Los Angeles Leopards (39-24, .619, 1st NL West) @ Mexico City Jaguars (31-32, .492, 4th NL West)
While Mexico City, for its tacos alone, is one of my favorite destinations during the season, it usually wears out its welcome within 24 hours, so, the fact that this is a little quickie 2-game series is ideal – equally ideal is the fact that this trip will be bookended by a couple of much-needed days off. Here we’ll face the low-key beleaguered Jaguars as they work through a season in which their goal has to be to go from so-so to good with greatness 2 or 3 more seasons away… they’ve got the 6th ranked development system, some great, young Major League talent in 24-year-old
2B JJ Barbari (70/70), 27-year-old
SP Lee Myers (57/57), and 26-year-old
1B Ryder Nieman (62/62), and an owner that prioritizes winning above all else. Currently operating a scant 4 ½ games off the wildcard pace, Mexico City could have something to say about the look of our NL Playoff Bracket once the dust has cleared on the 2079 campaign… for now, however, they’ll need to contend with the biggest bully on the NL block sent to Mexico City on a mission for a plate full of tacos de carnitas from Los Panchos, some ice-cold cervezas, and a couple of wins.
64 of 162: Stephen Estevez (5-2, 1.78) @ Lee Myers (6-4, 4.37)
Win, 3-0.
Estevez came out gangbusters, putting in 5 innings of work and fanning 9 while blanking the Jags over that stretch, at altitude, while the rest of the rotation followed suit and kept the home team off the board for the entire game… the offense, still sputtering a bit, managed to get 3 across as
Mullens,
OH HONG, and
Otto each found home plate with
Satoru Ono being responsible for two of those crossings on one of his two, two-baggers during the game.
Barbari and
Nieman combined for a 1-for-8 day with 4 total K’s leaving the Mexico City faithful at
Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu with little to cheer about.
Elsewhere: Cole Guzman, of the New York Sluggers, has etched his name into the annuals of time, hurling his first career NO HITTER against the division rival Boston Shamrocks by a score of 1-0. For the game,
Guzman added 3 walks and 7 K’s to his line, giving the 24,842 New York fans in attendance the memory of a lifetime.
Cole has amassed a 77-60 major league record over the course of his career with 1062 K’s, 7.9 K/9, and a 112 ERA+. The former Eastern Carolina Pirate was drafted by Pittsburgh way back in 2069 and has earned well over $39 million in salary for his work as a professional.
65 of 162: Merl Crawford (7-3, 4.58) @ Randy Keramidas (0-3, 5.35)
Loss, 3-10. Perhaps it was the mezcal, that psychedelic worm I found at the bottom of its bottle, or just the fact that myself and my club can’t behave properly when we visit Mexico City that led to us being so completely rebuffed by the home team on our way out of town…
Merl was destroyed, getting chased out of this one after 5 runs came across in only 1.2 innings of work, with relievers
Miotke and
Armendariz soft-tossing beach balls into the box to help the Jags keep the good times rolling as they rang us up like a pinball machine before giving us the boot on the way out the door. It wasn’t until we were on the plane, safely at our cruising altitude, that I realized it wasn’t all just some bad dream brought on by dehydration and the anxiety of losing a solid 6-hours of my memory to a mezcal induced blackout… finally able to admit to myself that, while we were embarrassed on the diamond, at least I was able to cheat death in Mexico City once again, making it out alive to fight on another day. Of course, I’d like to know where this garter belt came from, and, more importantly, why I’m wearing it.
Elsewhere: In New York, Boston returns the favor in a 1-0 win over the Sluggers…
KJ Judd… close, but not quite.
Record: 40-25, .615, 1st NL West
Up Next: A day off to recuperate followed by a 3-game set, at home, against the New Orleans Gators (whose voodoo, I’m told, doesn’t work in Los Angeles).