Miami United (19-31, .380, 6th NL East) @ San Diego Chargers (26-23, .531, 3rd NL West)
A trip to San Diego is something to get excited about – world-class sushi, ceviche at La Perla del Pacifico, attractive people walking around in varying states of undress… it really is a paradise in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, we’re here on business – tasked with bringing our insufferable brand of baseball to town and to act as the whipping boy for a team that, prior to last year’s improbable unscathed sojourn through the playoffs, often played that role with expertise earned during three straight years of futility. And, same as it ever was, we’ll arrive in town at the perfect time for our opponent – 8-2 in their last 10, 12-11 so far this month… they’re coming off back-to-back sweeps over the Kings and the Citizens, and recently took 3 of 4 off of the NL West-leading San Francisco Seals. Basically, we’re in for it – set up to fail against the 2nd rated pitching staff in the NL and likely to be pummeled by the 4th rated offense. Three days of getting smashed by the Chargers, gorging myself on ceviche, and an insane amount of tequila shots are definitely in my future – could be worse, I suppose, I could sit behind a desk for a living,
51 of 162: Kordell Littles (5-4, 3.18) @ Jack Grace (4-3, 5.93)
Win, 4-0. Who? What?
Kordell gave us 7 innings of 3-hit ball, allowed no runs, and fanned 7 batters, and
Magmo Noyola went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run.
OH HONG went 2 for 4 with a run, our new center fielder hit a 2-run two-bagger, and we managed to put four runs on the board despite getting caught with our hand in the honey pot twice. Another recent addition,
RP Adam Sullivan, pitched two hitless innings in relief. We broke our 6-game losing streak here – finally something to feel good about.
Elsewhere: CF Ethan Mullens (VAN) went 3 for 4 with a 3-run dinger and 4 runs in the Giants’ 10-7 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Mullens hasn’t quite lived up to the expectation a $31M annual salary hangs around your neck so far – he’s hitting .268 with 9 HRs and 28 RBIs this season. He has hit two homers in his last three games though, so maybe he’s starting to turn the corner.
52 of 162: Julian Horne (6-1, 2.53) @ Peter Garcia (3-4, 2.28)
Win, 4-2. Another day, another debut, another win… new
SP Julian Horne went 7.2 innings, allowed 6 hits, 2 earned runs and fanned 7 batters in his debut with the
Pink Tops and
Aris Anaconda went yard during a 2 for 4 day at the park. The club hit three out today with
Gordon and
Norton joining the party.
Noyola, who was our offensive player of the game yesterday, went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks.
Kids these days, man…
Elsewhere: The Rice Owls are your 2080 NCAA Champions! They won a close one against the Stanford Cardinal by a score of 6-5. Blue-chip prospect
SP Michael Galeno pitched 6 innings, allowed 4 runs, and fanned 10 batters – a bit uneven, sure, but at 18-years old the sky is the limit for this kid.
53 of 162: Harvey Allen (2-3, 4.14) @ Cason Torres (4-3, 5.37)
Win, 5-3. Road sweep! Only my
pink tops can get swept twice in a row, at home, and then hit the road, against the defending champions, and take all three off of them…
OH HONG went 2 for 5 with a double, a dinger, 3 RBIs, and a run,
Harvey gave us 7 hard-scrabble innings of work (7 hits, 3 earned, 3 K’s), and
RP Adam Sullivan, who pitched in all three of these contests, picked up his 2nd hold since joining the club.
Elsewhere: CF Lonzo Gonzo (PHX), an old favorite of mine, went 4 for 6 with a two-bagger, 3 RBIs and 3 runs in the Suns’ 16-10 win over
Tom Franzone and the rest of his
merry yinzers.
Lonzo is hitting an insane .373 so far this year but only has one long ball and 23 riblets to show for it. He’s not engaging in much thievery so far either… Phoenix doesn’t seem to know how to use him.
What else is new?
Notes: Well, that was unexpected…
Julian Horne had some elbow stiffness after his debut, he’ll likely miss a start, maybe two… but, outside of that, we came through this set large, in charge, and unscathed. We’ll have a much-need respite from the grind tomorrow before heading to Atlanta for some interleague silliness – hopefully, we can carry some of what we had going for us in San Diego to Hotlanta. They’re not great – but, overall, they are still a better ballclub than we are.
Cheech and I will be working on our draft strategy over the next few days – we’re about 6 days away from the event and are in possession of the 11th overall pick. We’re hoping that
RF Edwin Pederson or
SP Alfred Wallace will still be available… and, lastly, the Continental League will be back underway in a couple of days – So, if nothing else, taking in a few games in Barbados is in my (near) future.