Los Angeles Leopards (37-22, .627, 1st NL West) @ Austin Grackles (23-36, .389, 6th NL West)
Austin is as welcome a sight as any during the regular season, especially this year, as we, like nearly every other team in the NL, will look to run roughshod over this loose collection of stiffs, keep the good times rolling as they say, and do our level best to secure that ever elusive 4-game road sweep. Here our National League leading staff will look to make mincemeat of their 11th ranked offense, while our 4th ranked offense looks to feast on their 11th ranked staff… this certainly has the makings of a squash match, but, same as it ever was, we’ve shown ourselves to be more than capable of contesting games down to the level of our opponent and should our guys spend too much time chasing the local talent around town while sampling Austin’s legendary BBQ we could find ourselves unceremoniously ushered out of town with our collective tails tucked firmly between our legs.
60 of 162: Stephen Estevez (5-1, 1.80) @ Joshua Moeller (1-7, 8.36)
Loss, 0-1. Buncha lollygaggers you ask me… here we’d waltz into town with some seriously misplaced bravado, footloose, cocksure, and fancy free only to put up the ol’ goose egg in Game 1 of this 4-game series… nothing doing for our 4th ranked offense with
Pepper’s 3 and backup backstop
Lee Rolon’s 1 being our only
hits of the game while
Estevez, 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 K’s, and the pen did their job by keeping the Austin lineup, mostly, in their place… just a sad, inexcusable, weak way to get things started against the Grackles. We’ll need to snap out of it, and quick, if we are to give a proper account of ourselves during our time in the Lonestar State.
61 of 162: Merl Crawford (6-3, 4.73) @ Noel Goodgion (2-7, 6.43)
Win, 3-2.
Haag slammed the door shut for us during the bottom of the 9th, his 21st slamming of the year and 300th of his career, the rest of the staff gave a good account of themselves despite the level of competition we were up against, and the offense was, well, serviceable, giving us the minimum required to eke out a road win against a club that we should be laying to waste with literal ease. All the offensive work came from the back of the order, with
Hutchinson and Utilityman
Demetri Rodriguez driving in all three of our runs between them, as we relied almost entirely on our staff to draw ourselves even with the Grackles in this series with two games left to play.
62 of 162: Keith Baeza (5-2, 2.31) @ Ryan Burg (3-3, 3.44)
Win, 3-2. Haag was clutch once again, racking up his 22nd save on the year, while the offense continued to sputter along, getting us over the finish line on fumes… A late, run-scoring, SAC FLY from
Kyle Weaver brought the game winner in after our offense went dormant from the 5th frame on with the heart of our order continuing to walk in place while the bulk of our “good” work comes from the more unheralded batsmen among us.
Baeza gave us a solid 5.1 inning effort, allowing just one runner to plate while fanning 9,
Newton Weiser secured his second hold of the season on 2.1 hitless, scoreless innings of work,
Miotke was charged with a blown save and recorded the win, and
Haag mopped things up as we managed to win our second in a row despite leaving 5 runners stranded.
63 of 162: Dwight Beasley (6-3, 3.62) @ Vin Uhlman (2-6, 3.94)
Loss, 2-3 (11). We’d exit Austin on the same note we started this 4-games series off with – an out of tune power chord played awkwardly during a slow jam, lazily strummed, and out of time. Here we’d get off on the good foot with both of our runs scored during the top of the 3rd, but would go silent from there, allowing the Grackles to ease their way back into it, finally walking us off in the 11th on a run-scoring single from
CF Page Sommers. Again, we’d get some good stuff from the staff, led by
Beasley’s 6.1 innings of 2-run ball, but would come undone in the 11th as
Haag, that stalwart of filthiness, gave up the game winner.
Elsewhere: Al Bundy, of the Denver Miners, went the distance during a 2-0 win over the Salt Lake Alpines, earning the win and his first complete game shutout of the season with 6 hits and 8 total K’s.
Bundy is 3-0 with a 4.36 ERA since being claimed off waivers by Denver and is 29-21 in 187 appearances with a 3.16 ERA, 442 K’s, and a 107 ERA+.
Record: 39-24, .619, 1st NL West
Up Next: A day off to travel to Mexico City followed by a quick 2-game series before returning stateside to face off against the New Orleans Gators in our house.