Portland Pioneers (47-43, .522, 4th AL West) @ Dallas Chaparrals (54-36, .600, 1st AL West)
It’s not like the Dallas Chaparrals have come out of nowhere – they haven’t – we all knew they’d be okay, maybe even good. It’s just that, well, no one had them running roughshod over all comers this late into the season, ruling the roost in the AL East like some newly crowned King whose form of leadership involves a crooked grin and iron fist. Still, I’m not sure these guys are built for the long haul, and I have my doubts that they’ll be installed at the top of the pops in the AL West once the dust has settled on this year’s campaign – mainly, because they’ve made their living on pitching, where their staff ranks 2nd overall in the AL and leads our league in Runs Against and Starters ERA, with an offense that is a decidedly middle-of the-pack outfit that hits for average (2nd in that category) with just a little bit of everything else sprinkled in.
Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (9-6, 4.13 ERA) vs LHP J. Hruska (6-4, 2.70 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (5-4, 3.72 ERA) vs RHP J. Arai (6-4, 3.91 ERA)
RHP W. Long (3-3, 6.40 ERA) vs LHP K. Judd (2-1, 2.49 ERA)
#91: Loss, 0-3… We’d manage to secure just 6 total hits, with just one of the extra-base variety, while fanning, as a unit, 10 times as we were handled, with relative ease, by the Chaps’ pitching staff, led today by a 7.2-inning, 5-hit, 8 K masterpiece courtesy of
SP Josh Hruska. Not a lot to parse out here – we came in meek, looked every bit a 98lbs weakling, and just sat idly by as the Dallas staff made mincemeat of our lineup. Rough one… how does that Ice Cube song go again?
Hey, quick side note… LF Adam Collins was sent to Eugene… our former starter, a casualty of the
Aitor signing and the return of
CF Micky Austin from the IL… such is the baseball life, I suppose.
#92: Win, 6-3 (10)… A big win for us, on the road, against our division’s leader… we’d knot things up during the top of the 9th, after 17 scoreless innings against Dallas’ much-vaunted staff, on a
Aitor Cubas run-scoring single followed by a
C Elijah Arvinda 2-run, two-bagger, and go up for good one short inning later after
Tate Ramsey smashed a 3-run TANK to decide things.
CL Payton Inzen, who gave us 2-innings of work here, earned the win, his 4th this year, after keeping Dallas hitless during the bottom of the 9th and 10th on 19 total pitches, and
Kade Voll fanned 7 in his 6-innings of work to set the tone for our club – a good –
NAY, GREAT – win for the boys in this one… here’s hoping we can get the win in the rubber match tomorrow.
Elsewhere: 3B Anthony “Please Just Take a Seat Right There” Hansen, of the Buffalo Nickels, finished 2-for-3 with TWO TANKS and 4 total RBI as his club improved to 50-42, just 7 games off Charlotte’s pace in the AL East, with a 5-1 win over the Boston Patriots. Buffalo, along with Vancouver, has penciled themselves in for a Wildcard Slot, while the Salt Lake Alpines, who have now lost 5 in a row, still lead that table with a 1-game lead over those two upstarts.
#93: Loss, 2-3… In the end, we’d not be good for it as Dallas manages to win the rubber match, at home, by just one run…
2B Rocco O’Gara did the dirt for Dallas, finishing 2-for-3 with the game winning run-scoring single, and
SP KJ Judd kept us looking foolish in the box over 8-innings of 7-hit, 2-earned work. Bernal, after allowing all three of the Chaps’ runs, drops to 10-6 on the year while our newest addition,
Aitor Cubas, finishes 0-for-4, hitting .158 with a solo homer for us since joining the team.
Note: SP Dominic Hornbrook returns from the IL just in time as
RP Kade Dio was placed on the list, where he’ll rehab for ~5 months, due to shoulder inflammation. Also,
LF Paul Chaney, who we picked 50th overall during the 3rd round of this years draft out of TCU, was named PoTW in our Short Season A league… the current Centennial Cavalier went .500 at the plate (10-for-20) with 3 dingers, 7 RBI, and 7 runs.
Record: 48-45, .516, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Denver for a 3-game set against the Colorado Kings.