Of note… former Leopard,
Tony Voorhis, that stalwart of hard-work and consistent play, earned player of the week honors in the American League, finishing 13 for 24 with 2 dingers, 12 riblets, and 6 runs.
Rajkumar Kosciusko took home the same honor in the NL, the current Austin Grackles RFer went 12 for 30 with 2 TRUCKS and 6 RBI. Oh, and we’re still not 1st in the weekly Power Ranking… up to the 3rd slot now with only
Voorhis’ Motors and the surprising Salt Lake Alpines ranked ahead of us.
Los Angeles Leopards (9-4, .692, 1st NL West) @ Montreal Alouettes (8-4, .667, 1st NL East)
The Alouettes have shot off the line like a doped-up thoroughbred on a mission to make some already rich goofball just a little bit richer, are 7-3 over their last 10, and greet us on their turf riding a 4-game winning streak. They’re hot, playing with some real verve, and more than capable of knocking us off whatever pedestal we’ve decided to put ourselves on… Coming in to the season, the line on these guys was that they were good, not great, capable of giving clubs fits on occasion, likely to have their day like any good dog, but ultimately an also-ran doomed to get bounced out of the Circle Series if they were lucky enough to make it that far. What they’ve been so far, however, is something else, something a lot more competent, a club that looks to be on a mission to prove the naysayers wrong. The offense is humming – 2nd in average, OPS, and OBP – and the pitching has been stout, ranked 1st in runs against, and 2nd in both starters and bullpen ERA. This will be a tough set for our guys in Montreal, an early measuring stick that will either prove that the things we’re focusing on are correct or serve to uncover our peccadillos for all the world to see.
14 of 162: Peter Garcia (2-0, 0.69) @ Bentley Hawkins (1-1, 2.02)
Loss, 7-5. We played the Alouettes tough, gave a good account of ourselves in Canada as
OH HONG led the way for our offense with a 3 for 4 day at the plate that included a 2-run BLAST and 2 total runs, but, unfortunately, his offensive outburst wasn’t enough to overcome Montreal’s three dingers, including 2-run shots for
1B Harlem Peterson and
C Pancho Reyes.
Ethan went 1 for 5 with a run-scoring double and a swiped bag,
Otto finished 3 for 5 but failed to score or drive any in, and the club left 8 guys stranded, which was 3 guys too many as we dropped the first of this 3-game set.
15 of 162: Stephen Estevez (2-0, 2.37) @ Jaxson Mottola (2-0, 1.42)
Loss, 4-3.
Estevez did his thing – 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K’s – and, you guessed it,
Andy Shepard was at it again with a 2 for 4 day that included a 2-run TRUCK and a free pass… but, despite their best efforts and the fact that
Otto even pitched in with an early SOLO SHOT, it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the Montreal Alouettes who, after tonight, have now won 6 in a row. Tough day for
OH HONG – 0 for 5 with a
GOLDEN SOMBRERO – and
PEPPER – 0 for 4 – and
Ono – 0 for 4 – as the offense continues to struggle in the early going of the 2078 campaign.
Elsewhere: SP Dwight Beasley, holding it down for your CITY OF COMPTON Raiders (pictured in an Inglewood lid), continued to make his case for a Major League assignment with an 8-inning, 4 hit, 1 earned performance that included 9 K’s as our Triple-A outfit dispatched the Fort Worth Cowboys by a score of 2-1 in Compton. So far this season,
Beasley has allowed only 3 runs over 16 innings of work with 12 total K’s.
Injury Alert: Super-Sub and competent infield utility man,
Rishon Orosz, will be out for about a month with biceps tendinitis. Less competent infield utility man,
Hetereki Ailani, was called up to the big club in his stead.
Ailani actually has a better hitting profile than
Rishon… his glove work, however, is not nearly as good.
16 of 162: Merl Crawford (0-1, 1.29) @ Arnaldo Romero (1-0, 4.15)
Win, 6-4. Montreal’s
Zippo Collins put on a show for the home team – 2 for 3 with 2 DING DONGS, 4 RBI, and 2 runs – but it wouldn’t be enough as their late, game-tying rally was trumped by the La La’s during a 2-run top of the 9th that won this one for us.
Merl gave us 5-innings of work, allowing 7 hits with nothing getting across,
Kyle Weaver, in his 4th outfield start of the season, went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, and
OH HONG, in his only hit out of four at bats, went yard during the top of the 9th, putting us up for good as he secured the 5-4 lead. We’d add some insurance off an
Ernie Sparacino SAC FLY before handing things off to
Turnbull who labored through a 21-pitch 9th to secure his 7th save of the year.
Record: 10-6, .625, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll take a day off, a travel day really, as we head all the way down to Mexico City for a 3-game set over the weekend. It’ll be our first crack at the club that crushed our little hearts during the 2077 playoffs…