Salt Lake Alpines (31-45, .408, 6th AL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (45-30, .600, 1st NL West)
The last time we lined up against the Alpines, earlier in June, we were still playing a passable version of baseball, running roughshod through all comers, and looking every bit the type of champion that repeats… now, well, not so much. At 5-5 over our last 10, on another 2-game skid, and proud owners of a losing record on the road (20-22), that these next three games have taken on the feeling of a must-win should come as no surprise. Ours is a malaise that must dissipate should we have any expectation of keeping our notoriously fickle fanbase’s attention as we approach the midway point of the ’79 campaign. And, Salt Lake, despite their recent run of tip top form (7-3 over their last 10), are just the type of woeful road team (11-23 so far) we need to get our locomotive back on the track and headed in the right direction.
76 of 162: Manuel Morales (2-6, 4.76) @ Keith Baeza (5-2, 2.30)
Win, 3-0. After putting up a run during the bottom of the first, off an
OH HONG run-scoring double, we’d go dormant until the bottom of the 7th when we put a couple more on the board to keep Salt Lake at bay…
Baeza was masterful over 5.0 innings of work, allowing just 3 hits and nothing earned while fanning 8, and
Don Haag would come in after
Ram Chen gave us 3.1 innings in relief to earn his 28th save on the year, retiring the final two batters on 12 total pitches to put our club back in the plus column. Now, to the degree that we’ve created any, we’ll need to seize this momentum and keep it rolling in the hopes that we can put a little bit of distance between ourselves and
Vegas, baby!
Elsewhere: RF Dalton Burch, our 2nd round pick (50th overall) in the 2078 draft out of Texas A&M, is making a little bit of noise in Short A as he finished 3-for-4 with TWO TANKS and 4 total RBI during the Brentwood Bishops 11-5 win, at home, over the Columbia Boonslickers. With the win, Brentwood has started off their 2079 campaign at 7-0 with no signs of slowing down after today’s win.
77 of 162: Arnold Mistele (2-8, 4.86) @ Jan Hernandez (3-1, 1.16)
Loss, 1-2. Again, we’d score early, though, this time they scored earlier, 2 during the top of the 1st, and since our offense is all but in shambles those runs would carry the Alpines all the way across the finish line and earn them their 12th road victory in 36 tries. Our lone run, scored during the bottom of that frame, came courtesy of an
Otto SAC FLY and we’d get nothing of note offensively in this one from that point on.
Jan pitched well, 7 innings of work, 3 hits, 2 earned, and 9 K’s, but it’d not be enough to overcome
Mistele’s 7.2 innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball he laid down for Salt Lake in improving to 3-8 with a 4.56 ERA on the season. The Alpines got after it on the basepaths a bit too with two steals… not a good look for the Yellow Tops at home as we get dismissed with prejudice in front of our fans while Las Vegas was doing the dirt, at home, against the Dallas Chaparrals, winning today by a score of 3-1 and pulling even with us atop the NL West table in doing so.
Elsewhere: Um, don’t look now, but the Edison Scholars, the New York Sluggers A Ball affiliate, have scored 51 runs in their last two contests at the expense of the Buffalo Nickels A Ball club, the Danbury Hatters. Yikes.
78 of 162: Josh Allen (1-7, 4.59) @ Masaya Nakagawa (4-1, 3.05)
Win, 3-2 (10). As a GM that prioritizes wins over all else that we did it today by the skin of our country teeth gives me no confidence in our ability to steel ourselves up for a face off against our division rival Las Vegas Outlaws in their house after our day off tomorrow. Here the win would come in dramatic fashion as old swarthy himself, the indomitable
PEPPER GRANT, hit a walk-off, run-scoring double to send Salt Lake back from whence they came a little worse for wear. In other news,
Don Haag’s consecutive save streak ended at 41 as he gave up the ghost during the top of the 9th for his first blown save in a very, very long time. Also,
Josh Allen went the ‘distance’ for Salt Lake, turning in a 9-inning, 2-hit, 1-earned performance on the day and still his beleaguered squad couldn’t offer up enough offense to get him out of here on a win. I bet he says nary a word on their flight back to Utah. Oh, and because Las Vegas got handled by Dallas, at home, losing their tilt 7-0, we are back to sole ownership of 1st place on the NL West table with half a game in hand.
Elsewhere: In keeping with the example set forth by Edison, our own Watts Warriors, razed Bethlehem’s castle, laying waste to Steelers by a score of 27-13 with
1B Aquila Shrum leading the way with a 3-for-5 performance that included 2 JACKS, 7 RBI, 3 runs, and a walk.
Shrum, a 29-year-old native of Pine Bluff, AR, went undrafted out of college in 2071, signed on with the Dearborn Dilly’s in the Bush League, and after bouncing around in the development programs of Portland, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Orlando (now Miami), New York, and Mexico City, and has found his way to Watts where he’s likely doing it just to continue the never-ending pursuit of one more day spent in the sun, playing the child’s game.
Record: 47-31, .602, 1st NL West
Up Next: A showdown in the desert against our most reviled of rivals, the Las Vegas Outlaws.