Los Angeles Leopards (SVMLB)

[pauwoo]

Seattle Metros (18-20, .473, 4th AL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (23-14, .621, 1st NL West)
After missing the playoffs in 2077, Seattle went to their 8th postseason in 9 seasons last year, reinserting themselves into the perennial contender conversation, and righting the wrongs of the fateful tricentennial campaign. And, after winning it all in three of their last 8 postseason appearances, it’s safe to say that the Metros are looking to extend their run as a playoff boogeyman as long as possible. So far this season, their prospects for doing so look slightly grim as their offense has sputtered off the line, currently ranked at 7th in the American League with a 10th ranked OBP, OPS, and in Home Runs. If their offense can find a way to solve our top-rated staff over these next three games, or, really, just find a way to play at the level of their own staff (ranked 4th in the AL), then they might look back on this series as the turning point in what has, thus far, been a ho-hum campaign.

38 of 162: Pappy Kincaid (0-0, 0.00) @ Masaya Nakagawa (2-0, 1.17)
Win, 9-3. Clinging to a 5-3 lead heading into the last couple of frames, Otto, superstar that he is, would put this one well out of Seattle’s reach with a GRAND SLAM during the bottom of the 8th that widened our margin to an insurmountable 6 runs. In total, Isaac went 2-for-4, with that SLAM, 5 RBI, and a couple of runs of his own. We’d round it out with 3 doubles for the club, a solid, 5-inning, 3-earned night from our starter, and another rabble-rousing victory in front of the hometown faithful. Seattle’s Lonzo Gonzo was their lone bright spot – 3-for-4 with a solo shot and a run for the fastest guy to never have led the league in steals… they really need to turn him loose while they still can.

39 of 162: Thomas Ortega (2-4, 2.70) @ Dwight Beasley (3-2, 3.66)
Win, 8-2. Here we’d transform into a double machine with run-scoring doubles for OH HONG, DOM, PEPPER, and Ono coming in at an Oprah-esque frenzy (EVERYONE GETS A DOUBLE!) and bury the Metros before they’d even have a chance to make a game of it. Dwight put together a quality start – 7.1 innings of work, 1 hit, 2 runs (a 2-run blast, courtesy of Norris Flaherty muddied up his clean sheet), 7 K’s and his 4th win while Armendariz closed the show, allowing 1 additional run on 3 total hits during his 1.2 innings of work. Turns out that this set will most assuredly not be the turning point Seattle hoped it would be.

40 of 162: Nick Rich (0-0, 0.00) @ Stephen Estevez (4-0, 0.99)
Loss, 5-2. Nick Rich cashed in on a great pitching performance – 6-innings, 5 hits, 2 earned, and 6 K’s – to lead his beleaguered Metros to a much-needed victory and capitalized on our inability to take advantage of the opportunities we afford ourselves as we let another potential sweep slip from our grasp. Errors for Holmes and Weaver played right into Seattle’s hands, Estevez allowed a season-high 4-earned over 6-innings, and we’d leave 10 stranded as the Seattle staff were able to settle into the game, keeping us off-balance throughout.

Record: 25-15, .625, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll spend the next 4 days in Austin, Texas enjoying the local music scene, the BBQ, and locking horns with the Grackles at Dell Stadium.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (25-15, .625, 1st NL West) @ Austin Grackles (16-24, .400, 6th NL West)
The Grackles are mired in a ho-hum season, ranked at or near the bottom in every category we track, and have really taken on the look of a directionless club that is listing portside & on the verge of capsizing… Devoid of big league talent outside of RF Rajkumar Kosciusko, SP Vin Uhlman, and 3B Ronaldo Guzman, the Grackles have a long way to go before they are a consistently competitive club – for now they, and their fans, will need to remain patient, steadfast in their belief that the best is yet to come, as their immediate future is less than bright and the sun doesn’t seem to be rising on the horizon just yet…

41 of 162: Keith Baeza (1-2, 2.76) @ Ryan Burg (1-3, 3.65)
Win, 6-2. Baeza gave a good account of himself over his 5-innings of 5-hit, 2 earned work and picked up the win as Weiser kept Austin off the board for 3 innings before handing it off to Haag to pull the curtain back on a non-save opportunity. 11 K’s for K-k-k-k-kieth and 8 more between Newton and Haag with 5 Austin batsmen on the brink of a Golden with 3 K’s each, respectively. OH HONG led the offense with a 3-run TANK, Otto put out a solo shot, his 12th long ball of the year, and Chuck Holmes continues to lure in trading partners with another double and RBI. Two steals today as well… Holmes & Otto wrecking the basepaths for us as we handled the Grackles with relative ease to start this 4-game series off on the right foot.

42 of 162: Merl Crawford (4-1, 4.03) @ Joshua Moeller (1-5, 6.31)
Win, 7-1. Merl, like Keith before him, gave a good account of himself over 5-innings of 7-hit, 1 earned ball before handing it off to Marte and Armendariz to close out the final four frames of the game… and, offensively, we were led by Otto whose 3-run TRUCK during the top of the 3rd pushed our lead to 4 on the day… well out of reach for an ineffectual offense like the one that Austin fields… PEPPER also contributed a 3-run homer, his 2nd dinger of the year, and we’d get a swiped bag from Rodriguez to keep the Grackles’ defense honest. All systems go so far on our trip to Texas’ capital…

Note: Ethan Mullins is all set to make his triumphant return from his 10-day stint on the IL, while Chuck Holmes returns to Compton for a spell while we entertain offers for his services…

43 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (2-0, 1.77) @ Dwaine Schilling (1-2, 5.34)
Loss, 3-4 (11). After a 27-game shutdown streak, Haag would finally hang a curve, giving up the game winner on a run-scoring single to Ronaldo Guzman for his first loss on the season as his ERA ballooned to a still excellent 0.47 on the year… a Kyle Weaver error in LF allowed two runs to score, rattling Nakagawa a bit before he left the game one batter later, Ethan, in his first game back, got caught with his hand in the honeypot on a steal attempt, and the rest of the offense couldn’t string anything consistent together after the stretch as we just sort of withered away, all but giving this one to the Grackles.

44 of 162: Dwight Beasley (4-2, 3.47) @ Vin Uhlman (1-4, 3.76)
Win, 6-1. Ian Hanan was back at it – 4-for-5 with two, two-baggers, a HR, 2 runs, and 3 RBI – and Bill Cox contributed 2-RBI to the cause to help insure that we got over on the Grackles one more time before exiting stage left… Otto hit a triple, his first of the year, we’d get a SAC BUNT from PEPPER, another from OH HONG, swiped a bag, and watched from the dugout as Armendarz closed the show on 11 total pitches during the bottom of the 9th. A good series win, on the road, against a club where anything less would have been unacceptable.

Record: 28-16, .636, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head home, rest, and reflect on what we’ve accomplished so far while we wait for Phoenix to meet us in our park for a couple of ballgames.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Coyotes (25-20, .555, 3rd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (28-16, .636, 1st NL West)
At 25-20 so far, Phoenix is a club on the brink… running with a glut of clubs in the National League looking at possible wild card berths, the Coyotes have little room for error given the lineup and staff they are fielding this season. The preseason expectations for Phoenix were tepid at best, and, given their +10 RDiff so far, many believe they have outpaced their talent in the early going of '79. Here we have the opportunity to reinforce the pecking order in the NL West while giving the hometown faithful something to feel good about over these next couple games.

45 of 162: Max Harrington (6-2, 1.55) @ Stephen Estevez (4-1, 1.57)
Loss, 4-6. In what ended up being a far cry from giving the fans something to feel good about, the Coyotes’ Gavin Nalley put the game-winning, 2-run DING DONG over the fence during the top of the 9th and, former Leopard, Grumpy Losito shut us down in the bottom of the frame to record his 13th save of the season. OH HONG did his level best to keep the La La’s in this one, going 5-for-5 with a run, and Satoru Ono’s 3-run blast in the bottom of the 7th to knot things up was wasted by Kaoru Kudo when he served up that meatball to Gavin Nalley that was, essentially, all she wrote.


Elsewhere: On the road against their PNW rivals, the Portland Pines earned a hard fought 4-1 victory over the Seattle Metros, relying in large part on Michael Brisk’s 7-innings of 5-hit, shutout work where he’d allow just one free pass while fanning 4. With the win, the Pines improve to a MLB leading 29-16 record overall and have now extended their AL West lead over the Denver Miners to a sturdy 7-games. Also, in NCAA play (I haven’t paid as much attention to the feeder league so far this season) the May Madness Tournament is in full swing with Iowa, Tennessee, Miami, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, UCLA, and Texas A&M each making it all the way to the Great 8.

46 of 162: Ferdinand Loving (4-3, 3.17) @ Merl Crawford (5-1, 3.81)
Win, 6-2. In an attempt to right yesterday’s wrongs in the eyes of our fans, the La La’s would come correct in the second game, putting four bad ones on the board before the start of the 3rd frame, then putting things all the way out of Phoenix’s reach with 2 more during the 8th. 1st inning homers for Otto and OH HONG set the tone, Ethan went 2-for-4 with 2 scores and 2 brought in, Ono hit a 2-run single, and, despite leaving 12 runners stranded, we managed to bring more than enough of our guys around to remind the visiting Coyotes that ours is a level they can’t live at given their current makeup.

Note: The Final Four is all set (well, it was set on our day off after the game above, but I digress, needlessly) and it’ll see the Iowa Hawkeyes battling the Wyoming Cowboys on one side of the bracket while Texas A&M and Georgia lock horns on the other. I’ll be pulling for the Pokes who will, undoubtedly, find a way to break my fragile little heart.

Record: 29-17, .630, 1st NL West
Up Next: Yet another travel/off day as we pack our bags for a 10-game road trip starting in Philadelphia for 3 games before making stops in Pittsburgh (4) and Utah (3).

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (29-17, .630, 1st NL West) @ Philadelphia Founders (27-19, .587, 1st NL East)
Palmer Parker (.354/.457/.601, 7 HR, 197 wRC+, 2.7 WAR) and the Philadelphia Founders are off to a rip-roaring start to the 2079 campaign, and, like us, it already looks like the sky is the limit for them… good everywhere important, serviceable in the ancillary categories, these Founders, after barely making the playoffs and getting bounced out during the Circle Series last season, are looking to recapture their 2076 form that saw them rule the NL East. Another tough battle in a tough city for us here… not the most ideal way to begin a 10-game road trip…



47 of 162: Keith Baeza (2-2, 2.95) @ Steve Allen (4-2, 2.90)
Win, 7-2. A 3-for-6 day from Isaac and a 3-for-4 day from DOM would all but put this one out of reach for the home team… three doubles, two homers, and three swiped bags would spell Philadelphia’s doom while our staff, led by a serviceable, 5-inning, 3-hit, 2 earned night from Baeza held the Founders in check, scoreless and only able to secure a single hit after we pulled Keith at the start of the 6th. Our entire lineup was able to secure at least 1-hit per man for a good, thorough domination to kick off the series in the, almost, criminally inhospitable City of Brotherly Love… we’ll take it.


Elsewhere: Donny Jeter, still holding on for dear life as the first baseman for Denver’s Triple-A outfit in Thornton, CO, went buck with a 3-for-3 day at the plate that included a MOONSHOT, 4 total RBI, 2 runs, and walk as his Talons easily defeated the Shreveport Cranes by a score of 10-4. At 40-years young, Donny is hitting .333/.358/.587 through 15-games played… Also… the NCAA Championship is all set as Wyoming defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes by a score of 5-3 to advance while Texas A&M did the same, crushing the dreams of the Georgia Bulldogs and their fans by a score of 6-5.

48 of 162: Dwight Beasley (5-2, 3.31) @ Jonny Garcia (6-3, 2.84)
Loss, 3-8. So-so Catcher, Gavin Dawson, went 2-for-4 with TWO TANKS and 4 total RBI to lead the charge for his Founders as the home team found a way to bite back after we’d done them dirty like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi treading all over that snake they use for their secondary logo during our last time out… here, as is sometimes his wont, Beasley looked awful – 4.2 inning, 9 hits, 2 of which were Gavin’s JACKS, and 5 earned with 2 more coming courtesy of Armendariz and another being charged to Kid Kudo’s account. Everything we did well yesterday, was done poorly today as we were beat pillar to post by a motivated club bent on satiating the troglodyte’s that make up their fanbase… this is good, now we don’t have to worry about our hotel being burnt down.

49 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (2-0, 1.67) @ Linden Brittingham (5-3, 3.88)
Loss, 1-6. Here, on our way out of town, Philly would give us a sturdy kick to the rump as we could only muster a single run, on a Ian Hanan single, and would be forced to sit idly by once again while our highly regarded staff was brutalized for the 2nd game in a row… Nakagawa gave up 4 bad ones, 2 on a DINGER, in 5-innings of work, and Weiser was charitable once again as he allowed two runner to plate in as many innings of work. Otto went 1-for-4 with 3 K’s, we hit into double plays three times, and left just enough runners on to make the difference had we been able to bring them in… quiet series for Palmer, who went 1-for-4 today and 2-for-10 overall, but… no bother, they’d not need his expertise to handle our staff with relative ease in their park.


Elswhere: The Wyoming Cowboys are your NCAA Champion after dispatching Texas A&M by a score of 5-4 in the thrilling finale!



Record: 30-19, .612, 1st NL West
Up Next: Off to Pittsburgh for a 4-game series…

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (30-19, .612, 1st NL West) @ Pittsburgh Pipers (28-21, .571, 3rd NL East)
Currently operating a scant game off the pace being set by the Philadelphia Founders, the Pipers, behind the efforts of Mack Ramirez and Tom Franzone, are doing their level best to close that gap and insert themselves into the role of biggest bully on the NL East block… here they’ll have an opportunity to do that against us, at home, as we shuffle along aimlessly on our way into town, sporting a 5-5 record over our last 10 and currently riding a 2-game skid…



50 of 162: Stephen Estevez (4-1, 1.59) @ Jaxon Mottola (3-1, 3.98)
Win, 4-3. After we took the lead during the top of the 7th on a run-scoring double courtesy of Ian Hanan, Pittsburgh’s C Laz Braun knotted things back up after the stretch on a well-hit solo shot to left field and it would stay that way until the top of the next frame when Satoru Ono put a run-scoring double on the board to put this one just out of reach for the home team. Good stuff from Estevez – 6 innings of filthiness, 7 hits and 2 earned while fanning 8 batsmen – and the pen with Kudo getting the hold and Haag picking up his 15th save on just 11 total pitches.

51 of 162: Merl Crawford (6-1, 3.76) @ Paul Yeager (5-2, 3.49)
Loss, 5-6. After taking a 1-run lead with a 3-run bottom of the 3rd, reclaiming it during the bottom of the 5th after we had knotted things up, and finally putting it just out of reach with a 2-run bottom of the 6th, Pittsburgh successfully evened things up against us in their park as we squandered the opportunity to inch closer to a winning streak by failing to record our second W in a row… Ono hit a 2-run homer with Otto, Ian, and Cox bringing in our other runs while Merl, struggling against Pittsburgh’s power lineup, gave up 6-runs including a 2-run homer for Aaron Lane… thems the breaks, as they say…

52 of 162: Keith Baeza (3-2, 3.08) @ Robby Garrett (5-2, 2.32)
Win, 5-3. Pittsburgh would pull to within one during the bottom of the 7th but fail to get any closer as Satoru Ono brought in an insurance run during the top of the 9th on a single to put us up 2 and the contest out of reach for the home team… Otto finished 2-for-5 at the plate with a solo homer, his 15th, and 2 runs scored, and PEPPER brought two in on a double during the top of the 4th to put us up 4-1 early. Some good work from our staff, save Jan Hernandez who gave up a 2-run blast during the bottom of the 7th, with Baeza leading the charge with a solid, 5.1-inning outing where he’d allow a meager 3 hits and 1 earned while fanning 5.

53 of 162: Dwight Beasley (5-3, 3.36) @ Edwin Blaxley (3-5, 5.74)
Loss, 7-9. Tom Franzone, in the midst of a stellar 3-for-5 day at the plate, hit the go ahead run, on a single, during the bottom of the 8th to all but ensure a victory for the Pipers and a split for the series… Otto struggled after performing so admirably yesterday, going 0-for-4 with 2 K’s, while Ethan, from his usual leadoff spot, went 3-for-3 with 2 runs to lead our offensive charge – we’d also get 3 doubles, a homer, three, 2-out RBI’s, and a stellar double play but left 10 men stranded on the diamond with nowhere to go… ours is an all-encompassing malaise.

Record: 32-21, .603, 1st NL West
Up Next: Some interleague silliness against the Alpines in Salt Lake City… gross.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (32-21, .603, 1st N West) @ Salt Lake Alpines (20-32, .385, 6th AL West)
Stuck at the bottom with the rest of the riff raff, the Salt Lake City Alpines aren’t giving their fans much of value so far during the 2079 campaign. Pegged as an also-ran by the BNN punditry in the preseason predictions, the Alpines will bring their 10th ranked AL Offense and 12th ranked AL staff to the table against us, in their park, much to the dismay of everyone in attendance… at least those who decide to show up as their attendance per game is down 14% YoY, deflating their total revenue, and their hopes for a less bleak short-term future.

54 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (2-1, 2.25) @ Josh Allen (1-4, 4.24)
Win, 8-4. Satoru Ono led the way with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with a double, a TRUCK, 5 RBI, and a run while Otto and OH HONG contributed our additional three runs to bolster Nakagawa’s 7.1 inning, 4-earned effort en route to his 3rd win of the season. Three doubles and 3 homers as a club, Mullens swiped his 11th bag, and we found a way to win by charging 5 runs to Josh Allen’s account, chasing him out of the game prior to the end of the 3rd frame.

55 of 162: Stephen Estevez (4-1, 1.72) @ Mikhail Poppen (1-6, 5.13)
Win, 4-2. After Salt Lake went up early on a 2-run homer from Sfinx Borunda off Estevez, we’d settle into things, knotting it up during the top of the 4th when Ian Hanan matched Borunda’s effort with a 2-run JACK of his own before Kyle Weaver put us up for good in the top of the 6th with a 2-run, two-bagger. Hanan finished 2-for-4 with a double, a TRUCK, 2 runs and 2 RBI, Estevez managed to gut out a 7.1 inning effort despite giving up that early homer, finishing with two earned, 7 K’s and the win, and the defense was fierce in completing 3 double plays on the day. We’ll close this set out tomorrow with an early Sunday game and the chance for a road sweep.


Elsewhere: New York’s Benton Almeida went 5-for-5 with 5 batted in during his clubs 12-3 dismantling of Tom Franzone and his Pittsburgh Pipers. For the contest, Almeida hit an RBI single in the 1st, a two-run home run off Jaxson Mottola in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, hit an RBI single in the 6th and hit an RBI single in the 8th. So far this year the 27-year-old Almeida has hit .252 with 7 home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 runs scored.

56 of 162: Merl Crawford (6-2, 4.35) @ George Taylor (3-4, 3.16)
Loss, 4-5. We were a step slow throughout, pulling within 1-run during the top of the 4th, top of the 7th, and again in the top of the 9th but were ultimately unable to complete the sweep as we ended our final rally attempt on a double-play ball that Dom Cooke hit into the teeth of Salt Lake’s defense. For the game we’d hit into 2 double-plays, leave 8 runners stranded, and be forced to endure a haggard 4.2 inning performance from Merl who allowed 5 bad ones to find their way home before handing it off to Armendariz, who gave up another to the home team for good measure. A sweep would have been nice – I mean, a sweep is always welcome – but, after dropping a set in Philly and splitting a 4-game series against Pittsburgh, a series win, on the road, may be just what the Doctor ordered.

Record: 34-22, .607, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head back to Los Angeles where the 32-24 Portland Pines will be anxiously awaiting our arrival.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pines (32-24, .571, 1st AL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (34-22, 607, 1st NL West)
Portland, while finishing 18-9 for the month of May, struggled to close it out, losing three straight, at home, to Toronto before listlessly working their way through a 2-2 start in June. For our part, we’ve not been much better, but, when you have a division leader visiting your park you attach yourself to any edge, imaginary or otherwise, that you seem to have over them… here we’ll try to parlay our series win over the Alpines in Salt Lake into more of the same while the Pines look to improve their lot in life early in June lest this month get away from them entirely. Working in our favor here is that we’ll most likely face the backend of their rotation and avoid a showdown against former-Leopard, current American League STUD, Michael Brisk, whose 5-1 record on the year and 1.77 ERA will likely be put up against Dallas in the friendly confines of Portland Diamond Park four days from now.

57 of 162: Peter Parrow (2-5, 5.23) @ Keith Baeza (4-2, 2.84)
Win, 2-0. Baeza kept the Pines in check over 7.1 innings of work, the defense castled early, and the offense, while not necessarily looking gangbusters here, did what was required to get the win with Otto putting a solo shot out of the park in the 3rd for some cushion after Satoru Ono drove one in on a double during the bottom of the very first frame. Kudo spelled Keith during the eight, punching out both batters he faced on 7 total pitches, and Haag racked up his 18th save on an economical 13-pitch 9th frame. A good, defense first win for the good guys…

Side Note: We completed the draft today… and, well, nothing of any real value to report. I did take a Center Fielder named Snoopy Kent with the 242nd pick, so, if nothing else, it’ll be fun to watch him wash out of my dev system before turning his attention to the Bush League in a few years.

58 of 162: Dom Jefferson (5-2, 3.36) @ Dwight Beasley (5-3, 3.88)
Win, 5-1. We’d extend our lead to 4 runs on a Saul Guzman balk that brought Otto in from 3rd and would find a way to win with that margin despite Portland successfully loading the bases during the top of the 9th as our closer, Haag, gutted out his 19th save of the year. Doubles for Dom and Otto, a TRUCK for Bill Cox, and a swiped bag for Ethan, his 12th on the year, would round things out nicely for us as we secure our second straight series win with this one coming against a topflight AL club, in our park, in front of our most ardent fans…


Elsewhere: Former Leopard, current Motor, Peter Garcia gave New Orleans the business over 8 innings of work where he’d allow 7 hits, no runs, and nary a walk while fanning 8 Gators for the game to lead his club to a tasty little 3-1 victory at home. During the game, Garcia managed to fan Angry Eloy Delando, who is now 4-for-18 lifetime against Garcia with only 1 of his 215 career HR’s coming at Peter’s expense.

59 of 162: Kito Western (1-3, 4.55) @ Masaya Nakagawa (3-1, 2.60)
Win, 5-4. We’d knot things up during the bottom of the 5th when Dom hit a run-scoring single, with the bases loaded, to drive one in and would take the lead a mere frame later when SS Carson Hutchinson hit a solo tank off Starter Kito Western. 3-for-4 day at the plate for Dom, including 2 runs and 2 RBI, Otto went 2-for-4 and scored, and we’d get two, team-first SAC FLIES, 1 each from Cox and Hutchinson… a sturdy performance from the pen too as Hernandez, Miotke, and Haag combined to hurl 4 shutout innings to close this one out. Sweep City, USA!

Record: 37-22, .627, 1st NL West
Up Next: Back on the road… headed to Austin for a 4-game series against Texas’ hippest city.

[BirdWatcher]

Snoopy Kent!
How can this guy not be a favorite.
(Hoping he's a surprise dark horse prospect before long.)

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Snoopy Kent!
How can this guy not be a favorite.
(Hoping he's a surprise dark horse prospect before long.)

He'll need to hit the TCM lottery....

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by pauwoo

He'll need to hit the TCM lottery....

Well, at least he has a pretty good approach at the plate with some OBP potential.

Hey, I'm not above pulling for the extremely unlikely TCM boost!
(Or, you know, just to make me happy you could go into the editor and manipulate fate a bit. I am just making a joke- I would never do that for anyone with my W.P. Kinsella League.)

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Hey, I'm not above pulling for the extremely unlikely TCM boost!
(Or, you know, just to make me happy you could go into the editor and manipulate fate a bit. I am just making a joke- I would never do that for anyone with my W.P. Kinsella League.)

I would never! Haha.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (37-22, .627, 1st NL West) @ Austin Grackles (23-36, .389, 6th NL West)
Austin is as welcome a sight as any during the regular season, especially this year, as we, like nearly every other team in the NL, will look to run roughshod over this loose collection of stiffs, keep the good times rolling as they say, and do our level best to secure that ever elusive 4-game road sweep. Here our National League leading staff will look to make mincemeat of their 11th ranked offense, while our 4th ranked offense looks to feast on their 11th ranked staff… this certainly has the makings of a squash match, but, same as it ever was, we’ve shown ourselves to be more than capable of contesting games down to the level of our opponent and should our guys spend too much time chasing the local talent around town while sampling Austin’s legendary BBQ we could find ourselves unceremoniously ushered out of town with our collective tails tucked firmly between our legs.

60 of 162: Stephen Estevez (5-1, 1.80) @ Joshua Moeller (1-7, 8.36)
Loss, 0-1. Buncha lollygaggers you ask me… here we’d waltz into town with some seriously misplaced bravado, footloose, cocksure, and fancy free only to put up the ol’ goose egg in Game 1 of this 4-game series… nothing doing for our 4th ranked offense with Pepper’s 3 and backup backstop Lee Rolon’s 1 being our only hits of the game while Estevez, 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 K’s, and the pen did their job by keeping the Austin lineup, mostly, in their place… just a sad, inexcusable, weak way to get things started against the Grackles. We’ll need to snap out of it, and quick, if we are to give a proper account of ourselves during our time in the Lonestar State.

61 of 162: Merl Crawford (6-3, 4.73) @ Noel Goodgion (2-7, 6.43)
Win, 3-2. Haag slammed the door shut for us during the bottom of the 9th, his 21st slamming of the year and 300th of his career, the rest of the staff gave a good account of themselves despite the level of competition we were up against, and the offense was, well, serviceable, giving us the minimum required to eke out a road win against a club that we should be laying to waste with literal ease. All the offensive work came from the back of the order, with Hutchinson and Utilityman Demetri Rodriguez driving in all three of our runs between them, as we relied almost entirely on our staff to draw ourselves even with the Grackles in this series with two games left to play.

62 of 162: Keith Baeza (5-2, 2.31) @ Ryan Burg (3-3, 3.44)
Win, 3-2. Haag was clutch once again, racking up his 22nd save on the year, while the offense continued to sputter along, getting us over the finish line on fumes… A late, run-scoring, SAC FLY from Kyle Weaver brought the game winner in after our offense went dormant from the 5th frame on with the heart of our order continuing to walk in place while the bulk of our “good” work comes from the more unheralded batsmen among us. Baeza gave us a solid 5.1 inning effort, allowing just one runner to plate while fanning 9, Newton Weiser secured his second hold of the season on 2.1 hitless, scoreless innings of work, Miotke was charged with a blown save and recorded the win, and Haag mopped things up as we managed to win our second in a row despite leaving 5 runners stranded.

63 of 162: Dwight Beasley (6-3, 3.62) @ Vin Uhlman (2-6, 3.94)
Loss, 2-3 (11). We’d exit Austin on the same note we started this 4-games series off with – an out of tune power chord played awkwardly during a slow jam, lazily strummed, and out of time. Here we’d get off on the good foot with both of our runs scored during the top of the 3rd, but would go silent from there, allowing the Grackles to ease their way back into it, finally walking us off in the 11th on a run-scoring single from CF Page Sommers. Again, we’d get some good stuff from the staff, led by Beasley’s 6.1 innings of 2-run ball, but would come undone in the 11th as Haag, that stalwart of filthiness, gave up the game winner.


Elsewhere: Al Bundy, of the Denver Miners, went the distance during a 2-0 win over the Salt Lake Alpines, earning the win and his first complete game shutout of the season with 6 hits and 8 total K’s. Bundy is 3-0 with a 4.36 ERA since being claimed off waivers by Denver and is 29-21 in 187 appearances with a 3.16 ERA, 442 K’s, and a 107 ERA+.

Record: 39-24, .619, 1st NL West
Up Next: A day off to travel to Mexico City followed by a quick 2-game series before returning stateside to face off against the New Orleans Gators in our house.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (39-24, .619, 1st NL West) @ Mexico City Jaguars (31-32, .492, 4th NL West)
While Mexico City, for its tacos alone, is one of my favorite destinations during the season, it usually wears out its welcome within 24 hours, so, the fact that this is a little quickie 2-game series is ideal – equally ideal is the fact that this trip will be bookended by a couple of much-needed days off. Here we’ll face the low-key beleaguered Jaguars as they work through a season in which their goal has to be to go from so-so to good with greatness 2 or 3 more seasons away… they’ve got the 6th ranked development system, some great, young Major League talent in 24-year-old 2B JJ Barbari (70/70), 27-year-old SP Lee Myers (57/57), and 26-year-old 1B Ryder Nieman (62/62), and an owner that prioritizes winning above all else. Currently operating a scant 4 ½ games off the wildcard pace, Mexico City could have something to say about the look of our NL Playoff Bracket once the dust has cleared on the 2079 campaign… for now, however, they’ll need to contend with the biggest bully on the NL block sent to Mexico City on a mission for a plate full of tacos de carnitas from Los Panchos, some ice-cold cervezas, and a couple of wins.

64 of 162: Stephen Estevez (5-2, 1.78) @ Lee Myers (6-4, 4.37)
Win, 3-0. Estevez came out gangbusters, putting in 5 innings of work and fanning 9 while blanking the Jags over that stretch, at altitude, while the rest of the rotation followed suit and kept the home team off the board for the entire game… the offense, still sputtering a bit, managed to get 3 across as Mullens, OH HONG, and Otto each found home plate with Satoru Ono being responsible for two of those crossings on one of his two, two-baggers during the game. Barbari and Nieman combined for a 1-for-8 day with 4 total K’s leaving the Mexico City faithful at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu with little to cheer about.


Elsewhere: Cole Guzman, of the New York Sluggers, has etched his name into the annuals of time, hurling his first career NO HITTER against the division rival Boston Shamrocks by a score of 1-0. For the game, Guzman added 3 walks and 7 K’s to his line, giving the 24,842 New York fans in attendance the memory of a lifetime. Cole has amassed a 77-60 major league record over the course of his career with 1062 K’s, 7.9 K/9, and a 112 ERA+. The former Eastern Carolina Pirate was drafted by Pittsburgh way back in 2069 and has earned well over $39 million in salary for his work as a professional.

65 of 162: Merl Crawford (7-3, 4.58) @ Randy Keramidas (0-3, 5.35)
Loss, 3-10. Perhaps it was the mezcal, that psychedelic worm I found at the bottom of its bottle, or just the fact that myself and my club can’t behave properly when we visit Mexico City that led to us being so completely rebuffed by the home team on our way out of town… Merl was destroyed, getting chased out of this one after 5 runs came across in only 1.2 innings of work, with relievers Miotke and Armendariz soft-tossing beach balls into the box to help the Jags keep the good times rolling as they rang us up like a pinball machine before giving us the boot on the way out the door. It wasn’t until we were on the plane, safely at our cruising altitude, that I realized it wasn’t all just some bad dream brought on by dehydration and the anxiety of losing a solid 6-hours of my memory to a mezcal induced blackout… finally able to admit to myself that, while we were embarrassed on the diamond, at least I was able to cheat death in Mexico City once again, making it out alive to fight on another day. Of course, I’d like to know where this garter belt came from, and, more importantly, why I’m wearing it.


Elsewhere: In New York, Boston returns the favor in a 1-0 win over the Sluggers… KJ Judd… close, but not quite.

Record: 40-25, .615, 1st NL West
Up Next: A day off to recuperate followed by a 3-game set, at home, against the New Orleans Gators (whose voodoo, I’m told, doesn’t work in Los Angeles).

[pauwoo]

New Orleans Gators (20-46, .303, 6th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (40-25, .615, 1st NL West)
With a team as woefully inept as the New Orleans Gators in town for a 3-game set, you’d think I’d be in good spirits, excited even… but, after our recent series’ against the Alpines (currently in 6th place of the AL West) and Mexico City (that ho hum also-ran making their living mid table in the NL West), I’d much rather we just put our heads down and go to work, leaving all our misplaced bravado at the door so we can focus, instead, on the task at hand. And, while not the tallest of orders, with only a scant two games separating us and the universally reviled Phoenix Coyotes in the NL West, we need to secure these wins to keep ourselves out in front of their pace.

66 of 162: Pete Taylor (4-6, 4.08) @ Keith Baeza (5-2, 2.23)
Win, 4-2. 5.1 scoreless innings from Baeza, a win for Kudo in relief, and save #24 for Haag would be the story here as our offense remains lukewarm in scoring 4 runs while relying too heavily on our pitching to put ourselves in a position to win…. Ono, Hanan, PEPPER, and Cox would each drive in a run, Ono committed his 4th fielding flub, Dom was charged with a passed ball, and, as I mentioned briefly above, our pitching held water for us as our porous offense, if left to its own devices here lately, would surely not provide the buoyancy required to keep the USS Leopard afloat.

67 of 162: Joesph Hinder (2-6, 5.52) @ Dwight Beasley (6-3, 3.55)
Win, 4-1. Beasley spun a masterpiece, 8-innings, 2 hits, with 1 earned and 6 K’s, and Haag preserved the performance closing the show on 12 total pitches for his 25th save of the year, keeping New Orleans at bay as our offense continued its workmanlike stretch of performances. OH HONG led the offense with a solo homer and 2 runs, and Otto, Dom, and Cox drove in the remaining 3 runs. Two doubles for the club, 2-out RBI’s for Hong, Otto, and Dom, and 4 total runs scored despite leaving another 8 stranded. Look, we’ll take it… I’d like to see our guys run roughshod over these miscreants from the bayou, but a win is a win and all that mess.


Elsewhere: SP Bradley Hughes, currently plying his trade with the Brooklyn Citizens, mowed down 14 Outlaws in a 7-inning performance during a 2-1 win over Las Vegas. The 3-time Pacheco Award winner has spun 2352 K’s over the course of his career with this outing being his highest strikeout total so far this season. His previous best of the year was a 12 K effort against the Detroit Motors back in April.

68 of 162: Tom Abraham (3-3, 2.31) @ Masaya Nakagawa (3-1, 2.98)
Win, 6-3. Dom made the most of a late, 8th inning PH opportunity with a 2-run single that served as the opening salvo of what would turn into a 4-run frame, and C Lee Rolon, in to give Dom a day off from behind the plate, drove in 3 to make sure we came away with the SWEEP against these lowly swamp rats from New Orleans. Nakagawa struggled a bit – 3 earned over 5 innings of work, but the bullpen closed up shop early keeping the Gators off the board over the final 3.2 innings of the game. Our ho-hum, 2-2 start to the month of June has suddenly turned into a gangbusters 11-5 run as we’ve now won 7 of our last 10 contests.

Record: 43-25, .632, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll board a cross country flight bound for Miami to mix it up with the Herons over 4 games.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (43-25, .632, 1st NL West) @ Miami Herons (33-36, .478, 5th NL East)
Down but not out, the Miami Herons, at 5.5 games off the wild card pace, are doing their level best to tread water long enough to make some moves in September as they try to come in a bit early on their promise of better days ahead. To make that leap, from also-ran to playoff caliber club, the Herons will need to improve their offense, where they rank a paltry 8th in runs scored, OBP, and OPS, and their pitching, where they’re held back by starters Mike Clendenin (3-6, 4.33), Marco Ortega (3-7, 4.36), and reliver Dominic Hornbrook’s dismal 0-4 record and 5.09 ERA out of the pen. At -2 against the Pythagorean, with a 0 RDiff, and a 5-5 record over their last 10 we expect Miami to focus on the little things over these next four games, contested in their park, as they try to pick up a little steam at our expense… of course, that’ll be much, much easier said than done as we saunter into town on a 7-3 record over our last 10 contests looking every bit the BMOC, walking purposefully into the visiting clubhouse, all chesty and indifferent.

69 of 162: Stephen Estevez (6-2, 1.67) @ Marco Ortega (3-7, 4.36)
Win, 12-1. OH HONG and Satoru led the way offensively, each with a homer, Hong’s a 3-run TRUCK and Ono’s a GRAND SLAM that got things rolling for us during a 6-run top of the 5th, and Estevez held the Herons down from the bump over 6 inning of work where he’d allow only one runner to plate, 3 total hits, and 3 free passes while fanning 6. Hanan contributed a double, his 12th, Otto brought one in on a run-scoring single, Mullens was our only batsmen who failed to record a hit as we completely dismantled the suddenly frazzled Miami Herons in this first of four contests at SPF 200 Park. We’ll need our guys to reign it in a bit tonight, of course, there’s still a lot of baseball for us to play in Florida during this trip… plenty of time to partake in the Lambada at some local hotspot, with a fresh Caipirinha in one hand and a Cubano in the other.

70 of 162: Merl Crawford (7-4, 5.10) @ Cathal Magill (8-1, 2.67)
Loss, 2-7. It seems that keeping our guys away from the forbidden dance, and those extra strength Caipirinha’s, was more challenging than I anticipated as we schlepped our way through this one, hung over, sore, and trying to operate on the diamond with a wicked case of Cubano-induced heartburn… SS Juan Castro got after it for the Herons, hitting a GRAND SLAM to clap back at Ono’s performance during yesterday’s tilt, at the expense of Merl, and leaving our offense dumbstruck, out of answers, and without the wherewithal to climb out of the hole he put us in during the bottom of the 2nd… not our best look, folks. Move along, nothing to see here…


Elsewhere: Tony Voorhis, fan favorite and Leopards Legend now plying his trade with the Detroit Motors, went 3-for-3 with a double, a TRUCK, 4 total RBI and a run to lead his squad to a much-needed, come from behind win over the Seattle Metros to improve their lead in the wild card race to a formidable 7.5 games. On the year, Voorhis is posting a .248/.287/.437 slash with 12 long balls and 40 RBI so far…

71 of 162: Keith Baeza (5-2, 1.99) @ Hunter Vaughn (5-4, 2.84)
Loss, 3-4 (11). Former Leopard, and member of our first-ever championship club, that 2075 outfit of ne'er-do-wells who turned the baseball world on its head, Nehemiah Jenkins would have his revenge on Los Angeles as he ended this one on a game-winning, walk off, run-scoring single that sent our guys to the showers with their heads hung low and tails tucked firmly between their legs… best we can do now is fight our way out of town to earn a split. We’d put three balls out of the park, one each for Ethan, Otto, and PEPPER, but it was all for naught as each was a solo shot leaving us a day late and a dollar short in this one. Bummer biscuits…

72 of 162: Dwight Beasley (7-3, 3.32) @ Russell Wooten (4-3, 3.48)
Loss, 5-8 (15). While I’d like to chalk this one up to a bad beat, I’ve not the will nor desire to write this monstrosity up for myself… so, in lieu of that, I’ll just leave you with this…


Also, because why not pour some salt in our wounds, Beasley strained his elbow in this one, is headed for a short stint on the IL (10-day) while SP Leonardo Duarte comes up from Compton in his stead.

Record: 44-28, .611, 1st NL East (our lead over Vegas is now down to a single game after Miami gave us the business)
Up Next: Headed to Denver for a 3-game set against the 40-32, 2nd Place AL West juggernaut. Should be harrowing.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (44-28, .611) @ Denver Miners (40-33, .547, 2nd AL West)
We arrive in Denver in need of an offensive reawakening – something the unique physics of their park and its reduced form drag on hit baseballs is uniquely qualified to help with – after dropping three straight to the less-than-formidable Miami Herons. Here we’ll get sturdier competition, rowdier fans, and a club coming off a nice series win over the New York Sluggers… ranked 1st or 2nd in all of the offensive categories that matter and as high as 2nd on the other side of the ball (FIP – everywhere else it’s 5th or worse, as you’d likely expect), this year’s edition of the Denver Miners look to be returning to the form they put on display in 2077 when they finished 1st in the AL West at 92-70, and, ultimately, bowed out of the Playoffs against the Vancouver Mounties, who somehow managed to carry that good fortune all the way to an improbable World Series win, in 7-games, against the Pittsburgh Pipers. For our part, with our lead over Las Vegas reduced to a paltry ½ game after Miami put those bad ones on us, we’ll need to slow down Denver’s roll over these next three games, get ourselves back on track, and start to put some distance on our division rival once again.

Side note: CL Major Hansen, who missed ~7 weeks with elbow strain, is returning to the fold, rested, rehabbed, and better than ever… which means that RP Newton Weiser is the odd man out, returning to Compton (after a stint on waivers) for the first time since April.

73 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (3-1, 3.15) @ Taylor Pushkin (6-3, 2.99)
Win, 3-2. In desperate need of a win, by any means necessary – even if those means, in baseball’s liveliest ballpark, were more defensive in nature – our road weary, Best Coast club, found a way to get it done despite turning in a performance light on offense. Nakagawa cut through Blue Moon Ballpark’s dry air over 8-innings of 7-hit, 2-run ball without hanging a single curve, managing to fan 5 while only giving up one long ball, Ono, Otto, and OH HONG each hit doubles into the gap, and, after bringing Hong in on a run-scoring single, Isaac would score the game-winner, during the top of the 5th, on a DOM hit SAC FLY. That’s just good baseball – nice team win for the club, coming at a time when anything less would have led to finger pointing and further erosion of our clubhouse espirit di corps.

74 of 162: Stephen Estevez (7-2, 1.66) @ Paul Wilson (4-5, 4.50)
Loss, 2-11. Denver came out gangbusters, sprinting across the cage and landing a hellacious, Masvidal-esque flying knee right to the temple of our Ace, who, for his part, suffered the indignity of giving up 7, 1st inning runs and getting yanked, for what has to be the first time in his career, without recording a single out… all told the Miners would score all of their runs during that frame with 4 more coming at RP Leonardo Duarte’s expense before all was said and done. 15 hits, 5 doubles, 2 homers, and 11 scores for the home team despite leaving 9 more stranded (Solomon Lawrence, their hard-charging Left Fielder, led the way with a 4-for-4 day with 2 doubles, a TANK, and 5 total RBI)… we’d hit a few doubles too, of course, but failed to do much of anything with them as all of the internal goodwill we built back up during last nights hard-fought, game 1 win has disappeared like a hard-hit ball in Blue Moon Ballpark giving way to all the finger pointing we had only temporarily kept at bay.


Not Elsewhere: LF Solomon Lawrence put up the 15th ranked Individual Game Performance of the year against us tonight, finishing, as stated above, 4-for-4 at the plate with two, two-baggers, a TRUCK, 5 RBI, and a run to lead his club to a resounding, hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife, shellacking of our visiting club en route to our embarrassing 2-11 loss. Also, it seems that Charlotte has claimed Newton Weiser off waivers… I really thought I’d get away with that one.

75 of 162: Merl Crawford (7-5, 5.59) @ Misael Enriquez (3-6, 5.26)
Loss, 3-5. After maintaining relative control of this contest through the top of the 8th, Denver, as is their wont, would pour on 3 runs during the bottom of the frame as C Rex Engelstad, operating as a PH here, would get things rolling with a game-tying, run-scoring single followed by an RBI each for Solomon Lawrence and RF Kelford Jackson to take & extend the lead. We’d get well-hit doubles from OH HONG and Hanan, a perfectly hit SOLO HOMER from Otto, and 6.1 hard scrabble innings of work from Merl where he’d fan 9 while giving up a couple of early solo homers. In the end, and despite Otto’s best efforts (4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI), we’d just not have enough in the tank to get this one over the finish line and instead suffer the indignity of losing consecutive away series for the first time this year.

We’re in something of a bad way, folks… and, in other news, Charlotte’s waiver claim was executed today (goodbye, Newton, we hardly knew ye), I got news from our head trainer, Hidetoshi Hasegawa (in Japan, heart surgeon #1), that Donovan Turnbull is not healing as fast as expected, and I have a meeting with Phil Murray tonight upon our return to discuss why we suddenly suck so bad at baseball among other things… should be fun!

Record: 45-30, .600, 1st NL West (still ½ game up on LV)
Up Next: Some hopefully delicious home cookin’ against the 31-45, 5th place in the AL West, vanilla ice cream eating, Salt Lake Alpines… three games to right the ship before heading to Las Vegas for an all-important set.

[pauwoo]

Salt Lake Alpines (31-45, .408, 6th AL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (45-30, .600, 1st NL West)
The last time we lined up against the Alpines, earlier in June, we were still playing a passable version of baseball, running roughshod through all comers, and looking every bit the type of champion that repeats… now, well, not so much. At 5-5 over our last 10, on another 2-game skid, and proud owners of a losing record on the road (20-22), that these next three games have taken on the feeling of a must-win should come as no surprise. Ours is a malaise that must dissipate should we have any expectation of keeping our notoriously fickle fanbase’s attention as we approach the midway point of the ’79 campaign. And, Salt Lake, despite their recent run of tip top form (7-3 over their last 10), are just the type of woeful road team (11-23 so far) we need to get our locomotive back on the track and headed in the right direction.

76 of 162: Manuel Morales (2-6, 4.76) @ Keith Baeza (5-2, 2.30)
Win, 3-0. After putting up a run during the bottom of the first, off an OH HONG run-scoring double, we’d go dormant until the bottom of the 7th when we put a couple more on the board to keep Salt Lake at bay… Baeza was masterful over 5.0 innings of work, allowing just 3 hits and nothing earned while fanning 8, and Don Haag would come in after Ram Chen gave us 3.1 innings in relief to earn his 28th save on the year, retiring the final two batters on 12 total pitches to put our club back in the plus column. Now, to the degree that we’ve created any, we’ll need to seize this momentum and keep it rolling in the hopes that we can put a little bit of distance between ourselves and Vegas, baby!


Elsewhere: RF Dalton Burch, our 2nd round pick (50th overall) in the 2078 draft out of Texas A&M, is making a little bit of noise in Short A as he finished 3-for-4 with TWO TANKS and 4 total RBI during the Brentwood Bishops 11-5 win, at home, over the Columbia Boonslickers. With the win, Brentwood has started off their 2079 campaign at 7-0 with no signs of slowing down after today’s win.

77 of 162: Arnold Mistele (2-8, 4.86) @ Jan Hernandez (3-1, 1.16)
Loss, 1-2. Again, we’d score early, though, this time they scored earlier, 2 during the top of the 1st, and since our offense is all but in shambles those runs would carry the Alpines all the way across the finish line and earn them their 12th road victory in 36 tries. Our lone run, scored during the bottom of that frame, came courtesy of an Otto SAC FLY and we’d get nothing of note offensively in this one from that point on. Jan pitched well, 7 innings of work, 3 hits, 2 earned, and 9 K’s, but it’d not be enough to overcome Mistele’s 7.2 innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball he laid down for Salt Lake in improving to 3-8 with a 4.56 ERA on the season. The Alpines got after it on the basepaths a bit too with two steals… not a good look for the Yellow Tops at home as we get dismissed with prejudice in front of our fans while Las Vegas was doing the dirt, at home, against the Dallas Chaparrals, winning today by a score of 3-1 and pulling even with us atop the NL West table in doing so.


Elsewhere: Um, don’t look now, but the Edison Scholars, the New York Sluggers A Ball affiliate, have scored 51 runs in their last two contests at the expense of the Buffalo Nickels A Ball club, the Danbury Hatters. Yikes.

78 of 162: Josh Allen (1-7, 4.59) @ Masaya Nakagawa (4-1, 3.05)
Win, 3-2 (10). As a GM that prioritizes wins over all else that we did it today by the skin of our country teeth gives me no confidence in our ability to steel ourselves up for a face off against our division rival Las Vegas Outlaws in their house after our day off tomorrow. Here the win would come in dramatic fashion as old swarthy himself, the indomitable PEPPER GRANT, hit a walk-off, run-scoring double to send Salt Lake back from whence they came a little worse for wear. In other news, Don Haag’s consecutive save streak ended at 41 as he gave up the ghost during the top of the 9th for his first blown save in a very, very long time. Also, Josh Allen went the ‘distance’ for Salt Lake, turning in a 9-inning, 2-hit, 1-earned performance on the day and still his beleaguered squad couldn’t offer up enough offense to get him out of here on a win. I bet he says nary a word on their flight back to Utah. Oh, and because Las Vegas got handled by Dallas, at home, losing their tilt 7-0, we are back to sole ownership of 1st place on the NL West table with half a game in hand.


Elsewhere: In keeping with the example set forth by Edison, our own Watts Warriors, razed Bethlehem’s castle, laying waste to Steelers by a score of 27-13 with 1B Aquila Shrum leading the way with a 3-for-5 performance that included 2 JACKS, 7 RBI, 3 runs, and a walk. Shrum, a 29-year-old native of Pine Bluff, AR, went undrafted out of college in 2071, signed on with the Dearborn Dilly’s in the Bush League, and after bouncing around in the development programs of Portland, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Orlando (now Miami), New York, and Mexico City, and has found his way to Watts where he’s likely doing it just to continue the never-ending pursuit of one more day spent in the sun, playing the child’s game.

Record: 47-31, .602, 1st NL West
Up Next: A showdown in the desert against our most reviled of rivals, the Las Vegas Outlaws.

[pauwoo]

Before we get rolling, a trade… we’ve sent 32yo 2B Hetereki Ailani, who, after getting 48 games of burn on the big club in LA last season hasn’t as much as sniffed promotion from AAA this season, SP Ayumu Hasegawa (#234 prospect), and SP J. C. Garayer (#206 Prospect) to New Orleans for minor leaguers 2B Simon Paulino (a so-so talent whose eye, or lack thereof, will likely doom him to the Bush League one day) and CF Lance Mathes. This trade, in the larger scheme of things, is meaningless… though, I would like to see Hetereki get in some reps on New Orleans’ big club. Word is that’s where he will start out his time with them as they could really use his fielding prowess in their infield. And, in other news Kid Kudo, Kaoru if you’re nasty, will spend the next 4 weeks on the IL with a strained tummy muscle… poor guy… we’ll call Kordell Littles up from Compton for his first chance at playing under the bright lights. I traded for him way back in 2076 with high hopes that he’d develop into a solid mid-rotation type – instead his ascent has been slow as he’s getting his first call at the ripe old age of 26.

Los Angeles Leopards (47-31, .602, 1st NL West) @ Las Vegas Outlaws (47-32, .595, 2nd NL West)
In a series that should resemble a bout of real-life, rock ‘em, sock ‘em robots, the Outlaws will put their #1 ranked offense up against our #3 ranked staff with sole ownership of the penthouse at the top of the pops in the NL West on the line. Of course, that’s not the whole story here – they can throw it around a little bit too as evidenced by their #5 ranked staff and, while we’ve not shown it much lately, we can hit the cover off the ball sometimes as evidenced by our #4 ranked offense… so, what this really is, is a battle of the two biggest bully’s on the block in the National League while Brooklyn, currently ranked just behind our two clubs, looks on as they try to close the gap on both our teams during their home set against Tom Franzone and his Pittsburgh Pipers. Our trouble here, as I see it, has less to do with how we stack up against these guys on paper and more to do with the current form of our two clubs – ours is ragged, light on cardio, heavy on fatigue type of form while theirs has the look of a healthy gazelle outrunning its predators with a sort of jubilant bounce added to their gate – we’ll need to find a way to broadside these guys while in their park if we have any chance at all of knocking the wind out of their sails while we fill ours with something gusty enough to get back up to a comfortable cruising speed of 4-6 knots.

79 of 162: Stephen Estevez (7-3, 2.39) @ Jake Talley (6-6, 3.68)
Loss, 2-3. And we’d start things of in the worst way possible as our closer, the once resolute Don Haag, gave up the game-winning, walk-off 2-run DINGER to Isidro Lutz who saw Haag’s hung curveball all the way to the bat and took it on a ride over the left field fence for a riveting win that had the Outlaws faithful on their feet, going crazy like they just hit the jackpot at some bootleg, locals only casino on the bad side of Sam’s Town… The staff looked, mostly, good as Estevez recovered from his last time out with a 5.2 inning, 2-hit, 1-run performance, Kordell struck out the only batter he faced on 4-pitches in his Major League debut, and Major Hansen gave us a couple of perfectly executed innings before Haag came in to ruin everything. The offense, on the other hand, continued its run of iron deficient outings where we’d leave 8 stranded, outhit the bad guys by 7, and still manage to drop this one. It’s a sad state of affairs.


Elsewhere: Former Leopard, and recently traded (see above), 2B Hetereki Ailani, made his New Orleans debut, finishing 2-for-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs while his new teammate, Angry Eloy Delando went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI of his own during the Gators’ 13-1 trouncing of the Philadelphia Founders… that purple cap sure looks good on him. Also, RF Dalton Burch, who I called out a couple (or few) posts ago, was at it again for the Brentwood Bishops, finishing 5-for-6 with an RBI, 3 runs, and a walk during our Short A clubs 15-10 win over the Aurora Suns… the Bishops are now 11-0 to start their season. Maybe I should just call that entire club up to LA…

80 of 162: Merl Crawford (7-5, 5.38) @ Cam Murphy (8-4, 2.86)
Win, 11-3. It was the Ethan & Oh show in this one as Mullens went buck during a 4-for-4 day that included 4 scores and 3 RBI while Hong added 2 scores of his own on 3-for-6 hitting… we’d also see Dom clear the bases on a double, Pepper drive one in on his first triple of the year during a 3-for-5 day, and hit 3 doubles, a triple, and 4 TRUCKS as a club. Just a much-needed, offensive explosion at Cam Murphy and Gary Benoit’s expense that will, hopefully, carry us forward as we attempt to secure the series win tomorrow before catching an early-ish flight to Phoenix.


We’ll just leave this right here… as, your boy, Ethan Mullens delivered the top performance of the save yesterday – 4-for-4, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB – which was good enough for the top individual game score so far this year.



Also, a quick aside… Brentwood, after reeling off 11 wins in a row finally dropped one, a 2-7 loss, at home, to the Aurora Suns.

81 of 162: Keith Baeza (6-2, 2.11) @ Mitch Hudkins (6-3, 4.12)
Win, 4-1. We’d score our first run during the top of the 1st for the 3rd game in a row and add a run each in the 6th, 7th, and 8th to put this one out of reach for the home team as we outdueled the Outlaws on their turf in taking the series 2 games to 1. Ono and Pepper each brought in two runs, Pepper’s on a homer, his 5th, and Ono’s on a double, while Baeza performed admirably over 5.1 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball with Ram Chen and Don Haag doing the cleanup work for us. Otto went 2-for-4 and scored, OH HONG and Ethan (one day after setting the game score bar) each earned a PLATINUM SOMBRERO, though Mullens would score after being walked during the 7th, and Cox would help the cause with a perfectly thrown outfield assist to gun Rick Han down at home.


Speaking of Rick Han… is this cat wearing lipstick?

Record: 49-32, .604, 1st NL West
Up Next: No rest for the wicked as we head from the 6th circle of hell to the 7th, heading to the Coyote Den to take on another division rival, and former club of mine, in Phoenix.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (49-32, .604, 1st NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (46-35, .568, 3rd NL West)
Phoenix, who, at this moment, are operating a scant 3 games off our pace in the NL West, find themselves with an opportunity to make up some ground as they will contest their next 6 games against Las Vegas and ourselves, starting with these next three at home. Currently navigating their way through their best season in 3 years, on pace to make it to the playoffs as a wildcard entrant, and in a position to improve their lot in life here, the Phoenix Coyotes have sort of flown under the radar as the more glamorous clubs in the league get the most publicity – that being said, when you take a quick peek under the hood, it should come as no surprise that the Coyotes have positioned themselves so nicely through the first half of the season. Opportunistic offensively – where they rank 7th overall in the National League – and fierce from the mound, Phoenix is formidable without being unreasonably scary… the type of club where anything less than your best will just not suffice. Here, our guys will need to carry our (very) recent form forward, and stay focused on the task at hand, to earn a series win and maintain our perch at the top of the pops.

82 of 162: Jan Hernandez (3-2, 1.34) @ Ferdinand Loving (8-5, 3.14)
Win, 3-2. We’d ride a late rally, punctuated by a top of the 9th, 2-run double from Satoru Ono that gave us the lead, clearing the way for Don Haag to come in during the bottom of the final frame to secure his Major League leading 30th save. 6.1 innings of 6-hit ball from Jan, a nice 3-for-5 day with a run from OH HONG, and a rip-roaring 4-for-5, 2 double, 2 RBI day from Ono to seal the deal would be the story here as we found a way to keep the good times rolling and get off on the good foot against a formidable foe, in their park, who’s doing everything in their power to upend the pecking order in our division.

83 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (4-1, 2.95) @ Landon Sampson (6-4, 2.86)
Loss, 1-3. Rebuffed by Phoenix in Game 2 and unable to claw our way back from a two-run deficit late with our final three batsmen going down in order – Otto on a fly out, Dom on a first pitch ground out, and Hanan looking – as the Coyotes evened things up with the rubber match scheduled for tomorrow. Nakagawa twirled a sparkling, 8-inning, 7-hit, 3-earned performance with 5 K’s but saw his effort wasted as OH HONG, Otto, and Ono went hitless from the heart of the order while Hanan, with an inconsequential double, provided our lone offensive highlight (if you can even call it that). Good stuff from Phoenix’s Sampson today, as is to be expected, as the 33-year-old, 5-time Pacheco Award Winner gave us the business over 7-innings of work where he’d allow only 5 hits, weak little dribblers one and all, 1 earned, and a walk while fanning us 11 times over the course of the game. Nothing to do here but pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get prepared to get after it once more tomorrow.


Elsewhere: Our own LF Aston Monroe, currently plying his trade down in A-ball with the Good Ol’ Watts Warriors, put on the performance of a lifetime as he hit for the CYCLE during an 11-5 win over the Fort Collins Merlins… for the contest, Aston went 4-for-5 with a single, double, triple, and JACK driving in 6 runs while scoring 2 of his own. Monroe, a defense first utility outfielder, who spent some time with the big club in 2078, on a 15-game bid after roster expansion, has the look of a career minor leaguer who will likely turn his attention to getting some work in an independent league somewhere soon.

Note: There are currently ~800 free agents in this save… guys sitting idly by with nothing of note to keep them occupied – it may be time to stand up a new indy league to give these guys something to do besides loitering in my file, taking up space, and bogging things down unnecessarily.

84 of 162: Stephen Estevez (7-3, 2.24) @ Damian Harris (2-2, 3.25)
Win, 5-0. Estevez gave us 5.2 innings of shutout baseball, fanning 3 in the process, and new guy, Kordell Littles, preserved the shutout over 3.1 innings of work, allowing just 2 hits while fanning 3 to earn the first save of his big-league career. Offensively, we’d get small contributions from several players, with Cox, OH HONG, Ono, and Hutchinson each driving in at least 1 run… lot of opportunistic, timely offense for the La La’s in this one – a very workmanlike, efficient, droning victory that likely felt much better than it looked to our fans watching from home. Still, a series win, on the road, against a worthy divisional rival? Yeah, we’ll take that.

Record: 51-33, .607, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head off to the Bay Area where we’ll battle the pedestrian San Jose Seals over 4-games leading into the All-Star break.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (51-33, .607, 1st NL West) @ San Jose Seals (43-42, .506, 5th NL West)
Ambling along without a care in the world, the ho-hum Seals of San Jose have busied themselves by getting by on their good looks… which, if we’re being honest here, are in semi-short supply. Ranked 7th overall offensively, with the 7th ranked pitching staff, buoyed, no doubt, by their starters’ current 5th place ranking in ERA, and sitting at 8th for overall attendance in the National League, this years version of the Seals have seemingly taken a step back from being the 85-77 club that made the playoffs in 2078 and look to be headed, directionally, back to something that more closely resembles the 62-win club they were in ’77. Here, we’ve been afforded with a prime opportunity to close out the pre-Allstar portion of our ’79 campaign on the good foot with some momentum that we can carry forward into the second half.

85 of 162: Merl Crawford (8-5, 5.02) @ Bentley Hunt (10-6, 2.63)
Win, 7-0. A 4-run top of the 2nd that included run-scoring doubles from Bill Cox and Pepper Grant would serve as our opening salvo and we’d just pour it on from there, lapping the Seals en route to a dominate 7-0 win on our way to the finish line while they found it impossible to get themselves out of first gear as Merl put up one of his better performances of the year in 6-innings of work where he’d allow 4-hits while maintaining a clean sheet. Pepper finished with 3 RBI on 2-for-4 hitting, Duarte picked up his 1st save of the year, on a 3-inning, 48-pitch effort, and our club flashed the leather a bit with a well-crafted, around the horn, Grant-Hanan-Ono double play.

86 of 162: Keith Baeza (7-2, 2.07) @ Lucas Torres (8-5, 3.93)
Loss, 2-6. San Jose held us in check here, running up their total to 4 before we’d manage to get our first across – a 6th inning, run-scoring double from Otto – and continuing to add to the tally a couple more times before calling it a day. Unheralded first baseman, Ryan Wright, was the star of the show for San Jose, finishing 2-for-4 with a run-scoring double and a 2-run TANK on the day while Torres dealt from the mound, holding us down like a big brother charged with babysitting while Mom and Dad are out on the town over 7.2 innings of work, allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned while doling out 5 free passes and securing 10 K’s… included two each for Otto, Pepper, and Kyle Weaver.


Elsewhere: Shawn Sullivan, Left Fielder for the Charlotte Imperials, led his club during their 8-6 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, in Canada, with a 4-for-6 day that included THREE DOUBLES and 6 total RBI. Born and bred in Lowell, MA, Sully’s quietly putting together a nice campaign in 2079… .318/.350/.518 with 5 dingers, 19 riblets, a 153 OPS+, and 0.7 WAR so far. If this kid could field a lick, he’d really have something… as it is he has the look of a player that is making his living on the main stage by virtue of being the best of a so-so bunch.

87 of 162: Jan Hernandez (3-2, 1.50) @ Brody John (0-2, 7.07)
Win, 3-1. Our 3-run top of the 2nd would, ultimately, spell San Jose’s doom – starting off with a run-scoring double from Cox and followed up by a 2-run DING DONG from Ono – as we’d rely on our pitching to close the show the rest of the way … Jan went 5.1, allowing 2 hits, a run, and 3 walks while fanning 5, and Duarte, 2.2 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, would secure the hold before handing the pill off to Haag for save #31 on 10 total pitches during the bottom of the 9th. The win wouldn’t come without bad news, however, as Ethan Mullens left the game with an arm injury late and is expected to miss 5 weeks with a sore elbow after Team Trainer, Hidetoshi Hasegawa, got a good look at him. That’s not ideal. Bill Cox will slide over to RF, Kyle Weaver will be installed as our temporary starter in LF… meh.

Also, because we need to know who will be playing, the All-Star rosters have been announced.

Highlights from the AL…
SP Michael Brisk (PDX)* - 7-3, 2.48 ERA, 105.1 IP, 1.24 WHIP, 6.7 K/9, 2.2 WAR
SP Peter Garcia (DET) - 8-3, 2.50 ERA, 111.2 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 3.3 WAR
C Rex Engelstad (DEN)* - .287/.402/.429, 254 AB, 8 HR, 147 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
1B Paulo Legna (DET)* - .317/.385/.484, 341 AB, 15 HR, 1 SB, 158 wRC+, 3.8 WAR
2B Richard McTaggart (TOR)* - .292/.332/.440, 318 AB, 12 HR, 5 SB, 128 wRC+, 2.1 WAR
LF Aitor Cubas (SEA)* - .231/.374/.388, 286 AB, 12 HR, 7 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.0 WAR

Highlights from the NL…
SP Stephen Estevez (LAL)* - 8-3, 2.11 ERA, 98.0 IP, 0.85 WHIP, 11.7 K/9, 3.5 WAR
SP Bradley Hughes (BRK) - 8-2, 2.52 ERA, 107.1 IP, 0.93 WHIP, 12.8 K/9, 3.9 WAR
SP Josiah Kawka (BRK) - 10-5, 1.88 ERA, 138.2 IP, 0.95 WHIP, 6.0 K/9, 2.4 WAR
SP Cathal Magill (MIA) - 11-1, 2.39 ERA, 113.0 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 2.8 WAR
SP Landon Sampson (PHX) - 7-4, 2.74 ERA, 92.0 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 13.3 K/9, 4.4 WAR
CL Johnny Dial (LV)* - 1-0, 29 SV, 0.86 ERA, 42.0 IP, 0.79 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 1.2 WAR
CL Don Haag (LAL) - 1-4, 31 SV, 1.27 ERA, 42.2 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, 2.0 WAR
C Dominic Cooke (LAL)* - .256/.325/.466, 266 AB, 12 HR, 138 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
1B Tom Franzone (PIT)* - .295/.370/.510, 349 AB, 19 HR, 157 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
1B Satoru Ono (LAL) - .259/.334/.444, 320 AB, 13 HR, 131 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
2B Telma Taveras (MIA) - .284/.327/.463, 296 AB, 10 HR, 5 SB, 134 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
SS Ray Gerhold (LV)* - .324/.449/.447, 284 AB, 6 HR, 9 SB, 169 wRC+, 4.3 WAR (Injured)
LF Palmer Parker (PHI)* - .329/.411/.526, 310 AB, 12 HR, 175 wRC+, 3.9 WAR
CF Otto Isaac (LAL)* - .266/.368/.500, 312 AB, 19 HR, 12 SB, 156 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
RF Mack Ramirez (PIT)* - .253/.325/.519, 312 AB, 24 HR, 147 wRC+, 2.6 WAR

88 of 162: Masaya Nakagawa (4-2, 2.99) @ Julen Morales (4-7, 4.24)
Win, 4-2 (10). Down 2 runs to nil after 5, we’d rally for the tie in the top of the 8th on a 2-run DINGER from Ono, and, eventually, put the winning runs across during the top of the 10th on an OTTO ISAAC 2-run BLAST, his 20th of the year, to head into the All-Star break on a win… Major Hansen had the win added to his permanent record after giving us 3 hard scrabble innings in relief where he’d allow only one hit while fanning three, and Haag converted his 32nd save in 34 tries to hold off the less-than-hard-charging San Jose Seals for the series win.

Record: 54-34, .613, 1st NL West
Up Next: The All-Star festivities, which I may (or may not) write up, followed by a 3-game series in Brooklyn where we’ll battle the Citizens on the field and the hipsters in the stands…