Los Angeles Leopards (62-53, .539, 2nd NL West) @ Charlotte Imperials (64-51, .557, 2nd AL East)
The Charlotte Imperials, after finishing no better than 5th in 4 of the last 5 seasons, with the anomaly being a second place, 80-82 finish in 2077 where they didn’t even make the playoffs, suddenly find themselves in the enviable position of a bonified contender. Their staff, led by Leopards Legend
Michael Brisk, is ranked at the top of the American League – 1st in Bullpen ERA, FIP, pWAR, and no worse than 4th anywhere else – and their offense ain’t so bad either, coming in at 3rd overall in their league and leading all clubs in OBP. They’ve been on a bit of a seesaw though – kicking off the season with an 8-12 record in the month of April before turning in a rip-roaring, 18-11 May, followed by, you guessed it a 13-14 June. July, as you’d expect, was much better – the Imperials posted a phenomenal 19-7 mark, only to tread water so far this month with a 6-7 mark. After our much-needed sweep over Phoenix, we’ll need to keep Charlotte down, in their park, if we are to benefit from any of the ill-gotten gains we secured in that last set.
116 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-6, 4.06) @ Ryan Sodergren (8-3, 3.98)
Win, 13-6. LF Logan Green went 2-for-3 with TWO TANKS, 3 RBI, and 3 runs in a wasted effort as his Charlotte Imperials were unable to keep our pace with 7 of our 13 runs driven in by the top of our order.
Otto hit his 26th BOMB, a towering 2-run blast,
OH HONG put his 30th over the fence, driving in two as well, and
Ethan hit #15 off
RP Thomas Zabila to drive two more in during the top of the 7th.
Jan gets the win despite allowing 4 runners to plate in just 5-innings of work,
Nakagawa struggled some in relief, allowing 2 to score during an ill-fated Charlotte rally attempt, and
Rad Taylor, in 1.2-innings of work, was able to shut the door on the Imperials as we run our win streak up to 5 in a row.
117 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (8-6, 3.43) @ Nuno Granado (5-4, 2.63)
Win, 9-2. Simon Paulino finished 2-for-4 with a solo homer, a 2-run double, and 3 total RBI to lead our club offensively with
Mullens,
Weaver, and
Hutch each falling in line behind him with 2 RBI. Three doubles as a club, two homers, with the 2nd representing
Ethan’s 16th of the season, a SAC BUNT, a HBP, and 13 left stranded while still scoring 9 on the day… pretty fierce you ask me. Good stuff from the staff too, led by
Dontrell’s 5-innings of 6-hit, 2 earned work with
Dani and
Duarte closing out the final four frames with nary a hit between them.
Elsewhere: Derek Blow, of the Cleveland Buckeyes (a Charlotte affiliate), tossed his 3rd complete game, and second complete game shutout of the year in a 9-inning, 3-hit, 9 K performance that led his squad to a resounding 11-0 win over the Oklahoma City Friendlys in Continental League play. So far this season, his second in AA,
Blow has amassed a 10-14 record with a 3.97 ERA, 153 K’s, while contributing 2.2 in WAR to the cause.
118 of 162: Nacho Valadez (6-3, 3.63) @ Payton Inzen (4-6, 3.63)
Loss, 1-8.
SP Payton Inzen opened this one up by stifling our offense over 5-innings, allowing a mere 3 hits while fanning 5, and the Charlotte Bullpen wouldn’t ease up from there with
Alexander Folan and
Marco Padilla allowing just 2 hits and a run the rest of the way…
Otto and
Chance each hit doubles with nobody on,
Otto hit a solo shot with two outs on the board to bring in our only run, and
Nacho was saddled with his first loss in a Leopards kit after managing just 4.1 innings in this one, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks – he also fanned 8 batsmen and hit one (
Brad Gallo, crowding the plate), but that is neither here nor there.
Record: 64-54, .542, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll take the 3rd, of what will total 4 once the month is through, day off in August, travelling back to Los Angeles for a 3-game stretch against the Portland Pioneers.