[pauwoo]

Vs. Colorado Kings (26-16, .619, 1st AL West)
Still kicking butt, still in a good way – this year’s edition of the Colorado Kings possesses their customary smashmouth offense paired with a pitching staff who’ve been able to keep the pace so far with a 2nd place ranking in Bullpen ERA and a 1st place ranking in FIP and Strikeouts. May could end up being their month too – already off to a fierce 8-3 start to the month with plenty of runway left to really take flight, Colorado, who came in at a 79-83, 4th place finish in the preseason predictions, have given many of us in the AL West reason to pause as our division, already replete with some good, contending clubs may have one more of those added to the mix in these Kings. And, for our part, in going a subpar, 5-6 so far this month, welcoming these guys to our park at this juncture in the season may be a harrowing experience for the boys… let’s hope we have a gear we’ve not found so far this month, that we can shift to it, and find ourselves on a straight away in front of the hometown faithful.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP N. Barilla (0-0, 0.00) vs RHP R. Borovský (4-3, 3.86)
RHP B. Sánchez (6-1, 2.90) vs LHP S. Jones (5-2, 2.53)
RHP W. Macomber (3-4, 3.14) vs RHP E. Belanger (5-3, 3.19)

#43: Loss, 2-4… SP Radoslav Borovsky, a former Las Vegas mainstay who now plies his trade with the Colorado Kings, was dealing – 7-innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and 2 K’s in a winning effort for the Kings’ #4 guy – and our leagues top rated offense needed just the bare minimum to leave us struggling to stay afloat in their wake. Our only runs were brought in by our primary backstop, Elijah Arvinda, we couldn’t muster a single extra base hit, and, despite turning two double plays, weren’t able to keep our starter, Norman Barilla, from taking the loss in his major league debut after allowing 4 runners to plate during 6 innings of work.

Elsewhere: Our AAA club, the Eugene Ducks, took a few bad ones on the chin in a tilt against the Tucson Saguaros… losing, at home, by a score of 14-0… the box score, in all its bloody glory, is attached. And, as you can see, we may have to fold up shop and shut down our Triple-A outfit for good after this one…

#44: Win, 4-3 (12)… it’d take everything we had and then some to get this one settled as C Elijah Arvinda, coming on for a PH opportunity with the bases-loaded and two outs already on the board, managed to squeeze one through the infield, scoring two runs to knot things up for us and send this one to extras… there, after DiMaio was flawless during the 10th, Payton Inzen would allow just one hit over two innings of near miraculous work to keep Colorado off the board while giving Leo an opportunity to play the hero – and, as ever, your boy wouldn’t squander it, driving Elijah in on a perfectly hit single during the bottom of the 12th to enter this one into the books as a win whilst sending the Kings off into the night without a crown on their heads or shoes on their feet.

#45: Win, 8-0… this was a big win for the club, coming against tip top competition, and at a time when we’ve not been playing our best. Simon Harris and Angel Marino would each hit 2-run doubles, Skyler Dickey put a 2-run TANK over the fence, and Micky Austin & Frodo Gonzales brought runners around on singles while SP Bernal Sanchez did it up big time, securing his 7th win of the season after turning in 6.2-innings of 5-hit, 0 earned, 7 K work against the best offense in our league… an all around tip top effort from the boys in Pendleton Park, much to the delight of the hometown faithful.

Record: 24-21, .533, 2nd AL West
Up Next: We’ll hit the road, heading to Austin, TX, where we’ll contest three games against the Grackles in some of that good ol’ interleague silliness.