Phoenix Coyotes (25-20, .555, 3rd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (28-16, .636, 1st NL West)
At 25-20 so far, Phoenix is a club on the brink… running with a glut of clubs in the National League looking at possible wild card berths, the Coyotes have little room for error given the lineup and staff they are fielding this season. The preseason expectations for Phoenix were tepid at best, and, given their +10 RDiff so far, many believe they have outpaced their talent in the early going of '79. Here we have the opportunity to reinforce the pecking order in the NL West while giving the hometown faithful something to feel good about over these next couple games.
45 of 162: Max Harrington (6-2, 1.55) @ Stephen Estevez (4-1, 1.57)
Loss, 4-6. In what ended up being a far cry from giving the fans something to feel good about, the Coyotes’
Gavin Nalley put the game-winning, 2-run
DING DONG over the fence during the top of the 9th and, former Leopard,
Grumpy Losito shut us down in the bottom of the frame to record his 13th save of the season.
OH HONG did his level best to keep the La La’s in this one, going 5-for-5 with a run, and
Satoru Ono’s 3-run blast in the bottom of the 7th to knot things up was wasted by
Kaoru Kudo when he served up that meatball to
Gavin Nalley that was, essentially, all she wrote.
Elsewhere: On the road against their PNW rivals, the Portland Pines earned a hard fought 4-1 victory over the Seattle Metros, relying in large part on
Michael Brisk’s 7-innings of 5-hit, shutout work where he’d allow just one free pass while fanning 4. With the win, the Pines improve to a MLB leading 29-16 record overall and have now extended their AL West lead over the Denver Miners to a sturdy 7-games. Also, in NCAA play (I haven’t paid as much attention to the feeder league so far this season) the May Madness Tournament is in full swing with
Iowa, Tennessee, Miami, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, UCLA, and Texas A&M each making it all the way to the Great 8.
46 of 162: Ferdinand Loving (4-3, 3.17) @ Merl Crawford (5-1, 3.81)
Win, 6-2. In an attempt to right yesterday’s wrongs in the eyes of our fans, the La La’s would come correct in the second game, putting four bad ones on the board before the start of the 3rd frame, then putting things all the way out of Phoenix’s reach with 2 more during the 8th. 1st inning homers for
Otto and
OH HONG set the tone,
Ethan went 2-for-4 with 2 scores and 2 brought in,
Ono hit a 2-run single, and, despite leaving 12 runners stranded, we managed to bring more than enough of our guys around to remind the visiting Coyotes that ours is a level they can’t live at given their current makeup.
Note: The Final Four is all set (
well, it was set on our day off after the game above, but I digress, needlessly) and it’ll see the Iowa Hawkeyes battling the Wyoming Cowboys on one side of the bracket while Texas A&M and Georgia lock horns on the other. I’ll be pulling for the Pokes who will, undoubtedly, find a way to break my fragile little heart.
Record: 29-17, .630, 1st NL West
Up Next: Yet another travel/off day as we pack our bags for a 10-game road trip starting in Philadelphia for 3 games before making stops in Pittsburgh (4) and Utah (3).