Portland Pioneers (32-28, .533, 4th AL West) @ Dallas Chaparrals (36-24, .600, 2nd AL West)
At 32-28 on the year, after finishing last in the division last season, our club is off to a much better start than I, or anyone, could have hoped for. Swimming with the big dogs, a scant 4 games off the pace… here, against these Dallas Chaparrals, we’ll be afforded the opportunity to make up some ground, to establish ourselves as the real deal, as a divisional contender, and a club to be reckoned with. A tall order, to be sure… Dallas boasts the top-rated staff in our league, ranked 1st in runs against, Starters ERA, Bullpen ERA, and defensive efficiency, with an offense that’s been running in the middle of the pack so far this year. Their top dog,
1B KJ Marcus, is off to a good start – .319-10-39 – but needs guys like
DH JJ Barbari,
CF Lonzo Gonzo, and leadoff man
LF Jimmie Munoz to step it up if Dallas is to overtake Salt Lake while keeping clubs such as ourselves and Vancouver at bay. It’s early, no doubt, but our division will likely go down to the wire and if we want to be in the mix, to see the possibility of ruling the roost become reality, sets such as this are a must win.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP B. Sánchez (5-4, 3.70 ERA) vs LHP J. Hruska (3-3, 3.32 ERA)
LHP M. Shepard (2-0, 1.09 ERA) vs RHP J. Arai (3-3, 3.54 ERA)
RHP W. Long (0-1, 7.71 ERA) vs RHP R. Straub (0-1, 15.00 ERA)
#61: Win, 2-0… CL Payton Inzen would labor a bit, again, loading them up during the bottom of the 9th before fanning the last batter of the game to earn his 12th save, preserving
Bernal’s clean sheet & legendary, 8-inning, 3-hit, 5 K masterpiece to win the first of three in DFW.
Fukumoto finished 3-for-4 with an RBI,
Leo hit a solo homer during the top of the 1st to get things started, we hit two doubles as a club, fielded a crispy,
Raphael-Alford-Gonzales double play, and found a way to get it done against a quality club, in their park. Always nice to win such a tight, taut contest on the road.
#62: Loss, 4-5… We’d squander a 4-run lead from the 5th frame on as our bullpen fell apart, allowing Dallas to slowly pick us apart, get themselves back into it, and, ultimately, give their fans something to cheer about during the bottom of the 8th inning when
3B Buffalo Maliwat hit a two-run double to all but assure victory for the Chaps. 3-run homer for our Catcher,
Elijah Arvinda, his 3rd TANK this year, a burgled bag from
SS Sam Gore, and nothing else of note to report as we squandered nearly every opportunity we afforded ourselves here, stranding 8 runners over the course of the game.
Elsewhere: Sage Reid, 29yo starting CFer, and 4x All-Star, who won the 2083 championship with his Philadelphia Founders, went off on in-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Pipers, during an 11-9 victory for the Liberty… he led his squad with a 4-for-5 day at the plate, 2 HR, 3 RBI, and 3 runs. With the win, Philadelphia took a 1-game lead in the NL East… over the Pittsburgh Pipers – I expect this race to a division title to be hotly contested considering they're such heated rivals.
#63: Win, 7-5… We’d secure a huge series win, on the road, against a division rival with
LF Adam Collins hitting the HR that started our 4-run top of the 3rd and
1B Angel Marino bashing another during the top of the 9th to give
Payton Inzen some additional cushion to operate from during the bottom of that frame… 2 homers for the club, a run-scoring double from
Leo Bullock, another swiped bag for
Micky Austin, his 10th on the year, and a expertly executed,
Fukumoto-Raphael-Marino double play. Additionally,
SP Waldo Long picked up his first win since joining the big club, despite allowing 4 runners to plate during his 5.1-innings of work, and
CL Payton Inzen managed to secure his 13th save on 16 total pitches with 2 K’s thrown into the mix – nice outing for our topsy-turvy closer.
Elsewhere: Former Leopard with 13 years of Major League Service,
1B Arnold Webster, who currently plies his trade with the Coney Island Footlongs in the Bush League, can still get after it as evidenced by his 2-for-4 day at the plate that included a
GRAND SLAM, 5 total RBI, and 2 runs during his clubs exciting 7-6 win over the Tallahassee Tomcats on the road in Florida.
Webster won a World Series ring with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2079 and put up 2.4 in WAR for them that year… he also won a Silver Slugger with my Los Angeles Leopards in 2076, earning his 2nd straight All-Star appearance as a result.
Record: 34-29, .539, 4th
Up Next: We’ll board a flight bound for Portland, Oregon where the Colorado Kings will be waiting for us to play out a 3-game series over the weekend.