[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (101-46, .687, 1st NL West) @ Miami Herons (75-71, .514, 2nd NL East)
At a scant 4 games off the pace of the NL East division-leading Pittsburgh Pipers, the Miami Herons are still in this thing… of course, with the likes of us storming the gates, they could very well find themselves most of the way out it once the dust has settled on this three-game set to reveal another razed castle and trail of dead left in our wake. And, really, maybe that would be for the best… here we have a club so lucky, so fortunate & touched by the hand of God, that they have managed to ride a -76 RDiff to a record that is +11 against the PYT while Philadelphia, currently 3rd on the NL East table, boasts a +72 RDiff and are -8 against the PYT. See, they deserve, NAY, require a good pummeling, to be thoroughly pillaged, used to decorate pig-poles, and robbed of their chance to buck the odds and make it to the dance despite being born with two left feet. It is, after all, our duty to keep the riff raff from the promised land, is it not?

148 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (12-9, 3.04) @ Christopher Arnett (9-10, 3.93)
Win, 2-0. Larimel gave us 5.2 flawless innings of 3-hit, nothing earned, 7 K work, but, once again, wouldn’t come away with a W for his efforts as the offense didn’t get things going until the top of the next frame allowing Rad Taylor to scoop up his 9th win of the year. Holds for Hansen, Tajima, and T-Rex, and another save for Haag (that’s 49 if you’re counting). Also, Blasko got kicked out of the game for chest-bumping an umpire. And, we’ve received word that he’ll miss four games as a result. Whatever. Is normal.

In other news… Aitor Cubas (LV) put another one out against the Montreal Alouettes and is now trending to amass 52 homers this season (if he can just get a multi-HR game or two we could see the record fall).

149 of 162: Leonardo Duarte (12-4, 2.44) @ Hank Wilson (5-11, 4.66)
Win, 9-2. Humberto finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and a run, Chance put one out, his 3rd, Ryan Bearnson, slotting in at 2B with Blasko out on suspension, went 3-for-4 with a 2-run triple and 2 runs of his own. Leonardo gave us 5-innings of filthiness and picked up his 13th win for his efforts with Sherwin Kane, Major Hansen, and Ramiro Marte each getting some burn in relief to close this one out and make it 7 wins in a row for your La La’s…

150 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-1, 2.71) @ Hunter Vaughn (12-8, 2.98)
Loss, 3-5. Walked off by an Earnest Shambach 2-run DING DONG with T-Rex responsible for giving up the game winning runs, his first time giving up an earned run in 31 straight games, after a fine, 5-inning outing courtesy of Nacho Valadez. Humberto, Joseph Brant, and Chance Bell drove in each of our three runs on dingers, we fielded an expertly crafted Rodriguez-Bearnson-Hong double play, but were unable to earn a sweep on Miami, settling instead for another series win in a season full of them.

In other news… Aitor Cubas (LV) hit his 48th homer against the Montreal Alouettes and needs just 4 more to tie the all-time HR record in Strangeverse.

Record: 103-47, .686, 1st NL West
Up Next: An interleague set, on the road, in Charlotte against the AL East leading Imperials.