Miami Herons (47-70, .401, 6th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (90-37, .683, 1st NL West)
After showing some low-key promise last season, when they finished at 78-84 on the year, to be trending at only 65 wins in 2080 must feel like a gut punch for the Herons faithful… gone is yesterday’s promise, replaced by today’s troubles. And the list of their troubles is long, not worthy of typing up in its entirety, and indicative of a larger problem within their organization. Offensively, the Herons have been weak, are ranked 11th in runs scored and average, 12th in bWAR, and no better than 9th anywhere else… and when you pair this poor offensive performance with a 9th ranked pitching staff and a defensive unit last in efficiency, zone rating, and errors there is no way to solve for X that doesn’t equal a negative. Even with 45 games to go, 2080 feels like a lost season for Miami, one where instead of taking even a small step in the right direction they found new and creative ways to wilt under the pressure, overheat under the bright lights of Major League Baseball, and turn in the type of season so far that only serves to erode an already erosion prone fanbase.
118 of 162: Russell Ash (2-5, 2.88) @ Jan Hernandez (10-5, 2.05)
Win, 1-0.
Oh Hong’s solo homer coupled with a rock-solid performance from our staff, namely
Jan Hernandez’s 6.2 innings of 1-hit work, would be all that was required to earn the victory in this one.
OH HONG, after finishing 3-for-3 with the aforementioned TANK, now has 33 HRs on the year which is good enough for 2nd in the Majors behind
Tom Franzone’s 34 on the year. The Pittsburgh masher was recently able to catch up to, and surpass,
OH HONG after he’d posted 6 JACKS in his last 5 games, winning Player of the Week for his efforts in the process.
119 of 162: Russell Wooten (7-8, 3.89) @ Merl Crawford (11-7, 3.19)
Win, 2-1.
Ethan Mullens donned his cape during the bottom of the 9th, hitting a dramatic, run-scoring double that sent Miami reliever,
Dominic Hornbrook, scurrying off along with the rest of his Miami teammates, heads hung low in shame, on their way back to their hotel to take a good, hard look at themselves in the mirror after being unceremoniously walked-off in La La Land.
William Henderson was responsible for our other run, on a single, bringing his RBI total up to 40 on the year, and
Merl Crawford pitched a near-gem in 5-innings of 4-hit, 1 earned work.
Sepulveda earned the win in relief, his 4th, as we’ve now run our latest consecutive win streak up to 3 so far…
120 of 162: Steven Parkin (5-7, 4.43) @ Ram Chen (6-3, 1.77)
Loss, 1-3. It’d be a bold faced lie to suggest that I’ve not had any misgivings about the fact that we’ve played Miami so close to the bone so far… and it should come as no surprise that, after doing it again tonight, I threw my iPhone against the wall when we came undone during the top of the 11th, all but handing the win to Miami on a silver platter…
Sepulveda, after performing so admirably yesterday, got caught hanging a curve in this one as
Don Blasko hit a 2-run double off him during the top of the 11th that proved to be the game winner as we went down, in order, during the bottom of the frame.
And, to add insult to injury, Ethan Mullens left the game early with an undisclosed ailment… diagnosis is, as ever, pending… Kyle Weaver will get the start in RF tomorrow as we await word from Hidetoshi Hasegawa.
121 of 162: Cathal Magill (8-7, 3.12) @ Dontrell McNeil (4-3, 4.20)
Loss, 6-7.
Sepulveda was the culprit again, this time walking in the tying run during the top of the 8th, and
T-Rex Stiles followed suit, allowing what turned out to be the game-winning, 362 ft, 2-run homer, during the top of the very next frame. And while
Oh Hong would do his level best to help our club mount a comeback with his bottom of the 9th run-scoring single that brought us within one,
Otto would hit a shallow pop up to end it in our very next AB.
OH HONG finished 3-for-5 with 2 TANKS and 4 total RBI in a wasted effort,
Weaver went 1-for-4 in
Ethan’s stead, and every pitcher we trotted out to the mound in this one allowed at least one runner to plate. Splitting against the likes of Miami, at home? Yeah, not a good look.
In a bit of better news… the diagnosis is in and
Ethan will be listed DtD for 3-days with a mild abdominal strain.
We’ll take it.
Record: 82-39, .677, 1st NL West
Up Next: The home stand continues with the AL’s Buffalo Nickels headed our way…