Mexico City Jaguars (25-14, .641, 2nd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (26-13, .667, 1st NL West)
These Jags, led by Starters
Patrick Torres (3-2, 2.93) and
Owen Sum (4-1, 3.23), and a resurgent
1B Satoru Ono (.281-13-34) offensively, are off to a great start with a real opportunity to not just make it to the playoffs but to make some real noise once they get there. Hell, with some luck, a good bounce here, a well-played hop there, they could win the whole thing for the first time since 2069. At 7-2 so far this month, and ranked 1st in nearly every category offensively, they’re nearly impossible to stop… they routinely make crackerjack staffs look silly, make mincemeat out of the best defensive units, and, really, just completely wreck the basepaths. This is
a run-scoring machine sent here to destroy the human race. Our only hope here, hell – anyone’s only hope – is to outrun them, to somehow meet them where they are and outpace their
Usain Bolt-ian , razzle dazzle offense.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
LHP L. Duarte (3-1, 3.72 ERA) vs RHP S. Mabry (0-0, 2.08 ERA)
LHP L. Álvarez (4-3, 4.00 ERA) vs RHP P. Torres (3-2, 2.93 ERA)
LHP R. McGuire (5-1, 1.89 ERA) vs LHP O. Sum (4-1, 3.23 ERA)
The top 5 players on their team are:
1. SP Patrick Torres (Age: 22, Overall : 80, Potential: 80)
2. CF Norris Flaherty (32, 63, 63)
3. LF Gervasio Contreras (23, 57, 67)
4. SP Owen Sum (27, 57, 58)
5. RP Dwight Beasley (30, 57, 57)
#40: Win, 6-5…
Otto Isaac hit a run-scoring single during the bottom of the 8th with 2 outs already on the board to put us up by a run… and that’s where we left it. 3 RBI for
Oh Hong,
T-Rex earned the win after pitching to a single batter…
Elsewhere: Boston’s
Tom Franzone -
the man, the myth, the legend – went 3-for-5 with THREE HOMERS to lead the Shamrocks to a hard-earned, 7-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road. The 3 HR outburst puts
Franzone in a two-way tie with
Satoru Ono for the Major League lead in that category at 13 so far this year… the win also moved Boston to within two games of the hard-charging, 24-win Charlotte Imperials in the AL East. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the 3 HR day put
Franzone over the
THREE HUNDRED HOMERUN mark for his career…
And now… back to our regularly scheduled programming…
#41: Win, 3-0…
Larimel gave Mexico City the business over 7-innings of 1-hit, 0 earned work and fanned 8 batsmen to earn his 5th win of the season. Hold for
T-Rex, save for
Max, and a critical series win for the La La’s.
#42: Loss, 1-5…
Hisamoto Hirata, Mexico City’s
backup backstop, did us in during the top of the 4th with a 3-run TANK that all but took the wind out of our sails here as the Jaguars were able to ride off into the sunset on something of a high note.
So, we were able to win a big, important set, at home, against one of our closest competitors in the NL West, opening up a 2-game lead on them in the process, and giving the Phoenix Coyotes, winners of 5 straight, all the room they’d need to pull even with Mexico City in our division… for as good as we’ve been – and I’d put that somewhere between amazing and incredible thus far – some of the teams in our division just refuse to go away. That they’re both 26-16 so far, and tied with the team I look to as the 2nd-best club in the Majors behind us, the Charlotte Imperials, is a bit concerning… so far, it says that if we can’t keep this level of focus and execution going, that, should we stumble, this thing we’re building could all come crumbling down like a house of cards… and with the quickness too.
Record: 28-14, .667, 1st NL West
Up Next: The Las Vegas Outlaws are headed our way for a 3-game set in Los Angeles that’ll start on Tuesday after the boys take a day off to enjoy some of the spoils we’ve earned in all our pillaging thus far.