Portland Pioneers (9-6, .600, 3rd AL West) @ Boston Patriots (8-7, .533, 4th AL West)
The highly regarded Boston Patriots should contend this year – their misfortune, however, is that they ply their trade in the same division as the Charlotte Flyers, who, over the past 3 seasons have ruled the AL East roost with an iron fist. Will this be the year that Strangeverse legend, 34yo
Tom Franzone, finally breaks on through to the other side and adds a championship ring to his already otherworldly resume that includes 2 MVP’s, 9 all-star appearances, and 8 Silver Slugger awards? It has to be, right? He’s old and getting older, there can’t be too much left in the tank… he’s a rainbow candidate if ever there was one, and, I’m pulling for him – I don’t want him to end up like
SP Josiah Weber who won 7
Pacheco’s but never won the whole thing. I want his name etched into the World Series Trophy, remembered for all eternity as a man amongst men. Head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries – the Tim Duncan of Strangeverse.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (2-1, 2.16 ERA) vs RHP K. Rubertone (1-0, 1.12 ERA)
RHP D. Hornbrook (1-2, 2.12 ERA) vs RHP C. Forbes (2-0, 3.86 ERA)
RHP H. Wilson (1-1, 3.77 ERA) vs RHP K. Littles (0-2, 3.32 ERA)
#16: Loss, 5-7… the staff came
unglued during the 7th as Starter,
William Macomber, gave up three runs in that frame before handing it off to
Robinson Bridges &
Gray Switzer who both continued that trend by allowing 4 more runners to plate – that’s right, we gave up 7 runs during the bottom of the 7th to allow these Boston Patriots to come all the way back from a 5-run deficit. And all without a single homerun from Boston… rough way to start this set for the boys, especially after we came in on such a high having swept our opponents the last time out.
Elsewhere: SP Patrick Torres, that stalwart from Mexico City and, IMHO, the best pitcher in baseball, was at it again for the Jaguars, turning in an 8-inning, 7-hit, nothing earned masterpiece that included 14, count ‘em, FOURTEEN, K’s to lead his squad to a resounding 4-0 win at home against the New Orleans Gators. Kid’s got two
Pacheco’s at just 23yo – he just might be
Josiah Weber reincarnated & improved upon. And, he’s a leader with high intelligence too.
Kid’s got it all.
#17: Win, 5-4 (14)… no lead is safe in Boston as the Patriots dug deep once again, knotting this thing up with a 3-run bottom of the 8th and send us to extras to sort it out… and, after trading zeroes until the 14th our own
3B Ron Henry would do just that, hitting a run-scoring single off
RP Roger Gentile to put us in front for good. It helped that
Tom Franzone finished 0-for-6 with 2 K’s. Also,
DH Frodo Gonzales, who we signed to a minor league contract with a majors option on April 3rd, cashed in said option with an appearance on the big club already, finishing 4-for-5 with a HR, 3 RBI and a run for us here. He was a 2-3 WAR guy for Vancouver & Buffalo for a 4-year stretch before the skills, especially the fielding, started to erode – here’s hoping he’ll put in some good work for us this season.
#18: Loss, 5-10… there’d be no comeback from Boston required here, no late-inning heroics, and, while we tried our rally caps on, putting up all 5 of our runs during the top of the 9th, it was nothing doing as Boston handled us with relative ease throughout this contest. We hit three doubles and a triple but couldn’t match Boston’s output as our starter,
Hank Wilson, got shelled in this one, allowing 5 runners to plate in just 4.2-innings of work. He drops to 1-2 on the year with a 5.21 ERA.
Record: 10-8, .556, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll head into New York City for a set against the Sluggers in their park.