Los Angeles Leopards (32-21, .603, 1st N West) @ Salt Lake Alpines (20-32, .385, 6th AL West)
Stuck at the bottom with the rest of the riff raff, the Salt Lake City Alpines aren’t giving their fans much of value so far during the 2079 campaign. Pegged as an also-ran by the BNN punditry in the preseason predictions, the Alpines will bring their 10th ranked AL Offense and 12th ranked AL staff to the table against us, in their park, much to the dismay of everyone in attendance… at least those who decide to show up as their attendance per game is down 14% YoY, deflating their total revenue, and their hopes for a less bleak short-term future.
54 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (2-1, 2.25) @ Josh Allen (1-4, 4.24)
Win, 8-4. Satoru Ono led the way with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with a double, a
TRUCK, 5 RBI, and a run while
Otto and
OH HONG contributed our additional three runs to bolster
Nakagawa’s 7.1 inning, 4-earned effort en route to his 3rd win of the season. Three doubles and 3 homers as a club,
Mullens swiped his 11th bag, and we found a way to win by charging 5 runs to
Josh Allen’s account, chasing him out of the game prior to the end of the 3rd frame.
55 of 162: Stephen Estevez (4-1, 1.72) @ Mikhail Poppen (1-6, 5.13)
Win, 4-2. After Salt Lake went up early on a 2-run homer from
Sfinx Borunda off
Estevez, we’d settle into things, knotting it up during the top of the 4th when
Ian Hanan matched
Borunda’s effort with a 2-run JACK of his own before
Kyle Weaver put us up for good in the top of the 6th with a 2-run, two-bagger.
Hanan finished 2-for-4 with a double, a TRUCK, 2 runs and 2 RBI,
Estevez managed to gut out a 7.1 inning effort despite giving up that early homer, finishing with two earned, 7 K’s and the win, and the defense was fierce in completing 3 double plays on the day. We’ll close this set out tomorrow with an early Sunday game and the chance for a road sweep.
Elsewhere: New York’s Benton Almeida went 5-for-5 with 5 batted in during his clubs 12-3 dismantling of
Tom Franzone and his Pittsburgh Pipers. For the contest,
Almeida hit an RBI single in the 1st, a two-run home run off
Jaxson Mottola in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, hit an RBI single in the 6th and hit an RBI single in the 8th. So far this year the 27-year-old
Almeida has hit .252 with 7 home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 runs scored.
56 of 162: Merl Crawford (6-2, 4.35) @ George Taylor (3-4, 3.16)
Loss, 4-5. We were a step slow throughout, pulling within 1-run during the top of the 4th, top of the 7th, and again in the top of the 9th but were ultimately unable to complete the sweep as we ended our final rally attempt on a double-play ball that
Dom Cooke hit into the teeth of Salt Lake’s defense. For the game we’d hit into 2 double-plays, leave 8 runners stranded, and be forced to endure a haggard 4.2 inning performance from
Merl who allowed 5 bad ones to find their way home before handing it off to
Armendariz, who gave up another to the home team for good measure. A sweep would have been nice – I mean, a sweep is always welcome – but, after dropping a set in Philly and splitting a 4-game series against Pittsburgh, a series win, on the road, may be just what the Doctor ordered.
Record: 34-22, .607, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head back to Los Angeles where the 32-24 Portland Pines will be anxiously awaiting our arrival.