But first… C Dominic Cooke of your Los Angeles Lakers took home the August batter of the month award – your boy hit for a .400 AVG with 10 homers, 28 RBIs, and scored 21 times. He also had 8 walks.
Los Angeles Lakers (81-50, .618, 1st NL West) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (58-73, .443, 6th NL West)
Minneapolis/St. Paul has a lot going for it - superb outdoor recreational opportunities, mosquitoes the size of Andre the Giant’s fist, and a world-class Roller Derby outfit that boasts a hall of fame that includes names like Torrential Pain, Slaying Mantis, and shE.Coli amongst its ranks. It’s the land of all the lakes in the house that Terry Gilliam decorated. Shawna’s T’Wolves are new to that fold - still looked on with a wary eye - and are an entity that hasn’t completely endeared themselves to the Twin Cities populace. They are a nice to have - not yet considered essential to the day-to-day life of the local citizenry - they’ve not yet sandwiched themselves into the weekly wardrobe despite working diligently to slot themselves in between Gore-Tex and fur-trimmed jackets. Their marketing department has worked diligently to ingratiate their club to the community - a tall order when Wins come at such a high premium - to mixed results. Perhaps it’s because they’ve pivoted too far towards exhibiting Minnesota’s brand of politeness - courteous, reserved, and mild-mannered - often extending it to their opponents in the form of cheap wins. Or, maybe it’s because they’re new to town... or it could be how they came to be. Who knows... they’ve not yet hit puberty, the faithful don’t yet have a real sense of what Shawna’s club will ultimately become. She promised a perennial powerhouse and while these things do take time, so far all she’s delivered is poorly played baseball and an affiliate system whose cupboards are incomplete - you can’t winter on canned sauerkraut and the occasional tin of sardines.
133 of 162: Michael Brisk (12-7, 3.84) @ Gregory Highman (5-14, 5.42)
Win, 3-0. Brisky was brilliant… 8.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, and 5 K’s… and Otto went 0 for 2 with 2 runs and 3 walks – that’s one way to do it, I suppose. What else is there in a 3-0 game? We stole a couple of bags (Otto (38); Ethan (30)), completed 3 double plays, and Barbaccia got save number 22 on 4 total pitches. Minnesota is like our home away from home – if we get the sweep here, I told the team I’d buy a fur-trimmed jacket and their choice of canned meat (ham, beef, fish – whatever) for each and every one of them.
Elsewhere: C Grayson Murphy, of the Gwinnett Stripers (Carolina affiliate), went 3 for 4 with 2 bombs, 4 riblets, and 2 runs in their 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Grayson is an adaptable, easy-going kind of guy who is already a legend at avoiding K’s and who is starting to develop some solid Contact and Gap Power rating – he has a future in the Show, for sure. The Dallas, TX born & bred former Mississippi Rebel was the 176th overall pick this year – not sure how he fell so far as his potential has him topping out at an eventual all-star if he maintains his current trajectory – not sure how I missed this guy in the draft.
134 of 162: Matt Olston (0-2, 3.79) @ Octavio Cervera (8-7, 4.85)
Loss, 10-4. First… we lost Lonzo Gonzo for a couple of weeks – strained hammy, injured mid-burglary. Second – there were 7 home runs hit in this game and we only hit 2 of them (Cooke & Ethan). Third – Olston got shelled – he gave up 3 of the 5 Minnesota homers and his ERA ballooned to 4.53 – he’s 0-3 now. Yikes. Fourth – Lonzo Gonzo got caught stealing – in the same play he was injured on, which I’ve sort of said already, but I wanted to add some clarity. And…. Fifth – I saved a ton of money now that I don’t have to buy 25+ fur-trimmed jackets and an assortment of canned meats. You must keep your eye out for the silver lining in life.
135 of 162: Nat Millard (14-4, 2.75) @ Damon Smith (10-9, 6.14)
Loss, 4-3. Well, great… I’ll be hearing about this from Shawna for quite some time. Nat only gives us 5.2 innings of work – and it was so-so work at that. He just doesn’t go deep into games often enough – I got low-key fleeced when I picked him up – I’ll most likely look to deal him in the offseason. We hit three doubles (Hanan, Otto, and Dom) but didn't do much with them, completed a pretty sweet double play, failed to steal even a single bag, and nearly hit double-digits in K’s. After getting crushed in Phoenix, to drop a set to the Timberwolves is concerning – especially at this stage of the year when we should be hitting a stride, getting our throwdown swerve on… baseball is a frustrating mistress…
Elsewhere: Phoenix’s SS Ray Gerhold had his 20-game hit streak snapped by the San Diego Chargers. Good, he deserved it. Philly’s lead over the Montreal Impact has shrunk to 15 games, our lead over Phoenix was reduced to 5 games, The Galaxy's lead over the Sounders is now only a single game, and Jacksonville’s lead over the Panthers is now at 6… I sense a theme – good clubs getting worn down a little bit. SS Ray Gerhold – him again – is leading the league in WAR at 7.6… Heathcote Kinton is second at 7.2, Otto is 4th at 5.9 (tied with Palmer). SP Josiah Weber – the GOAT – leads the league in ERA+ at 168 (dude is 37, y’all). And not a single Laker leads in any category… yep, that’ll do it. Also, it should be noted that CF Masaharu Watanabe of the Orlando Magic is leading the league in strikeouts at 165. Clearly, he subscribes to the, “when in doubt, take a cut at it”, hitting methodology. Guess who else is on the list… OTTO – how Bryce Harper-ish of him.
Well, what a lame road trip. Back in LA for some home cooking against the 49ers next. Given that they are in 5th place in the NL West, I expect them to sweep us.