Los Angeles Leopards (SVMLB)

[pauwoo]

I saw that Seattle put Nacho on the block – he’s old, on an expiring deal, and seems to be on a downward trajectory… but, I’m not above a rental if it improves the staff and Henderson, with our recent addition of Chance Bell, was a luxury we didn’t need given some of the other, less expensive depth talent we have in Compton.

As a result of the deal, we’ve optioned Walt Tignor to Compton, and recalled BJ Cristoforo for some outfield depth. This was either a no brainer that will bring us to the promised land or just nonsensical fluff, a random rearranging of parts that doesn’t improve our performance whatsoever.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (53-47, .530, 1st NL West) @ Pittsburgh Pipers (44-53, .453, 6th NL East)
Pittsburgh should be ashamed of themselves – refusing to spend money on their roster, to fill in the gaps around 31-year-old all-timer, Tom Franzone, in an effort to sell out, to push their chips into the center of the table, and to do everything in their power to get him a championship. Currently in the 2nd year of the 5-year contract he signed prior to the 2080 season, with a player opt-out available after the 2082 campaign, Franzone can only do his level best to stay positive as he toils on a directionless club that doesn’t appear to care about fielding a squad that can compete. With a little over 1/3 of the season remaining, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the bulk of this club isn’t already starting to think about offseason fishing trips, time off with their family, and, really, anything other than baseball. Here, as we endeavor to win our third set in a row, our hope is that the Pipers’ minds are elsewhere, that their game is the opposite of sharp, and that we run roughshod over these yokels with relative ease.

101 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-5, 3.97) @ Edwin Blaxley (7-8, 3.32)
Loss, 0-6. We’d come undone late as the Pipers charged all 6 of their runs against our bullpens account, giving 3 to Duarte and 3 more to Nakagawa en route to the victory… Our only extra base hit came courtesy of a Chance Bell double, Ethan got caught with his hand in the honey pot twice, new edition, BJ Cristoforo, had something wrong with his line, fanning thrice in four tries, and we didn’t even strand enough runners, only 5 of those, to get the job done had we been able to drive each and every one of them in… just a woeful effort from the boys in this one and we can’t use road weariness as an excuse. Nope, we just got handled by a club that has no business even getting their mitts on us in the first place.

102 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (6-5, 3.91) @ Casey Tucker (5-8, 5.55)
Loss, 1-4. Listen, I don’t know what’s wrong with my club, why when the chips are down we push our chair back from the table, get up, and walk out. I don’t. And, I know that it is unlikely we miss the playoffs altogether, that we enter into a tailspin so severe that we find ourselves languishing near the bottom of the NL West table with San Diego, lashing out at whoever is nearby in a drunken stupor, and blaming everyone but ourselves for the predicament we’ve put ourselves in… but, be that as it may, what is clear, crystal clear, is that the likelihood that we repeat as champions sits somewhere between zero and none. We’re just not good enough, our stars suspect, our depth doing nothing to solidify the foundation, our staff built on a house of cards… here, even in outhitting the Pipers, we were unable to secure the victory, leaving 9 runners stranded while securing just one extra base hit for the second game in a row. Ours is a mood so dour, so gloomy and bleak…


Elsewhere: 3B Andy Zenz, putting in work with the Class A Athens Hoplites down on Charlotte’s farm, went 4-for-5 with 2 TANKS, 5 RBI, and 3 runs as his club dismantled our own Watts Warriors by a score of 10-3. Andy, the 80th overall pick way back in 2079, is currently batting .314/.395/.572 with 27 DING DONGS, 78 RIBLETS, and 71 runs for the Hoplites… a promotion to AA may be in this kids future… I’d do it if I were them.

103 of 162: Nacho Valadez (4-3, 4.03) @ Gregory Morgan (7-5, 2.94)
Win, 5-2. Just when I thought that our bullpen had done it again, gave up the ghost late as the Pipers rallied, down 1-0, to take a 1-run lead off a 2-run double from PH Santiago Correja, we’d come roaring back during the top of the 9th… Otto knotted things up with a solo shot, Hutchinson brought in two more on a double, and Simon Paulino drove another in on a single to run our total up to four runs for the frame and 5 overall, giving Haag all the cushion he’d need to shut it down. Nice debut for Nacho – 5-innings, 2 hits, 7 K’s – and Haag, as mentioned previously, closed the show successfully for the 31st time this year on 3 total pitches, pop outs one and all. This is not what we wanted, expected… we wanted the sweep, we expected a series win, but… to get out of dodge, on a win, will have to suffice. At least the ride to Brooklyn won’t be without some sleep.


Oh, and that game-tying TANK that Otto hit during the top of the 9th? Just his 300th career homer… no big deal. He hasn’t even cracked the top 100 all-time, but it’s still pretty cool.

Record: 54-49, .524, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’re in Brooklyn, home of suspect craft breweries, beanies in the summertime, the occasional monocle, and a pretty good baseball team.

Also, July is now in the books, and, as is customary peep the standings, leaders, and our clubhouse. All attached as per usual.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (54-49, .524, 3rd NL West) @ Brooklyn Citizens (54-49, .524, 2nd NL East)
We’ll arrive in Brooklyn losers of our last set, coming off a dismal 11-15 month of July, and searching desperately for the form that resulted in a 19-8 month of June after turning in two sub-.500 months in a row to start the season. By contrast, Brooklyn finished the month of July with a 14-12 record, improving their fortunes after stumbling a bit in June with a 12-15 month… add to that the fact that they’ve won 3 in a row, have a 3rd best +35 RDiff in the National League, and sport a 31-25 home record, and it’s not hard to conclude that we’ll have our work more than cut out for us here. After dropping that last set to Pittsburgh, the NL East’s bottom feeder, our confidence is a bit shaken… this then represents an opportunity to prove our mettle, to show the league, and most importantly ourselves, that we’re not done yet… that we’ll not go quietly into the night and all that.

104 of 162: Ram Chen (0-7, 4.32) @ Miguel Almeida (6-4, 3.34)
Win, 2-1. Chance Bell was the whole show for us offensively, turning in a 2-for-3 day with a 2-run DING DONG and a walk. Ram Chen could only muster 4.1-innings, allowing just 3 hits while fanning 2 before 2 straight walks led to his dismissal, disqualifying him from registering a decision in this one… he remains 0-7 on the year with Ramiro Marte sniping the win, his 3rd in relief, Duarte recording a hold, despite giving up a run, and Haag coming through in the clutch to record his 32nd save in a 14-pitch bottom of the 9th. Just a closely contested, 50-50 ballgame… we were lucky to get the win and I’m here for it – we can do with a bit of luck.

105 of 162: Stephen Estevez (8-4, 2.80) @ Case Tunnell (8-7, 3.85)
Loss, 2-9. 2B Sam Kilgour trucked a 3-run homer to cap off a 6-run bottom of the 4th to put Brooklyn up by a score of 8-1 at the time… we’d not recover from there, instead resigned to look on in disbelief as Stephen Estevez was thoroughly dismantled, having 6 bad ones charged to his already overdrawn account, before turning it over to Rad and Ramiro to allow those last 3… Otto put his 24th ball out of the park, he sits at 301 for his career now, Ethan trucked his 13th, we fielded a solid, Paulino-Hutchinson-Hong double play, but left 7 runners stranded and were unable to match Brooklyn’s two doubles and FOUR dingers on the day. Not our best work.

106 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-5, 3.78) @ Sawyer Dahlgren (8-6, 3.03)
Loss, 1-4. We’d drop our second game in a row, our second set in a row, and fall to 1-2 so far in August as the Citizens staff kept our lineup off balance throughout, holding the boys to 6 total hits and one measly run for the game. Sawyer Dahlgren left after pitching just 2-innings with soreness in his groin, he’ll be listed day-to-day for a week or so, but it was no bother as the Brooklyn Arm Barn came out gangbusters, holding our club to one run the rest of the way with reliever Rudolf Caldwell, an old favorite of mine, earning the win, his 5th so far this year, and Jerome Dial securing a save for just the 4th time this season. Tough way to end a road trip…

Record: 55-51, .518, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll take a cross country flight back to Los Angeles where the Miami Herons will be awaiting our arrival for a 3-game set.

[pauwoo]

Miami Herons (51-53, .490, 3rd NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (55-51, .518, 3rd NL West)
The Herons last made the playoffs in 2078, during a surprising 85-77 campaign that seemingly came out of nowhere and ended with an unceremonious exit, 2 games to 1, in the Circle Series at the hands of the Brooklyn Citizens, who would lose in the next round to us as we went on to win the Championship that year. They’ve not been back since – finishing 5th in ’79 and dead last at 68-94 in 2080. So far this season, things have started to look up – they’ve been solid, slotting in at 3rd so far, and playing around with a .500 record. They arrive in LA after taking a series off the Austin Grackles at home, 2 games to 1, and will, undoubtedly, look to continue that trend against us in Los Angeles.

107 of 162: Bentley Hunt (6-11, 5.86) @ Dontrell McNeil (6-6, 3.72)
Win, 2-1. McNeil gave us a stellar 6-innings of work, allowing just 3 hits and nothing earned, and D-Rod took a 1-1 cutter into right field for a run scoring triple, putting us up 2-0 at the time and, ultimately, providing all the cushion we’d need to treat our hometown faithful to an actionless, excitement-free, win that I fully expect at least 20% of them to request a refund on… L.A. fans are fickle – wins are important to them, sure, but if they don’t come in the image and the style they’re used to you’ll be greeted by indifference in the stands, at the box office, and on the forums. Also, of note, RP Paul Williams, who we attempted to trot out there after pulling Dontrell, hurt himself throwing his warmup pitches… diagnosis pending.


Elsewhere: LF Terrible Tony Voorhis, who we miss terribly, went 2-for-4 with TWO TANKS, 5 total RBI, and 2 runs as his Detroit Motors ran multiple red lights in Seattle proper, besting the Metros by a score of 15-7 before doing rodeos on Pike Street. Tony has started just 63 of the 82 games he’s played in this season, and is hitting .298/.343/.627 with 23 DING DONGS, 65 RBI, while contributing 3.4 WAR to his club thus far. Detroit is currently holding a slim, 1-game lead over Charlotte in the AL East and has the look of a club that could do real damage come playoff time. Tony missed out on our championship last year, leaving town via free agency before that magical season, so, if it can’t be us this year, why not him?


Also, I gotta say it… Nacho looks darn good in a Leopards kit. Should’ve targeted him sooner, for the style points alone.

108 of 162: Cullen Craig (8-6, 4.60) @ Nacho Valadez (4-3, 3.82)
Win, 6-4. In a win that had the aesthetics our fans have grown accustomed to, we’d find a way to put 6 bad ones on the Herons, hanging 5 of those on Cullen Craig, as Nacho was gangbusters for us in his second outing as a Leopard, allowing a meager 2 runs in 5-innings of work. Ethan finished 3-for-3 with 3 runs and two steals, OH HONG hit a 3-run BLAST off Cullen during the bottom of the 2nd, and Chance Bell, showing some of that team first attitude fans have come to love from him, put up two SAC FLY’S to make sure we had all the cushion we’d need to secure the series win and put ourselves in position for the sweep.

109 of 162: Chris Arnett (2-2, 4.68) @ Ram Chen (0-7, 4.12)
Win, 11-0. First, foremost, and most importantly… Ram Chen is winless no more, earning his first victory of the season after turning in 5-innings of work where he’d allow just 3 hits and nothing earned while fanning 6. Oh Hong finished 2-for-5 with a SOLO SHOT, 3 RBI and 2 runs, D-Rod drove in three of his own, two on a double and one more on a SAC FLY, and Ethan Mullens swiped his 27th bag of the year, increasing his lead in the National League to two as the next closest speedster, Derrick McCoy of the Montreal Alouettes, sits at 25 burgled bags. This has to be our most dominant win this year… hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

Record: 58-51, .532, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll get a day off, at home, while we wait on the Las Vegas Outlaws to arrive in town for a 3-game set played over this upcoming weekend.

Also, before I forget… the word on Paul Williams is in. He’ll miss the remainder of the 2081 campaign as he requires elbow reconstruction surgery. Major Hansen returns to the fold – we’ll use him as a left-handed specialist, just in time for LV’s Aitor Cubas to make an appearance in town, whose splits against LHP are abysmal…

[pauwoo]

Las Vegas Outlaws (54-52, .509, 4th NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (58-51, .532, 3rd NL West)
The Outlaws, not unlike our Leopards, are mired in a season where they failed to live up to the expectation of their fans, the punditry, and casual fans everywhere… seen as our sidekick in the NL West by the team of analysts at BNN, who expected these Outlaws to finish 2nd to us in our division, Las Vegas has failed to deliver on that promise and, like us, can’t point to the IL as the reason as they really have no one of note listed currently. Instead, they’ve settled into a familiar pattern where they’ve resigned themselves to a fighting style that subscribes to the ol’ take two to give one approach, relying on whatever power they have to carry the day. Instead of a potential championship contender, one of the top dogs in the National League, Las Vegas has turned in the type of performance you’d associate with a middling member of a 5-man sales team who does just enough to stay off the bottom of the stack ranking without pushing himself toward the top of the pyramid. Just a ho-hum club, content to shuffle along doing the minimum amount necessary to, maybe, secure a playoff bid.

110 of 162: Jonny Garcia (7-9, 4.49) @ Stephen Estevez (8-5, 3.20)
Loss, 3-6. Estevez took his 3rd loss in his last 4 tries, giving up 4 runs in this one after allowing 6 his last time out. Doubles from Ethan and Paulino, a homer from Bell, two swiped bags, and a double play wouldn’t be enough to bring this one home as our 3-game winning streak came to a grinding halt with the Outlaws taking it to us as an opening salvo to this series. Garcia improves to 8-9 on the year after giving us the business over 5-innings of 1-run work and Catcher Levi Lisimba played offensive hero for Vegas, finishing 1-for-4 at the plate with that one being a 3-run moonshot off Estevez.

111 of 162: Cam Murphy (8-6, 3.77) @ Jan Hernandez (4-6, 3.76)
Loss, 6-7 (10). If not for OH HONG whose 4-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 run day led the charge for our offense, Las Vegas would have made mincemeat of our club in this one… instead they’d have to settle for a closely contested, hard fought, extra innings win to secure the series victory, in our park, and position themselves nicely for the road sweep. Hernandez was chased out of this one after only 3-innings of work as he’d already allowed 6 hits, 5 earned, and 5 walks… picking up where his beleaguered colleague, Stephen Estevez left off yesterday… this is not the result we were looking for to start this set – 2 losses, at home, to a club with designs on taking our spot in the NL West.


Elsewhere: Joey Justice, not to be confused with Joey Bag O’ Donuts, finished 4-for-5 with 2 TANKS, 4 RBI, and 3 runs to lead the Cancun Palms to an 11-8 win over the Glendale Quakes, in Cancun, as the Mexico City farm club improves to 58-55 on the year, moving into 3rd on their division table. Currently, they’re a scant 3 games out of the last wild card spot with lots of runway left to get this thing off the ground. For his part, Justice has provided good leadership to the A-Ball club as the 25-year-old, 169th pick overall in ’77, has been around a little bit and continues to be good to have around from a showing the new kids how to be a professional perspective.

112 of 162: Jack Sanchez-Flores (9-8, 3.95) @ Dontrell McNeil (7-6, 3.51)
Win, 7-1. We’d don the Sunday alts like superhero capes, bite down on our mouthpiece, and get the win, charging 7 runs to the Outlaws account and saving ourselves the indignity of getting swept by a rival in our building. OH HONG stayed hot with a 3-run TRUCK, Ethan drove in two runs on 3-for-5 batting, McNeil picked up his 8th win of the year after allowing just one runner to plate in 5-innings of work, and Rad Taylor was totally tubular in closing this one out, keeping the opposition hitless over the final two frames.

Record: 59-53, .526, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll welcome the Phoenix Coyotes to town with their identical, 59-53 record, as we look to continue stating our case for top club in the NL West. We’ve had some setbacks, sure, haven’t got all our paperwork in on time, and our council could do a better job with her objections… but we’re here, ready, willing… just gotta put in the work and the results will come.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Coyotes (59-53, .526, 2nd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (59-53, .526, 3rd NL West)
We’re better than the Coyotes. I understand that our record doesn’t say that. That their RDiff, at +25, is better than ours. And I know the fact that we’re performing 4 games better than the PYT while they have hit the nail on the head so far would suggest otherwise. But it’s true – no matter how you slice it, and twice on Sunday, we’re the better team. Okay, I hear you… they’ve beat us 8 out of 12 times, sure. That’s true. But we’ve played them close, and with a bounce here and another there, that stat would be reversed. What I’m talking about is makeup – and ours is of the good stuff, premium leather, hand-sewn, designed by a team of eastern European engineers with access to bottomless funds and limited only by their imagination. We are the better club and over the next three games, contested at home in the sweltering August heat, we plan on proving it.

113 of 162: Evan Church (12-3, 1.95) @ Nacho Valadez (5-3, 3.81)
Win, 6-0. And if a house gets in my way baby… Nacho put a stranglehold on the Coyotes, giving them the business for 5-innings, allowing just 2 hits and nothing earned to go along with his 3 free passes and 7 K’s. Offensively, we’d get after it a bit as well with Simon Paulino hitting his first career GRAND SLAM off Phoenix reliever Grumpy Losito during the bottom of the 6th and OH HONG hitting his 29th MACK TRUCK of the season off Isaiah Zuno in the very next frame. This loss makes it five in a row for Phoenix… couldn’t happen to a nicer group of guys.


Elsewhere: Reuben Miret, whose lips are a Rocky Horror Candy Apple Red, went 3-for-4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs to lead his Mexico City Jaguars to a satisfying, and important, 9-1 win over the division leading Austin Grackles. With our win and Austin’s loss, thanks in large part to Mr. Miret, we are now running just 1 ½ games off their pace. You tell them we comin’…

114 of 162: Russell Wooten (7-5, 4.79) @ Ram Chen (1-7, 3.90)
Win, 3-1. Ram Chen went 5 the hard way, allowing 3 hits and a run while fanning 8 but wasn’t credited with the win as the runs that put us over the top weren’t officially on the books until Hutchinson put them there with a 2-run double off Parker Curtain during the bottom of the 6th. Not a lot to parse out here offensively – Hutchinson’s double was our only EBH, Otto swiped a bag, his 22nd time doing that so far this season, and D-Rod managed to score twice despite the lack of total offense in this one. Ramiro sniped the win, his 4th, in one inning of work, Major Hansen & Duarte were each credited with a hold, and Don Haag secured his 35th save of the year.

115 of 162: Landon Sampson (5-5, 2.58) @ Steven Estevez (8-6, 3.38)
Win, 1-0. The staff came through something fierce… Estevez led the charge, securing his 9th win with a 5-inning, 2 hit lockdown effort, Marte, Major Hansen, and Dani Thorpe were each credited with a hold, and Don Haag is now 1 off the save leaders pace with #36 added to his permanent record. Otto was the whole show offensively – 3-for-3 with the 2-out homer that spelled Phoenix’s doom, running their consecutive game losing streak up to 7 while we have now won 4 in a row with that last one against Las Vegas kicking it off and this sweep over the Coyotes running it up.

Record: 62-53, .539, 2nd NL West
Up Next: First we rest, then we board a flight bound for Noth Carolina where we’ll face off against the Imperials in Charlotte.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (62-53, .539, 2nd NL West) @ Charlotte Imperials (64-51, .557, 2nd AL East)
The Charlotte Imperials, after finishing no better than 5th in 4 of the last 5 seasons, with the anomaly being a second place, 80-82 finish in 2077 where they didn’t even make the playoffs, suddenly find themselves in the enviable position of a bonified contender. Their staff, led by Leopards Legend Michael Brisk, is ranked at the top of the American League – 1st in Bullpen ERA, FIP, pWAR, and no worse than 4th anywhere else – and their offense ain’t so bad either, coming in at 3rd overall in their league and leading all clubs in OBP. They’ve been on a bit of a seesaw though – kicking off the season with an 8-12 record in the month of April before turning in a rip-roaring, 18-11 May, followed by, you guessed it a 13-14 June. July, as you’d expect, was much better – the Imperials posted a phenomenal 19-7 mark, only to tread water so far this month with a 6-7 mark. After our much-needed sweep over Phoenix, we’ll need to keep Charlotte down, in their park, if we are to benefit from any of the ill-gotten gains we secured in that last set.

116 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-6, 4.06) @ Ryan Sodergren (8-3, 3.98)
Win, 13-6. LF Logan Green went 2-for-3 with TWO TANKS, 3 RBI, and 3 runs in a wasted effort as his Charlotte Imperials were unable to keep our pace with 7 of our 13 runs driven in by the top of our order. Otto hit his 26th BOMB, a towering 2-run blast, OH HONG put his 30th over the fence, driving in two as well, and Ethan hit #15 off RP Thomas Zabila to drive two more in during the top of the 7th. Jan gets the win despite allowing 4 runners to plate in just 5-innings of work, Nakagawa struggled some in relief, allowing 2 to score during an ill-fated Charlotte rally attempt, and Rad Taylor, in 1.2-innings of work, was able to shut the door on the Imperials as we run our win streak up to 5 in a row.

117 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (8-6, 3.43) @ Nuno Granado (5-4, 2.63)
Win, 9-2. Simon Paulino finished 2-for-4 with a solo homer, a 2-run double, and 3 total RBI to lead our club offensively with Mullens, Weaver, and Hutch each falling in line behind him with 2 RBI. Three doubles as a club, two homers, with the 2nd representing Ethan’s 16th of the season, a SAC BUNT, a HBP, and 13 left stranded while still scoring 9 on the day… pretty fierce you ask me. Good stuff from the staff too, led by Dontrell’s 5-innings of 6-hit, 2 earned work with Dani and Duarte closing out the final four frames with nary a hit between them.


Elsewhere: Derek Blow, of the Cleveland Buckeyes (a Charlotte affiliate), tossed his 3rd complete game, and second complete game shutout of the year in a 9-inning, 3-hit, 9 K performance that led his squad to a resounding 11-0 win over the Oklahoma City Friendlys in Continental League play. So far this season, his second in AA, Blow has amassed a 10-14 record with a 3.97 ERA, 153 K’s, while contributing 2.2 in WAR to the cause.

118 of 162: Nacho Valadez (6-3, 3.63) @ Payton Inzen (4-6, 3.63)
Loss, 1-8. SP Payton Inzen opened this one up by stifling our offense over 5-innings, allowing a mere 3 hits while fanning 5, and the Charlotte Bullpen wouldn’t ease up from there with Alexander Folan and Marco Padilla allowing just 2 hits and a run the rest of the way… Otto and Chance each hit doubles with nobody on, Otto hit a solo shot with two outs on the board to bring in our only run, and Nacho was saddled with his first loss in a Leopards kit after managing just 4.1 innings in this one, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks – he also fanned 8 batsmen and hit one (Brad Gallo, crowding the plate), but that is neither here nor there.

Record: 64-54, .542, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll take the 3rd, of what will total 4 once the month is through, day off in August, travelling back to Los Angeles for a 3-game stretch against the Portland Pioneers.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (60-58, .508, 3rd AL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (64-54, .542, 2nd NL West)
In a season where there are only a few select clubs, namely Philadelphia and, maybe, Vancouver, that stand too tall, head and shoulders above the table, looking down their nose disapprovingly as the rest of us toil for scraps, Portland is, like us, a squad that finds themselves in the thick of it despite underperforming so severely. Clinging, desperately, I’d say, to the last wildcard slot in the American League, in the midst of a 3-7 stretch over their last 10, and proud owners of a ho hum +13 RDiff, these Pioneers are as likely to perish on the Oregon Trail as they are to establish a real, lasting presence on the west coast. They lost 4 of the 5 series they’ve played so far this month, have an offense that idles somewhere in the middle of the road, and a staff that finds itself struggling to break the top 6 in any of the statistical categories that matter. Their lot is uncertain, running the gamut between bright and bleak, and, if they’re not careful they’ll finish outside the cake for second year in a row once the dust has settled on 2081…

119 of 162: Prior Balazs (10-8, 4.25) @ Stephen Estevez (9-6, 3.23)
Win, 5-4. We’d treat the fans to a win, albeit by the slimmest margin possible, as our own beleaguered club was out-beleaguered by a lot whose fortunes look a lot more dour than our own… Estevez gave a good enough account of himself to wow the less than discerning baseball fan, turning in a 5-inning, 6 hit, 3 earned performance with 8 K’s, Ethan drew a run-scoring walk that ended up being the difference-maker for us, Kyle, Darby, and Chance each hit a two-bagger, we’d get holds from Duarte and Stiles, with Leonardo’s being an arduous 2.1-inning, 1 earned effort, and Don Haag fanned two to close out the top of the 9th, earning his 37th save of the year in the process. I mean, listen… okay… we did what we were supposed to do, so we’ll place a tidy little check in that box, and, while we didn’t look great doing it, it’s good enough for me.


Elsewhere: SP Anthony Boswell, of the Miami Herons, took a no-hit bid into the 5th inning before being forced out of the game by injury – he’s now listed DtD with back tightness, and his opponent, the Buffalo Nickels, were nearly held hitless by the Miami pen the rest of the way, securing their lone hit during the top of the 7th off reliever Steven Parkin. Boswell, a 35-year-old native of Jacksonville, Florida, flirted with a no hit bid last season, when he went the distance against Charlotte, allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks while fanning 12 Imperials’ batsmen. He’s now had two unlikely cracks at immortality – unfortunately, given his age and ‘wrecked’ rating, I think it’s fair to say that after this attempt, that ship has sailed.


Also, elsewhere… a twofer: RF Paul Swift, currently putting in work with the Lackawanna Lickers in the Bush League, went 3 for 4 with 3 TANKS, 6 RBI, and 5 runs during his clubs 13-2 destruction of the home team, Decatur Donnybrooks. Swift is putting in work outside of the MLB after his 9-year playing career was interrupted with a Bush League stint just one other time in 2079 when he played in 130 games with the Naperville Nibblers. So far in Lackawanna, Paul has contributed 1.8 WAR and is hitting .250/.322/.531 with 26 JACKS, 62 RBI, and 61 runs on the year. An interesting tidbit… Paul Swift has hit 12 walk offs over the course of his Major League career, including 7 while putting in work with the New Orleans Gators. The guy’s a bayou legend.

120 of 162: Adrian Adragna (6-3, 3.06) @ Ram Chen (1-7, 3.79)
Win, 2-1. In keeping with our recent theme of doing the minimum amount of work required to still be able to say we’ve done our job, the boys took their unique brand of quiet quitting to newfound heights for the hometown crowd, lulling those in attendance to sleep with a rockabye, 2-1 win over a club who followed our lead by doing even less… D-Rod’s run-scoring single off Ruell Compston during the bottom of the 7th was enough to get the deed done for us here as Ram Chen couldn’t make it into the 5th again, despite pitching pretty well, opening the door for Rad Taylor to pick up his 4th win in relief. Major Hansen parlayed a 4-pitch AB into his 4th hold of the year, and Don Haag, that model of consistency, was at it again, shutting the door on our visitor while earning his 38th save of the year.

Of note, I suppose… with today’s win, we move back into the top spot in the NL West, making our living a half game ahead of the Austin Grackles who lost in Dallas tonight by a score of 7-5. Good. They deserve the strife.


Elsewhere: Because, why not… SP Pappy Kincaid, a Port Chester University graduate and 2076 draftee, etched his name into the Triple-A history books, tossing a 10 K, 113-pitch No Hitter to lead the Kent Comets (a Seattle affiliate) to a 5-0 win in Texas against the Abilene Roughnecks. After appearing in 22 games for Seattle back in 2079 and another 13 in 2080, Pappy has yet to make it back up with the big club so far this year… maybe this no-no will do the trick, or, failing that, we should at least see him in a Metros kit come September.

121 of 162: Josiah Kawka (12-5, 3.32) @ Jan Hernandez (5-6, 4.19)
Loss, 2-3. Jan Hernandez pitched well… good, even. It just wasn’t enough as our merry band of quiet quitters took one to the teeth as the Pioneers managed to crib one off us on their way out the door. Kawka improves to 13-5 on the year after giving PDX 6-innings of work, allowing 7 total hits and 2 earned during his time on the bump, and Randall Berger, a wily 14-year StrangeVerse vet, drew the anticlimactic, run-scoring walk during the top of the 7th that effectively buried our team in its own indifference. We wasted a 3-for-5 day from Ethan and a team-first SAC FLY from Chance Bell as reliever Dani Thorpe, whose name makes me think of that terrible RHCP song Dani California (which is enough to hasten his exit during the offseason), took his 3rd loss of the season after blowing it for us in 1.1-innings of work where he’d allow 4 hits and 3 runs while doling out another 3 free passes. And, look, I know our club is based in the City of Angels, and that only our hometown could birth something as unique, terrible, and infuriating as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but that doesn’t mean we have to like them, respect them, or meet them with anything other than practiced indifference and misdirected disdain.

Record: 66-55, .545, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Austin, Texas for what could be a season making, breaking set in the Lonestar State. We’ll enjoy the BBQ, make fun of the local’s steadfast belief that the dirt hole they live in is actually a desirable place to inhabit, and, hopefully, win a few baseball games.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (66-55, .545, 1st NL West) @ Austin Grackles (65-55, .542, 2nd NL West)
We’d make our pilgrimage to Austin after they’d dropped three in a row to their in-state rival, Dallas Chapparals, and after we’d usurped them on the NL West table by virtue of not playing as poorly over that same stretch – no longer just representing an existential threat, by way of Tinseltown, to their way of life, we’d now pose a real threat to what had started to take on the look of their first truly successful season since they won our division back in 2072. But, if we’re being honest, and why wouldn’t we be, if you were to take a peek under the hood, without your average Texan’s rose-colored glasses on, what you’d find is an engine that once weighed & measured, would be found wanting… incapable of running clean over the length of the course, it’s pistons less than primed, its listed horsepower suddenly suspect. Here we have a club whose offense is ranked 5th overall in our league with a pitching staff that should be ranked no higher than 8th… an outfit that has outpaced the Pythagorean by three, and a club whose days enjoying this run of good fortune are almost certainly coming to a close. Our plan here is to dismember these also rans and display their parts on pig poles on placed in each corner of the Austin city limits, as notice to any club looking to come at the King. Take your shot. Just don’t miss.

122 of 162: Nacho Valadez (6-4, 3.65) @ Sean Kenny (8-6, 4.23)
Loss, 2-4. We’d arrive in town, the self-appointed heroes of the west coast bourgeoisie, the East L.A. proletariat, and our more fortunate Bel Air illuminati, but lost the plot as Austin refused to play patsy to our conquering army. Instead, they’d not just remember the Alamo but reverse its fortunes during a hard-fought, 4-2 victory highlighted by an Anthony Jamison solo shot and an Adrian Basaldua run-scoring single that effectively put this one out of reach. Nacho would be charged with two of Austin’s runs, exiting stage left after walking his 4th batsmen of the game, Nakagawa allowed two more in relief, taking the loss as a result, and Otto Isaac would hit our only extra base hit as our offense went off quietly into the night, unable to offer the resistance required to walk away with a win after talking so much smack on our way into town.

123 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (9-6, 3.44) @ Marcos Villalobos (1-8, 5.01)
Loss, 4-5 (12). In what can only be described as a tightly-contested, heart-breaking slog, we’d take the Grackles to the limit in this one but come up wanting ourselves as Austin would get the last laugh, during the bottom of the 12th, when DJ Wilders teed off on T-Rex Stiles for the game-winning, walk-off DODGE RAM, sending our La La’s to the showers with a bad case of imposter syndrome and a deep-seated desire to start seeing a sports psychologist to help us perform up to our supposed capabilities. In all, we trotted out 6 arms… Major Hansen blew his save opportunity in the bottom of the 9th, allowing a runner to score on a Rayon Tierney single, Don Haag would blow another save opportunity during the bottom of the 10th when Adrian Basaldua hit a run-scoring single to knot things up, and, T-Rex, as described above, would be fit for the loss after giving up the crowd pleasing moon shot to send us off into the night a shell of our former selves.

124 of 162: Stephen Estevez (10-6, 3.32) @ Alfred Adcock (9-6, 3.35)
Win, 5-1. Despite putting a bad one on the Grackles to end this set, and after gifting them a series win to ease the suffering brought forth by the indignity of being on the wrong side of a home sweep their last time out, we’d fall back to 2nd in the NL West at this set’s conclusion, back to running a half game off Austin’s pace. Estevez improves to 11-6 after tossing a 5-inning, 3-hit game that included 7 K’s, Mullen drove in the go ahead run during the 4th on a single, and both Otto and OH HONG stole a bag to keep the Austin defense honest. Holds for Duarte, Marte, and Major Hansen too, with Dani Thorpe, slap bass connoisseur, picking up his 2nd save of the year.

Elsewhere: So this is cool… our Class A club, the Watts Warriors, took it to the Staten Island Killer Bees something fierce in New York, defeating the home team by a score of 16-2 on the back of Petino Ortiz’s 3-for-4 day that included a double, two TANKS, 9 total RBI, and a couple of runs. With the win, Watts improves to 79-47 on the season and draws even with the Athens Hoplites for the top slot in their division… Watts is on a tear too – winners of 8-straight, including a sweep on the road in Duluth and at home against the visiting Allentown Mad Dogs during their last time out. Off to a good start in New York – if they can win the next two in Staten Island, it’ll be 10-straight with 3 -straight sweeps. Wu Tang Forever, am I right? I’ve attached the little game generated blurb for your perusal.



Record: 67-57, .540, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll head south to Mexico City for what will represent the middle three games of what will eventually be entered into the permanent record as a 9-game road trip.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (67-57, .540, 2nd NL West) @ Mexico City Jaguars (61-62, .496, 5th NL West)
Let’s forget about the team we’ll be lining up against for a minute – that sub-.500, zombie-like club, stuck in neutral like an old man on a Sunday afternoon drive through the countryside – and think instead about the city itself… I have a complicated history with Mexico City, it’s delicious carnitas tacos, its seemingly ubiquitous supply of inexpensive mezcal, its people, its police force. I’ve gone on benders whose bottom knew no maximum depth and I’ve experienced the bends as I came back up to the real world after many a drug and alcohol fueled mission to find the cure to whatever was ailing my club at the time. I’ve been rescued, left for dead, locked up, and told to sleep it off more times than I can count. And listen, I know what you’re thinking… what’s the point? What is the point of this drivel, this paragraph, this entire thread and all those that came before it? Nothing, there isn’t one. Add it up, multiply it by two… doesn’t matter, the answer is the same. The difference this time, however, is that no matter the outcome, no matter how poorly, or how well, we perform over these next three games, I will not go off into the night at the behest of the devil perched on my left shoulder, listening, instead, to the angel on my right. See, I’ve matured… I’ve grown accustomed to baseball, its ebbs and flows, its us and downs, and, while another championship is not likely in the cards for our club this season, I’ve come to realize that I can’t change that by staring into the bottom of an empty bottle of mezcal, with a carnitas grease stain on my t-shirt, while cheering on a female luchador in the alley behind Sabrá Dios at an unsanctioned wrestling event.

125 of 162: Ram Chen (1-7, 3.65) @ Hunter Cartmel (4-6, 4.63)
Win, 8-3. Ram went 5 gutsy innings, allowing just two runs during the appearance, but remains 1-7 on the year as he, once again, was unable to secure the win. Otto and Hutch each hit an inconsequential double, though Otto eventually came around on his, Chance Bell cleared the bases with a double of his own, C Darby Helton hit a SAC FLY, D-Rod swiped his 18th bag of the season, and we found a way to get it done here, scoring 5 runs during the top of the 9th to put this one out of reach for the home team. A solid win for the club that, while not enough to take sole possession of the #1 slot in the NL West, puts us in a two-way tie for first with the Grackles.


Elsewhere: Watts won again, besting the Staten Island Killer Bees by a score of 13-11 and putting themselves in the position to secure their 10th win and 3rd sweep in a row… Petino Ortiz was at it again, this time finishing 3-for-6 with 2 TANKS, 6 total RBI, and 2 runs for the good guys. Whatever those guys are on down there – be it greenies, concentrated caffeine capsules, or organic bee pollen – I wish we could get some of it up here on the big club. A 9-game winning streak sounds pretty good, you ask me.

126 of 162: Jan Hernandez (5-6, 4.01) @ Owen Sum (5-9, 4.92)
Loss, 4-5. Connor Garcia, batting dead last in Mexico City’s order, hit a run-scoring single during the bottom of the 8th, effectively burying us alive in this one as the Jaguars went on to claim the victory, setting us up for a winner takes all rubber match tomorrow… Jan gave up 4 runs, including a 3-run TANK to Ryder Nieman, and was lifted from the game after completing just 4-innings for us, and Lee Rolon’s 4th homer of the year, a GRAND SLAM no less, went to waste as his were the only runs we could muster despite playing at altitude against one of the more suspect rotations in the National League.

127 of 162: Nacho Valadez (6-4, 3.66) @ Ben McGillicuddy (7-6, 3.74)
Loss, 4-8. Clearly the boys are confused – maybe the players handbook has a typo, or Skipper Scott isn’t communicating the material we’ve asked him to in our memos, maybe his PowerPoint needs an update, or to be installed… dunno, not sure. But someone, anyone needs to tell these guys that it’s not one step forward, two steps back… here the offense would sit idly by, content to do half of what the opposition did, while watching their pitcher take it on the chin as Nacho managed to give up 6 runs in just 1.2 innings of what can only loosely be described as work. We’d get one extra base hit, a Lee Rolon double (figures), leave 7 stranded, and strike out 10 times as a team and leave Mexico City a shellshocked club whose confidence is shattered into a million little pieces… and, unfortunately for us, we’d have to rush to the airport to catch our flight without even attempting to sweep up the mess so we could try to superglue it all back together during the 8 hour trip to Philadelphia. It’s a hard knock life, that is for sure.

I should’ve partied. I totally should have partied.

Record: 68-59, .535, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll have a day off to relax and recalibrate before getting back after it against the Founders in Philadelphia.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (68-59, .535, 3rd NL West) @ Philadelphia Founders (78-48, .619, 1st NL East)
Philadelphia is the envy of the league right now – they’re who we all want to be, in control, enjoying a 13.5 game lead in their division, riding a 6-game winning streak like Bodie in Point Break. That they’ve put up this type of season with some of their key players missing significant time is the real win – Palmer Parker missed 7 weeks after recovering from a torn posterior cruciate ligament last season, Hamza McDonnell will miss the remainder of the year with that same injury, SP Gabriel Winkler went down with a torn bicep and will likely miss the playoffs… the list goes on. Yet, with all the strife, the Founders are here, making their living at the top of the pops in the NL East, running roughshod over all comers. Already in a bad way after having it handed to us in Mexico City, Philly is not the club you want to see as you look to the other side of the diamond… especially when you’ve recently dropped to 3rd in your division after dropping a set you should have easily won. It’s as if Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare is cued up on the Hi-Fi, we’ve requested Escape, but the DJ has The Black Widow on repeat, and he won’t let anyone get close to the booth.

128 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (9-6, 3.43) @ Quirk Benoit (11-6, 4.02)
Loss, 0-1. After trading zeroes for most of the game, Philadelphia would find a way to break through when, much to the delight to those in attendance, CF Sage Reid hit a SAC FLY off Don Haag to bank the Founders’ 7th win in a row and send us off, unceremoniously into the night. McNeil was brilliant over 6-innings of 2-hit, shutout work, we fielded two DP’s, but did nothing of note at the plate where the only stat interesting enough to call out was Otto’s near Golden Sombrero as he finished with 3 K’s on the day. This was a rough one – not the way we wanted to kick things off after dropping those last two in Mexico.


Elsewhere: 2B Max Reyes, a member of Brooklyn’s farm system who’s currently plying his trade with the Staten Island Killer Bees, went off against Bethlehem, finishing 3-for-4 with THREE TANKS, 4 RBI, 3 runs and a walk to lead his club to a resounding, 13-8 win over the Steelers. After being drafted 45th overall out of Texas Tech, Reyes has given a solid account of himself in affiliated baseball with a .289/.371/.467 line that includes 10 jacks, 36 RBI, and 35 RBI in just 59 games this season.

129 of 162: Stephen Estevez (11-6, 3.26) @ Hudson Dorsch (8-5, 3.05)
Win, 8-2. After dropping last nights contest, against jet lag as much as our opponent, we’d earn some of the sweet, sweet get back in dominating fashion as Koloski opened the scoring with a 2-run blast during the top of the 1st, and the boys would continue to pour it on from there… OH HONG drove in two on a double, Otto and Chance secured an RBI each on singles, we’d get a SAC FLY from Hutchinson, and swipe 3 bags as a unit, one for Ethan and two more for Isaac. Estevez was just okay – 4.2-innings, 2 runs allowed – but the pen stepped up with Rad Taylor leading the charge, earning the win after putting in 3.1-innings of relief work where he’d allow nothing to plate while working himself out of no less than three jams.

130 of 162: Ram Chen (1-7, 3.64) @ Linden Brittingham (11-7, 3.33)
Win, 7-0. It’s puzzling to try to comprehend how we go from getting bludgeoned in Mexico City, by a team that in many ways is our inferior, to being a world beater, cribbing two of three off the best team in baseball in their house… chalk it up to our sports fickle nature, how the outcomes often only make sense if you imagine that they were determined by a roll of the dice, and then, maybe, you can come to terms with it. Here, the result was positive, better than positive really, as our boys marched into Philadelphia, coming off a brutal series loss to the Jaguars, and proceeded to handle the Founders like the Redcoats returned to the scene of the crime. Otto went off – 4-for-5, THREE DING DONGS, and 5 total RBI to lead the way – Ethan drove in a run for good measure, and Ram Chen went 6 strong, allowing just 3 hits and nothing earned to, FINALLY, secure his 2nd win of the season. For Otto, whose 31 dingers on the season moves him into 6th on the HR table (where he’s tied with our own OH HONG), this marks his 3rd time that he’s trucked three in his career with the last one coming back in ’76 against Las Vegas.

We’re still in 3rd on the NL West table, Austin has extended their lead to 2.5 games, but, after this set, it’s clear that we are the once and future Kings of this thing… the world is ours.

Record: 70-60, .538, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll return to Los Angeles where the New Orleans Gators anxiously await our arrival. Also, August is now in the books… peep the standings, leaders, and clubhouse.

[pauwoo]

Roster expansion… with the rosters moving from 25 to 28, we’ll call up the following players: SP Hank Wilson, RP Shoji Shibuya, and 1B/3B Walt Tignor.

New Orleans Gators (56-74, .430, 6th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (70-60, .538, 3rd NL West)
We’ve turned the corner now, the home stretch has come into focus, and your Leopards, currently sitting at 3rd in the NL West, have some work to do. That work, as it were, starts at home against the lowly New Orleans Gators, a historically poor club turning in a historically poor season. At 56-74 so far on the year, the Gators have done little of note, have failed to capture their fans’ attention, and, with an offense ranked dead last in our league, has not even played the style of baseball that draws fans to the park. Whatever voodoo, black magic, and dark spells they’ve had at their disposal in seasons past, seem to have turned on them, putting their squad in a hex that they’ve not been able to break since their last playoff appearance 5 season ago. Surely, after posting a brutal 8-20 record last month, New Orleans will look to kick off September with a winning set as they look to finish out the 2081 campaign by salvaging as much of their trampled pride as they can.

131 of 162: Nil Estopinan (8-4, 3.16) @ Nacho Valadez (6-5, 4.07)
Win, 2-0. Nacho played the role of Kaa the Hungry Python, hypnotizing New Orleans over 5 innings of 5-hit ball to earn his 3rd win as a Leopard and Don Haag, after two of his best friends (Duarte & T-Rex) secured holds, entered his 39th save into the permanent record after tossing a hitless, 20-pitch top of the 9th. Oh Hong drove in our only earned run on a double, Mullens went 3-for-4 and scored, and D-Rod hit his 7th triple of the season to round out the offense… our pitching ruled the day in this one as our offense did only what was absolutely necessary to get the win. W’s are hard to come by when you leave 10 runners stranded… so, we’ll take it.

132 of 162: Tom Abraham (3-6, 3.59) @ Jan Hernandez (5-6, 4.17)
Loss, 6-12. That we lost this contest against a poor club when wins are at a premium is concerning to me… that the route we took to get to this unsatisfactory result required the worst offense in our league to make mincemeat of our staff terrifies me. With our eyes glazed over, each man engaged in a Pribilof stare into the frozen Bering Sea stretched out before us, our malaise is all-encompassing, thicker than a cup of Clam Chowder cooked up at the Gold Rush Bistro, though less comforting to be sure. To give up 19 hits, 12 runs, and 3 homers against a club as poor as the one currently occupying our visitors’ dugout boggles the mind… it goes against all we know to be true and that which we hold dear. 35-year-old, all-time great 1B Austin Rollins held it down for the Gators, finishing 3-for-6 with 3 RBI, Ray Martin put two way, way over the fence, and Jarel White hit a 3-run TANK to account for 9 of New Orleans’ 12 total runs. Not a great showing from the boys – we’ll need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get back after it tomorrow.

133 of 162: Pete Taylor (6-12, 4.49) @ Dontrell McNeil (9-6, 3.27)
Loss, 1-3. 34-year-old Andrew Beck, 4x All-Star, and wily vet who’s nearing the end of his rope, hit a run-scoring SAC FLY during the top of the 2nd, making the score 2-0 at the time, and providing all the cushion New Orleans would need to peel this series off us in our park. Pete Taylor gave us the business for 7 innings, allowing a mere 4 hits and 1 earned while fanning 7, and the Gators completed two, rally-killing double plays much to the chagrin of everyone in attendance. McNeil drops to 9-7 on the year after allowing each of the Gators’ 3 runs, Rad pitched 3.1 flawless innings in relief, cauterizing the wound in vain as our offense couldn’t be bothered to string together anything of note.


Elsewhere: Alex Nakagawa, born and partially raised in/on Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, and currently plying his trade with the Daly City Tremors in San Diego’s affiliate system, went 3-for-4 with 2 TANKS, 7 RBI, and 3 runs to lead his squad in the complete & total annihilation of the Bremerton Yardies, a Seattle Metros affiliate, by a score 12-2. With the win, Daly City improves their lead over their Short Season A-Ball division rivals to 9 games while the Yardies fall to a dismal 25 games back and now find themselves tied for last place with the Sparks Mustangs.

Record: 71-62, 3rd NL West
Up Next: 4 games, at home, against the hard-charging Las Vegas Outlaws.

[pauwoo]

Las Vegas Outlaws (72-60, .545, 2nd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (71-62, .534, 3rd NL West)
With an offense that rakes (ranked 2nd overall in the NL) and a pitching staff making its living in the top half of the NL rankings, Las Vegas is quietly putting together another solid season and will likely find themselves with an admit one ticket to the dance for the 6th season in a row as a result. Top dog, Aitor Cubas, currently in the 2nd year of a 3-year contract, has outperformed his 4.8 WAR 2080 season, putting 5.5 WAR in the bucket thus far in 2081, and partner in crime, RF Neil Jahraus has delivered for the Outlaws in the first year of his own, less lucrative (but not by much), 3-year contract. After posting an insanely good August, finishing the month 20-9 following an 11-14 July, Las Vegas, like us, has stumbled off the line in September, dropping their first set of the month to the lowly Pittsburgh Pipers. With both of our clubs trying to get themselves back on track as we slowly slog our way through the last month of the regular season, the 4-game series will likely have a lot to say about how things shake out in the NL West.

134 of 162: Jack Sanchez-Flores (11-9, 3.96) @ Stephen Estevez (11-6, 3.28)
Win, 3-1. 6.2 innings of work from Estevez with just 5 total hits and nothing earned as our boys dealt Sanchez-Flores his 10th loss of the season, scoring 2 of our 3 runs against the unusually wild starter who doled out 6 free passes to go along with the 4 hits he allowed… Hutch drove one in on a single, D-Rod brought 2 in, each on a SAC FLY, our defense fielded 3 DP’s, and Don Haag picked up his 40th save despite allowing 3 hits and a run during an uncharacteristically difficult top of the 9th. Aitor Cubas left the game early with a finger blister… rumor around down is that he’ll be listed day-to-day for a few…

135 of 162: Cam Murphy (10-7, 3.97) @ Ram Chen (2-7, 3.45)
Win, 7-3. Despite what the score suggests, we’d pull ahead of Las Vegas in the NL West on a dramatic, come-from-behind, walk off GRAND SLAM as PH Darby Helton, with the bags juiced, score tied at 3, blasted the towering 401ft TRUCK to send Las Vegas off to the showers a shell of their former selves. Otto finished 3-for4 with a SOLO DINGER, a stolen bag, 3 runs, and a walk, Hutch and Walt Tignor drove in our other runs, Ethan and D-Rod were each hit by a pitch, and T-Rex Stiles walks away with the win despite blowing a save in the top of the 9th. With the win, we’ve pulled into 2nd place on the NL West table and currently enjoy a ½ game lead over the visiting Outlaws.

136 of 162: Shizuka Takeuchi (10-8, 3.68) @ Nacho Valdez (7-5, 3.90)
Win, 12-1. We’d double our output during an 8-run bottom of the 8th, where OH HONG smashed our 2nd GRAND SLAM against Las Vegas in as many days to cap off what quickly became a complete and utter domination of the Outlaws. Ethan went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, 3 RBI, and a run, D-Rod hit another SAC FLY, and Nacho Valadez picked up his 4th win as a Leopard after turning in a dominant, 5-inning, 1 hit, 6 K performance. Aitor Cubas, still struggling with that finger blister, was rung up three times during the contest and has now been a relative no show for the visiting team so far.


Elsewhere: 3B Broderick Chavis, the 7th ranked blue chip prospect in all of baseball, Bellevue, WA native, and Cal State Fullerton alum, went 4-for-4 with 2 TANKS, 6 RBI, 4 runs, and 2 walks to lead his Athens Hoplites (a Charlotte Imperials affiliate) to a resounding 18-4 win over the Fort Collins Merlins in A Ball play. Broderick, the 3rd overall pick this year, torched Short Season A competition, laying down a .471/.533/1.038 slash with 34 homers and 90 RBI before making the jump to A-Ball when the big league rosters expanded. He’s starting to pick up some steam, as evidenced by his performance today, after going hitless in a 3-game set against our very own Watts Warriors his last time out.

137 of 162: Garvy Bean (11-6, 5.29) @ Jan Hernandez (5-6, 4.43)
Win, 5-0. A four-game sweep when we needed it most… there’s a sense that we’ve somehow tilted the pinball machine here as the Las Vegas Outlaws didn’t offer much in the way of resistance over these last four games… important contests, one and all. Here the staff, led by Jan’s 6-innings of 2-hit, shutout work, would run roughshod over the Outlaws, holding their sturdy lineup to an ineffectual 3 hits and 2 walks with Dani Thorpe closing the show on 21 total pitches to earn his 3rd save of the season. BJ Cristoforo went 3-for-4 with a 2-run double and a run before leaving early with an undisclosed injury, Chance Bell hit his 19th HR of the season, 6th as a Leopard, and the club secured 3 swiped bags with two belonging to D-Rod and the other to Otto as we complete the 4-game sweep over a highly-skilled division rival at a time when any other result would have been indefensible.

With the win, we’ve positioned ourselves 2nd on the NL West table, increased our lead over the Outlaws to 2.5, and are now speed walking a mere 3 games off of Austin’s division-leading pace.

Record: 75-62, .547, 2nd NL West
Up Next: A bit of rest followed by a quick hop to San Diego where we’ll face off against the Skipjacks for two games.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (75-62, .547, 2nd NL West) @ San Diego Skipjacks (60-78, .434, 6th NL West)
After years spent toiling in the Bay Area, and after winning the last of their three titles in 2058, the Warriors, Seals, Tigers, Seals, and now Skipjacks haven’t come close to tasting that level of success since. They last snuck into the playoffs back in ’78 and have finished no better than 4th since with this year’s likely 6th place finish standing amongst their poorest results in club history and their 99-loss, 2072 campaign being the worst of a bad bunch. Offensively, the Skipjacks have been dreadful this year, are ranked dead last in wOBA, OPS, and Average, while their pitching, ranked 7th overall in the NL, does everything within their power to keep this thing afloat. The hope, and narrative being pushed by their new owners, is that this is the beginning of a reimagining, a tank job bent on positioning them for a fortune changing draft pick, and the start of a brand new day… and, while that may well be true, the present is as dire as it gets for the Skipjacks who have the misfortune of hosting a hot, dialed-in Leopards outfit.

138 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (9-7, 3.37) @ Alan Barrientos (6-10, 4.05)
Win, 10-3. Our trail of dead now extends from Los Angeles all the way to San Diego after we easily dispatched the Skipjacks, in their park, by a 7-run margin, all but running these guys out of their new digs in the process. Chance Bell was your man of the match, finishing at 4-for-4 on the day with a triple, homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs, with D-Rod and Lee Rolon accounting for 2 runs each, another burgled bag for Otto, his 29th, and a rip-roaring, 6-inning, 6 hit, 2 earned day from Dontrell to keep San Diego off balance early. Easy money. Light work.

139 of 162: Stephen Estevez (12-6, 3.13) @ Carlito Cisneros (5-7, 3.91)
Win, 9-6. Otto drew a run-scoring walk during the top of the 8th to break our tie, putting us up 7-6 at the time, and saw that improved upon just one at bat later when Chance Bell brought two more around on a double to improve our margin to 3 runs… and that’s where we’d leave it as Haag shut the door on San Diego during a 19 pitch bottom of the 9th that included some trouble in the form of two hits and a HBP as he secured his 41st save of the year… a total that is good enough to rank him 5th in the majors with Detroit’s CL Jack York leading the way at 46 so far. There’s some season left, but I do think it’s safe to say that the single-season record of 58 will not fall this year.


Elsewhere: Nicaragua’s favorite son and Vancouver Mounties Second Baseman, Basil Sanchez, put it down something fierce for his club during an important, 15-3 win over the Portland Pioneers as his club continues to run in place with the Dallas Chaparrals, staying tied at the top of the pops in the AL West. On the day, your boy Basil went 3-for-5 with TWO TRUCKS, 5 total RBI, and 3 runs to lead his club to a commanding win over the floundering Pioneers who find themselves barely able to tread water at 70-69, a full 9 ½ games off Dallas and Vancouver’s pace. Still better than Seattle though…

Record: 77-62, .553, 2nd NL West
Up Next: Another day off for travel as we make the quick hop to Phoenix for a 3-game set over the weekend before making our way to Las Vegas to close out this 9-game road trip.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (77-62, .553, 2nd NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (71-68, .510, 4th NL West)
A once proud franchise that’s only made the playoffs in two of our last seven seasons, the Phoenix Coyotes’ downward spiral seems to be constant as their hopes of making the dance in 2081 dwindle by the day… Phoenix can pitch, but their offense is pedestrian by comparison, mostly capable of abject disappointment and consistent failure, ranking at or near the bottom in each of the categories we track. Their pitching trio of Landon Sampson, Evan Church, and Mike Clendenin is as good as it gets, but with a suspect defense behind them and little to no offensive support, even the best hurlers can only take you so far… in this case, that seems to mean a club capable of treading water without the endurance to complete the swimming portion of some small town, bootleg Ironman competition. Here we’ll put our 6-game winning streak against their 3-game run, in their park, as we continue to state our case for the NL West crown.

140 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-5, 3.75) @ Russell Wooten (8-8, 4.82)
Win, 7-2. Our streak would grow to 7 wins straight as Phoenix’s would come to an end… Otto went buck, finishing 2-for-5 on the day with 2 TANKS and 4 RBI, Ethan, Hong, and Hutch each drove in a run, we fielded a sweet Hutchinson-Paulino-Hong double play, and Shoji Shibuya earned his first win of the year after giving us 4-innings in relief. Valadez was crafty through his 4.2-innings of work but was ultimately lifted from the contest after doling out his 4th free pass as he was dogged by control issues sporadically throughout the day… but it was no bother as the pen was equal to it, keeping Phoenix guessing through the bottom of the 9th. We’re on that good stuff now…

141 of 162: Ram Chen (2-7, 3.35) @ Mike Clendenin (8-13, 4.20)
Loss, 2-7. All good things, in this case our 7-game winning streak, must end… that our good thing was bludgeoned to death by the Coyotes, in Phoenix, just adds salt to the wound. Despite homers from Otto and Koloski, a stolen bag from Chance, and 2 double plays, we were unable to produce enough offense to cover for a pitching staff come undone… Ram was lifted after allowing five runners to plate in only 2.2 innings of work, Rad allowed two more in relief, and though Dani Thorpe managed to stop the bleeding from the 6th on, the damage had, unfortunately, already been done in this one with former Leopard, Andy Shepard, leading the way for Phoenix during a 3-for-4 day that included a DING DONG and 4 total runs batted in. Oh, and their defense got us for four DP’s too… yikes.


Elsewhere: LF Isaac Reazin, putting in work with the Coney Island Footlongs down in the Bush League, went 3-for-4 with THREE DINGERS to lead his club to a satisfying 7-4 win over the Tallahassee Tomcats. With the win Coney Island pulls to within 5 ½ games of the Independence Division leading Naperville Nibblers while Tallahassee falls 4 games below .500 and 4 games out of the Bush League Wild Card race.

142 of 162: Jan Hernandez (6-6, 4.24) @ Rufo Luna (5-4, 4.82)
Win, 7-4. Oliver Koloski went 2-for-4 with 2 TRUCKS and 4 RBI for the DH slot, leading the charge for us here with Otto, who drove in two on his 39th JACK, and Chance Bell driving in the remaining runs between them, giving us a hard-earned series win on the road in Phoenix. Jan picks up the win, his 7th, after tossing 6-innings of 2-hit, 2-run ball, T-Rex Stiles records a single out during the 8th inning to bank his 10th hold of the season, and Don Haag picked up his 42nd save after turning in a flawless, 7-pitch bottom of the 9th.

Record: 79-63, .556, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll make the quick, up-and-down from Phoenix to Las Vegas where we’ll face off against the Outlaws over the next four days before returning home to host Pittsburgh in our park over the weekend.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (79-63, .556, 2nd NL West) @ Las Vegas Outlaws (76-66, .535, 3rd NL West)
In what will be our last meeting against the Las Vegas Outlaws of the regular season, we’ll pit our top ranked staff against their 2nd ranked offense in their park… with, well, everything on the line. We’ve played them tough this year, owning a 10-4 head-to-head record against them so far, but in making our living so close to them on the NL West table, these next four have taken on some additional importance. We’ll arrive in town on something of a hot streak, compiling an 8-2 record over our last 10 contests, most recently lifting 2 of 3 off Phoenix in their park. There’s also our sweep, at home, over Las Vegas at the beginning of the month to draw from… surely the Outlaws will be looking to exact some small measure of revenge after we big brothered them so severely the last time we met… our challenge, goal, and prime directive here will be to keep that from happening, to reassert our dominance over a rival who, while formidable, can’t measure up to the cut of our jib.

143 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (10-7, 3.36) @ Jack Sanchez-Flores (11-10, 3.98)
Win, 8-3. We’d kick things off in Vegas by pummeling the Outlaws on the strength of OH HONG’S 2-for-4, 2 HOMER day and Simon Paulino’s 3 total RBI, including an early, top of the 2nd, 2-run double. Otto swiped his 30th bag of the year, the club crafted two perfectly executed DP’s, Mullens struck down Ray Gerhold at home from RF, and the pitching, led by McNeil’s winning performance, was stout throughout the contest. Not much else to parse out here, really… just another dominant win over a rival, no big deal...

144 of 162: Stephen Estevez (12-6, 3.39) @ Cam Murphy (10-7, 3.78)
Win, 7-4. We’d open this one up with a 3-run top of the 8th when a 2-run double, courtesy of OH HONG, put us up by two… on the day, he finished 4-for-5 with two doubles and those two RBI, while Koloski drove in two on a homer, and Chance Bell contributed to the cause with a SAC BUNT. Estevez turned it over to the pen after putting in 5.1 innings of work, allowing 4 total hits and 2 earned while fanning 4 hapless hitters, Nakagawa got the win, his 7th of the year, and Don Haag was at it again, entering his 43rd save into the permanent record after T-Rex and Major Hansen each secured single out holds. We’ve now opened our lead over Las Vegas up to 5 games but still trail the division leading Austin Grackles by three.

145 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-5, 3.75) @ Shizuka Takeuchi (11-9, 3.62)
Win, 3-1. OH HONG’S name would ring out once again – 2-for-4 with a 2-run TANK – Rad Taylor would be credited with his 6th win of the year after taking over for Nacho who left after walking 5 batters in 4.1 innings of work, Major Hansen & T-Rex each earned another hold, Haag saved his 44th game, and the club backed our staff with 3, Hutchinson-Paulino-Hong double plays. This kind of a low-key win, honestly… not a ton to parse out, but we did position ourselves for the sweep, and if we can get it done tomorrow that would put us at 8-0 against these guys in September. That’d be cool.

146 of 162: Ram Chen (2-8, 3.42) @ Garvy Bean (12-7, 4.95)
Win, 6-1. SWEEP CITY! Backup backstop, Darby Helton, was a big part of the show offensively, finishing 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI, and Ethan Mullens was our man of the match with his bases-clearing double during the top of the 4th putting us up 5-0 at the time. Chance and OH HONG were responsible for our other runs, we hit 3 singles, 5 doubles, a triple, and a homer as a club, fielded a crispy Paulino-Hutchinson-Hong double play, and still got the win despite Otto donning a platinum sombrero and striking out 5 times to tie the NL regular season game record. 8 straight wins against Las Vegas this month… must be some sort of historical team record.

Record: 83-63, .568, 2nd NL West
Up Next: A quick flight home to face the Pittsburgh Pipers… only 1 game off Austin’s pace now.

[pauwoo]

Pittsburgh Pipers (65-81, .445, 5th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (83-63, .568, 2nd NL West)
Listen, I’m not one to shy away from beating a dead horse, flogging it mercilessly, and allowing redundancy to rule the day… but, here, if I’ve said it once I’ve said it 1000 times – Pittsburgh is, by not pushing their chips into the center of the table and surrounding Tom Franzone with top tier talent, committing a crime so grievous, so heinous in its construction, so evil in its indifferent execution that their owner and his mind trust should be forcibly removed from the club, banned from baseball for life, and never be seen or heard from again. Franzone, the 2080 Boyce Rigg award recipient, has taken a step back from the 8 WAR he produced last season (by virtue of having no protection in the lineup) but with the right mix of talent around him and a front office that prioritizes winning above all else, he’d be back to legendary level production, doing what the best player in baseball should. As it stands, Pittsburgh, its club, and everyone associated with it has perpetuated a fraud and returned to the scene of the crime to bask in the fact that they seem to have gotten away with it.

147 of 162: Jaxon Mottola (4-8, 3.95) @ Jan Hernandez (7-6, 4.18)
Loss, 2-3. Supporting our habit of playing down to the level of our competition, we’d drop the first of three to Pittsburgh by the thinnest margin possible as Tom Franzone stroked the game-winning, run-scoring double that put the Pipers up by one in the 7th. And, they’d not look back from there… Jan could only muster 4 innings of work, allowing two runners to plate in that time before Leonardo Duarte gave up the ghost late, picking up his 7th loss and dropping to 8-7 on the year. On the bright side, Otto only fanned once today… so, we got that going for us.


Elsewhere: Our 2079, 10th round pick, 272nd overall, CF Snoopy Kent, went 3-for-4 with a double, 2 DING DONGS, 4 RBI, and 2 runs to lead our Brentwood Bishops to a solid, 9-4 win over the Brownsville Bandits in Short Season A Ball… Clock’s ticking on Snoopy who spent 14 games plying his trade in Watts with our A-Ball club, but struggled to make an impact posting -0.3 WAR in the short time he donned the Warriors kit. Hopefully, this is something the young man can build on…

148 of 162: Edwin Blaxley (11-12, 3.43) @ Dontrell McNeil (11-7, 3.43)
Win, 6-3. With things taking on the look of yesterday’s game through the first 6 innings, Chance Bell put us on top with a run-scoring double and then came around to score on an error a few batters later during the bottom of the 7th. Otto managed to hit a single without a single K today. We fielded a clean Paulino-Hutchinson-Tignor double play, and Ramiro Marte picked up his 5th win in relief after pitching the 6th & 7th innings… hold #13 for T-Rex, #9 for Major Hansen, and save #45 for Mr. Haag. All in a days work, my friends… all in a days work.

149 of 162: Casey Tucker (10-11, 5.06) @ Stephen Estevez (12-6, 3.39)
Win, 6-2. Estevez gave the club 5-innings of 4-hit, 1-run work, fanning 7 before handing it off to Nakagawa who earned the win in this one after turning in 3-innings of work in relief. Save #46 for Don Haag, homers for Oh Hong, Walt Tignor, and Darby Helton, a double and 2-out RBI for Chance Bell, and a tasty little Koloski-Paulino-Hong double play would round out the highlight for us here as we managed to get the series win, at home, against Tom Franzone and his merry band of brigands. Oh Hong’s homer was his 36th of the year… he now needs 10 more to match last seasons total. A tall order to be sure.

Record: 85-64, .570, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll embark on our final road trip of the regular season starting off in Montreal before making stops in Mexico City and Austin.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (85-64, .570, 2nd NL West) @ Montreal Alouettes (70-80, .466, 4th NL East)
Montreal is a lot of things to a lot of people – an enclave of French speaking malcontents, the birthplace of Québécois nationalism, the place Cohen kept revisiting, “to renew [his] neurotic affiliations” … to us, it’s just home to a once-storied, recently ho-hum franchise that has only made it to the playoffs 4 times in the last 14 years, a place where talent drowns in an endless pool of poutine gravy, immersed in its buttery thickness like snow sand in the fire swamps with no masked hero nearby to dive in after them. So far this year, the Alouettes have played true to form, winning exactly 11 games in June, July, and August, and all but guaranteeing that they’d not be making an unlikely appearance in the playoffs at the season’s conclusion. Our challenge here will be to not stumble against a squad that is surely looking at the horizon behind us, daydreaming about their favorite fishing holes, family trips to Mexico or Jamaica, and anything else that can help them purge this dismal season from their short-term memory.

150 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-5, 3.70) @ Vincent Urquhart (12-11, 4.71)
Loss, 3-4. First Baseman Bill Cox, a low contact hitter with a little bit of pop who’s been with Montreal for two seasons since we traded him to the Alouettes in 2079 for William Henderson, who has since been flipped for tonight’s starter, Nacho Valadez, hit a walk-off solo home run off Don Haag to send our club to the showers in a state of low-key shock… a small measure of revenge for sending him packing before winning the World Series in 2080 I suppose. For our part, Chance Bell provided most of the offense, finishing 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, Oh Hong helped out some too with SAC BUNT, and Nacho Valadez, our prize that started with human paperclip, Bill Cox, gave up three runs off two hits in only 4.2 innings of work.

151 of 162: Ram Chen (2-8, 3.31) @ Norm Rodriquez (7-7, 3.68)
Loss, 2-5. For a team whose future is spelled vacation, the Alouettes sure are trying hard to beat us… here their efforts were rewarded with a clean, 3-run victory as Jason Spears drove in the go ahead runs on a 2-run DING DONG off Ram Chen and Sfinx Borunda drove in two more a few frames later to make sure we were good and buried. Oh Hong and Otto drove runs in for the La La’s but no one else could be bothered to contribute offensively to cover the 4 runs Chen allowed to plate and the additional run that Shibuya (ya ya Shibuya, roll call..) let plate during the bottom of the 7th. Not our finest hour…


Elsewhere: Victor Fuller, who spent 11 years in AAA, including three in Compton, before taking his talents to the Bush League, tossed a gem for the Frankfort Sultans, turning in an 8-inning, 1-hit, 1-earned masterpiece with 13 K’s, doing everything in his power to give his squad a chance to win… they’d squander it of course, losing 1-0 against the Naperville Nibblers in Illinois, so... that's a bummer.

152 of 162: Jan Hernandez (7-6, 4.19) @ Toni Cartwright (8-9, 3.44)
Loss, 3-4. Not quite walked off… done in during the bottom of the 8th when Arthur Grant, a short-lived Leopard from 2077 who played in 12 games for us, hit a SAC FLY to put the Alouettes up for good. Neither club gave us much to parse out – Montreal’s Toni Cartwright went 5-innings, allowing 7 hits, 3 earned during his time on the mound while our guy, Jan Hernandez, allowed just two runs over his 4-innings of burn… of course Hank Wilson gave up two more in relief, but really, with us being on the wrong end of a sweep, who’s counting… other than the haters, of course. Who, I suspect, are counting each one of these losses with glee – Like Sesame Street’s Count if his focus was our misfortune.

Record: 85-67, .559, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll head south to Mexico City for a 3-game set against the Jags.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (85-67, .559, 2nd NL West) @ Mexico City Jaguars (75-77, .493, 5th NL West)
It's gettin' close to the end y'all, but we gonna kick it like this on the last album… Our international tour continues after our 5.5-hour flight from Montreal at 2,240 meters within the high central plateau against the Jaguars in Mexico City. They’ve put in a nondescript, ho-hum performance this season, content to tread water at 75-77 so far, ranked 5th in our division, and, really, to a man likely too preoccupied with what’s on the other side of this season’s door than the path they need to take to reach it. Their offense remains one of the, if not THE, best offenses in the National League while their staff, as ever, continues to plunge to new depths as the worst collection of stiffs any club in our league has put together. Over the course of the season Mexico City has been good at home, as evidenced by their 45-33 record so far, yet they’ve not played at that clip in September, going just 7-6 in their park this month. For us, after starting our last road trip of the season on the wrong side of a sweep, this represents an opportunity to right the ship, to course correct a bit before an important 4-game series against the Austin Grackles.

153 of 162: Stephen Estevez (12-6, 3.34) @ Doug Ehrenreich (4-10, 5.59)
Win, 5-4. Don Haag struggled a bit closing this one out, allowing one runner to plate before squashing Mexico City’s ill-fated rally attempt en route to his 47th save of the season and OH HONG powered the offense with a 2-for-5 day that included a 2-run single and a solo homer, his 37th of the year. Estevez showed no ill effects due to the elevation, giving us 6-innings of 2 hit ball that included 6 total K’s as he’d pick up his 13th win of the year, and only 2nd decision in 5 starts this month. Otto hit his 17th two-bagger, Chance Bell put his 12th ball over the fence, a solo shot, Mullens swiped his 32nd bag of the season, and our defense helped the cause something fierce, putting down three expertly crafted double plays on the day. This was a good start. The kind of start that, dare I say it, deserves to be celebrated with a night on the town.

154 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-5, 3.77) @ Owen Sum (6-11, 5.27)
Loss, 1-4. Nacho turned in a real high wire act, like an airborne luchador bringing real panache to his in-ring interactions and reacting with overwrought melodrama each time a call didn’t go his way… he’d last 4.2 innings before being lifted by Skipper Scott, allowing just 5 hits and 1 earned run while fanning 9 Jaguars. Unfortunately, Duarte and T-Rex each came undone in relief as Mexico City’s much-vaunted offense gave us the business after looking awfully sus for the first 5-innings of the game. Mullens and Chanceeach fanned three times, our only extra base hit came courtesy of light-hitting second baseman, Simon Paulino, and we managed to leave 7 runners stranded in this contest despite the Jaguars defense being so criminally poor. Rubber match tomorrow, contested in a barbed wire steel cage, with our claim of being heir apparent to Chavo Guerrero on the line…


Elsewhere: In a bit of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news, the Outlaws’ Aitor Cubas, 3x Boyce Rigg recipient and BMOC in Las Vegas, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured finger while running the bases in a tilt against the Phoenix Coyotes. I’m absolutely gutted for our Sin City rivals… I have half a mind to reverse the injury in the editor but will resist that urge and let OOTP decide the fate of all my favorite fake baseball players plying their trade in this little sandbox I’ve created. Sucks, though. You hate to see it.

155 of 162: Ram Chen (2-9, 3.49) @ Ben McGillicuddy (8-8, 3.73)
Loss, 4-6. Judging by the raucous behavior of the ~20k fans in attendance at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu you think that in dispatching us in the rubber match, 6 runs to 4, Mexico City had clinched the division… they did not. What they have accomplished with the win is moving one step closer to a .500 record and, with any luck, finishing the 2081 campaign above that mark. McGillicuddy kept our order off balance for 5-innings, allowing just 3 hits and a walk while fanning 4 during the appearance… he’d be credited with the win here, his 9th this season. And, though we’d attempt a comeback, scoring three against reliver Thomas Ortega during the top of the 6th, it was all for naught as the Jags’ offense performed up to the expectations they’ve set for themselves, answering every question we asked of them in the form of a question, a true daily double each and every one.


Elsewhere: Boston’s Zippo Hollins, a defensive dynamo with a 35 contact rating, had himself a day for the ages, completing the cycle during a 5-for-5 day that included 2 singles, a double, that elusive triple, and a homer, driving in 5 runs and scoring 4 more of his own during the Shamrocks’ rip-roaring, 14-6 dismantling of the Toronto Maple Leafs. This marks Zippo’s 4th time securing 5 hits in a game while representing his only cycle as a baseball player at any level.

Record: 86-69, .554, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll take on the role of Big Bad Wolf, sauntering into Austin looking to blow the Grackles house down… no huffing, no puffing, just good ol’ fashioned rough and ready blue-collar baseball.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (86-69, .554, 2nd NL West) @ Austin Grackles (89-66, .574, 1st NL West)
Prior to the start of the season, Austin was pegged as an also ran, a middling club that would be lucky to win 84 games, likely finishing outside the cake, and a full 23 games off our predicted 107-win pace. That the results have been so wildly different than what was put forth by the BNN predictive model is of no real surprise – it’s nothing if not wholly inaccurate – that Austin finds themselves holding court, at the top of the pops in the NL West is… it’s a huge surprise and an unwelcome one at that. Their roster screams pedestrian, their middling, 14th ranked attendance, shouts local indifference, and their middle of the road, ho-hum haul of $40mm in gate receipts thus far says that, in the eyes of the city it occupies at least, they are still that middle-of-the-pack club light on tools and even lighter on ability. Of course, at 7-7 H2H so far this season, we’ve not been able to prove any of that true… here then is our opportunity to reimagine the plot of 2081, to throw in an M. Night Shyamalan worthy plot twist on par with Unbreakable instead of the Happening – we have to be the entity that dethroned the undeserving Austin Grackles from the top of our division, because the trees, in all their toxin spreading glory, won’t be able to save us here…

156 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (11-7, 3.44) @ Dejuan Burns (11-11, 3.82)
Loss, 0-6. When it came time for our offense to make its big reveal, the water we saved up to douse Austin with turned out to not be our secret weapon after all and these alien Grackles, sent from Mars on a mission to destroy the NL West, were unaffected by the splash, instead using it to cool down after beating us so thoroughly in this one… CF Anthony Jamison finished 3-for-4 with his league-leading 42nd DING DONG (he's tied with three other players currently… Seattle’s Satoru Ono, Phoenix’s Harlem Peterson, and PDX’s Blas Polo) and 2 RBI to power the offense while starter DeJuan Burns picked up his 12th win of the season after putting in 7.2-innings of 2-hit, shutout work in for the home team. We were shellacked, bushwacked, and barebacked without eye contact in this one folks… same as it ever was in 2081, I suppose.

157 of 162: Jan Hernandez (7-6, 4.20) @ Sean Kenny (8-7, 3.98)
Loss, 1-11. After being fit for 5 runs during the bottom of the 5th, with DJ Wilders’ 2-run blast acting as the opening salvo, we’d be bludgeoned by 6 more in the bottom of the 8th, with 4 spread across two TANKS, a 3-run blast courtesy of Rajkumar Kosciusko and a solo shot off the bat of Anthony Jamison. In total our staff would allow a triple, 3 home runs, and dole out 5 free passes as the Grackles rang us up like a Guns N’ Roses pinball machine with each of the band members collected and Nightrain playing in the background. Jan drops to 7-7 on the year after allowing 3 of Austin’s 11 runs in 4.2 innings of work, Rad let 4 come around during his 2.1 innings, and Duarte couldn’t be bothered to even secure three outs, getting lifted after 0.2 IP with 3 runs charged to his account. Embarrassing, you ask me.

Losers of 4 straight, in the midst of a 3-7 skid… we’ve somehow, some way, found ourselves back in the cake for the 7th consecutive season, clinching our ticket to the playoffs on a loss. Feels unlucky.

158 of 162: Stephen Estevez (13-6, 3.21) @ Marcos Villalobos (2-8, 4.07)
Win, 8-6. Oh Hong broke a 4-4 tie during the top of the 8th with a 2-run DING DONG, putting us up 2 at the time as we quested for our 1st win in 4 tries… it’d not be that easy, however, as the newly cocksure, bravado fueled Grackles would come roaring back with a run during the bottom of that frame and another in the next to knot things up and, ultimately, send this one to extras. The boys would get it done here, showing some of that no quit, Goonies never say die attitude… starting the top of the 10th off with three straight singles courtesy of Mullens, Hong, and Otto before Chance drove in tow of them on a double in our next AB. Sounds outlandish, I’m sure, but, honestly guys, that’s how we drew it up in the visitor’s clubhouse so, ya know… no biggie.

159 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-5, 3.71) @ Joe Matthiessen (12-11, 3.64)
Win, 5-1. We’d leave Austin with less than we came for but just enough to get something started as we navigate these last few games before kicking off the playoffs. Though this will be our 7th consecutive playoff bid, we will, after splitting this set, likely enter it without our customary Division Title for the first time since this run started… here, a Chance Bell 2-run KNOCK during the top of the 1st would prove to be the game winner as our staff, Nacho in particular, kept Austin off balance throughout the game, allowing the Grackles to secure just three total hits and 1 earned run. So, after dropping those first two so unceremoniously, that we came away with the split is something of a success story as we’ll be able to head back to Tinseltown with our egos intact to close out the regular season with a 3-game home set against the last place San Diego Skipjacks.

File under stranger things have happened… if Austin loses their next three and we win our next three there will be a tiebreaker for the division given that we split the regular season series at 9-9. Now that I’ve called attention to it the OOTP Gods will make sure to be a buzz kill, but I wanted the possibility noted here for posterity purposes…

Record: 88-71, .553, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll close out the regular season at home before attempting one more magical run in the post season.