[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Lakers (4/6 – 4/8)
We open the season at home against the team I love the least – there’s something about the Suns that really chaps my hide. They’ve finally parted ways with Derek Jeter, who has joined the Portland Timbers for a 1-year, $7.7M deal, and have committed to the youth movement I installed during my short-lived tenure in the desert. We are expected to compete tooth and nail with these guys for 2nd place in the NL West – I think that prediction is suspect, I think we win it outright – and, I guess there is no better way to kick off that competition than with a season-opening set against the eggplant purple & burnt orange.

1 of 162: Julen Morales @ Nat Millard
Win, 3-2… New faces in new places – Julen is great in this one and only allows 2 runs in 8 innings of work, but Nat wins the duel, giving us 6 innings of shutout baseball before handing it off to Sandoval for the 2-inning hold. Barbaccia gets save #1, Sobania, getting the start at 1st (Zarate was slotted in as the DH today), hits his 1st HR of the year, and Dom brings in the winning run on a single in the 6th.

Elsewhere… The defending champion Jacksonville Jaguars get an opening day 5-3 win against the Toronto Reds. Luc Felix goes 8 with 3 earned and 7 K’s.

2 of 162: Bentley Hawkins @ Dejuan Burns
Loss, 4-2… Burns gets styled on for 5 innings by the Suns who put up four earned on him today. Otto is off to a 1 for 8 start in 2076. Zarate goes 3 for 4 with an RBI. We get out first DP of the season. Phoenix hit four doubles during the contest.

Elsewhere: SP Bill Marvin pitches a complete game shutout in their 1-0 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, and Jacksonville newcomer Matthew Krebs pitches a complete-game shutout for the Jabs in their 8-0 win over Toronto. He added 9 K’s for good measure in this one.

3 of 162: Liam Anderson @ Michael Brisk
Win, 6-4… Brisk goes 6 and allow 1 earned and Ethan Mullens finished at 2 for 3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Pepper hit a 2-run double, I like that, Otto gets his first RBI of the 2076 season, that’s cool, and Barbaccia gets save #2, I’m an absolute genius it seems. Good effort today and a fine series win to start the 2076 campaign.

A series win against a division rival to start the 2076 campaign? Sold. We like that. We’d have loved a sweep, but a series win is a series win as they say. They say that, right? People do say that I think.

Elsewhere… Green Bay 3B Austin Tolzmann went 3 for 4 with two doubles, a HR, 4 RBI, and 2 runs in their 9-7 win over the New York Jets. Solid.

Los Angeles Lakers (2-1, .667, 2nd AL West) @ San Francisco 49ers (0-2, .000, 5th AL West); 4/9 – 4/12)
First… not sure how I missed it, but Hamza was traded to the Jets. He looks good in their kit, I’ll have to keep my eye on him as I’d still love to get him on my team. The 9ers have started off slow – they are at or very close to last in every offensive category that matters, and their starters have not come out of the gates like their fans would have hoped. Side note: They trade Hamza and go with Donny Jeter at short? I don’t get it – I really thought he was Bush League bound this year.

Also, before I forget… Jules Winfield is back in the Majors, y’all. He’s on the roster for the Brooklyn Citizen and has had one AB so far… he’s 1 for 1 with a run scored and all-star bound for sure.

4 of 162: Case Tunnell @ Mark De La Cruz
Loss, 9-8… Donny Jeter put one out on us – Ha! Why not. Barbaccia takes the loss on a disastrous 4-run bottom of the 9th – turns out that I’m not a genius after all. Otto 1 for 5 with an RBI, Newman brings in 3, and Zarate scores twice.

Elsewhere: Montreal CF, Leo Bullock, went 4 for 4 with 2 jacks and 4 RBI in their 6-2 win over the Rams. He’s batting .556 to start the season – coming out hot!

5 of 162: Phillip King @ Pascal Paiz
Win, 6-1. Welcome back, Phillip – 7 innings, 4 hits, 0 earned, 4 walks, and 4 K’s in his first start since last years catastrophic injury. That’s the good stuff, and I ain’t talking about milk, Kenny… Weaver – 2 for 4 with a double and 2 runs. Otto – 2 for 4 with 2 runs… I mean he’s producing a little but our boy needs to get to smashing balls out of the box.

Elsewhere: St Louis gets some revenge against Montreal and earn an 11-9 win on the back of 2B Mike Duncan’s 4 for 5 performance – he added a double, 3 RBI and 3 runs to the Rams’ stat sheet.

6 of 162: Nat Millard (1-0, 0.00) @ Alex Gillentine (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 5-0… Millard was very un-Millard like – 4 earned in 5 innings of ****ty work. Gillentine gives the 9ers 7 innings of lockdown pitching with only 3 hits. This result and being in a 1-2 hole so far in this 4-game series is not ideal. I don’t like it. This isn’t fun for me.

Elsewhere: SS Shaughan Hayes, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, recorded 5 RBI in their 11-8 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. But, who cares really? The Lakers lost, everything else is stupid.

7 of 162: Dejuan Burns @ Landon Sampson
Loss, 3-1… At least we didn’t get shut out again. Otto finished 0 for 4 with 3 K’s – 2 looking, and one chasing. Maybe he is Alex Rodriguez reincarnated. It’s possible. Let’s get him tested. Also, we struck out 13 times as a team today. Sooooo… losing in style, I guess?

Losing 3 out of 4 to the San Francisco 49ers feels a lot like what I’d imagine getting kicked in the face feels like. I’m over it.

Los Angeles Lakers (3-4, .429, 2 ½ Back) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (1-5, .167, 4 back) – 4/13 – 4/15
Coming off a 4-game home stand against the Vancouver Whitecaps where they lost 3 of 4, the Minnesota T’Wolves are grumpy and looking to come out throwing haymakers. Conversely, after dropping 3 of 4 in San Francisco you’d think that we’d be fighty as well – but we’re not, we’re indifferent. It’s too early to be indifferent. This series pits the 16th & 24th ranked teams in the MLB, so, I’m expecting a packed house.

8 of 162: Michael Brisk (0-0, 1.50) @ Pedro Aceves (0-1, 4.26)
Win, 9-5… Otto goes 2 for 3 with his first jack of the season, drives in 3, and Larry Williams is 3 for 5 with a double and 3 riblets of his own. Brisk goes 7 with only 3 earned – he’s got a nice rhythm going so far. Minnesota is like chicken soup for the soul here, we needed this W. Or at least I did.

9 of 162: Case Tunnell (0-0, 5.68) @ Gregory Highman (0-0, 15.00)
Win, 11-8… Ethan! 2 homers for your boy with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. Otto is waking up a bit as well – 3 for 5 with HR #2 and a couple of RBIs. PJ Trudell gives us the business in a losing effort – he finished 4 for 4 with 2 HR, 3 RBI, and 2 runs in the losing effort. Barbaccia gets his 3rd save, and Marshburn drives in a couple to add to the final tally.

10 of 162: Phillip King (1-0, 0.00) @ Morton Bradley (0-1, 7.94)
Win, 6-2… SWEEP! King brutalized the Timberwolves with a CG, 2 earned performance and Pepper contributes a 3-run HR in the top of the 8th – clutch city, we needed it. It’s Pepper’s first HR of the year, a bit of heroics for a guy that I have an undeserved soft spot for. Weaver drove in the go-ahead run, so credit where it is due.

We’d get a day off before heading to Vancouver, and I’d hang back to catch an all-female Prince cover band with Shawna in Minneapolis. I’m not sure what to say about the show – there is so much to parse out when you see an all-female Prince cover band… it’s confusing is what it is. Side note: I tried to talk trades, but she deftly steered our conversation to astrophysics each time I attempted it and as I don’t know anything about astrophysics I would just nod and agree and forget everything else I wanted to chat her up about. It’s like some sick form of hypnosis if I’m being honest.

Los Angeles Lakers (6-4, .600, 3rd NL West) @ Vancouver Whitecaps (7-2, .778, 1st NL West), 4/17 – 4/19
The Whitecaps are off to something of a rip-roaring start in 2076 and are firing on all cylinders. The offense is setting the NL pace, though their power is lacking a bit so far, and their staff, while not otherworldly so far, is holding it down when it matters most. For my part, I’m looking forward to checking out Dead Moon’s, “Live at Satyricon”, during my habitual jaunt over the Lionsgate Bridge. I’d link it, but you don’t want to know about that life – they are, how shall we say this, not the most proficient of garage rock acts out there…

11 of 162: Nat Millard (1-1, 3.27) @ Elijah Hall (0-0, 11.25)
Loss, 4-2… We lose Nat Millard for 3 weeks in this one – that’s not cool OOTP, why you wanna do me like that? Miyakawa gives up 3 in 2.2 innings, Otto is trash – how’d he cross the border into Canada anyways? – and Pepper strands 8 on an 0 for 5 performance. Remember all those good vibes we had after our sweep over the Timberwolves? They’re gone… replaced by intense foreboding.

Elsewhere: SDC SP Reed Pirelli (no relation) gets a complete game shutout win over the San Francisco 49ers – he only recorded 3 K’s in the effort, so he let his defense eat early and often in this one.

12 of 162: Dejuan Burns (0-2, 4.97) @ Bill Marvin (2-0, 1.10)
Win, 4-2… Dejuan gives us a stellar 8 inning, 1 earned run performance and Pepper stays hot with a 2 for 5, HR, and 3 RBI effort in the win. Otto recorded the go-ahead run on an RBI single in the top of the 5th, Barbaccia gets his 4th save, and Newman goes 2 for 3 with a run. 1-1 in this series so far, we need to get the rubber match to secure an acceptable start to the 2076 campaign. Well, a barely acceptable start at least.

Elsewhere: MIT’s SP Matheo Trachtenberg recorded 15 K’s in a win over the Ole Miss Rebels in their 12-1 victory in NCAA play – Matheo is 2-3 with a 2.90 ERA for the Equations so far this year. He’s a top prospect that could be draft ready this season – if he turns 21 in time, I honestly can’t be bothered to check for sure right now because I’m frighteningly lazy.

13 of 162: Michael Brisk (1-0, 2.70) @ Adam Gunter (1-1, 8.64)
Loss, 2-1… Baseball is obviously stupid and a complete waste of all of our time. Brisk is better than solid in this one – 8 innings with 2 earned… but the rest of our club couldn’t be bothered to put a good at-bat together to help the guy out. Our power alley of Zarate, Isaac, and Grant combined for a 0 for 11 day – that’s not awesome.

So we lose this series 2-1 in Vancouver and put together a slightly above average 7-6 start to the 2076 campaign. We sit at 4th in the NL West and 2 ½ games back – this is a far cry from where I’d thought we’d be. What have I built here exactly… too early to tell really. Our offense has performed admirably – we rank 3rd in the NL as a unit, and the Starters are getting by, I’d like to see them turn the corner a bit, but at 4th in ERA so far, we are in the mix… Our Bullpen has been recycled trash – just not good at throwing baseballs, really… we’re last in the NL in bullpen ERA and while I’m fairly confident that we won’t still be there when it is all said in done, with our offseason additions, I expected a much better start. What are you gonna do? Keep playing the games, I guess.