[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (36-33, .521, 4th AL West) @ Buffalo Nickels (38-31, .550, 2nd AL East)
Buffalo finds themselves entrenched in the middle of the pack for offense and pitching where they rank between 5th – 8th in most of the statistical categories we care about… their defense, however, ranked 1st in ZR and 2nd in efficiency, has been winning the day for them, and helping to carry their club to within 5 games of the hard-charging Charlotte Imperials… they’re, simply put, a good club – great defensively – who may have enough to secure one of the top two wildcard berths. Their lineup is sound, solid from top to bottom, and well-constructed versus lefties and righties, while their staff, on most nights, gives a good account of itself, even if that showing isn’t ever otherworldly. Our form has been good this month – with the notable exception of that set against Colorado at Pendleton Park – and that’ll need to continue should we want to show out against Buffalo, at their house, in front of their strident and boisterous fanbase.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (7-4, 3.80 ERA) vs RHP G. Rice (6-3, 3.13 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (6-5, 3.22 ERA) vs RHP A. Mistele (5-3, 3.50 ERA)
RHP W. Long (2-1, 6.14 ERA) vs LHP P. Lindgren (8-2, 2.31 ERA)

#70: Win, 4-3… Macomber picked up his 8th win of the season on the strength of his 5.1-inning, 8-hit, 2-earned effort and Frodo, continuing to make me look good for grabbing him on the cheap during the offseason, hit a 2-run double that put us up for good during the top of the 5th. RBIs from Leo and Micky would round out the offense while our bullpen looked sharp, allowing just one run over the final 3.2 innings to close out a nice victory on the road within the hostile environment of Buffalo’s hometown park. If we can secure one of the next two games, this will be our 4th series win in five tries for the month of June – this could shape up to be a nice little month for us if we keep it up.

#71: Win, 6-0… Another day, another fine pitching performance – this time it would be Bernal Sanchez doing the dirt – 6.2-innings, 5 hit, and NADA earned – as he picked up his 7th win of the year with the offense, led by Angel Marino’s 3-run TANK, giving him more than enough cushion to stay comfortable out on the bump. Frodo, Leo, and Micky each drove one home as we get the ultra-satisfying shutout victory despite leaving 9 runners stranded on the road… also, it turns out that Buffalo’s tip-top defense has been, at least over these last two tilts, matched by our own – we’ve been sturdy in the field, a determined, focused unit working in perfect harmony… or something like that… cue up Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson and lets tickle the ivory a little bit.

Elsewhere: Boston’s Tom Franzone is riding a 25-game hitting streak – still the longest such streak of his illustrious career.

#72: Loss, 2-9… welp, at least we secured the series win before having the stuffing beat out of us on the way out the door. Waldo was destroyed – 2.2 innings, 5 earned runs – and, in hindsight, maybe he wasn’t as ready for prime time as I thought when I shuffled things around to make room for him on the big club… and the offense, such that we had any to speak of, came up lame in this one, striking out 11 times with just two runs put on the board during the game. We’re headed back home tonight, aboard a cross country flight from New York to Oregon, giving us plenty of time to beat ourselves up before we land ready to start anew against the Maple Leafs in front of the hometown faithful at Pendleton Park.

Record: 38-34, .527, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to Portland for a 3-game set.