Los Angeles Leopards (73-39, .651, 1st NL West) @ Boston Shamrocks (45-67, .402, 6th AL East)
The Shamrocks, at dead last in the AL East & flexing a -85 RDiff, have been nothing short of shameful in 2082, trotting out the 12th ranked offense in the American League that finds itself ranked dead last in Runs Scored, AVG, OBP, OPS, Batting WAR, and wOBA much to the chagrin of their hometown fans. Their pitching, while satisfactory relative to the baseball acumen put on display by their offense, is, under any kind of scrutiny, in shambles, and their front office doesn’t seem to possess the skillset to do anything about it in the short term or even further down the road. Basically, without a full-fledged overhaul in every facet of their organization, the citizens of Boston, especially those that count themselves amongst the Shamrocks dwindling fanbase, won’t be able to draw any of that elusive civic pride from this loose collection of stiffs masquerading as a baseball club. If ever there was a set primed for a sweep, this is it…
113 of 162: Marco Ortega (12-5, 3.13) @ Casper Flores (5-9, 2.93)
Loss, 7-9.
RF Timmy Simpson was nearly the whole show for Boston, finishing 2-for-4 with two tanks and 5 RBIs… fully embracing his role as a beacon of shining light for the USS Shamrock that’s been all but destroyed in open waters so far this season, coming into this set listing portside and putting a bad one on us anyways.
Ortega was saddled with the loss, his 6th so far, after giving up 6 runs in just 3.2 innings of work, and, despite putting up 7 runs of our own, with HRs from
Otto and
Oh Hong, we’d drop our first game after winning our last 6 straight. File this one under, ‘counting your chickens before they hatch’… but, alas, same as it ever was – one foot in front of the other and all that.
114 of 162: Leonardo Duarte (8-2, 2.87) @ Jimar James (4-8, 4.18)
Win, 7-4. With 7 runs in the books before the close of the 5th inning, we’d coast our way back to shore, allowing the Shamrocks to get their hopes up a bit after adding four of their own to the official account split evenly over the 8th and 9th innings… but, it was too little to late for the home team as your La La’s came correct after last night’s debacle to put these suddenly cocksure swabbies manning the deck on the USS Shamrock back in their place. There are levels to this, ya know? We’d get 6-innings of scrappy shutout baseball from
Duarte while
Lucas Sherman and
Hernando Benavidez did most of our heavy lifting offensively, driving in 5 of our 7 total runs between them in the win. A nice way to bounce back after laying an egg just one short game ago.
115 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (10-8, 3.02) @ Luke Carlson (5-8, 3.87)
Win, 5-4. Benavidez put us ahead for good during the top of the 5th, blasting a game-winning 3-run TANK off
Luke Carlson for his only hit of the game… we’d flash the leather bit when necessary, crafting two double plays and getting an OF Assist from
Dalton Burch as he gunned down
3B Andy Oransky at home during the bottom of the 8th. Good, aggressive baserunning spoiled by
Dalton’s 70-rated outfield arm… in all we’d finish with two doubles, a triple,
Benavidez’s home run, and a SAC FLY from
Blasko earning another series win on our way out of town.
Elsewhere: 22yo
SP Brian Phillips, a recent Arkansas graduate who now plies his trade in Denver’s farm system with the Fort Collins Merlins, accomplished a feat for the ages, twirling a
NO HITTER with 9 K’s and 3 walks to lead his squad to a sturdy little 3-0 victory over the visiting Carlin Chukars. The No-No marked the first time he’s held an opponent to less than 5-hits since joining Denver’s A ball club. On the year he’s 8-7 with a 4.90 ERA, 75 K’s, 109 ERA+, and a 5.17 FIP. So, this will very likely be his high water mark.
Record: 75-40, .652, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’re headed to the Arizona desert to take on the Phoenix Coyotes over the next four games.