[pauwoo]

Salt Lake Alpines (69-57, .548, t-1st AL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (86-40, .683, 1st NL West)
The representative from Utah has the floor… for the first time in, oh, I don’t know, forever, it seems like the Salt Lake Alpines may have something significant to say. After not making the playoffs since 2078, this seems like it could be their year – winning at a 55% clip, outscoring their opponents by 44 runs in aggregate, on an 8-2 run over their last 10, and flexing a tip-top 37-26 record on the road, the Alpines are built to derail clubs like ours, to catch us looking, and to put us down before we’ve even realized that the fight has begun. Here, it’s all hands up and chin tucked as we attempt to win our 7th series in 8 tries this August.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP H. Vaughn (8-6, 4.07 ERA) vs RHP W. Allen (6-9, 5.19 ERA)
LHP O. Arce (13-2, 2.27 ERA) vs RHP R. Halbur (4-10, 3.62 ERA)
RHP C. Arnett (7-12, 4.19 ERA) vs LHP B. McElheny (15-3, 2.16 ERA)

#127: Loss, 2-3... The Alpines were patient, content to hang back until an opening presented itself during the top of the 8th when Owen Girolimo served up a meatball to Mason Duryea who put his 19th double into play and brought two around in the process, all but putting this one out of our reach after we’d been hypnotized by all the blandness emanating from Salt Lake’s dugout. Just two extra base hits and a swiped bag for the club in this one… it’s almost as if our squad forgot we were playing a baseball game.

#128: Loss, 8-3... The Alpines waited in the wings again – putting 5 runs on the board during the top of the 9th to set our heads spinning such that there was nothing we could put together to do about it during the bottom of the frame… Not a lot in the way of highlights for our team as these Salt Lake Alpines, former also rans of the American League, have successfully waltzed into Los Angeles and cribbed a set off the best team in baseball.

#129: Loss, 3-4 (14)… Good grief, undone by Salt Lake, late, once again – this time it would be an Andy Oransky run-scoring single against the 6th of 7 pitchers we’d trot out to the bump in this one. So, not only do we fail to win our 7th series of the month but are also swept for the first time, and at home no less. Rough stretch for the club as we head into a day before closing out the month in NYC against the Sluggers.

Record: 86-43, .667, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll attempt to get this train back on the rails in NYC against the 66-62 Sluggers.