Los Angeles Leopards (98-52, .653, 1st NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (67-82, .449, 5th NL West)
Phoenix, after putting up 92-wins last season, are all the way out of it, running on fumes, and playing for pride but not much else. With their offense in shambles, ranked 10th in the NL, and a pitching staff that has been reduced to rubble, the Coyotes need to take a long, hard look in the mirror during the offseason and decide what kind of club they want to be… do they want to be a perennial contender, a team that is always considered formidable, or are they going to fall in line with the rest of the also-rans, only poking their head above water every few years to remind their fanbase that they’re trying?
151 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (6-4, 4.02) @ Landon Sampson (5-7, 2.97)
Win, 6-2. Ethan went 2-for-3 with a bases-clearing triple,
OH HONG contributed an RBI to the cause, we got a
SAC FLY from
D-Rod, swiped two bags (
Otto, Demetri), and got started off on the good foot as our starter,
Dontrell McNeil, gave us 5-innings of 5-hit, shutout baseball to start the show. Another hold for
Major Hansen and save #5 for
Nakagawa helped us to improve to 9-5 head-to-head against Phoenix as we are now only one win away from triple digits after securing our 99th of those this year.
Elsewhere: Watts is only one game away from sweeping Duluth in the A-Ball playoffs, winning game 3 by a score of 6-4 at home as
C Monty Williams (20/26) hit a 2-run homer during the bottom of the 4th to knot things up at 4 each followed by
Lance Mathes’ (33/40) 2-run double to take the lead during the very next frame.
152 of 162: Stephen Estevez (15-5, 2.21) @ Max Harrington (5-15, 3.59)
Win, 11-1.
OH HONG finished 3-for-5 with 2 TANKS (a 3-run Jack and a GRAND SLAM), 7 total RBI, and 3 runs as our offense exploded on the Coyotes, scoring all 11 of our runs prior to the stretch then putting it in neutral from there. Win #16 for
Estevez after turning in a tip-top, 5-inning, 1-hit, 0 earned performance, a nice
Hutchinson-Rodriguez-Ono double play, and
Dom caught
Isaias Osborn trying to get cute on the basepaths… the defense was cracking, pitching fierce, and offense footloose and fancy free with win # ONE HUNDRED officially entered into the permanent record. Also, with the win today, Phoenix has been officially eliminated from the 2080 postseason, mathematically and otherwise.
Elsewhere: Our Brentwood Bishops did their level best to advance in the Short Season A-Ball playoffs, but ultimately would come up short, losing to the Kanata Koalas by a score of 6-5 during the deciding game. Watts also came up short in their sweep bid, dropping game four to the Duluth Zeniths by a score of 1-0.
153 of 162: Jan Hernandez (15-7, 2.33) @ Ferdinand Loving (10-8, 3.84)
Loss, 0-4. We couldn’t get out of neutral in this one as
Ferdinand Loving held us in check over 6.2 innings of work, allowing a mere 4-hits and nothing earned during his time on the bump, and an early, bottom of the 3rd, 2-run TRUCK courtesy of
Harlem Peterson set a tone we wouldn’t match.
Jan takes the loss here, giving up that early homer to
Peterson,
Armendariz allowed two more in relief,
Otto got caught with his hand in the honeypot, and our two fielding flubs as a defensive unit did nothing to help our cause as we stayed stuck on 100 wins so far and missed an opportunity to sweep a rival on the road.
Elsewhere: Compton opened their AAA Round 2 series against the Coos Bay Kingfishers (a PDX affiliate) with a resounding 19-8 win at home… the Raiders were led offensively by 4A lifer
Nash Aguilar who finished 3-for-5 with a double, 4 RBI, 3 runs and a walk in this one… Watts, after failing to secure the sweep yesterday, were able to dispatch the Duluth Zeniths, winning their League Championship Series 4 games to 1, by a score of 8-6.
Pitino Ortiz (27/31) took home the man of the match honors, finishing 3-for-5 on the day with a 2-run MOONSHOT and 3 runs in the win…
Record: 100-53, .653, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll make the trip to Austin for a 3-game series as we creep ever closer to the finish line on the 2080 regular-season.