[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (37-29, .561) @ San Diego Chargers (37-28, .569)
This is a critical series for us as we sit ½ a game behind the San Diego Chargers for 1st in the NL West. Winners of only 4 of their last 10 games, the San Diego Chargers are a team that hits for average with an OBP that is good enough for 2nd in the NL, but with all that hitting prowess they find themselves last in runs scored. Their wins come by way of lights out pitching from their starters, timely stolen bases, and superb defensive efficiency. With a staff led by Ace Burt McElheny (5-4, 2.03) who has amassed a 2.7 WAR and 188 ERA+ so far this season, the Chargers lead the NL in runs against. At 28 years old, Big Burt has one all-star appearance under his belt and looks primed to earn his second this year. With a good fastball, a serviceable forkball, and a devastating change-up in his repertoire, he has 3 complete game shutouts this season (two came against Montreal). We’ll see him first – bums me out. Coming off 3-straight losses to the lowly Vancouver Whitecaps, the Chargers should come out focused and primed to do damage against us as they attempt to right the ship.

67 of 162: Michael Brisk (7-4, 2.73) @ Burt McElheny (5-4, 2.03)
A semi-rough outing for Brisk as he gave up 13 hits in 7 innings of work, though the Chargers, true to form, only managed to score 4 runs while he was on the mound. McElheny pitched well over 8 innings, with 4 earned runs and 8 K’s – LF Dylan Huerta, a throw-in piece of our trade for Brisk, had his best game in a Suns uniform going 3 for 4 with a HR and a couple of RBI’s while Bootleg Pepper had another key hit for the good guys in the 8th inning that proved to be the difference maker – a timely sacrifice fly to get the job done. Derek hit another double today (he’s looked pretty good lately) and Luca continued to stay hot (2 for 5 with an RBI and no K’s) and improved his average to .315 – he’s putting together a strong campaign in 2074. Suns win 5-4.

68 of 162: Oswaldo Flores (3-5, 4.48) @ Justice Pangburn (6-4, 3.58)
Entering tonight’s contest, Derek is hitting .348 with 1 HR off of Pangburn, unfortunately, that ended tonight as he went 0-3 off of Pangburn and 0-5 for the game. Justice served it up for 5 innings before handing the ball over to the bullpen while Oswald put up 8 solid innings for the team – just no run support tonight. For the game, we had 13 strikeouts and only 1 walk – that’s not how you baseball successfully. CF JR Marsh had a game to forget as he committed 3 of our 5 fielding errors during the game, nearly doubling his total for the season. We’ll need to book him some time with our sports psychologist to move past this debacle. San Diego wins, 4-1

69 of 162: Ash Newman (6-3, 2.82) @ Arnaldo Romero (8-3, 2.76)
Romero pitched a complete game shutout in his last outing in San Francisco but was unable to duplicate it tonight – instead, he earned the W for San Diego in a complete game, 4-run, 8-K performance. Ash pitched like he was blindfolded for 4-innings and RP Jared Hayes came out throwing beach balls in relief. Derek was vintage in a wasted effort – 2-4, with 2 homers… no K’s, 3 RBI’s, and plenty of smiles for the camera. Bootleg Pepper (Luke LaBonte) struck out 3 times in 4 tries and Luca came back to earth in a 0-4 performance at the plate. Suns lose, 6-7.

70 of 162: Graham Doyle (1-2, 4.80) @ Prior Balazs (5-4, 3.19)
These last two have really stung – close games, sure, but an opportunity squandered, nonetheless. Graham, called up for a spot start, was trash… his fastball wasn’t fast, his cutter didn’t cut, and his changeup never changed. 6 runs on a walk and 5 hits – when they got to him, they made it count. It was the kind of performance we could have overcome – instead, we played 17-innings of baseball where we ran out of gas in the 13th and lost on a sacrifice fly. That’s not awesome. We hit 2 doubles, and 2 homers – nearly everybody got to play, and we only had a couple of errors. We needed this result, didn’t get it, and the flight to Vancouver BC will be as quiet as a library during a read-a-thon. Suns lose 7-8, in extras. From ½ a game back to 2 ½ games back – not ideal. Not ideal at all.