[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (24-15, .615, 2nd AL West) @ Colorado Kings (15-24, .385, 6th AL West)
On paper, these Kings field an offense as adept as ours at scoring runs, which is to say not very adept at all, and a staff, that in my humble opinion, operates at a slower clip than our own – at altitude and sea level. Still, the punditry saw fit to rank them ahead of us at the start of the season… but, that was then and this is now – and here, in the present, nothing could be further from the truth. We’ve been busy beating the brakes off of nearly all comers while they’ve done the opposite, playing the role of whipping boy nearly every time out… so, here we’ll either continue fostering our bullying ways or get set straight by the 98lbs weakling who has been doing some extra pushups lately.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP B. Sánchez (4-3, 4.17 ERA) vs RHP B. John (2-2, 3.68 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (4-2, 4.05 ERA) vs RHP J. Sanchez-Flores (0-6, 4.82 ERA)
RHP D. Hornbrook (4-3, 3.48 ERA) vs LHP L. Álvarez (3-2, 3.02 ERA)

#40: Loss, 5-6 (14)… Colorado knotted things up during the bottom of the 7th on a 2-run double courtesy of CF Eric Hayhurst, then knotted things up again after we secured a short-lived 2-run lead during the top of the 12th with a 2-run BLAST of their own, courtesy of RF Smith Wells, during the bottom of that frame, before sending us off into the night with nowhere to got during the bottom of the 14th on a LF Lucas Zander walk off solo shot. CL Payton Inzen was the culprit for us again, allowing those two runs during the bottom of the 12th and RP Gary Switzer gave up the ghost during the 14th to fall to 1-3 on the year with an untenable, 4.91 ERA.

#41: Loss, 2-4… the Kings did their bit early, bringing each of their four runs across before the start of the 5th while our guys waited until the top of the 8th to get on the board, a 2-run TANK for Leo, yet were ultimately unable to get over on Colorado for the 2nd game in a row. Macomber drops to 4-3 after allowing each of Colorado’s runs, two on a 2B Eugenio Madrigal double and two more on a SS Steve Green TANK. The boys are getting cooked at altitude, we’re dehydrated, can’t breathe, aren’t hitting, and the pitching has come unglued.

#42: Win, 6-2… we’d save some face, winning our 25th contest of 2085, after putting up 3-runs during the top of the 7th followed by 2 more during the top of the 9th, putting this one just out of reach for the Kings and keeping them from earning a home sweep at our expense. Former Leopards Ace, Larimel Alvarez, took the loss, his 3rd of the year, after allowing 3 runners to plate in 6.2-innings of work, giving up two of our 4 doubles in the process. Fukumoto put one out, his 2nd, Leo swiped his 5th bag, we fielded a crispy Cross-Alford-Gonzales double play, and RP Morris Jones picked up his second save of the season – we’ve not installed him as closer yet, but if Inzen doesn’t step it up, we just might.

Record: 25-17, .595, 2nd AL West
Up Next: First we rest, then we welcome Dallas to town for a 3-game set in Pendleton Park.