Charlotte Imperials (42-24, .636, 1st AL East) @ Portland Pioneers (34-32, .515, 4th AL West)
For the last three seasons, Charlotte has been that club – finishing first each year before bowing out in the first or second round. This is their year – it has to be – the window is slowly closing, the clubs on their periphery have improved, and their superstar, 32yo
2B Ray Gerhold, is starting to age out of his prime. And, this could be – should be – their year… they boast the best RDiff in the majors so far, are running in place with the expected Pyt, and are in the midst of a 9-1 tear over their last 10 tilts. It’s all systems go, pistons primed, engine precisely tuned, with a driver at the wheel who knows a little something about how to drive a car – the world, then, is their oyster… far be it for riff raff like us to entertain thoughts of derailing their ascent to immortality.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Long (1-1, 7.50 ERA) vs LHP M. Ortega (2-6, 4.32 ERA)
LHP M. Shepard (2-1, 2.40 ERA) vs RHP N. Granado (7-0, 2.88 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (4-4, 3.95 ERA) vs RHP L. Myers (8-3, 3.87 ERA)
#67: Win, 8-3… to so thoroughly dismantle the Charlotte Imperials, running up the score, and styling on them like we were Rodney Mullen in Opinion, was something of a surprise. Sure, baseball is a fickle mistress, and anything can, and often does happen, but, given their superb form, this is not a result I would’ve bet on. Yet here we are, strutting our stuff in the owner’s box, the cock of the walk, baby, while our Skipper kept reminding the boys to act like they’d been here before.
Fukumoto,
C Elijah Arvinda,
2B Tate Ramsey, and
SS Jess Alford each drove in two runs, we hit 6 doubles and a homerun as a club, fielded a stellar
Fukumoto-Raphael-Gonzales double play, and were treated to a fine, 5.1-inning, 3-hit, nothing earned performance by
Waldo Long who, as a result, secured his 2nd win since joining us in PDX. This was fun.
Elsewhere: Dominic Cooke could soon be placed on the injured list. The Dallas catcher told reporters that he expects to be "out of commission" for 6 weeks because of a torn ligament in his thumb. He hasn't played since 06/10/2085 and, he said, he's "itchin' to get back out there." So far this year Cooke is batting .291 with 4 home runs.
This is a big loss for Dallas – nobody handles a staff like Dom, and the bat is always solid too. I expect them to drop in the standings as a result – making room for Vancouver and the likes of us to make our moves.
#68: Loss, 2-4… Charlotte would give us a little taste of it in the 2nd game, doing what they do to pretty much everyone, as
SP Nuno Granado gave us the business over 6-innings of 5-hit, 1-earned work before turning it over to the Imperials bullpen who held us in check, save a run that we scored on an error, the rest of the way. Some nice work in the box from
C Lee Rolon too – 3-for-4 with a bases-clearing double for the one-time Leopard who worked his way into the backup role in Charlotte back in 2083 after spending half that season in AAA and AA. Both our runs were brought across courtesy of the inscrutable
Leo Bullock who wore his nondescript game face throughout this contest as Charlotte held us down at home.
#69: Win, 8-6… What a game, what a sport – down two, in the bottom of the 9th,
Angel Marino at the plate with the bases loaded after
Fukumoto walked during the previous at-bat, when Charlotte reliever
Chris Olsen served up the tastiest meatball resulting in a walk off, game-winning
GRAND SALAMI for our resident first baseman.
Leo Bullock hit a 3-run dinger of his own, we hit three two-baggers as a club, and managed to crib a set off the hottest team in our league after getting swept here by Colorado, one of the worst clubs in the AL, our last time out.
Baseball is a fickle mistress, indeed.
Elsewhere: SP Gregory Wayne, of the Brooklyn Americans, did the nearly unthinkable – firing off our third
NO-NO of the season against the
LOS ANGELES LEOPARDS during a nice, 5-0 win for his club at home.
Wayne finished the game with 8 K’s and 4 walks, earning his 5th win of the season and dropping his ERA to a satisfying 3.60…
what a performance against one of the best, if not the best, hitting clubs in the Major Leagues.
Record: 36-33, .521, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll board a cross country flight bound for upstate New York where we’ll line up opposite the Buffalo Nickels for a 3-game, weekend set.