Portland Pioneers (29-25, .537, 4th AL West) @ Salt Lake Alpines (34-20, .630, 1st AL West)
We arrive in Utah downtrodden, unsteady on our feet, unsure of ourselves, of our place in this world, with a severe case of imposter syndrome… we’ve gone from being the cock of the walk, turning in a 17-8 month of April, to being an also ran, losers of our last three sets, including getting swept at home our last time out.
Meanwhile, these Alpines have done nothing of the sort – instead, after a 14-11 April, they’ve grown steadier on their feet, have the top starting rotation in the AL, a solid, 3rd ranked offense, and are currently in the midst of a 16-8 May & looking to close it out against us on a high note, at home, in front of the most well-behaved fans in baseball. And, really, if I’m honest (and why wouldn’t I be), given our current run of form, our complete inability to play a winning brand of baseball of late, I see no reason, nothing that I can point to, that would suggest they aren’t going to do just that – solidify their hold over our division at our expense before turning it out, Utah style, at some nondescript Ice Cream shop situated nicely on one of their host city's perfectly manicured downtown streets.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (5-3, 4.25 ERA) vs LHP W. Winston (4-1, 3.53 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (5-4, 3.95 ERA) vs RHP Q. Sieg (3-5, 4.74 ERA)
RHP D. Hornbrook (4-5, 3.38 ERA) vs LHP B. McElheny (6-0, 1.14 ERA)
#55: Win, 5-1… Off on the good foot with a nice road win to put an end to our 5-game losing streak where we’d do all of our damage after the 6th inning, scoring at least one run in each frame from that point on.
Frodo,
Leo,
Mike Duncan, and
Antwan Cross did the dirt for us offensively while
Macomber got back on the horse with a nice, 5-inning, 5 K performance where he’d not allow a single hit, and
Payton Inzen, despite not being credited with a save, shut the door with authority during the bottom of the 9th on 18 total pitches. Still not a lot in the way of extra base hits, just two doubles today, and still leaving lots of guys stranded, 12 in total here, but we got the win, gave ourselves something to feel good about, and can, hopefully, rebuild the confidence from here.
#56: Loss, 1-4… Salt Lake was able to reel it in, to put us back on our heels with a nice win by an even nicer 3-run margin…
CF Mason Duryea finished 3-for-4 with a solo homer and a 2-run double, leading the Salt Lake attack, and the defense backed up
SP Quintin Sieg with a double play and outfield assist as he went 7 hard-scrabble innings, holding our guys to just 5 hits and 1 run while making 5 of our batsmen look foolish. We’ll look to salvage some pride tomorrow with a series win on the road and, hopefully, put this no good, terrible month behind us on a high note.
#57: Loss, 0-6… Former Leopard,
Chance Bell, finished 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and a run, another former Leopard,
RP Kieth Baeza, got the start in an Opener role, going 1.1 innings before handing it off to
Big Burt McElheny who laid our order to waste over 7.2-innings of work, allowing just 3-hits while fanning 2 –
he got 14 fly outs and 6 ground outs. For our part the offense sucked, the defense was subpar, and our starter,
Dominic Hornbrook, left after just 1.1-innings of work with an injury - the dreaded 'diagnosis pending' kind. In other news, I’m pretty sure we’re
doomed.
Roster Updates: 2B Wyatt Raphael rejoins the big club and
2B Antwan Cross returns to Eugene.
Elsewhere: Aitor Cubas, currently plying his trade with the Gulfport Growlers in the Bush League after suffering a catastrophic injury to end his 2084 campaign in Pittsburgh was injured again and will miss the next month or so with a herniated disc in his back – to first see
Aitor, after 15 years of service, miss a full season due to injury at the tender age of 32, followed by failing to sign with a Major League club, to attempting to prove his durability in the Bush League only to suffer another injury is something of a
major disappointment. This guy is an all-timer who deserves to finish his illustrious career in the bigs – like, how in the world does a
4x Boyce Rigg award winner not get signed by an MLB club… and even more questionable, how in the world does no one buy him from his Bush League club? It’s moot now given that he’s injured again, so, there is that. Also, I just noticed that the Charlotte Imperials have reeled off 10 straight wins… so, good for them, I guess.
Record: 30-27, .526, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll kick off the month of June in Seattle, hoping to get back on track against the struggling Metros.