 with 2 homers, 5 ribbies, and 2 runs in Compton’s 10-5 win over the Mexico City Diablos. Bakari was a throw-in on our first Pepper trade to Dallas – he has limited upside, but it’s nice to see him putting down some nice lines in Compton. He should develop into an average (read: solid) big-league outfielder in time – I don’t see him making our club, but he will be donning an MLB kit in some nearby city, someday.
20 of 162: Paul Yeager (3-0, 2.70) @ Robby Garrett (2-1, 3.69)
Win, 9-1. CG for Yeager – a 1-run, 8-hitter (with only 2 K’s), a double and a homer for Voorhis (he’s comfortable in this park), and 2 solo jacks for Otto in what would be our most rip-roaringly, rip-roaring performances of the season so far. Three homers as a club (Ethan joins Otto & Tony), 3 RBI for Ethan, 2 each for Otto & Voorhis, and 3 stolen bags for the La La’s (Otto, Ethan, and Owen Mack). Pepper left with an injury – he’ll be DtD for about a week.
Elsewhere: 1B Austin Rollins is headed to the IL… for 4-5 months! Ouch. Torn back muscle. This is a huge blow to the Impact (and probably a gift to the Steelers). He was in a bit of a groove too - .308/2/10 with 9 runs… Also, MIT’s RF Boogie Barnett went 2 for 5 with a 2-run homer, 3 RBI, and a R in the equations 6-5 win over the Seton Hall Pirates. Boogie’s 2-run homer came in the top of the 9th and was enough to get the win. MIT is currently leading the NCAA Independent division with a 22-8 record but the PCU Whooping Cranes are only 2-games back.
21 of 162: Aiden Jensen (1-2, 5.40) @ Cole Guzman (1-2, 5.40)
Loss, 5-4. We would narrowly miss earning our 3rd road sweep of the season as SP Cole Guzman gave us the business over 7 strong innings… Hamza put two hits, a run, and an RBI on the board (plus steal #9), Dom got hit by a pitch (Guzman doesn’t like it when you crowd his plat, it seems), and we got a couple of double plays… what we didn’t get was a win. A frustrating result – played out like the flip of a coin, could’ve gone either way.
A couple of other cool things that happened today: Heathcote Kinton (LAG) hit two out of the park in LA’s 16-9 win over Chicago and C Iglesis Ruiz (LAG) hit his first career GRAND SLAM during the contest… SP Christopher McAllister of the Orlando Solar Bears (Jags affiliate) took a no-hit bid into the 8th inning of their 13-o win over Louisville. 2B Julius Etcheverry broke it up on a well-hit grounder that found it’s way through the defense.
