[pauwoo]

San Francisco Seals (30-35, .462, 4th NL West) @ Los Angeles Kings (39-26, .600, t-1st NL West)
It’s always strange to take a one-series road trip, three quick ones, and a return flight home... don’t get me wrong - three days in Minnesota practicing bootleg karate against mosquitos the size of hummingbirds is enough to make even the most battle-hardened veteran of the MLB seek out the comforts of home. My bed, my thin, uncomfortable pillows, and a mostly empty fridge will always trump Miyagi-Do mosquito wrangling, but if there is anything I don’t need right now it’s another homestand. I need to be on walkabout, free from the stress of bumping into Phil Murray in the clubhouse, free from local reporters who, apparently bored with baseball, have begun to print stories about my lack of bill paying prowess and tipping acumen (math is hard), and free from the rich, bored, and bourgeois patrons that frequent our ballpark to, mostly, be seen rather than seeing some baseball. We’ll welcome the San Francisco Seals to town for a 4-game series, who, as another club lost in a sea of mediocrity, aren’t the kind of unit you get excited to compete against - if you win, well of course you did, and if you don’t, calls from the baseball pundits will read, “is the honeymoon over for the Kings”. Look, San Francisco is a beatable club, one who is underperforming at the moment (-3 games off their expected output), but one who plays you close (0 rDiff) and keeps it in nice and tight for the real thing. I expect to be tested and I expect us to pass...

66 of 162: Max Harrington (2-2, 5.01) @ Trevor Dotson (5-2, 4.50)
Loss, 9-3. Dotson was laid to waste, Harrington laid our offense to waste, and some guy with really offensive facial hair named Tristan Cleveland went 2 for 3 with a double, a homer, 4 RBIs, and 2 runs against us – in our park, in front of our fans… Dotson gave up 5 runs in the 1st inning and only managed to pitch for 3.1 innings in this contest and OH HONG went 3 for 4 with nothing else. Two errors for the club tonight – just a bad effort no matter how you slice it.

Elsewhere: After our unceremonious defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Seals, I retired to my condo and found a package awaiting me when I arrived – it was a maroon and gold, silk kimono that fit my frame a little snug (think sausage casing)… which reminded me that I had an action item to complete for Ms. Foggy Finkelstein… so, like the good boy that I am, I dutifully dialed my favorite local Chinese takeout place and placed my order for General Tso’s Chicken and a side of white rice. Three things struck me odd about the delivery – 1. It wasn’t the usual guy who delivered my food but instead was a tall, red-headed, green-eyed, buxom young lady dressed up in some kind of country-western outfit, 2. She charged me $100 for the delivery and 3. The food arrived within a minute and a half of me ordering it – like she was waiting outside.

“Nice Kimono…”
“Thanks, I just got it”
“It’s a bit snug, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I do”
“That’ll be $100 dollars, please”
“What?”
“Plus tip”

Coincidentally, or not, there were two fortunes inside my complimentary fortune cookie – the first had an address scribbled on it in what can only be described as a doctor's handwriting and the second simply read, “happiness is a warm kimono”. I’ll need to throw this thing in the dryer to determine if that is true or not…

67 of 162: Adam White (5-6, 5.08) @ Newton Weiser (8-5, 3.29)
Win, 13-3. Payback is sweet… Otto went 4 for 4 with 2 jacks, 3 ribbies, and 4 runs, Dom hit a GRAND SLAM in the bottom of the 5th, and Newton was in command over 7 innings of work. 2 runs each for Zody and HONG, three two-baggers as a squad, two stolen bases (including the 21st for Ethan), and two sweet double-plays. A nice bounce-back effort from the Kings of Los Angeles.

68 of 162: Jan Hernandez (5-7, 3.64) @ Aiden Jensen (5-5, 4.35)
Win, 5-0. Jensen nearly completed a 7-hit shutout before handing it off to Valentine for the final out (which he got on his first pitch – Tristan Cleveland flied out to right), Dick McTaggart went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer, and Dom hit a run-scoring double in the victory – it’s good to have that guy back behind the plate… run-scoring doubles from Rajkumar and OH HONG, SAC FLY for Zody, and Ethan got caught with his hand in the honey pot for the 8th time this year… 11 K’s for Jensen tonight too – nice effort from him.

Elsewhere: Our shiny new AA club finally earned the first victory of their inaugural season after dropping the first three… our young squires took it to the Stockton Sailors and won by a score of 9-2. LF Paul Bryant hit a 2-run double, SP Hezekiah Speich gave us 7 hard-scrabble innings of work, and our 205th pick out of East Carolina, 2B Brandon Chong, went 2 for 3 with a couple of RBIs in the win… Castroville will be at home against the Charleston Shiners tomorrow for their first home game in team history…

69 of 162: Gareth Bertrand (3-8, 6.17) @ Michael Brisk (5-4, 4.24, Lambo owner)
Loss, 9-6. Brisky gave up 3 over 6.2 – which is not terrible – but our bullpen failed in their bid to close this one out unscathed and bled out 6 more runs before this one was entered into our permanent record – OH HONG went 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI, and 2 runs in a wasted effort, we stole three bags (2 for Ethan), and Mullens caught, you guessed it, Tristan Cleveland, trying to get over to 3rd on a would-be SAC FLY… all for naught tho as the Seals stayed close until they found an opening to steal another game on our turf.

Elsewhere: Rad Taylor went 8 innings and only allowed two runs to plate in a 4-2 win for the CITY OF COMPTON over the Newport Beach Gypsies in International League play – 2B Dale Stone, our 247th pick in 2076 (who I didn’t even realize we had on our roster), went 3 for 3 with two two-baggers, and two runs for the Raiders in the win… Castroville lost their 1st ever home opener to Charleston by a score of 9-4 – bummer biscuits, man… Megan’s San Marcos Supremos have fallen below .500 in Bush League play – they’ve lost 4-straight now and are playing like garbage. It may be time for me to distance myself from Megan – not sure, maybe it’s too soon to leave her twisting in the wind… and, lastly, after our 2-2 series against the Seals, the Phoenix Suns have reclaimed the #1 spot in the NL West – they now have a slightly uncomfortable 1 game lead over us with a magic number of 93 – so, um, yeah… still plenty of time for us to put them in their place.