Los Angeles Leopards (84-40, .677, 1st NL West) @ Charlotte Imperials (53-71, .427, 5th AL East)
Operating at just 6 games ahead of the worst team in the American League, and currently in the midst of a 4-game skid, the Charlotte Imperials need to have a good set against us at home to maintain their standing as only the second worst team in the AL. As it stands, with the New York Sluggers nipping at their hills, and currently trying to pull themselves out of a free fall, Charlotte is hoping that their 5th ranked offense will have enough in the tank to outrun their 8th ranked staff as we bring the National Leagues 3rd ranked offensive outfit to town on a mission to raze the Imperials castle, leading nothing but a trail of dead and rubble in our wake.
125 of 162: Ram Chen (6-3, 1.66) @ Alan Barrientos (5-10, 5.76)
Loss, 5-6. Charlotte’s offense did the dirt, with
Logan Greene’s 2-run
TRUCK off
Sepulveda during the bottom of the 8th being the ultimate difference-maker, as we dropped our second contest in a row, allowing the Imperials to put an end to their 4-game skid in the process.
Ram Chen gave up 3 runs in 4.1 innings of work with Duarte, Armendariz, and Sepulveda (charged with the L and a BS in this one) each allowing the home team to score an additional run. Meanwhile, our offense, despite hitting two, two-baggers and Ethan swiping a couple of bags, was unable to meet and exceed Charlotte’s output and ultimately came up lame against them to kick off this 3-game set.
Elsewhere: SP Wilfredo Felix, currently getting in reps with the Compton Raiders down on the farm, turned in a stellar complete-game, 6-hit shutout that included 12 K’s as our Triple-A outfit entered a hard-earned, 2-0 victory over the Kent Comets into the permanent record. Wilfredo is now 11-10 with a 3.42 ERA, 94 ERA+, and 3.7 WAR so far this season… if the Guatemalan’s changeup would magically develop, he’d really been something… but, alas, at 25 that’s unlikely to happen.
126 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (4-3, 4.17) @ Cameron Fletcher (2-8, 5.21)
Win, 8-4. We’d score 6 runs, spread evenly across the 7th and 8th frames, to double Charlotte’s output in this one, dismantling their bullpen after starter
Cameron Fletcher failed to come out for the 4th due to injury, to knot this set up at one game each, and earning a shot at winning the series tomorrow.
T-Rex was credited with the win despite allowing a run in only 1.2-innings of work,
Paulino opened our scoring with a
SAC FLY during the top of the 4th,
Otto sent
TWO TANKS into the cheap seats, and
Haag finally secured his 45th save on the year, his first of those since the 19th… 8 short days ago.
Elsewhere: Terrible Tony Voorhis, the straw that stirs the drink in Detroit, hit his
300th CAREER HOMERUN during a 7-4 win over the Mexico City Jaguars. He finished 3-for-4 during the game with his 300th coming on a 2-run DING DONG off
Lanny Dvorak during the game-deciding bottom of the 7th. For his career,
Tony has hit for a .283 average with 1735 hits, 316 doubles, 11 triplets, 300 TANKS, and 981 RBI…
he’s been nothing if not consistent.
127 of 162: Stephen Estevez (11-4, 2.36) @ Rudolf Caldwell (3-5, 5.12)
Win, 8-2. We’d hit 4 DINGERS as a club prior to the 4th with 3 of those coming off Starter
Rudolf Caldwell back-to-back-to-
back with two outs already on the board in the 3rd inning.
Otto brought one in on a double, we fielded a dastardly
Rodriguez-Hutchinson-Ono double play,
Estevez continued to pad his stats with win #12 on the year, and we managed to get 8 bad ones across while leaving 6 more stranded. It’s always nice to walk away with a series win in
Otto’s home state… the Greensboro, NC native went 3-for-9 during the series (
he sat for game one) with 2 TANKS, 4 total RBI. And 2 runs.
Record: 86-41, .677, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head back to Los Angeles where the Austin Grackles await our arrival for a 4-game series in our hood.