Pittsburgh Steelers (56-39, .589, 1st NL East) @ Los Angeles Lakers (60-35, .632, 1st NL West)
The Steelers are the bogeyman with a roster that boasts the four horsemen of the baseball apocalypse in Ian Hanan, SP Robby Garrett, SP Gregory Moran, and, on the pale horse, 1B Tom Franzone… They’re built for balance – they may wobble, but they won’t fall down – ranked no lower than 5th in any relevant statistical category, these guys are the real deal… They have a +62 rDiff, are on a 4-game winning streak, are 8-3 in extras, and are doing it all despite ranking 10th in the league for payroll. Their GM, CJ Graber, is widely considered one of the best in baseball, and at 66-years young isn’t going to retire anytime soon – he likes veteran leadership, offense, power, and doesn’t make trades – his talent is either homegrown or picked up, after a thorough vetting process, in free agency. His clubs have made the playoffs in 7 of his 10 seasons at the helm and are looking good to make it 8 in a row this season. This set will be a tough one – always is when Pittsburgh is in town.
Note: I brought Trevor back up and gave him a role in the bullpen…
96 of 162: Tony Hulquist (6-3, 3.23) @ Dejuan Burns (8-6, 3.71)
Loss, 3-0. Well, Tony Hulquist came to play – complete game 3-hit shutout in our park that improves his ERA to below 3… We just couldn’t get anything going tonight – Hamza, Dom, and Otto record our only hits, Tony, who we traded Hanan for, went 0 for 4 & ground into a double play, and Otto committed an error.
Elsewhere: Montreal’s Harlem Peterson went 5 for 6 with a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs in the Wanderers (new name – I got bored with the old one) 13-8 win over the San Diego Chargers… Montreal spread their 13 runs in this one across 3 pitchers and hung 6 of them on San Diego’s Starter Teagan Rachel. The Wanderers are 6-13 so far in July, 3-7 in their last 10, and now find themselves 7 games off of Pittsburgh’s pace in the NL East.
97 of 162: Gregory Morgan (9-4, 3.89) @ Michael Brisk (8-6, 3.98)
Loss, 3-2. Ouch – tough one. Brisky was doing fine, until he walked 3 batters in the 7th – 6.2, 6 hits, 4 walks, and 3 K’s for the game before we lifted him…Dontrell Gay hit a solo HR – no one else does anything of note unless the fact that OH HONG & Tony left 3 stranded each for the game is of interest.
98 of 162: Kurt Miller (5-2, 3.64) @ Newton Weiser (11-4, 2.92)
Loss, 3-0. Well – this is a new low for the 2077 Lakers – swept at home in a set where we only score two total runs. We were utterly dominated by the Steelers here – Franzone, perched atop his trusty steed, went 3 for 4 with a double and a run and Kurt Miller toyed with us for 6 strong innings (8 K’s over that stretch too)… again, the song remained the same for us – nothing of any substance to report – OH HONG K’d twice, we stranded 9 baserunners, and basically wilted in front of our hometown crowd. What a mess.
Elsewhere: While Pittsburgh reached up to claim the #1 spot in the Weekly Power Ranking we plummeted to the #5 spot – looking up at St. Louis, Seattle, and Phoenix now… SS Donny Jeter, of your St. Louis Rams, went 2 for 3 with TWO HOMERS, 4 RBI, and 2 runs in their 5-2 win over the Minnesota North Stars – he was basically the whole show here – digging that he still is good for a performance like this every now and again (LONG LIVE THE JETER BROS)… It’s been over a minute since anyone on my CITY OF COMPTON RAIDERS has given me anything worth highlighting and that makes me sad… Of course, Rad Taylor picked up a win recently and his ERA is below 4, so… progress? As for the big club – we, like Montreal, are 3-7 in our last 10, and have now been swept twice in July – the wheels haven’t exactly come off (we’re 9-11 in July) but we’ll definitely need to get our alignment checked.
Trade Alert: I sent 2B Mark Messick to the San Francisco Seals (I changed their team name as well) for a couple of low-key pitching prospects – both relievers with good movement and control (iffy elsewhere). Zechariah Stillman joins the big club (down goes Trevor… again), Tatum Leibowitz will report to Compton, and 2B Mario Marshburn gets called back up to LA…
