Phoenix Suns (8-3, On Road: 5-0) @ Los Angeles Lakers (7-3, At Home: 2-2)
Winning a 7-game series where you are ahead by three games to two has a 68.3% chance of happening based on historical outcomes. Seems good. Interestingly, 80% of teams that take a 2-0 lead in a 7-game series go on to win. And, even more interesting, is the fact that teams who fail to capitalize on a 3-2 series lead, and drop game 6, experience a 20% decrease in the probability that they will win the series. Needless to say, game 6, at home, against Phoenix is the most important game we will have played thus far in 2076. Of the top five teams in the final Power Ranking of the 2076 season, only ourselves and Phoenix remain - Jacksonville, Philadelphia, and Montreal have each been unceremoniously dispatched - so, many Strangeverse pundits see this as a battle of the eventual champion. Of course, that is all poppycock, nonsensical drivel espoused by the talking heads that get paid handsomely to espouse nonsensical drivel. Theirs is a confidence so complete, that you’d think they found the Sports Almanac from the future that Marty McFly got his hands on - but they didn’t, because that’s not real, and they very well may be wrong because the Galaxy & Fire are both really good clubs, and are imminently capable of dispatching whichever team comes out of the National League. For the La La’s, and by extension me (and my future employment with the club), there is no time like the present. We just need to buckle down, to ignore the pundits, put the probabilities away, and play the very best baseball of our lives.
LCS Game 6: Julen Morales (3-1, 2.76) @ Nat Millard (2-0, 3.66)
Loss, 7-2. Nat Gave up 4, and reliever, Jonny Garcia, gave up three more in an embarrassing game 6 loss for the La La’s. Ethan finished with 2 RBI and a run, and Dom went 3 for 4… outside of those performances, we didn’t get much from our guys. 3B Homer Wingard drove in 3 runs for Phoenix, with the remaining 4 runs being spread throughout the lineup. With the loss, we are now 0-3 against Phoenix in our park… where we now have to face these guys one more time – winner takes all.
Elsewhere, just down the street: The Chicago Forced a Game 7 against the LA Galaxy, winning Game 6 by a score of 4-1.
LCS Game 7: Jack Sanchez-Flores (0-0, 1.35) @ Michael Brisk (1-0, 3.86)
Win, 6-3. Brisky goes 6, only allows 1 to plate, Barbaccia gets his 4th hold (with 2 K’s), and Rudolf finished the Suns off in the top of the 9th on 11 pitches. This was an incredibly satisfying triumph on a number of levels – we get the Phoenix monkey off of our back, our closers are starting to tighten it up a bit, and 54-thousand fans came to see us make it to our second straight WS (while only 44 thousand were in attendance at the LA Galaxy’s Game 7 loss to the Chicago Fire). Lonzo Gonzo scored twice, Rollins secured 3 RBI, Dom drives in two of his own, and Ethan managed to put one on the board. Otto & Pepper are nonfactors in this Game 7 – we’ll need them to dial it in against Chicago in the next round.
