Los Angeles Leopards (SVMLB)

[pauwoo]

Mexico City Jaguars (73-66, .525, 3rd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (96-44, .686, 1st NL West)
Listen, 73-66 is a good record, under normal circumstances it would be more than good enough, but with us having already run away with things in the NL West, where we own a 22.5 lead on Austin and Mexico City, these Jaguars have run out of things to play for. Sure, they’ve had a good season and should be satisfied about that, but what good is it if you don’t even make it to the dance? Here, we’ll pit our #1 rated pitching staff and pit them against Mexico City’s #1 rated offense for a glimpse at what could have been a sick Division Series had we not altered our playoff structure shortly before this season began… and, should these Jaguars have any pride at all, I’d expect to peel one or two of these tilts off us before the dust has settled on this 4-game series.

Note: Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego have all been eliminated from playoff contention.

141 of 162: Patrick Torres (14-6, 3.55) @ Dani Thorpe (8-7, 3.72)
Loss, 1-2. We’re not dead yet… These Jags, playing for their pride and not much else, waltzed into our building and managed to win a close one against us in our house on the back of Patrick Torres’ 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER performance… we had one extra base hit on the night, D-Rod stole his 25th bag of the season, and Dani Thorpe, despite putting in a sturdy 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER performance, fell to 8-8 on the season.

Note… the Austin Grackles, after losing by a score of 10-5 against Toronto, due in large part to Richard McTaggart’s 3-for-5, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R day, have officially been culled from the list of potential playoff combatants. Fare the well good sirs, fare thee well.

142 of 162: Owen Sum (6-10, 3.94) @ Marco Ortega (16-6, 3.52)
Loss, 1-4. We have an opportunity here to clinch, to eliminate any, no matter how microscopic, doubt and, for the second consecutive contest, just can’t seem to get it done. Not a lot to parse out here, really… Mexico City DH Austin Rollins did us in, finished 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, giving Jaguars starter, Owen Sum, all the cushion he’d need to secure his 7th win this year. For our part, the pitching, as is our style, was good with Ortega giving us 5.2-innings of hard-scrabble work, allowing a mere 2 earned on 5 scattered hits, but the offense, once again, couldn’t be bothered to make an appearance in this one leaving our fans who were so eager to celebrate our division clinching victory at the park tonight with little revelry to partake in before making their way back to the suburbs.

143 of 162: Hunter Cartmel (7-10, 3.69) @ Leonardo Duarte (11-4, 2.58)
Win, 4-0. Finally, we’ve done it. We’ve given the hometown faithful, who’ve dutifully showed up for our last two games in the hopes that it would happen to them, something to lose their minds over… an early(ish) September clinch of the division after losing it for the first time in 7 years just one short season ago. Here, we’d do it in style… on a well-pitched, 7.1 inning, 5-hit, nothing earned gem from our starter, who picked up his 12th win in the process, and a well-rounded offensive effort that saw four hitters chip in on the total. RBI’s for Chance, Lucas Sherman, Blasko, and Brant, 2 double plays for the defense, and 1.2 innings of filthy relief work from T-Rex would round things out nicely as the La La’s clinch a playoff berth with just over three weeks left in the regular season.

144 of 162: Max Harrington (12-7, 4.52) @ Larimel Alvarez (12-9, 3.04)
Win, 11-3. In the end, we’d have to settle for the split with Joseph Brant doing a lot of the work on a bases-clearing double and 4 total RBI with the rest of our offense falling in line behind him as 5 other hitters contributed 1 or more runs to the final tally. Rad Taylor, after giving us 2.1 innings in relief, was credited with the win, his 7th so far, and Ramiro Marte closed out the top of the 9th to enter this one into the permanent record as our 98th win of the season.


Elsewhere: CF Mason Duryea, the #1 prospect in all of baseball, currently getting in his development reps in Salt Lake’s affiliate system, showed the punditry why he continues to be rated as our games future – the young man, despite his unfortunate facial hair, went 4-for-5 with 3 DINGERS, 7 RBI, and 3 runs to lead his Arvada Panners to a 10-4 victory over the Everett Storm. With the win, Arvada has claimed a spot in the Single-A Playoffs just one day before the close of the season.

Record: 98-46, .681, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll have a day off to re-center our chi (is that how that works?) before getting back after it against the Las Vegas Outlaws in our building.

[pauwoo]

Las Vegas Outlaws (70-73, .490, 5th NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (98-46, .681)
With the 2082 campaign winding down, this will be the last time we see Aitor Cubas and his merry band of baseball brigands… and, it’s a real possibility that this is the last time we see him in an Outlaws uniform as he will be free to take his talents elsewhere at the conclusion of the season. If I were him, that would be my foremost thought, I’d be preoccupied with my exit strategy, with greener grass, unparalleled success, and riches beyond my wildest dreams just after the curve ahead. If nothing else, Aitor does have a chance to hit 50+ homers this year, a feat that, should he complete it, would make him the 3rd player in our leagues history to do so. And should he blast just 9 more, the resulting total of 53 would put him at the top of the pops for most homeruns in a single season. I almost want to pitch him underhand if only to make his likely departure that much more painful for the Outlaws faithful…

145 of 162: Steve Allen (9-2, 3.63) @ Nacho Valadez (8-1, 2.75)
Win, 3-1. Our game-winning run came in on a Vegas fielding flub, with D-Rod’s RBI representing the tie, and Joseph Brant’s RBI being the one that got us started earlier in the game… Nacho gave up a homer to the Outlaws’ Buffalo Maliwat with nothing else getting across during his 5-innings of work, Ramiro Marte sniped the win in relief, improving to a perfect 12-0 on the year, and Don Haag needed just 8 pitches to close the show (thanks in large part to a Blasko-Hutchinson-Hong DP), earning his 46th save in the process.

146 of 162: Shizuka Takeuchi (8-11, 3.97) @ Dani Thorpe (8-8, 3.71)
Win, 4-3. The first to 100 wins, by a country mile, with our closest competition for that designation, the Charlotte Imperials, a full 18 games behind that mark… Dan Blasko, with a runner on second and one out on the board, hit the game winner, a run-scoring single, and Rad Taylor, our 4th hurler to come to the mound for the day, secured the win here, his 8th as we hit triple-digits for wins in our park and against one of our fiercest rivals. In other news, Aitor hit his 45th homer and is now trending to reach 50 on the year… better pick up the pace if he truly wants to make his mark on the record books.

147 of 162: Radoslav Borovsky (7-8, 5.94) @ Marco Ortega (16-7, 3.51)
Win, 2-1. Sweep city, USA… and riding a 5-game winning streak once more in a season that’s been filled with them. Ortega would make it our third starter in a row to turn in a good performance – 6.1-innings, 3 hits, 1 earned – and fail to earn a W as RP Ewing Rivera sniped this one to improve to 2-0 on the year. Save #48 for Haag, who’s now two Saves behind Max Egner, and, because this may be the most interesting bit of all, Aitor Cubas put another one out, making it 46 so far and trending to finish with 51 of them on the year… I really want him to get the record.

Also, check out his LHP vs. RHP hitting ratings…


Record: 101-46, .687, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Miami to begin our final road trip of the regular season totaling 12 games over 14 days.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (101-46, .687, 1st NL West) @ Miami Herons (75-71, .514, 2nd NL East)
At a scant 4 games off the pace of the NL East division-leading Pittsburgh Pipers, the Miami Herons are still in this thing… of course, with the likes of us storming the gates, they could very well find themselves most of the way out it once the dust has settled on this three-game set to reveal another razed castle and trail of dead left in our wake. And, really, maybe that would be for the best… here we have a club so lucky, so fortunate & touched by the hand of God, that they have managed to ride a -76 RDiff to a record that is +11 against the PYT while Philadelphia, currently 3rd on the NL East table, boasts a +72 RDiff and are -8 against the PYT. See, they deserve, NAY, require a good pummeling, to be thoroughly pillaged, used to decorate pig-poles, and robbed of their chance to buck the odds and make it to the dance despite being born with two left feet. It is, after all, our duty to keep the riff raff from the promised land, is it not?

148 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (12-9, 3.04) @ Christopher Arnett (9-10, 3.93)
Win, 2-0. Larimel gave us 5.2 flawless innings of 3-hit, nothing earned, 7 K work, but, once again, wouldn’t come away with a W for his efforts as the offense didn’t get things going until the top of the next frame allowing Rad Taylor to scoop up his 9th win of the year. Holds for Hansen, Tajima, and T-Rex, and another save for Haag (that’s 49 if you’re counting). Also, Blasko got kicked out of the game for chest-bumping an umpire. And, we’ve received word that he’ll miss four games as a result. Whatever. Is normal.

In other news… Aitor Cubas (LV) put another one out against the Montreal Alouettes and is now trending to amass 52 homers this season (if he can just get a multi-HR game or two we could see the record fall).

149 of 162: Leonardo Duarte (12-4, 2.44) @ Hank Wilson (5-11, 4.66)
Win, 9-2. Humberto finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and a run, Chance put one out, his 3rd, Ryan Bearnson, slotting in at 2B with Blasko out on suspension, went 3-for-4 with a 2-run triple and 2 runs of his own. Leonardo gave us 5-innings of filthiness and picked up his 13th win for his efforts with Sherwin Kane, Major Hansen, and Ramiro Marte each getting some burn in relief to close this one out and make it 7 wins in a row for your La La’s…

150 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-1, 2.71) @ Hunter Vaughn (12-8, 2.98)
Loss, 3-5. Walked off by an Earnest Shambach 2-run DING DONG with T-Rex responsible for giving up the game winning runs, his first time giving up an earned run in 31 straight games, after a fine, 5-inning outing courtesy of Nacho Valadez. Humberto, Joseph Brant, and Chance Bell drove in each of our three runs on dingers, we fielded an expertly crafted Rodriguez-Bearnson-Hong double play, but were unable to earn a sweep on Miami, settling instead for another series win in a season full of them.

In other news… Aitor Cubas (LV) hit his 48th homer against the Montreal Alouettes and needs just 4 more to tie the all-time HR record in Strangeverse.

Record: 103-47, .686, 1st NL West
Up Next: An interleague set, on the road, in Charlotte against the AL East leading Imperials.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (103-47, .686, 1st NL West) @ Charlotte Imperials (84-65, .564, 1st AL East)
Outpacing the Detroit Motors by 4 games with a scant 12 games to be played still on the docket, the Charlotte Imperials have underwhelmed this season given that the official BNN prediction had them winning over 100 contests and their division by 18. Instead, they find themselves in something of a dog fight at the close of the 2082 where, should we add to their 2-straight losses in Charlotte, they could find themselves with their tentative lead all but erased. That will be a tall order for us though – Charlotte is easily the best all-around club in the AL, is ranked 2nd overall in their league for both offense and pitching, has the otherworldly Stephen Estevez perched atop their nearly impeccable rotation, and have shown themselves more than capable of winning the games that count the most – and, make no mistake, these next three may be among the most important regular season games they’ll play this year.

151 of 162: Dani Thorpe (8-8, 3.71) @ Stephen Estevez (9-9, 3.37)
Loss, 4-5. Charlotte scored all of their runs early, before the close of the 2nd frame, and then pulled all of their players back on defense the rest of the way to stifle the creativity of our attack… we’d get to Estevez during the 5th, tagging our former ace for four runs, but it’d be too little, too late as their bullpen handled our order with relative ease the rest of the way. Thorpe could only manage to ‘navigate’ his way through 1.2-innings, and, while the bullpen would allow just three total hits the rest of the way, his early exit was the story in this one. Oh Hong hit his 22nd homer, Lucas Reese drove two in on a TANK of his own, plus one more on a SAC BUNT, but, as I have already so ineloquently stated above, it was all for naught as Charlotte’s mini-skid ended at two games while we are now in the throes of a 2-game skid of our own.

152 of 162: Marco Ortega (16-7, 3.43) @ Thomas Zabila (9-4, 2.34)
Win, 6-2. Oh Hong was at it again with his 2nd TRUCK in as many games, this time a 3-run blast that all but put this one out of reach, and the pitching, as evidenced by Ortega’s 6.2-innings of 2-earned burn, was much better than what we were able to muster in the first of this three game set. Marco improves to 17-7, Chance Bell secured his 18th RBI of an injury-riddled season on a SAC FLY, and the defense was crisp, securing 3 dastardly double plays during the game… two 6-4-3’s and a 4-6-3 later during the game.

153 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (12-9, 2.94) @ Sawyer Dahlgren (5-11, 4.82)
Win, 7-6. Lee Rolon’s 2-run blast during the top of the 8th was the wind beneath our wings as we found a way to win our third series in a row after splitting four games at home against Mexico City… Alvarez suffered a similar fate as Dani Thorpe, managing to stay in this one for a scant 1.2-innings after being shelled for 5-runs, but the pen would cobble together a win for us with Tajima earning his 2nd W, Stiles earning his 17th hold, and Don Haag earning his 50th save… this was a great set for the club against a squad who we may very well see again in the World Series (should the Imperials be able to hang on to their 4-game lead over Detroit and get past Portland or whomever represents the AL West).

Elsewhere: It’s been two straight games without a homer for Aitor Cubas… he’s still trending to put 52 over the fence this year, which would tie our all-time record, but what I really want is for him to break it, to take it from 70yo Panamanian, 2-time Boyce Rigg winner, and Hall of Famer Gabriel Saravia… because he set the record way back in 2034 and it’s high time some young whipper snapper made his mark on our save.

Oh, and by the way… we’ve clinched our division, securing our ticket to the dance, and Otto Isaac has been cleared to return to the fold in Los Angeles which means that RF Lucas Sherman finds himself without a seat on the plane and will return to Compton where there is a slightly less comfortable seat awaiting him on the ramshackle bus we let our AAA club use.

Record: 105-48, .686, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll make the trek to Austin, Texas as we slowly work our way back west on this 12-game road trip.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (105-48, .686, 1st NL West) @ Austin Grackles (78-74, .513, 4th NL West)
At this point in the season, with our division on lock, and the fates of our rivals sealed, we’ll look for alternative motivations as we navigate the final stretch of the 2082 regular season campaign. For this set… maybe we’ll draw upon the final result of last season, where Austin managed to take the NL West throne from our grasp, or we’ll look to pad our lifetime record against Austin, or, maybe, and this is my favorite of the bunch, we’ll look at this as an opportunity to push Austin’s face deeper into the puddle of mud they’ve been wallowing in during the second half of the season. You don’t get to call yourself the biggest bully on the block if you’re unwilling to keep landing blows until the ref pulls you off, to kick dust into the face of your fiercest rivals, to point, laugh, and ridicule them for their misfortune… and, make no mistake about it, our aim is to be the biggest, baddest, and most foul bully on the block.

154 of 162: Leonardo Duarte (13-4, 2.42) @ Wilson Pena (11-4, 3.50)
Win, 3-0. To begin our division-winning victory lap in Austin, at the home of the team that supplanted us in the NL West one short season ago, is as satisfying as you’d expect… and, to kick things off here by shutting them out, at Dell Diamond, in front of all those who bothered to show up, well that, my friends, is priceless. Duarte picked up his 14th win, Haag his 51st save, Dalton Burch his 21st steal, and Humberto Benavidez sent his 15th dinger out of the park… we’d field a nice, yo-yo, Hutchinson-Hong double play too – I love those, my favorite.


Elsewhere: RF Nash Aguilar, former Compton mainstay who spent 5 years in our development system bouncing between time in AAA and time on the big club in Los Angeles, who’s seemingly found a home with Gulfport in the Bush League, went 6-for-6 with a double, 3 RBI, and 3 runs to lead his Growlers to a resounding, 18-1 victory over the Decatur Donnybrooks. On the year, the former 4-time World Series winner, is hitting .345/.388/.561 with 23 HR’s, 82 RBI, a 152 OPS+, and 4.0 in WAR thus far… not bad for an MLB castaway.

155 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-1, 2.75) @ Manuel Morales (8-7, 4.54)
Win, 9-6. Oh Hong finished 3-for-5 with 2 scores, Chance Bell drove two in on a DING DONG, his 5th, Joseph Brant drove 3 in on a TANK of his own, Nacho faltered a bit in allowing 6 runners to plate, but the bullpen was good for it with Marte earning his 13th win in relief, and Don Haag securing his 52nd save. 5 doubles, 3 TRUCKS, and a burgled bag for the club in this one as we continue to treat these brigands from Austin like the NL West stepchildren they are.

156 of 162: Dani Thorpe (8-9, 3.99) @ Joe Matthiessen (12-8, 4.11)
Loss, 3-6. Welp, with this being the last time we’ll see Austin until next year, that the Grackles went out by beating us is likely a low-key “win” for them as they head into an offseason filled with skill drills, self-loathing, and a fair amount of introspection. Heathcote, my guy, did us in with a 3-run TANK during the bottom of the 8th off Ewing Rivera after a solo homerun from Jamison knotted things up in the bottom of the 6th. Nothing doing for the La La’s here… not a single EBH, we’d leave 9 stranded of the course of the game, and D-Rod was caught attempting a steal for the 4th time this year. Also known as NOT putting your best foot forward…

Elsewhere: Aitor has failed to put one out for 5 straight games now and is now off the pace required to even tie the single-season long ball record – his trend now sits at 51. Bums me out – would love to see a multi-HR game from him…

Record: 107-49, .685, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll get a travel day tomorrow before getting back after it in Phoenix against those pesky Coyotes.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (107-49, .685, 1st NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (72-84, .462, 6th NL West)
Here we’ll go through the motions against a once proud franchise currently languishing at the bottom of the barrel, tossing and turning in a puddle of their own sick, with a no memory of the trouble they got themselves into the night before. Their staff is in shambles, ranked at the bottom of the National League, their offense pedestrian by even the loosest of standards… our mission, really, is to come through these next three unscathed, to get in some good reps without injury, to give these kids a noogie and a swirlie or two. It’s our world folks, the Coyotes are just living in it.

157 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (12-9, 3.18) @ Jamey Montgomery (3-5, 6.28)
Win, 3-1 (11). Mack Ramirez’s homerun during the bottom of the 7th knotted things up for the home team, but, in the end, your Leopards were able to add another win the ongoing tally as Dalton Burch hammered a 2-run TANK into the cheap seats during the top of the 11th to all but put this one to bed. Don Haag earned the late win, his 6th of those this season, Burch stole his 22nd bag, Humberto hit a SAC BUNT, and Otto Isaac, who isn’t playing much since his return as we continue to baby the fella, drew a walk in his only at bat.

158 of 162: Marco Ortega (17-7, 3.40) @ Wyatt Ricker (5-5, 3.18)
Win, 3-1. Oh Hong finished 2-for-4 with a double, 2 RBI, and a run, Chance drove one in on a double, Ortega picked up his 18th win after putting in 7-innings of hard-scrabble, 7-hit, 1-earned work, and Don Haag secured his 53rd save of the season to pull even with Montreal’s Max Egner. Our staff also managed to fan Harlem Peterson, the Coyotes’ 3rd hitter in the lineup, three times to make sure he has something to remember us by as he slowly closes out another wasted campaign in his less-than-illustrious big-league career.

159 of 162: Leonardo Duarte (14-4, 2.34) @ Rufo Luna (13-7, 3.74)
Win, 7-2. We’d earn a sweep in our final road set of the regular season, turning away a much-reviled divisional foe in the process, and, ultimately, improve the already stellar vibes that have surrounded our club for most of the 2082 campaign. Four doubles as a club, a homer courtesy of Lee Rolon, D-Rod swiped his 28th bag, Leonardo Duarte managed to earn his 15th win of the year, and Ewing Rivera picks up his first save of the season after putting in some work over the final 3.1-innings of the game. With the win, we’ll finish 13-5 H2H against Phoenix for the year...

Elsewhere: The Portland Pioneers laid claim to the AL West Division crown, despite losing their last three games in a row, with an 82-77 record so far.

Record: 110-49, .691, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll take our ridiculous record home where the San Diego Skipjacks await our arrival, no doubt looking to maim a few of us as we play out the last three regular season games prior to a date with destiny in the 2082 playoffs.

[pauwoo]

San Diego Skipjacks (82-77, .516, 3rd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (110-49, .692, 1st NL West)
We’ll close out the regular-season campaign with a 3-game snooze fest against another divisional foe we’ve found wonting this year… and, while these Skipjacks, who’ll finish at 3rd place in our division, with their middling offense and subpar pitching staff, are on something of a come up they’ll have to save that celebration for some unknown date in the future. A date when my Leopards no longer exist, or at a time when I’ve turned my attention elsewhere, living the life of a Ronin, or by taking a page out of Kwai Chang Caine’s book, roaming from club to club, delivering their fanbase from the tyranny of evil men. Just not yet – or anytime soon really – because playing the role of the evildoer, a baseball equivalent of a member of the Roy clan, splashing around my embarrassment of riches without any embarrassment at all, wearing my entitlement on my sleeve, a Blackfish swimming in a sea of Great Whites is just too satisfying…

160 of 162: Wilfredo Felix (10-8, 4.67) @ Nacho Valadez (8-1, 3.05)
Win, 4-2. Joseph Brant delivered the game-winner during the bottom of the 8th in a PH at-bat, blasting a 3-run TANK out of the park to make it 4 runs during the frame and bringing us all the way back from the brink of death… Nacho gave us 4.1-innings, still unable to buy a win since his return from the IL, T-Rex Stiles earned his 5th win in relief, and Don Haag picked up his 54th save of the year… nice win for the club, our 111th, making this the winningest season in our clubs history… which will, of course, mean nothing should we not make it all the way to the finish line with a World Series banner held tightly in our kung fu grip.

Elsewhere: Pittsburgh clinched the NL East, ending Miami’s hope of a last-ditch sprint to the division title, while the Charlotte Imperials need just one more win to do the same in the AL East. And, Aitor Cubas put his 50th out… if he can find a way to hit three more in the next two games, he’ll be our league’s all-time leader in HR’s over a single season. God speed, young man.

161 of 162: Lucas Torres (9-8, 2.63) @ Dani Thorpe (8-9, 3.97)
Win, 3-1. Hutchinson brought two in, each on singles, D-Rod drove one in on a double, Sherwin Kane sniped the win, his 3rd, and Don Haag earned his 55th save as we found a way to win for the one hundred and twelfth time this year. Meanwhile, in other news… the Charlotte Imperials still couldn’t secure the AL East crown as they dropped their game against Toronto, 0-8, while the resurgent New York Sluggers dug deep and walked off the Detroit Motors, 1-0, to stay alive if only for one more day.

162 of 162: Jan Hernandez (8-7, 4.50) @ Larimel Alvarez (12-9, 3.11)
Loss, 1-2. A double-edged sword, this one… on the one hand, you don’t want to lose your last regular-season game of the year prior to entering the playoffs, and, on the other, for the triskaidekaphobic among us, winning 113 games could be seen as unlucky. So, um, yeah – that’s what I’ll go with… we tanked this last one to stay on the good side of lady luck, so as not to tempt fate so we can achieve our rightful destiny by winning the whole thing… it is, after all, the only thing we have left to do.

Elsewhere: Charlotte clinched, on the last day of the regular season, a division many thought they’d run away with at the outset of the 2082 campaign. Final standings, etc are attached.

Record: 112-50, .691, 1st NL West
Up Next: The Playoffs!

[pauwoo]

Pittsburgh Pipers (87-75, .537) @ Los Angeles Leopards (112-50, .691)
We’ll begin our journey to the promised land against the likely outmanned, overmatched, and wholly unworthy Pittsburgh Pipers who, despite having a roster that boasts the likes of Tom Franzone, have no business mixing it up with a behemoth such as ourselves. They’ve been good, not great, throughout the regular season, getting by with our leagues 6th rated offense and its 3rd rated staff, staying under the radar most of the way, and really doing their level best to just make it here – they have no plans beyond this, no imagination that would allow them to even consider besting our squad, and, once the dust has settled, will no doubt be one of the victims left in our wake as we move forward to meet our destiny.

1 of 7: Kenly Bartoli (0-0, 0.00) @ Nacho Valadez (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 0-6. Well, crap. It’s never good to come into the playoffs cocksure, so confident that dismissing your opponent is okay, only to drop the first, in your house, without so much as a run to your name. Here the Pittsburgh Pipers, those outmanned, outclassed, and overmatched boys from Allegheny County, gave us the business for 9-innings, charged six runs to our defenses account, and held us to just two hits, IN TOTAL, fanning Oh Hong & Lee Rolon three times each while hanging 2 K’s on three more of our guys in the process. This is exactly the kind of start to the playoffs I dread… we, the captain of our own ship, have seemingly fallen asleep at the wheel, running this ferry aground without even making it a quarter of the way into our journey.

2 of 7: Adam White (0-0, 0.00) @ Marco Ortega (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 6-1. Dan Blasko drove two in on a single, Otto trucked his first homer of the post season, Marco Ortega picked up his first career playoff victory, and your Leopards got themselves back on track after being dismantled by the Pipers in the first game of this 7-game series. A good win, in a must-win situation, for the club, but Pittsburgh got what they came for in the split as we’ll now head to their turf for the next three games giving them the ever so slight chance of winning the NLCS at home in front of their fans.

Playoff Record: 1-1
Up Next: We’re headed to Pittsburgh for three… and our plan is to win each and every one of them.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (112-50, .691) @ Pittsburgh Pipers (87-75, .537)
Look, Pittsburgh did the dirt in Los Angeles, managed to crib 1 of 2 off us on our turf, and now will likely come out all chesty, ready to rock n’ roll, as they say, in an attempt stick to us a couple more times… and, that’s fine, I get it – they’re the underdog and the world is against them and no one thinks they can win and that is enough to rally almost any team together. But, and this is important, being together, on the same page, in some joy juice and rainbows land of make believe, is all well and good until the Los Angeles Leopards are occupying the visiting dugout with death on the line.

3 of 7: Larimel Alvarez (0-0, 0.00) @ Mikhail Poppen (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 5-3. The not-quite-ready-for-primetime Pittsburgh Pipers committed two costly fielding flubs that allowed 3 of our 5 total runs to come across resulting in a loss that probably should have been a win for the home team. Two doubles, a DING DONG (Chance Bell working himself into something of a groove), two stolen bases, 2 double plays, and a 20 pitch, 3 K bottom of the 9th from Haag would tell the tale as we inch ever so closer to finishing off these brigands from Pennsylvania.

Elsewhere: The Portland Pioneers have swept the Charlotte Imperials in the ALCS, winning the final game at home by a score of 8-3 and, as such, have earned the right to represent the American League in the World Series… hopefully against us.

4 of 7: Dani Thorpe (0-0, 0.00) @ Roderick Loughman (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 5-4 (15). It’d take us a bit, 15 innings to be exact, but, eventually we’d get this one sorted and end up on the good side of the result… D-Rod delivered the run-scoring single that put us over the top during the to of the 16th, Otto finished 2-for-7 with 2 RBI and a run, we swiped two bags, and Sherwin Kane, the 8th hurler we trotted out to the mound, earned the win after a 44-pitch, 2.2 inning high leverage relief appearance. Tom Franzone tried his level best to lift his team up where it belongs with a solo tank during the bottom of the eighth to knot things up but his teammates were never able to match his effort and instead find themselves staring down the possibility of losing the series and three straight games in front of their hometown faithful… there are lots of ways to go out, and that is probably my least favorite of them all.

5 of 7: Nacho Valadez (0-1, 1.93) @ Paul Yeager (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 7-0. In the end it went as I said it would – we introduced ourselves as Alexander and, after stumbling out of the gate, would lay Pittsburgh to waste as we continue our campaign to conquer the baseball world. And, despite the fact that the Pipers attempted a nearly successful, furious rally that saw them hang 4 runs around Rad Taylor’s neck, in the end we’d spend this series like we have much of our reign as a perennial contender – by conducting a lengthy militaristic campaign through the Major League’s in an attempt to spread our influence throughout the baseball world. Hutchinson led the way for us offensively – 3-for-5, a 2-run TANK, and another run of his own – with Oh Hong contributing his first homer of the series, a 2-run BLAST, as Nacho held it down for us from the mound earning his first win of the 2082 postseason after struggling to last through five innings after coming back from injury late in the regular season. All systems go, folks… when we’re done with them, the only thing that will be weird about Portland is how poorly they take their impending world series defeat.

Playoff Record: 4-1, .800
Up Next: The World Series, kicking off in Los Angeles, against the Portland Pioneers… Let’s Go!

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (83-79, .512) @ Los Angeles Leopards (112-50, .691)
Of all the clubs that made it to the playoffs this season, Portland, in winning their division with a so-so 83-79 record, has not been held in the highest regard. Average on both sides of the ball, with a middling offense ranked 7th overall in the American League and a so-so staff coming in at 6th, these Portland Pioneers may be the dictionary definition of being greater than the sum of your parts – add in the fact that they so easily dispatched the much more highly regarded Charlotte Imperials, by sweep no less, and what we have looking back at us from our visitors’ dugout is a club that has gelled at the right time, a club that is playing its best baseball at exactly the right moment to do just that. CF Wasp Hauck is off to a phenomenal start to the playoffs, hitting .368/.400/.421 with 7 RBI and 2 runs, SS Jess Alford has been a double machine with 4 already on the books to go along with his 4 total RBI, CL Ricky Halbur has made an appearance in each of Portland’s games against Charlotte, earning saves in three of them, and their starters, save Riley Valentine, have each been great so far this postseason. On paper, this thing is ours to lose, in practice, however, it’s basically anyone’s guess.

1 of 7: Josiah Kawka (1-0, 3.18) @ Marco Ortega (1-0, 1.69)
Loss, 1-3. Here we go again… Portland, like a young Sly Stallone still looking for an iconic character to play besides Rocky, would draw first blood, knocking us down onto the canvas early, and keeping us out of it the rest of the way. Not much to parse out here – Hutchinson drove in our only run on a single, we had no extra base hits, Otto swiped a bag but was ultimately left stranded, and Ortega’s solid 5-inning, 3-hit, 1 earned performance was betrayed by reliever Ewing Rivera who came undone in the 6th and 7th, allowing a solo homer in each frame to a couple of guys who only had 22 of those between them during the regular season.

2 of 7: Riley Valentine (0-0, 15.00) @ Larimel Alvarez (0-0, 9.00)
Win, 5-4 (14). When Portland’s LF Bruce Sarmiento hit a solo homer during the top of the 11th I resigned myself to the possibility that my/our worst nightmare was about to come true… going down, 0-2, in the World Series, at home, in front of our notoriously fickle fanbase. When we got some get back during the bottom of that frame as a wild pitch from RP Jaxon Dupre allowed Oliver Koloski to come around, I steeled myself up for the possibility that, despite that gift, we’d still find a way to lose this monumental game 2… and, when Ryan Bearnson, brought in as a defensive replacement for a drained D-Rod at 3rd, smashed a legendary, walk off DING DONG during the bottom of the 14th, I was finally able to let go of all that anxiety and live, gloriously, in the present. What a win, what an opportunity to use this to trigger the exact momentum shift we need to kick the Pioneers in the teeth while in PDX. Alvarez gave us 5-innings of work, allowed 8 hits and 3 runs, only one of which was earned, Sherwin Kane got the win, his second of the playoffs (with the previous victory coming during Larimel’s last start), and the aforementioned Bearnson, an instant local legend who will never pay for a beer in this town again, delivered the blast heard around the world…

Record: 1-1, .500
Up Next: We’ll head to Portland, that barren wasteland of unbridled socio-economic weirdness, where we’ll attempt to repeat what we did in Pittsburgh and get this thing over with… fortune favors the impatient.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (112-50, .691) @ Portland Pioneers (83-79, .512)
While not far from home, and certainly no weirder than L.A. proper, Portland, in its decidedly unkempt appearance, hipster trappings, and far out idealism can be a lot to take in. It’s everything, yet very specific, diverse in thought yet close minded and vague, and, generally speaking, homogenized culturally… home of those funky Trailblazers and even funkier Pioneers, their rabid fan bases, and filled enough civic pride (depending on who you talk to) to make Pendleton Park a tough place to play. Their crowd is rowdy, in your face, virulent, and loud – though not as profane as a crowd in, say, Philadelphia. Our goal here is a 3-game sweep, a tall order to be sure, and, despite the fact that, on paper anyway, we’re the better club, these guys are hot, should realistically be up 2-0, and have every right to come into this set confident, cocksure, and ready to do damage.

3 of 7: Nacho Valadez (1-1, 0.93) @ Josh Allen (0-0, 1.80)
Win, 2-1. Less rock ‘em, sock ‘em robots and more hurry up & wait, this one was likely a real snooze fest for all those in attendance with the only action of real consequence came in the form of a well-timed Lee Rolon hit run-scoring double during the top of the 2nd that put us up for good… from there, our staffs would trade zeroes the rest of the way with Ewing Rivera earning the win in relief, Duarte & Rad each getting credit for a hold, and Don Haag earning his 2nd save of the postseason on a scant 10 pitches. Not much else to parse out here… Otto drove in our other run on a double in the first, Burch & Benavidez scored the runs, and we left just 4 batsmen stranded as the chances to score in this one were few & far between… look, it might not have been an exciting, take the momentum of this series by the, err, horns kind of game but it’s a win and we need those.

4 of 7: Dani Thorpe (0-0, 5.40) @ Evan Church (0-0, 1.93)
Win, 6-5 (10). We’d see the lead change hands 4 times with Hernando’s run-scoring double during the top of the 10th being the most consequential of them all as he brings us to within one game of winning our 4th championship in franchise history. OH HONG had himself a day, finishing 2-for-5 at the plate with 2 HR’s and 4 total RBI, Dani Thorpe gave a good account of himself over 4.2-innings of work, T-Rex earned his second hold of these playoffs, and Don Haag, looking beatable in this one, earned the win after 2-innings of work that saw him allow 4 total hits with one of those being a Pascal Contreras dinger that knotted things up for PDX during the bottom of the 9th.

5 of 7: Marco Ortega (1-0, 1.74) @ Josiah Kawka (2-0, 2.13)
Win, 8-7. Once again, by the skin of our teeth, we’ve been crowned the WORLD SERIES CHAMP after putting it down something fierce over the course of the season and taking care of business during the playoffs… here, Dalton Burch, who took home the series MVP honors, finished 2-for-4 with 2 runs, Chance Bell drove one in on a double, Otto did the same, and OH HONG, the people’s MVP, went 1-for-4 with a run and another batted in finishing the playoffs with 3 TANKS and 11 RBI in total. Ortega earned the win, his second of the postseason, despite allowing two home runs and 5 total runs, with Ewing & Rad earning credit for holding the line, and Don Haag, same as it ever was, closed the show with his 3rd save of the post season to unleash an on-field celebration the likes of which we’ve not seen since 2080. All hail you LOS ANGLES LEOPARDS…. Kings of the world.

Up Next: Lots of changes to the file, some offseason silliness, and then one more trip around the sun?

[ayaghmour2]

Congrats on the title! Wouldn't have expected three one run wins given the record difference, but wins are wins!

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by ayaghmour2

Congrats on the title! Wouldn't have expected three one run wins given the record difference, but wins are wins!

Thanks!

[pauwoo]

Offseason Awards

• Demetri Rodriguez (2x) took home a Gold Glove at 3B… former Leopard, Tyler Hill (2x), received the honor for his work with Mexico City during the 2082 season, C Dom Cooke (5x) and 1B Satoru Ono (4x) also secured the achievement.
• CL Don Haag won the 2082 first Kingston Cashmore award… this is his 9th such honor.
• Otto Isaac took home his 6th career Silver Slugger award and was our only player on the list.
• Our Skipper, Michael Scott, took home Manager of the Year award after breaking our single season record for wins at 112 and leading us to our 4th World Series win in 9 seasons.
• Thomas Zabila, of the Charlotte Imperials, took home the Victor Pacheco award in the American League… this marks his 1st such honor. SP Patrick Torres, of the Mexico City Jaguars, won it in our league… it’s the 1st for the 21yo Florida native.
• RF Aitor Cubas, over our own Otto Isacc, took home the NL’s Boyce Rigg award… he hit .276/.380/.596 with 50 TANKS and 144 RBI… it’s his 4th career Boyce. Fair play to him… Otto finished 2nd in voting, Oh Hong finished 9th, Dalton Burch 12th. Toronto’s 3B Rueben Johnson took the Boyce home in the American League for the 1st time in his 6 seasons as a Major Leaguer.

Summary of Offseason Roster Moves:

• LF Hernando Benavidez (73/73) received a whopping, 1-year $20.9mm contract through arbitration. Ouch.
• Signed 33yo LF Tyler Hill (49/49) to a 2yr, $26mm contract.
• The oft-injured, RF Ethan Mullens (71/71) exercised his contract year option and will be paid a staggering $40mm next season.

Free Agency:
Departures:

• CL Don Haag became a free agent, ultimately signing a 2yr, $32.8mm contract with the Seattle Metros. At least he’ll ply his trade in the American League.
• SP Marco Ortega denied our qualifying offer, became a free agent, and signed with the Charlotte Imperials in the American League. They’ll pay him $19.8mm per year over the next three seasons. Our fans are bummed he didn’t stick around. I’m indifferent.

Summary of Notable FA Signings:

• SP Jack Sanchez-Flores (31yo, 67/67) signed a 2yr, $52mm contract with the Montreal Alouettes
• RF Aitor Cubas (31yo, 80/80) signed a 3yr, $81mm contract with the Pittsburgh Pipers
• SP Peter Garcia (35yo, 62/62) signed a 2yr, $43.6mm deal with the Philadelphia Founders
• CF Norris Flaherty (31yo, 59/59) signed a 3yr, $73.2mm deal with the Mexico City Jaguars
• 1B Palmer Parker (31yo, 58/58) signed a 3yr, $64.4mm contract with the Seattle Metros
• 3B Jason Spears (34yo, 71/71) signed a 2yr, $51.6mm contract with the Vancouver Mounties
• SP Arturo Rodriguez (30yo, 65/65) signed a 3yr, $80.9mm contract with Vancouver
• C Rex Englestad (33yo, 68/68) signed a 3yr, $73.8mm deal with Montreal
• SP Adam Gunter (31yo, 64/64) signed a 3yr, $88.6mm deal with Vancouver
• 1B Austin Rollins (37yo, 58/58) signed a 1yr, $17.8mm contract with the New York Sluggers
• LF Tony Voorhis (35yo, 56/56) signed a 1yr, $7.9mm contract with Toronto
• SP Linden Brittingham (32yo, 58/58) signed a 3yr, $61.2mm deal to play in San Diego
• CF Jason Bland (31yo, 55/55) signed a 3yr, $73.2mm contract with Pittsburgh
• 2B Telma Tavares (33yo, 60/60) signed a 3yr, $57mm deal with Salt Lake
• 1B Paulo Legna (34yo, 57/57) signed a 2yr, $21mm contract with Salt Lake
• SS Nehemiah Jenkins (38yo, 58/58) signed a 2yr, $38.8mm deal to play in Montreal
• SP Josiah Kawka (35yo, 61/61) signed a 2yr, $35.2mm deal with Dallas
• 1B Satoru Ono (31yo, 51/51) signed a 1yr, 8.5mm deal with Portland
• SP Michael Brisk (35yo, 47/47) signed a 1yr, $2.7mm contract with Pittsburgh

Some Changes to the Save:

• I had big plans yet didn’t have the wherewithal to follow through with them… maybe next season.

So… we lost a couple of guys, didn’t feel the need to make any material changes to our core, and, really, felt like we are in a position to maintain our divisional dominance and even compete for another World Series title with out much tinkering… so, we’ll roll them bones and let the chips fall where they may… or, umm, something like that.

Here’s a look at our lineup & rotation… and the preseason predictions for our league…

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (0-0, .000, t-1st NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (0-0, .00, t-1st NL West)
We’ll begin the 2083 campaign in the desert where the hometown Phoenix Coyotes will kick off what is bound to be another ho-hum, uninspired, and altogether disappointing campaign just one short season after finishing dead last in our division. They spent the offseason doing nothing to refill the coffers, offering little to no hope for even their most strident and hardcore fans… theirs, as ever, is a ship listing portside, sinking into a mirage-made lake of hot air and molten sand, forever known as the USS Disappointment to the Phoenix faithful. Sure, they boast a rotation helmed by SP Riley Valentine, a 31yo fireballer who topped out at 4.7 WAR in 2081 before beginning what many peg as a slow decent into obscurity with a 10-6, 3.49, 3.3 WAR campaign last season, and a lineup anchored by RF Harlem Peterson, our leagues 2081 Boyce Rigg winner, that is capable of inflicting damage if given the opportunity. But, ours, as you well know, is not the type of club to dole out opportunities… we step on throats, we kick teams when they’re down, we’re a 112-win juggernaut fresh off claiming the throne in 2082 with designs on doing it all over again in 2083. Over the river and through the woods, to immortality we go…

1 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (0-0, 0.00) @ Riley Valentine (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 7-1. RF Dalton Burch led off the 2083 campaign with a solo homer, Ethan Mullens brought Oh Hong and Otto in 3 batters later, and, just like that, your Los Angeles Leopards are off to the races, moving at Mach speed towards the promised land, with nary a care in the world. A 4-for-5 day for Oh Hong, looking to bounce back from last seasons regression offensively, a well-fielded, Blasko-Hutchinson-Hong double play, and a rock-solid, 5.1-inning, 5-hit, 1 earned performance from Larimel to get us off on the good foot, opening the 2083 campaign with a win so glorious that the Phoenix Tabernacle Choir came out to sing our praises and to testify the gospel according to L.A. in song. Pa rum pum pum pum folks… it's Christmas in March.


Elsewhere: RF Aitor Cubas, the 2082 Boyce Rigg winner and recent addition to Pittsburgh’s roster, put one out for his new club, finishing 2-for-4 with a HR and 4 RBI on the day, to lift his new club to a satisfying 10-6 victory on the road in South Beach… downing the Herons, on their turf, to spoil the opening day festivities for the Miami faithful. If I’m honest, and why wouldn’t I be, I’m just not feeling this whole ‘Aitor in a Pipers kit…’ thing. It’s kinda gross.

2 of 162: Ryan McGuire (0-0, 0.00) @ Rufo Luna (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 4-11. Former Leopard, Ian Hanan, not content to just lie down & die, put some bad ones on us with his huge 3-run dinger during the bottom of the 1st all but doing us in before things even had a chance to get going… Harlem Peterson finished 4-for-4 with 4 runs and 2 RBI, Rufo gave his club 6-innings of hard-scrabble work in the win, and the Coyote defense looked all but impenetrable with a double play and OF Assist killing rally attempts during the top of the 7th and 9th, respectively. McGuire took the loss, giving up 7 total runs in just 1.2 innings of work, and is no doubt looking forward to his next opportunity on the mound where he’ll look to lower his 37.80 ERA.

Injury Note: We lost RP Ramiro Marte for the season during that last game… 11-12 months with a torn labrum (shoulder). RP Brody John, who’s nowhere near as good at pitching as Ramiro, was brought up from Compton in his stead with Orlando Arce, currently on a rehab assignment, on deck.

3 of 162: Rad Taylor (0-0, 0.00) @ Jamey Montgomery (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 11-5. Otto finished 4-for-4 with a 3-run blast and a 2-run MOONSHOT, Oh Hong went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 4 runs, and Brody John picked up the win in relief after Rad got shelled for 5 over the first two innings of play. A nice, come from behind win to salvage our opening set of the season. We’ll take it.

Record: 2-1, .666, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll move ahead in time to April 23rd, where the team will be making the trek to Miami for a 3-game set against the highly regarded Miami Herons.

[pauwoo]

Since dispatching the Coyotes, in their house, to kick off the 2023 campaign it’s been smooth sailing for your Los Angeles Leopards… off to a smashing 16-5 record, matched only by those upstart Shamrocks from Boston, winners in 8 of our last 10 contests, and owners of the best RDiff in the league so far at +41… ours is a club on a mission from God. Otto has come off the line with the quickness, amassing 9 homeruns and 21 RBI to lead the majors in both categories, our defense has been stout, allowing just 68 runs through 21 games with a defensive efficiency of .734, and our bullpen has been locking the opposition down, flexing a 2.25 ERA. Things have progressed magnificently, are going swimmingly, as they say, and, really, I see no reason why our club won’t continue to run roughshod over all comers on our way to the promised land.

Los Angeles Leopards (16-5, .761, 1st NL West) @ Miami Herons (14-7, .667, 1st NL East)
Like us, the Miami Herons have been on that good stuff, top shelf bourbon, a little sugar, a splash or two of your finest bitters, again with a splash of water, and an orange peel… playing like an unbeatable classic in a world filled with fufu drinks. They’re led by a cracking offense, currently good for a league-best 5.3 R/G, with an above-average collection of arms in the rotation to keep the would-be contenders honest. What we have here is a well-built club on a budget, expert level coupon clippers who stretch dimes into quarters and dollar bills into 5-spots. They’re formidable, backed by a raucous crowd at their home park, and more than capable of giving us fits should we not come correct.

22 of 162: Dani Thorpe (1-1, 2.40) @ Christopher Arnett (2-0, 3.18)
Loss, 2-4. Miami’s Arnett handled our lineup with relative ease over 7 flawless innings where he’d allow just 4 total hits with nothing earned before handing it off to his bullpen, and, while we were able to hang a couple on RP Cullen Craig during the top of the 9th, it’d be nothing doing as the Herons held on to their lead after banking 4 runs before the 6th inning. Oh Hong, Otto, and Ethan could manage just one hit between them, C Julian Nagy committed his 2nd fielding flub of the season, and Dani Thorpe dropped to 1-2 on the season after seeing 4 runs come across on his watch, with two of those marked as earned.

23 of 162: Ryan McGuire (2-2, 4.95) @ Cathal Magill (1-1, 6.16)
Loss, 4-6. Otto put it down something fierce in this one for us… 4-for-5, a solo homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs… but it was all for naught as we couldn’t match Miami’s pace and stumbled in South Beach for the second contest in a row. Here it’d be the bottom of their order that did us in with batters 6-9 doing all of the damage as Ryan McGuire dropped to 2-3 on the year and saw his ERA inflated to 5.84 after letting 5 bad ones get across… 5 free passes from our starter today. FIVE.

24 of 162: Rad Taylor (2-0, 9.17) @ Jeremiah Fletchall (0-0, 1.42)
Win, 3-2. We’d get the win here, barely, after fielding a Hutchinson-Blasko-Hong double play to seal the deal, eking this one out on a run-scoring single courtesy of Carson Hutchinson during the top of the 6th and then running in place from there… we’ll take it, obviously, and know that we’re not immune to dropping the occasional set, especially on the road. But, I do have to wonder if our form out the gate was just an aberration, a deviation from what will become our norm, our future lot in life. Are we just another club that is trying to get away with pairing a rip-roaring offense and a pitching staff, backed by a competent, yet uninspired defense? Should I have dug in a bit more during the offseason? Given the roster more than a cursory glance, resisted the urge to rest on our laurels? Who knows… this is just one set, but, even still, it sort of feels like a sign of what is yet to come.

Record: 17-7, .708, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll meet up with the club again on our trip to DFW where we’ll take on the Dallas Chaparrals… a team that, as of today, is leading the AL West at 14-10.

[pauwoo]

We’re 32-16 now, flexing a low-key satanic .666 winning percentage, and looking to close out the month of May on a high note… hoping to play some flawless baseball on this Texas swing with sweeps in Dallas and Austin before turning the page to June. It would turn out that the only real aberration here was my overly-lofty expectations and inability to not get too low with the lows as they say… Otto still leads the league in DING DONGS at 22, that’s 6 more than the next guy, our +43 RDiff is still tops, and we’ve seen a marked improvement from our staff who now finds themselves ranked first in the National League. It really is all systems go for the team… we’re the best club in baseball, living out our schoolboy fantasies, and looking every bit the favorite to win it all once more. Of course, there’s plenty of baseball left to be played, to be sure, but, once the dust has settled, if we’re not the last club standing, I’ll be shouting ‘goocher’ from the mountain tops and demand that we keep flipping until the coin comes up heads.

Los Angeles Leopards (32-16, .666, 1st NL West) @ Dallas Chaparrals (27-21, .562, 1st AL West)
The Chaps have been as advertised so far – a premier club in the American League with a great shot at representing their division in the playoffs this season. Of course, the Seattle Metros and Denver Miners, at just a game back each, are not quite ready to anoint Dallas as their once and future king, so this set, against the likes of us, will be an important one for the Chaps should they want to separate themselves from their divisional rivals. For our part we are 4-3 in sets played so far this month with wins against Toronto, San Diego, Phoenix, and Sin City (by sweep) and losses versus Austin, Mexico City, and Denver. Here we’ll be looking to close out the month strong and nothing but a couple of series wins will suffice.

49 of 162: Rad Taylor (6-1, 5.52) @ Josiah Kawka (1-5, 7.42)
Loss, 5-7. SS Nate Ferreri, Dallas’ light-hitting fielding dynamo, took all of our hopes and dreams into his hands and crushed them with a beautifully hit GRAND SLAM off starter Rad Taylor during the bottom of the 7th to all but throw the last shovels worth of dirt onto our grave in game one. And, we’d do some damage ourselves, with a 4-run top of the 1st, but the Chaps were equal to it, clawing their way back into it during the bottom of the 6th before putting us down like a hobbled race horse during the very next frame. We squandered a 3-run blast from Humberto Benavidez and three double plays as the boys had a little bit of what it would take but just couldn’t keep it flowing to earn a victory.

Note: The Final Four of our NCAA feeder league is all set… UNC will take on the Stetson Hatters while the Virginia Cavaliers do battle against Fordham to determine which two clubs will occupy the dugouts during the NCAA Finals.

50 of 162: Orlando Arce (3-0, 1.94) @ Elroy Seaborn (6-2, 3.23)
Win, 18-10. An all action fight, contested in a phone booth, nothing but check hooks and uppercuts, with somebody, in this case those miscreants wearing the Chaparrals kit, going out on their shield… Otto, 3-for-4, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, and 5 runs, did a lot of the damage with significant contributions coming from Chance Bell (5 RBI), C Mason Click (4-for-6, 2 RBI), and Ethan (run-scoring double, solo TANK), as the our club laid waste to the Chaps in a fitting bit of get back after they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat just one short night ago… we’ll contest the rubber match tomorrow and do our level best to eke out a decision like Gatti on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

Note: Stetson will face the Virginia Cavaliers in this years NCAA final.

51 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (4-3, 3.88) @ Walt Allen (6-2, 3.76)
Loss, 0-5. In the end, once the dust had settled and the cards were added up, we’d fall well short of winning this set, the first of two in Texas, instead giving the Chaps an opportunity to show their division rivals that they too, with a series win over the likes of us, are elite. Larimel was saddled with the loss, his 4th on the year to drop his record so far to 4-4 on the year, we’d hit just two extra base hits (a double for Otto and one for Mason), and leave 10 runners stranded on our way out the door.

Note: Stetson won the NCAA Championship… it’s their 1st championship in the schools short, 3-year history.

Some team stats and a view of our clubhouse are attached…

Record: 33-18, .647, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll catch up with the team in Montreal on June 22nd…

[pauwoo]

At 49-23, sitting at the top of the pops in our division, and with a 12-game lead over the Austin Grackles, it’s hard not to feel like we’ve got this thing all sewn up. Add in the fact that we’ve opened up a 6-game lead over the Charlotte Imperials to lay claim to the ‘best team in baseball’ tag, and I think it is safe to say that we are off to yet another dominant regular season in what feels like a life filled with them… honestly, it’s almost unfair. Otto leads the league in TANKS at 31 so far, which, if you’re counting, puts his trend at a record destroying 70 in 2083, T-Rex Stiles, our underequipped and uninspired Don Haag replacement in the CL spot is flexing a 3.82 ERA with 23 saves, and, as a squad, we rank 1st in Pitching and 2nd in Batting. We are, as they say, a battering ram bashing our way through the competition and looking to enjoy the spoils on the other side… of note, we’re currently without Dan Blasko for ~3 weeks (he suffered a strained groin on the 2nd) and C Mason Click for 4 weeks (fractured wrist).

Los Angeles Leopards (49-23, .680, 1st NL West) @ Montreal Alouettes (32-40, .444, 6th NL East)
When I identified this series as my next check-in, the expectation was that we’d be doing battle with a team in the hunt, battling it out with their division foes, in the thick of it… instead, we arrive in town to face a team that’s morose and silent, whose disappointment with the lot in life they’ve carved out for themselves so far runs so deep that several of their team members may try to defect to our club, sneaking in the visitors’ locker room, hoping that no one will notice. They were pegged as a likely top two club in their division with a legit shot at earning a ticket to the dance come playoff time… instead their offense is in shambles, ranked dead last in the National League, and their pitching, ranked a ho-hum 6th overall, isn’t much better. If they can’t turn this thing around, starting with this set against us, and head into the mid-July all-star break on something of a streak, suffice it to say that they’ll have played themselves out of it before our season has really started to get interesting.

73 of 162: Ryan McGuire (5-6, 4.44) @ Gray Switzer (3-2, 4.87)
Win, 2-0. Instead of an all-action slobber knocker, we’d settle in for a pitchers’ duel with McGuire giving us 6.2-innings of filthiness followed by some phenomenal work out of the pen with Adrian Parker turning in 1.1 hitless innings and T-Rex Stiles buttoning up his 24th save this year on 11 total pitches during the bottom of the 9th. Oliver Koloski reached on an error during the top of the 9th when Montreal 3B Ron Henry dropped a flyball, prompting Ethan Mullens to show off his wheels by coming around to score on the play.

74 of 162: Nacho Valadez (8-0, 2.28) @ Dwight Beasley (1-7, 6.27)
Win, 6-4. C Rex Englestad knotted things up during the bottom of the 8th with a solo shot off RP Ewing Rivera, but it’d not be enough to hold back the likes of us as Chance Bell went buck during the top of the 9th, bashing a 2-run TANK to put us up 6-4 which is where we’d leave it after T-Rex Stiles, settling in to his closer role quite nicely, closed the book on this one on 7 total pitches. Nacho, off to a phenomenal start this season, didn’t get the win here after going just 4.1-innings where he’d allow 5 hits and a run while fanning 3 hitters, OH HONG went 3-for-5 with a solo homer, his 12th, Otto put one out, his 32nd, and Humberto brought two in on a 2-run, 6th inning DING DONG of his own. It’s all systems go for the La La’s…


A couple of things… SP Nacho Valadez is off to a crazy start at 36yo – he’s still an unbeaten 8-0 with a 2.26 ERA, 166 ERA+. Honestly, I signed what I thought was a bad contract on this guy simply because he seemed to have a little left and I wanted him on my team for the lulz, yet here we are… what he’s delivering on a $14.6mm contract with a team option next season has given me something to think on, that’s for sure. And, OH HONG, the Sultan of Swag, has (gasp) shaved his iconic mustache in favor of a goatee. For shame.

75 of 162: Larimel Alvarez (6-5, 3.87) @ Vincent Urquhart (3-4, 2.89)
Loss, 3-6. After sweeping our last two opponents, and handling the Alouettes with relative ease over our first two games, we’d have to settle for a series win here as Montreal, in a bid to salvage some pride, gave us the business here, hanging three on Larimel and 3 more on Major Hansen to amass enough runs to hold us off. Not much of note to really point out for the Leopards, Ethan hit an inconsequential double, as did Hutchinson, D-Rod got caught with his hand in the honeypot, and Otto went 0-for-4… so, now, all that’s left for us to do is slink off into the night, board our chartered plane to Portland, and get back after it tomorrow.

Attached: A look at the standings and league leaders.

Record: 51-24, .680, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll catch up with the team, in Los Angeles, as the American League Detroit Motors meet us on our turf for some interleague silliness on July 23rd.

[pauwoo]

So, I had a computer fiasco… Windows updated overnight, shut all my apps down, including OOTP, and, because I didn’t save it, the save was reset to June 5th… meaning, I had to redo the draft, play through games I had already played, yadda, yadda, yadda… On the bright side, in this variant, Oh Hong still seems to have his mustache, but, on the not-so-bright side we lost the set I detailed in the post above. No bother! Onward…

We catch up with the team in July, after the All-Star festivities, and find the boys sitting on a 61-35 record, good enough to sit at the top of the pops looking every bit a world beater biding its time before the assault. 8-8 so far in July though… that’s not awesome…

TEAM INFORMATION              	
Record overall                	61-35, .635 PCT               
Position in Division          	1st, - GB                     
Record at home                	36-15, .705 PCT               
Record on the road            	25-20, .555 PCT               
Record in X-inning games      	3-2, .600 PCT                 
Record in one-run games       	14-8, .636 PCT                
Record versus LHP             	14-6, .700 PCT                
Record versus RHP             	47-29, .618 PCT               
Record last 10 games          	7-3, .700 PCT                 
Record in March               	1-1, .500 PCT                 
Record in April               	19-7, .730 PCT                
Record in May                 	14-12, .538 PCT               
Record in June                	19-7, .730 PCT                
Record in July                	8-8, .500 PCT                 
	
BATTING STATS & RANKINGS      	
Batting Average               	.257 - 2nd in NL              
On-Base Percentage            	.330 - 4th in NL              
Slugging Percentage           	.401 - 2nd in NL              
On-Base + Slugging            	.731 - 2nd in NL              
Runs Scored                   	444 - 3rd in NL               
Hits                          	832 - 6th in NL               
Extra-Base Hits               	253 - 4th in NL               
Home Runs                     	102 - 1st in NL               
Bases On Balls                	329 - 5th in NL               
Strikeouts                    	689 - 1st in NL               
Stolen Bases                  	81 - 2nd in NL                
	
PITCHING STATS & RANKINGS     	
Earned Run Average            	3.46 - 1st in NL              
Starters' ERA                 	3.84 - 2nd in NL              
Bullpen ERA                   	2.91 - 3rd in NL              
Runs allowed                  	355 - 1st in NL               
Hits allowed                  	724 - 1st in NL               
Opponents AVG                 	.229 - 1st in NL              
BABIP                         	.276 - 2nd in NL              
Home Runs allowed             	79 - tied for 5th in NL       
Bases On Balls                	316 - 6th in NL               
Strikeouts                    	773 - 5th in NL

And a look at our hitting & pitching registers… Otto has been otherworldly.

Hitters

Name                     	G    	AB   	R    	H    	2B   	3B   	HR   	RBI  	TB   	BB   	K    	SB   	CS   	AVG  	OBP  	SLG  	OPS  	WAR  
Otto Isaac CF            	95   	357  	55   	102  	15   	1    	32   	80   	215  	39   	97   	12   	3    	0.286	0.356	0.602	0.959	4.8  
Ethan Mullens RF         	94   	338  	57   	90   	12   	0    	14   	51   	144  	61   	72   	18   	5    	0.266	0.384	0.426	0.81 	4.3  
Hernando Benavidez LF    	95   	327  	48   	80   	11   	1    	10   	37   	123  	51   	79   	14   	5    	0.245	0.359	0.376	0.735	3.3  
Dalton Burch RF          	85   	294  	49   	88   	14   	2    	10   	36   	136  	38   	39   	14   	9    	0.299	0.382	0.463	0.845	2.3  
Oh Hong 1B               	96   	381  	67   	109  	11   	0    	14   	51   	162  	45   	75   	2    	0    	0.286	0.36 	0.425	0.786	1.9  
Demetri Rodríguez 3B     	95   	320  	36   	72   	22   	0    	0    	21   	94   	21   	75   	15   	3    	0.225	0.291	0.294	0.584	1.7  
Mason Click C            	29   	99   	13   	37   	9    	0    	0    	15   	46   	16   	20   	0    	0    	0.374	0.458	0.465	0.922	1.4  
Oliver Koloski 2B        	37   	49   	10   	13   	5    	0    	3    	9    	27   	4    	11   	0    	0    	0.265	0.339	0.551	0.89 	0.6  
Ryan Bearnson 2B         	47   	133  	16   	31   	3    	0    	3    	12   	43   	7    	31   	4    	0    	0.233	0.277	0.323	0.6  	0.6  
Julian Nagy C            	60   	209  	19   	44   	6    	2    	6    	25   	72   	11   	36   	0    	0    	0.211	0.244	0.344	0.589	0.5  
Carson Hutchinson SS     	94   	350  	32   	94   	23   	1    	2    	37   	125  	16   	50   	0    	0    	0.269	0.307	0.357	0.664	0.4  
Dan Blasko 3B            	55   	182  	22   	38   	5    	1    	3    	21   	54   	11   	42   	0    	0    	0.209	0.253	0.297	0.549	0.3  
Sandro Brincat 3B        	13   	28   	2    	5    	1    	0    	0    	2    	6    	2    	8    	0    	0    	0.179	0.226	0.214	0.44 	-0.1 
Chance Bell LF           	55   	123  	14   	25   	4    	0    	5    	20   	44   	4    	34   	2    	1    	0.203	0.221	0.358	0.579	-0.3 
Manolito Herrera C       	19   	45   	4    	4    	2    	0    	0    	3    	6    	3    	20   	0    	0    	0.089	0.146	0.133	0.279	-0.6

Pitchers

Name                     	W    	L    	SV   	ERA  	G    	GS   	IP   	HA   	R    	ER   	HR   	BB   	K    	WHIP 	OAVG 	BABIP	WAR  
Larimel Álvarez SP       	9    	5    	0    	3.1  	20   	20   	110.1	88   	43   	38   	7    	37   	88   	1.13 	0.217	0.258	2    
Rad Taylor SP            	7    	5    	0    	4.62 	18   	18   	99.1 	103  	54   	51   	8    	38   	78   	1.42 	0.272	0.319	1.1  
Orlando Arce SP          	8    	2    	0    	3.15 	17   	17   	85.2 	84   	36   	30   	8    	25   	64   	1.27 	0.255	0.293	1    
Adrian Parker RP         	6    	2    	1    	3.25 	39   	0    	52.2 	48   	19   	19   	4    	16   	58   	1.22 	0.251	0.336	0.9  
Leonardo Duarte RP       	3    	1    	1    	2.62 	42   	0    	82.1 	56   	25   	24   	3    	34   	74   	1.09 	0.192	0.245	0.9  
T-Rex Stiles CL          	2    	2    	30   	1.8  	42   	0    	45   	18   	10   	9    	5    	12   	57   	0.67 	0.123	0.155	0.9  
Dani Thorpe SP           	3    	2    	0    	3.17 	11   	11   	54   	42   	23   	19   	3    	21   	37   	1.17 	0.212	0.242	0.7  
Brody John RP            	1    	0    	1    	1.5  	26   	0    	54   	45   	11   	9    	2    	12   	39   	1.06 	0.225	0.269	0.7  
Ryan McGuire SP          	10   	8    	0    	4.47 	20   	20   	106.2	81   	54   	53   	14   	56   	125  	1.28 	0.21 	0.268	0.6  
Nacho Valadez SP         	7    	3    	0    	3.42 	26   	10   	76.1 	66   	29   	29   	8    	30   	66   	1.26 	0.23 	0.271	0.3  
Major Hansen RP          	1    	0    	0    	3.68 	20   	0    	7.1  	8    	3    	3    	1    	1    	8    	1.23 	0.276	0.35 	0.1  
Ramiro Marte RP          	0    	0    	0    	6.75 	1    	0    	1.1  	2    	1    	1    	0    	1    	0    	2.25 	0.333	0.333	0    
Sherwin Kane RP          	3    	0    	0    	4.78 	30   	0    	49   	48   	28   	26   	6    	22   	40   	1.43 	0.259	0.3  	-0.4 
Ewing Rivera RP          	1    	5    	2    	5.08 	32   	0    	33.2 	35   	19   	19   	10   	11   	39   	1.37 	0.273	0.312	-0.9

Detroit Motors (45-51, .469, 5th AL East) a@ Los Angeles Leopards (61-35, .635, 1st NL West)
I’m not exactly sure why I picked this set check in with the team… Detroit has already given up the ghost, they’re at deaths door, a moribund club looking to be reincarnated next season. Their offense ranks 10th in the American League, with 2B Tony Zepeda masquerading as the lone “power bat” in their lineup with 8 dingers so far, and their staff, ranked a respectable 5th, just isn’t good enough to make up for their offensive shortcomings thus far. Truth be told, I should cut bait and check back in 4 days from now, when the club will be battling the AL East’s best, in Charlotte, over a 3-game, mid-week set. But, I won’t… because decisions have been made, declarations declared, and, we’re already here so… why not?

97 of 162: Dontrell Wilburn (7-9, 3.56) @ Larimel Alvarez (9-5, 3.10)
Win, 2-1. Detroit played us tough, as a lunchpail, pastrami on rye type of club is wont to do, but wouldn’t have enough to get over on your La La’s in the first of three games at Los Angeles Municipal Stadium. Ethan’s run-scoring single during the top of the 4th put us up for good, scoring Dalton Burch from 2nd, the defense was stellar with two double plays, and Larimel held Detroit scoreless over 5-innings of 4-hit, 3-K work. He’ll pick up his 10th win in the effort while Anderson Parker secured his 12th hold, and T-Rex Stiles racked up save #31.

98 of 162: Matt Martin (7-4, 3.70) @ Orlando Arce (8-2, 3.15)
Loss, 2-3. CF Erhard Maze bashed a 2-run DING DONG during the top of the 5th that would prove to be our undoing as our mini, 1-run, rally during the bottom of the 8th wasn’t enough for us to match the Motors’ pace in this one as they managed to even the series and earn a chance at a rare road series win tomorrow. Oh Hong put his 15th ball out of the park, we swiped two bags (Ethan and Hutchinson), and fielded two more double plays in this one, but the 3 runs that Orlando Arce gave up were too many for our club to overcome…

99 of 162: A.J. Quimby (4-3, 2.40) @ Nacho Valadez (7-3, 3.42)
Win, 3-1. We’d hang on to win this 3rd of 3 games, and with it the series, despite a shaky first batter for T-Rex during the top of the 9th (he gave up a dinger on his first pitch). Doubles for Hutchinson and Hong, DING DONGS for backup backstop Manolito Herrera and Chance Bell, and 6-innings of filthiness from Nacho would spell Detroit’s doom as our club reasserted itself after stumbling against these also-rans yesterday.

Record: 63-36, .636, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll FF until August 20th when our closest competition in the NL West, the Austin Grackles, are in town for a 3-game set.

[pauwoo]

After defeating Detroit in our park, we’d lose four in a row, including getting swept by the Imperials in Charlotte… not our best look, to be sure. And, really, just a terrible way to end July as we stumbled for the first time this season, finishing the month with an 11-13 record. Gross. We’re off to a 10-6 record so far in August, nothing to sneeze at, sure, but a far cry from the pace we’ve grown accustomed too. Still, we’re in the Baseball God’s good graces, are enjoying a 9-game lead over the Austin Grackles in our division, and are outpacing the Charlotte Imperials, somehow, by two games.

Some notes… Otto has 40 tanks now, that’s 10 more than the next guy (Palmer Parker has put 30 out for Seattle in the American League)… Larimel has amassed 13 wins and is just two behind Mexico City’s Patrick Torres and Former Leopard, current Charlotte Imperial, Marco Ortega… And, as a club, we lead the majors in runs against at 437 (15 less than Charlotte) and defensive efficiency at .716, which is just a smidge better than Brooklyn and Vancouver.

And now, a look at our hitters & pitchers…
Hitters:

POS	Name                    	AVG  	OBP  	SLG  	HR   	RBI  	R    	SB   	BB%  	SO%  	OPS+ 	WAR  
C  	MASON CLICK              	323  	402  	468  	2    	28   	20   	0    	10.9 	17.9 	158  	1.7  
C  	Julian Nagy              	231  	270  	361  	6    	28   	22   	0    	5    	15.1 	86   	0.8  
1B 	Oh Hong                  	285  	361  	426  	18   	59   	88   	2    	10.3 	18.3 	132  	2.2  
2B 	DAN BLASKO               	221  	259  	321  	5    	30   	30   	0    	4.9  	21.3 	71   	0.5  
2B 	Oliver Koloski           	237  	303  	475  	3    	9    	10   	0    	6.1  	25.8 	127  	0.4  
3B 	SANDRO BRINCAT           	208  	278  	229  	0    	3    	5    	0    	9.3  	27.8 	52   	-0.1 
3B 	Demetri Rodríguez        	206  	273  	271  	0    	29   	41   	16   	5.6  	21.5 	62   	1.4  
SS 	Carson Hutchinson        	272  	307  	358  	2    	44   	36   	1    	4.3  	14.1 	97   	0.3  
LF 	Chance Bell              	221  	247  	400  	7    	23   	18   	2    	4    	25.3 	89   	-0.1 
LF 	Hernando Benavidez       	254  	375  	365  	10   	40   	69   	18   	13.9 	20.3 	120  	4.3  
CF 	OTTO ISAAC               	295  	375  	610  	40   	102  	72   	15   	11.2 	23.9 	188  	6.4  
RF 	DALTON BURCH             	300  	381  	452  	10   	52   	61   	15   	10.8 	12.5 	146  	3    
RF 	ETHAN MULLENS            	264  	375  	417  	17   	69   	70   	23   	14.3 	17.6 	135  	4.6

Pitchers:

POS	Name                    	T    	G    	GS   	W    	L    	SV   	HLD  	IP   	K    	ERA  	ERA+ 	FIP  
SP 	Ryan McGuire             	L    	24   	24   	12   	9    	0    	0    	129  	159  	4.4  	85   	4.17 
SP 	Rad Taylor               	R    	22   	22   	9    	7    	0    	0    	122.2	95   	4.33 	86   	3.95 
SP 	Dani Thorpe              	R    	15   	15   	5    	3    	0    	0    	73.2 	48   	3.18 	117  	3.61 
SP 	Nacho Valadez            	L    	31   	15   	9    	3    	0    	5    	101.1	89   	3.29 	113  	3.81 
SP 	Larimel Álvarez          	L    	25   	25   	13   	6    	0    	0    	137  	112  	2.96 	126  	3.24 
RP 	Leonardo Duarte          	L    	57   	0    	3    	3    	2    	17   	109  	102  	2.31 	161  	3.01 
RP 	Major Hansen             	L    	28   	0    	1    	0    	0    	6    	10.1 	15   	3.48 	107  	3.01 
RP 	Brody John               	R    	33   	0    	1    	0    	1    	1    	64.2 	41   	2.23 	167  	3.23 
RP 	Sherwin Kane             	R    	39   	0    	4    	0    	0    	1    	67   	53   	4.97 	75   	4.75 
RP 	Adrian Parker            	R    	50   	0    	6    	3    	1    	15   	65.1 	68   	3.31 	112  	3.05 
RP 	EWING RIVERA             	L    	41   	0    	1    	7    	2    	19   	40.2 	47   	5.98 	62   	6.09 
CL 	T-Rex Stiles             	L    	52   	0    	2    	2    	37   	0    	55.1 	69   	1.79 	208  	3.02

Austin Grackles (65-55, .542, 2nd NL West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (74-46, .617, 1st NL West)
It was just two short seasons ago that the Austin Grackles supplanted us from our perennial throne at the top of our division, relegating us to the circle series for the first time in 6 seasons. We righted that wrong last season with a 112-win campaign and look well on our way to repeating as division champs even if we don’t quite live up to the standard we set for wins last year. It is unfortunate that our playoff structure has changed such that only the division winners get a ticket to the dance given that Austin is every bit as good as the NL East’s best, but we’ll stick with that decision for this season at least. Here, knowing full well that they have little chance of catching us with 120 games already played, the Grackles will look to punch us in the throat anyway, if only to let us know that they’re on a come up, and that they, given their dearth of young talent, won’t be going away anytime soon.

121 of 162: Alfred Adcock (9-7, 3.88) @ Ryan McGuire (12-9, 4.40)
Win, 9-3. Otto put out his 41st long ball and Oh Hong sent his 19th over the fence as the boys dismantled the Grackles with 8 of our 9 batsmen driving in at least one run. Win #13 for McGuire – 6 hits, 2 earned (both on solo homers), and 9 K’s – a SAC FLY for Ethan, and a spectacular Rodriguez-Blasko-Hong DP would round out the highlights for us after a day spent brutalizing Austin’s starter to kick off this three-game set.

122 of 162: Joe Matthiessen (4-12, 5.75) @ Larimel Alvarez (13-6, 2.96)
Win, 4-2. Humberto drove two in on a triple during the bottom of the 7th, which served as the difference maker for what was otherwise a low energy, defense first affair… two extra base hits for the club (Dalton Burch hit a double with no one on), two swiped bags (1 each for Otto (16) and Ethan (24)), a solid, 5-inning, outing from Larimel, who was unable to secure his 14th win, hold #20 for Ewing Rivera, and T-Rex Stiles secured his 38th save in his first season as our closer. It’s always nice to secure a series win at home, on a Saturday, in front of ~54k fans.


Elsewhere: Dallas C Dominic Cooke, a former Leopard who is now in his 3rd season with the Chaparrals, went 2-for-3 with 2 TANKS, 2 RBI, and 3 runs to lead his club to a 10-7 win over the Portland Pioneers. With the win Dallas, who is in a dog fight for the AL West crown with Vancouver, has opened up a tenuous, 1-game lead in the AL West.

123 of 162: Wilson Pena (8-6, 3.91) @ Rad Taylor (9-7, 4.33)
Loss, 1-3. We’d stop short of a sweep as Austin got some small measure of revenge after being big bro’d in the first two games of this set… here, Pena gave us the business over 7.2-innings of 3-hit, 7-k filthiness and 40yo DH Jonah Dove, the 2072 Boyce Rigg winner, hit the 2-run DING DONG that put the Grackles up for good as Austin did their level best to let us know that, while this may not be the year, they’re coming for us in the near future (we won’t let that happen, of course). For our part, this is our 4th series win in August out of 6 tries so far…

Record: 76-47, .618, 1st NL West (we’re only 1-game ahead of the Imperials)
Up Next: We’ll catch up with the boys in Pittsburgh on September 17th as we battle the top dog in the NL East.

Current standings, as of August 22nd, are attached for your perusal...