Los Angeles Leopards (46-26, .638, 1st NL West) @ Detroit Motors (43-30, .589, 1st AL East)
Led by two former Leopards in
Tony Voorhis and
Peter Garcia, the Detroit Motors, after losing in the second round of the 2079 playoffs, are on a mission improve their fortunes in 2080… and, so far, that mission looks to be charted on a course towards phenomenal success. After coming out gangbusters to start the season, posting a 15-5 April, the Motors stumbled in May before turning things back around in June… here, they’ll have the opportunity to continue moving in the right direction, but will have to do it against us, and while we have admittedly played poorly of late, our rag tag bunch of malcontents will look to get back on the proverbial horse against the biggest bully on the AL East block.
73 of 162: Dwight Beasley (6-4, 5.12) @ Dontell Wilburn (5-4, 3.02)
Loss, 1-7. Like some poor, ill-conceived touring punk rock band, our Ford Econoline 250 would blow a gasket over 100-miles from our destination and the tow truck company, instead of getting our van to the shop, took it to a chop shop, parted it out, and sold off all its most valuable/important parts. Once we limped into town, moody, tired, and engaged in a serious stretch of infighting, we’d have it handed to us by our graceful host who scored 7 against us before most of our club even realized the game had started.
Wilburn gave us the business over 7, 3-hit innings of work, fanning 9 while being super stingy with the free passes, and
Tony Voorhis got after it during a 2-for-4, 2 run effort. We did nothing of any real consequence –
Hendo hit an inconsequential double,
D-Rod stole an inconsequential bag, and
Beasley, in getting absolutely shellacked here, sees his ERA climb to 5.64 after allowing 7 earned to come across.
Elsewhere: 2B Ciriaco Ambrosini, of the Edison Scholars, a solid prospect taken with the 69th overall pick by Las Vegas out of Oklahoma State in 2077 and subsequently traded to the Sluggers at the end of May, has paid some early dividends for New York as he put up a solid 3-for-5 day that included a double, a TANK, 7 total RBI, and 3 runs to help lead the charge as his club won a barn burner over the El Paso Mavericks by a score of 14-9 in A-Ball.
74 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (2-2, 5.25) @ Matt Martin (4-6, 5.50)
Loss, 4-6. We’d mount a furious, 3-run, 8th inning comeback, knotting this one up on a 2-run DINGER from
Hendo, but failed to come out for our encore as
Ram Chen fell apart during the bottom of that frame, allowing the Motors to regain the lead on a walk before bringing one more in on a sacrifice bunt. Each of our pitchers –
Dontrell, T-Rex, and
Ram – would allow two to get across, the offense put 11 hits on the board and left 10 men stranded overall, and Detroit would prove to be too gritty for our glamorous La La’s for the second game in a row. We’ve now put together two 3-game losing streaks broken up by that lucky 3-1 win over Pittsburgh earlier in the week… I think it’s safe to say that the wheels have, in fact, come off… we’re in absolute shambles, folks, let’s make no bones about it.
75 of 162: Stephen Estevez (7-3, 2.82) @ Peter Garcia (6-3, 3.03)
Loss, 0-1. Even while outhitting the Motors 8-4, we’d fail to find a way to bring any of the 6 runners we left stranded in, allowing Detroit to lollygag their way to a 1-0 victory.
Peter Garcia gave a good account of himself against us, finishing with 7.1 innings of tip-top pitching, and allowing 7 hits while fanning 7 more, and
Tony Voorhis, coming up clutch for his club, hit the game-winning, run-scoring single off
Manny Sepulveda during the bottom of the 7th. Four straight losses now, finishing out this set on the wrong end of a sweep, closing out June with a whimper, and headed back to Los Angeles for a 3-game set against Toronto… we’ve put ourselves in a far from ideal situation now and desperately need to figure out how we can fight our way out of it.
Elsewhere: Our own
SP Ramiro Marte, currently getting his reps down on the farm in Compton, CA, tossed a complete-game, 4-hit shutout with 6 K’s to lead the charge for the Raiders during a 3-0 win on the road in Annapolis.
Marte is now 12-2 on the year, has earned a decision in 14 of his 15 starts, and has now won 7 games in a row… he’s likely ready for prime time, but why rush him.
Record: 46-29, .613, 1st NL West
Up Next: Finally, a day off followed by a 3-game set against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.