Los Angeles Leopards (86-69, .555, 2nd NL West) @ Las Vegas Outlaws (87-68, .561, 1st NL West)
Las Vegas, the team I love to hate in a city I love, even if my wallet doesn’t (split 6’s? Of course. Always. Dealer’s showing a King? Split ‘em, sir!)… they are our self-appointed enemy, representing a corrupt and malicious intent to our good and noble motivations. And, judging by the comments posted on their team’s message board, they feel the same way – it’s a mirror-image perception paradox where we are their Castor Troy and they are ours… we’ll both be reaching for the speargun here, looking to vanquish our misunderstood foe. What is clear is that we’re not much different than Las Vegas – we can both hit, we both get on base (their .331 OBP bests our .322 OBP), and we both have good (read – serviceable) staffs. Their top three offensive players are capable of giving any staff fits – 1B Jacob Wells (124 OPS+, 22 HR) and RF Jordan Maze (144 OPS+, 31 HR) provide a bit of pop, and SS Ray Gerhold (144 OPS+, .428 OBP) does just about everything else. There are really no easy outs when you face off with the Outlaws and given that our pitchers only tend to shine when there is some low hanging fruit in their general vicinity, all bets are off here… it could really go either way for us over these 4 games. Both clubs have a lot to gain and everything to lose during this series – add in the fact that we don’t really like each other much and you have a recipe for some of the best, most meaningful baseball our league's fans have seen this year or it could just devolve into a sort of winner-take-all cage match complete with metal chairs swung like baseball bats, atomic leg drops off the top turnbuckle and a pair of alligator-skinned shoes that would make the Golden Stallion himself green with envy as the prize awaiting its claim by the victorious party. Look, I’m not stylish enough to hold a swank pair of alligators down – but, I’ll be happy to give it a try.
156 of 162: Merl Crawford (10-10, 3.99) @ Elijah Rizzuto (15-11, 3.37)
Win, 6-4. Merl’s changeup was effective – when he hit the brakes, the bats flew by – over 6.1 innings, only 2 hits allowed (one was a solo homer from Jacob Wells, though), and 2 Ks for our rapidly improving young hurler. The Outlaws made it interesting in the bottom of the 7th, putting 3 runs on the board and coming to within a run – but, in the end, it was Otto Isaac’s 2-run jack in the top of the 5th that was the difference maker as we never relinquished the lead after that frame. Mullen went 3 for 5 and scored, Pepper went 2 for 5, scored, and drove one in, we got two SAC FLYS, and swiped a couple of bags for good measure (a double steal - Ethan took 3rd, Otto 2nd). Off to a great start – but there is no rest for the wicked in Vegas… one misstep and we’ll lose the next three, Brisky will be asking our legal team to annul another “accidental” marriage, and our quest back to the top of the table will fold like an amateur facing off against Johnny Chan.
In other news… SP Kordell Littles, of your CITY OF COMPTON RAIDERS, got lit up to the tune of 5 runs as our minor league outfit was summarily dismissed from the International League playoffs by the Victoria Royals… they won the game by a score of 10-2, and the series 4 games to 2. OH HONG went 2 for 21 during the series. Let’s hope he gets himself a good nutritionist and trainer during the offseason.
157 of 162: Michael Brisk (13-10, 3.48) @ Al Van Wilder (1-1, 3.34)
Loss, 5-3. It’s only fitting that Al Wan Wilder (pictured), a man whose party-boy reputation rivals that of Brisky, would get the win in their first-ever head-to-head matchup. Both put forth ho-hum performances, but Al only allowed 3 to Brisky’s 4… we had our moments, a slick 3-2-3 double play in the bottom of the 8th saved a run, and we had our chances, Otto at the plate, bases loaded, the bottom of the 9th with two outs on the board (he whiffed), but failed to capitalize when we needed it most. On a side note… the Outlaws had the roof closed, obviously, but I do believe that they had the thermostat set to 85 in the visiting clubhouse – I have half a mind to request an investigation, but we have two more days in town and I don’t want to end up in a hole out in the desert somewhere so I’ll probably just check out the seafood buffet at the Bellagio tonight instead. They’ll probably be out of crab by the time I get there, though.
158 of 162: Cole Guzman (12-8, 3.93) @ Cam Murphy (11-17, 4.45)
Win, 7-5. Arnold Webster came up big – 3 for 4, with a 2-run double, and a run of his own – Otto scored 3 times, and Pepper Grant brought two in on his 31st double of the year. The pitching, for either club, wasn’t great, but our two doubles and an Ethan hit home run got the job done in this one. Now, we just need one more to make this trip a rip-roaring success – one where we went deep into the bowels of the world’s shadiest casinos and still came out smelling roses.
159 of 162: Tommy Mathieu (7-5, 1.95) @ Jack Snachez-Flores (10-10, 4.35)
Win, 9-1. We smashed them in this one – stormed the castle and razed all the villages on the way… AJ Hinson went 5 innings in relief and kept the Outlaws at bay with 3 Ks and only two hits, Pepper and Mack both hit homers, three doubles for the club (Ethan, Mack, some guy named Justin), and we hit two, two-out RBIs. All systems go, full steam ahead! Castor Troy has been vanquished, his kid is at our house, none the wiser, and all is right with the world once again… 1st place, baby! A full game ahead of these Vegas shysters.
Nothing to say here – the better club won, it was as it should be… I always knew we’d come up looking like a million bucks when all the chips were down. Well, that’s my story at least…