[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (17-12, .586) @ Chicago Fire (11-19, .367)
Some interleague fun… Winners of 6 World Series titles in their 82 year history, the Chicago Fire have only made the playoffs twice in the last 10 years and last won the whole enchilada in 2069 when they defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-2. Currently, they are dead last in 3 of 4 offensive categories and are 9th in the other and while their bullpen has been really good, this team hasn’t really put anything substantial together all season. Looking to have a much better May than April, the Fire came out and took 2 of 3 off the visiting Toronto Reds during their last series and are now 5-5 in their last 10. They are led by 3B Gavin Nalley – he’s has had a rough start to the season, batting a weak .183 with no homers through 28 starts. We have an opportunity to get back on track here – let’s hope we don’t squander it.


30 of 162: Del Miller (3-0, 5.04 ERA) @ Tom Wallace (1-3, 4.33 ERA)
We start the series with both Jeter Bros in the starting lineup… After Hamza McDonnell earns a walk to open the game, Donny moves him over to second with a base hit up the middle – Derek moves the runner over and Milbrandt brings McDonnell in to give us an early lead… Chicago answers in the bottom of the inning and we now have an 8-inning ballgame… Kai-Fa Chiang hits a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to get our lead back, but Chicago is quick to answer back in the bottom of the frame… through 3-innings, we have 3 stolen bases – not bad! Chicago get a run in each of the first 4 innings and after we get one in the top of the 5th are up 4-3… In the top of the 6th, Cusac draws a walk, steals second & third, and gives PEPPER a chance to tie it up with no outs… PEPPER rises to the occasion with a hard hit double – tie game! After loading the bases on walks, Chicago reliver Brendan Morgan follows that mess up with a wild pitch allowing PEPPER to score – we’re up 5-4… LET’S GO! We score another in the inning and 2 more after that to earn the W, 8-5. We reduced our errors by half of the previous games total – we only got two today. That’s what you call a win-win. Losing streak snapped!

Elsewhere: Toronto 1B Terry Romero improved his consecutive game hitting streak to 32 games. The league record is 47 games and was set by LF Vica Cabrera while with the San Diego Chargers (gross) in 2036. The 32-game streak puts Romero in a two-way tie with Los Angeles Lakers SS Jhonnatan Candido, who accomplished the feat in 1997, for 15th all-time.

31 of 162: Cleveland Cornejo (3-1, 5.46 ERA) @ Trev Anderson (2-1, 2.10 ERA)
We have both Jeter Bros in the lineup – two games in a row – good thing we keep a doc on retainer… Also, they both struck out in the 1st, so there is that… Chicago put 3 on the board in the bottom of the second and now we have an uphill battle on our hands, Pepper leads of the top of the 3rd and reaches second on an error – we’ll take it – but, at the end of our turn we’ve brought nothing home… We finally put some runs on the board in the top of the 7th and Luca Milbrandt hits a 3-run HR for us in the 8th to secure the lead 5-4… in all we used 7 total pitchers to get the W. Jeter Bros finish 0-6 with a BB each and Pepper goes 0-4 with 2 K’s…

Elsewhere: Romero has now hit safely in 33 straight games, he’s now tied with OKC’s Szak Hodo who accomplished it during the 2028 season.

32 of 162: Isaiah Zuno (2-2, 4.82 ERA) @ Alfredo Mendez (0-4, 4.64 ERA)
If we get the sweep, Donny want be in the lineup to enjoy – old boy is tired. Again. Chicago opens the scoring in the bottom of the 4th, scoring two runs… through 4, we already have two errors. Like, we can’t field, ya know? We finally put some runs of our own on the board in the top of the 7th, but by that time Chicago has already scored three more… now, at 6-3, with Chicago in the lead, we still have a ways to go if we are going to get the sweep… They score another run on us in the bottom of the 7th and we manage to come alive a bit in the top of the 9th to score 3… but it’s not enough and it ends with Chicago victorious by a score of 7-6.

Elsewhere: Romero’s streak ended at 33.

Notes: Well, we will take series win anytime. I mean a sweep would have been sweet, but there isn’t much we can do about it now… next up we head north to Toronto who are 3-3 this month (we’re 2-4, so…) and find themselves leading the AL East by half a game over the Packers.