Los Angeles Leopards (SVMLB)

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (7-6, .538, 3rd NL West) @ San Jose Seals (4-8, .333, 6th NL West)
Over the last 9 years, where they’ve finished no better than 3rd (once – in 2078) in the NL West, the San Jose Seals have perfected the art of being your prototypical Bay Area scumbag – just a club filled with nondescript malcontents, scallywags, and so-so ballplayers content to go through the motions, putting up the minimum amount of effort required, while religiously collecting their admittedly inflated checks on every other Friday. It’s hard to understand how they get away with it, how they draw in any fans at all from the Bay Area Bourgeoises when the sole purpose of this club seems to be lining its owners pockets with revenue sharing money, a gate share tipped in his favor (no one shows up in San Jose), and the income tax savings he's been able to apply to his other endeavors through creative accounting due to the local governments willingness to bend over backwards to get him to keep the team in NorCal. This ain’t no ball club, it’s an ATM on the fritz that still, somehow, finds a way to dispense cold hard currency every once in a while.


Elsewhere: Otto Isaac, the man, the myth, the local area legend, took home the Player of the Week hardware in the National League… your boy went 9-for-23 with 2 DING DONGS, 7 RBI, and 2 runs last week. Good on you, old chap…

14 of 162: Dwight Beasley (0-1, 6.52) @ Ty Peterson (0-1, 9.82)
Win, 8-2. It’d take a herculean effort during the top of the 8th, punctuated by a 2-run BLAST courtesy of Satoru Ono, to get ourselves back into this one after San Jose scratched and clawed their way to a 2-1 lead during the bottom of the previous frame… all told we’d put 5 bad ones on the board during that inning and add two more during the top of the 9th to rub copious amounts of salt into the Seals’ sliced up ego as we proceeded to dismantle them in front of the few fans who were bored enough to show up. Dom managed to drive in two, hitting a double in a PH appearance, and Walt Tignor, Pepper’s replacement who hasn’t quite shown the ability to fill his shoes just yet, ran his RBI total up to 5 on the year, bring in two during this contest on a triple. Good stuff from Beasley too – 6 innings, 4 hits, and nothing earned – with Kordell Littles’ season debut being spoiled by a 2-run TANK from Raymond Hayes before Ram Chen came on to close up shop.

15 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (1-0, 4.22) @ Calvin Fox (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 4-5. There’d be no late game magic as our 9th inning rally to knot this one up at 4 each wouldn’t hold through the bottom of the frame as SS Jalen Payton hit a SOLO SHOT off Armendariz to send our guys to the showers a shell of our former selves. Ethan hit a solo shot during a 2-for-4 day and now has 3 dingers and 9 RBI on the year, DOM hit a 3-run DING DONG to bring his RBI total up to 12, good enough for second on the club behind Otto’s 14, and after McNeil was chased out of this one during the 4th inning, Kordell and Armendariz, who took the L today, would continue that trend, allowing a run each in relief.


Elsewhere: LF Jimar Givens, of the Portland Pioneers, went 4-for-5 with a DINGER, 4 RBI, and 2 runs to lead his squad to a resounding 8-5 win over their Cascadia rival in Vancouver. Portland is off to a rough, 4-8 start to the year, but with this win is hoping that they’ve successfully taken some of the wind out of Vancouver’s sails as the Mounties came out gangbusters, sprinting out to a 10-3 record on this young season.

16 of 162: Stephen Estevez (1-1, 3.95) @ Lucas Torres (1-1, 3.57)
Loss, 6-7. Don Haag is in shambles… giving up the game-winning, walk-off, run-scoring single to backup backstop, Alleyne Jennings, to drop his record to an unacceptable 1-4 on the year with the 10.29 ERA that goes along with it… we’d have our moments – a run-scoring two-bagger and 2-run TANK from Hutchinson would power the offense, a tasty little Paulino-Hutchinson-Ono double play set a nice defensive tone, and Kyle Weaver, subbing out Ethan today, finished 2-for-4 with 2 scores. Our problem, in somewhat of a recurring theme, was the pitching as Estevez gave up 5 runs in less than 4-innings of work, Duarte watched one sail over the fence during his time on the bump, and Don Haag, who we’ve already established is in ABSOLUTE SHAMBLES, was out there soft tossing meatballs to San Jose like he didn’t have a care in the world… absolutely disgraceful.


Elsewhere: Hamza McDonnell, donning the away grays for the Philadelphia Founders, sent three balls OVER THE FENCE during a 4-for-6, 3 RBI day to power his clubs offense to a resounding 10-5 victory over the Miami Herons… all told, Philly would smash 5 out during the contest with Palmer Parker and 3B Alexander McDonald joining the cause for the visitors.

Record: 8-8, .500, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll take a day off to rest and reflect on where things have come off the rails before getting back after it, at home, against the New York Sluggers of the American League.

[pauwoo]

New York Sluggers (5-11, .312, 5th AL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (8-8, .500, 3rd NL West)
The Sluggers are expected to finish below .500 and out of the cake for the 3rd time in the last five seasons as they resign themselves to one more year spent as a stationary buoy whose only purpose seems to be guiding clubs like ours safely into harbor… this years version unsuccessfully pairs an offense that is ranked dead last in the American League in runs, OBP, and homers with a staff that finds itself ranked no higher than 10th in any of categories that matter – if you believe that bullpen ERA matters, that is. Here, we have an opportunity to right the ship, to make the necessary repairs to curb our listing portside, and chart course back on a line to the promised land with only the stars to guide our way… oh, hell, who am I kidding… if we can find a way to get the series win, that’ll do just fine – any hull repairs we schedule will likely require more than just three games to fix anyway…

17 of 162: Cole Guzman (1-1, 3.00) @ Merl Crawford (1-1, 6.75)
Win, 8-2. Here we’d come out like a superyacht connected to a global network of satellites guiding our way through the straights, into the channel, and eventually to the dock without finding it necessary to even look up from our book, Black Flags, Blue Waters, as our vessel did all the work as if on autopilot. The offense, in full swashbuckling mode, did the dirt with Ethan bringing two around on a double, his 1st two-bagger of 2080, followed by Hong, Isaac, Cooke, Rolon, Tignor, and Rodriguez each bringing in 1 to give nearly every guy we sent to the plate at least one riblet on the day… and the pitching, finally, was stout with Merl turning in a 6-inning, 2-hit, 1 earned performance backed by 2-innings in relief from Duarte and Nakagawa closing the door with an 8-pitch top of the 9th.


Elsewhere: RF Dalton Burch, still down on the farm sowing his oats with the Watts Warriors, went 4-for-5 with 2 TANKS, 5 RBI, and 2 runs during a 5-9 LOSS to the Modesto Beasts… talk about being the whole show… and, it’s not like this was an anomaly for the Warriors either as they’ve rarely come out to play so far, posting a 5-12 record and showing everyone within the organization that kids may very well NOT be alright.

18 of 162: Hudson Dorsch (0-1, 6.75) @ Jan Hernandez (1-0, 1.17)
Loss, 2-4. One day we’re a superyacht and the next we’re that Panamanian schooner from Subbacultcha where Black Francis’ mere presence on the boat is enough to capsize it altogether… a 3-run top of the 6th capped off with a 2-run CONTINENTAL GTC courtesy of shortstop C. J. Bentley would be our undoing here as the staff, while mostly solid, would find a way to come unglued as Kordell proved to our front office that he’s just not ready for prime time, allowing 3 earned runs and ballooning his ERA up to an unacceptable 23.14 in only 2.1 innings of work on the big club… back to the docks to try to find some work on a codfish boat for Mr. Littles…

And, with that… Kordell Littles returns to Compton to continue his tutelage under the watchful gaze of AAA pitching coach extraordinaire, Wil Garcia, while RP Wayne Matthews joins us on the big club for some fun in the sun.


Elsewhere: CF Joey Kirkpatrick, an Issaquah, WA native currently attending PCU as a Whooping Crane, did it up nice for his team in Anchorage, finishing 2-for-4 with 2 DING DONGS, 8 TOTAL RBI, and 2 runs during a lively, 11-5 win over the Seawolves to help his club improve to an 11-19 record on the year… which will, as you can imagine, not get it done if they have designs on getting an invite to the NCAA Tournament in May.

19 of 162: Simon DeSantis (0-2, 3.60) @ Dwight Beasley (0-1, 4.02)
Win, 11-5. We’d ride a 5-run 3rd and a 5-run 5th to victory as Otto led the charge during a 2-for-5 day that included a run-scoring double, 3-RUN DING DONG, and 2 runs while OH HONG fell in line right behind him driving in 3 of his own on two singles and a SOLO SHOT during a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Mullens, Hendo, Ono, and Tignor each contributed a run batted in, William showed the arm off a bit with a tasty little OF assist, catching Lewandowski trying to stretch a double into a triple at 3rd, and Dwight Beasley would be credited with the win, his 1st of the year, despite newcomer, Wayne Matthews trying to give it away by allowing three runners to plate in his 2.1 innings of work.

Record: 10-9, .526, 4th NL West
Up Next: We’ll make the cross-country trek out to Buffalo where the Nickels await our arrival for a 3-game, interleague set to close out April…

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (10-9, .526, 4th NL West) @ Buffalo Nickels (12-6, .667, 2nd AL East)
If the preseason punditry is to be trusted than the Buffalo Nickels, coming in hot at 12-6 on the year so far, are punching well above their weight at the start of the 2080 campaign… Newcomers Rich Hamilton (156 OPS+, .425 OBP, 4 runs, 13 RBI) and 3B Germaine Sturdivant (126 OPS+, .500 SLG, 3 HR, 2 RBI) are both off to a solid start with their new club, and the pitching staff is doing the dirt, ranked 4th overall in the American League with the 4th rated Bullpen ERA, 3rd rated pWAR, and 2nd rated FIP in the AL. My sense here is that Buffalo is both not as good as they look and lucky that we’re coming to town – if only so they can fool their hometown faithful into holding on to this newfound hope by bullying us on their playground over the next three games…

20 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (1-0, 5.02) @ Roddy Dubey (0-2, 5.68)
Win, 22-0. Otto Isaac went 4-for-6 with a GRAND SLAM, a 3-run TANK, 8 total RBI and 4 runs to power the offense, with everyone else falling in line behind him, while our staff gave Buffalo the business with McNeil turning in 6-innings of 3-hit filthiness and Duarte closing the show with a 3-inning save… peep the carnage below…



21 of 162: Stephen Estevez (1-1, 5.71) @ Vince Welcome (2-0, 5.62)
Loss, 0-20. See, what had happened was… we arrived back at the ballpark, cocksure, full of bravado and all hopped up on our own success and then proceeded to have the snot beat out of us as Buffalo, no worse for wear after getting lambasted yesterday, dug deep to return the favor and inflicted some carnage of their own…



Elsewhere: Otto snared the Top Batter award in the National League for his performance in April… in 21 games your boy hit .337 with 9 JACKS, 29 RBI and 20 runs…

22 of 162: Merl Crawford (2-1, 5.12) @ Victor Forrest (2-0, 4.05)
Loss, 0-3. We’d get shutout for the second game in a row as Buffalo’s SP Victor Forrest secured his 3rd win of the year after putting in 7.1-innings of work, allowing just 4 hits with nothing earned, and fanning 7. And, while our baserunning was solid with SB’s for Otto and D-Rod, we’d leave 5 men stranded, fail to secure even one extra base hit, and strike out 9 times as a unit with Oh Hong’s three K’s leading the way. Nothing doing here folks, I mean the pitching was okay – Merl allowed only one runner to plate over 6-innings of work with Ram Chen allowing two more in relief – but we’d not do enough on either side of the ball to put ourselves in a position to win this one and somehow manage to get outscored 23-22 for the series, after putting up all of those runs in game one, as we fall back to .500 at 11-11 on the year. That’s not wonderful.

Record: 11-11, .500, 5th NL West
Up Next: We’ll continue to sleepwalk our way through the 2080 campaign with our status as a perennial contender in its death throes as we return home to face the Montreal Alouettes over the weekend.

[pauwoo]

Montreal Alouettes (10-12, .455, 4th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (11-11, .500, 5th NL West)
Montreal looks like a mirror image of our club – where our offense has shined, their’s seems to be what is holding them back from reaching their full potential, whatever that is, while their staff has been a top 3 unit in the National League, capable of shutting any opponent down, while ours has not. Here, we’ll get the back end of their rotation, which, it should be noted, has been every bit as good as the top of it, and will get our first visit from Pepper who left via free agency in the offseason and has, unfortunately, failed to live up to the contract he signed with Montreal thus far at .164/.263/.224, one homer and six total RBI’s on the year.

23 of 162: Rad Taylor (2-2, 3.38) @ Jan Hernandez (1-1, 1.33)
Win, 5-2 (10). Otto strikes again, continuing his torrid start to the 2080 campaign… here he’d serve up the win during the bottom of the 10th, 2 men on, RP Steven Barbaccia on the bump, when he sent a 3-RUN MAMA JAMA over the fence, turning back the Alouettes and getting this set off on a high note… Montreal Starter, Rad Taylor, held it down for the Alouettes over the first 5.2innings of the game – proud of the kid, we traded him during the tricentennial campaign in ’76 for Mack Ramirez (who’s now doing his thing in Pittsburgh) and RP Orlando Vasquez whose development has all but stalled out – but his bullpen would give up the game while our staff, led by Jan’s 6.1-inning, 2 earned effort, would do enough with Ram Chen stifling our visitors over 1.2-innings before Haag came on to earn his second win in 2-innings of work.


Elsewhere: Tony Voorhis, at home in his Detroit Motors kit as he enters his 3rd season with the club since leaving us in ’77, went 3-for-4 with 2 DING DONGS, 3 RBI, 3 runs, and a walk, as his team strolled to an 11-2 home win over the visiting Portland Pioneers… with the win, Detroit continues their rip-roaring start to the 2080 campaign and now hold a 2-game lead in the AL East at 17-6 so far on the year.

24 of 162: Norm Rodriquez (2-1, 2.91) @ Dwight Beasley (1-1, 3.43)
Win, 9-2. Dwight Beasley put together a nice, 6.1-inning, 2-hit, 2-earned, 5 K effort, picking up his 3rd win on the year, and Ethan Mullins got after it a bit on offense, finishing 3-for-5 with a double and 3 total RBI, leading the offense with Otto’s 2 RBI and Hutchinson’s 3 more contributing to the cause. Three doubles, a dinger, one swiped bag, Otto’s 2nd this season, and a well thrown, 2.2-innings of relief work courtesy of Duarte would round things out for us here as we position ourselves for a confidence-boosting sweep should we have the wherewithal to get it done tomorrow.

25 of 162: Joseph Grace (2-1, 2.66) @ Stephen Estevez (1-2, 7.84)
Win, 4-0. SWEEP CITY. The boys would get it done on the back of a vintage, lights out, performance from Estevez who’d nearly go the distance in 8.2-innings of filthiness where he’d only allow a scant 2 hits, followed by an equally vintage, 2-pitch save from Haag who runs his save tally up to 5 for his efforts. OH HONG put one out, Hutchinson hit a run-scoring double, and Demetri was credited with an RBI after drawing a bases-loaded walk. Just a clean, workmanlike effort from the club where all involved, to a man, did his job dutifully and with purpose. Pepper, it should be noted, went 2-for-11 in his return to Los Angeles – which is probably not how he drew it up.

Record: 14-11, .560, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll make the trek back out East, with a stop in Pittsburgh for a 3-game set before turning right back around to head out West with a stop in Sin City.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (14-11, .560, 2nd NL West) @ Pittsburgh Pipers (12-13, .480, 3rd NL East)
Off to a sluggish start but with plenty of runway left to get this season off the ground, the Pittsburgh Pipers are thought of as an also-ran, lucky enough to ply their trade in the moribund NL East where 4 of the 6 clubs look like cellar dwellers on paper. They should finish a smidge above .500, have an outside chance of earning one of three wildcard slots (we’ve reduced the number of playoff teams by one this year), and will hopefully not waste any of Tom Franzone’s prime years by not at least making it to the postseason. It’s a tall order, making the playoffs, for a team like the one they’ve constructed here – pairing a ho-hum, protein-deficient offense, with an equally ho-hum staff lacking in even the basics required to whip up a solid home cooked meal… these guys are just kind of out there, in the middle of the road, daring oncoming traffic to clip them as they fly by, sending their club careening into the ditch as just another casualty of the MLB regular season.

Also, some good news… C Dom Cooke is back and will be rejoining the fold with C Jorge Teixeira returning to Compton to help handle our developing staff.

26 of 162: Merl Crawford (2-2, 4.26) @ Paul Yeager (1-1, 6.00)
Loss, 3-4. The Pipers had scored all 4 of their runs by the bottom of the 4th, before we’d even brought one across, and their defense would find a way to hold onto it despite Yeager slowing down long enough in the 7th for our guys to catch up to him a little bit – charging 3 runs to his account before getting shut down by relievers Justin Esson and Cristian Cassiano. Our offensive work came in fits and starts with OH HONG, Ono, and Demetri bringing our runs across while Merl continues his early season struggles with another suspect outing, this time allowing 4 runners to plate over a mere 5-innings of work. Look, this one was close, our ill-fated rally attempt gave proof that our guys didn’t get all dressed up for nothing, and knowing that you can’t win them all, we’ll move forward from this defeat and look to take the next two to secure our 2nd series win in a row.

27 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (2-0, 3.54) @ Jaxson Mottola (0-1, 0.64)
Loss, 3-4. Here it’d be our club that scored all its runs early, with Pittsburgh mounting a fiercely satisfying rally that they were able to bring all the way home, culminating in a Jalen Schau run-scoring double during the bottom of the 8th that would prove to be the difference maker. McNeil gave a good account of himself over 5-innings of work, allowing 4 hits with none of those baserunners finding their way home, but, once again, our bullpen proved themselves unable to hold the line as Armendariz faltered, failing to stop the barbarians at the gate as Tom Franzone and his merry men banked their second win of the set, assuring the series victory and putting themselves in a position to sweep.

28 of 162: Jan Hernandez (1-1, 1.69) @ Robby Garrett (3-2, 4.45)
Loss, 0-3. And just like that, after looking gangbusters at home against Montreal and earning a sweep, we’d find ourselves on the wrong side of one against Pittsburgh, in their house… getting summarily dismissed, with prejudice, after being locked down by Robby Garrett and a couple of his friends and falling victim to Mack Ramirez who went yard twice against us, the first off Jan and 2nd off Armendariz. There’s really not much to say about this one – Mullens hit a double, Tignor was hit by a pitch, and our pitching, as is their wont, continued to operate without patching up any of their leaks, threatening to capsize this season before it’s even had a chance to breathe a little bit. Look, you never know what you’re going to get with OOTP, sure, you can have a pretty good idea and even an understanding of what is possible, but a 14-14 start to the 2080 campaign was certainly the furthest thing from my mind when we got things rolling on 2080. We could be in for quite the harrowing journey…


Elsewhere: 1B Robin Mabuza, a recent minor league signing who hails from Manzini, Eswatini that we signed to see if we could get any use out of the one tool he does seem to have (60 GAP) down on the farm, gave a good account of himself in Watts today – 4-for-5, 2 doubles, 3 RBI, and 3 runs – playing a huge role in securing a 13-4 win, at home, over the visiting Cheyenne Rattlers. If this kid were to fly home from Los Angeles, his total airtime would be ~28 hours with the best/cheapest itinerary I can find for him using three airlines (SWISS, Lufthansa, and Airlink), taking a total of 33 hours and 40 minutes, and costing a cold, hard $3.8k. I’m pulling for the kid, I really am.

Record: 14-14, .500, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’re in the thick of it now, unsteady on our feet, unsure about our place in the world and who we are deep inside, and find ourselves on a flight bound for Las Vegas with 3 dates in their park up next on the docket.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (14-14, .500, 2nd NL West) @ Las Vegas Outlaws (13-15, .464, 5th NL West)
On paper, it’s Las Vegas then Los Angeles… everyone else in the NL West is meaningless, fodder for Kings like us. The reality, however, has been something else – up is down, left is right, the toilet is flushing counter-clockwise, and the tissue is loaded such that you have to pull from the bottom to get what you need, touching the wall, squares that you’re not removing from the roll, and spreading bacteria like some preteen who refuses to shower… in short, reality has run amok with ourselves and the Outlaws struggling to stay afloat while the Austin Friggin’ Grackles rule the roost at 19-11, setting a pace 4-games better than our own. And, look, Vegas has been a weird one, okay – they dominated off the line, winning their first 6 contests in back to back sweeps before dropping a set to, you guessed it, Austin and then finishing the month of April at 10-10. Currently, and not unlike us, they’re mired in a poor start to May at 3-5 so far, and have to be looking at these 3-games against us, in their house, as their best path back to respectability. Something’s got to give… my hope here is that it’s not us. I mean, I like my job and I’d like to keep it.

29 of 162: Dwight Beasley (2-1, 3.29) @ Evan Church (0-1, 6.48)
Win, 4-2. OH HONG’s 2-run MOONSHOT during the top of the 3rd served as our opening salvo with runs driven in by Hutchinson and Tignor acting as the difference-makers in this one for us… Hendo swiped a bag, the 3rd one of those he’s added to his collection so far, Beasley and Matthews each gave up only 1 earned run, and Haag, who we hope is back in the saddle for good, gave us 1.2-innings in relief, fanning 3, and earning his 6th save of the year. We also gave Evan Church the business in this one – charging each of our runs to his account – while our staff kept Cubas off balance during an uncharacteristic 0-for-4 night with former Leopard, Andy Shepard, providing their lone offensive highlight, a 2-run blast off Wayne where one of the runners was inherited. Bottom line, folks, is this… we’ve managed to put those three loses in Pittsburgh in the rearview mirror and found a way to win what I have no doubt will be an important game in the larger scheme of things… two more to go. Gotta have it.


Elsewhere: Danbury’s RF Van Van Gundy, highlighted here as much for his funny moniker as his game performance, led the Buffalo affiliate he’s a member of to a resounding 18-5 win over the Daytona Beach Hurricanes with a 5-for-6 day at the plate that included a JACK, 5 RBI, and 3 runs… this kid isn’t exactly a stud – he’s got no pop, no eye – but he can field, hits for contact, puts balls into the gap, and doesn’t strike out that often (10.3% of the time so far in A-ball). In short, the Blue Mountain State legend will undoubtedly make it to primetime and while he’ll not likely be a star, he’ll contribute more than just making me smile every time I see his stupid name.

30 of 162: Stephen Estevez (2-2, 5.52) @ Lee Myers (1-1, 2.53)
Win, 4-0. Otto, never one to miss an opportunity to assert himself as top dog, went 2-for-5 with a 2-run BLAST during the top of the 1st that would put us up by 2 with Ono and Tignor trickling a couple more in before all was said and done – as it turns out, it’d be more than enough as Estevez combined with Armendariz and Chen on the clean sheet, fanning 10 hapless hitters between them and doing what was required to ensure that we’d come away with a hard-earned series win against our most reviled of division rivals. Ahh, who am I kidding, we hate them all. Equally.

31 of 162: Merl Crawford (2-3, 4.75) @ Cam Murphy (4-1, 1.36)
Win, 4-2 (12). We’ve now been part of three sweeps in a row – two that were great and another we’d rather forget – as the Yellow Tops put their recent past behind them and got down to business against the Outlaws, in Sin City, to crib three in a row off the supposed division favorite entering the 2080 campaign. Kyle Weaver played the hero role in this one – he’d blast a 2-run TANK in a PH at bat that would ultimately be the difference maker for us and Don Haag, one of 7 hurlers who tossed it around for us a bit today, managed to pick up his 3rd win of the season, improving to 3-4 on the year with 6 saves.

Record: 17-14, .548, 2nd NL West
Up Next: We’ll head to the Bay Area for the second time this season to get after it against the San Jose Seals over a 3-game set.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (17-14, .548, 2nd NL West) @ San Jose Seals (12-19, .387, 6th NL West)
After turning in a dreadful 7-13 record in April, San Jose has looked marginally better so far in May, already managing to win 5 of 11, including their last two over the 1st place Austin Grackles (it sounds so weird when I type it). Their 5th ranked NL offense has been powering them to whatever success they’ve had, while their pitching, ranked 12th in Bullpen ERA, FIP, and Runs Against, and no better than 10th anywhere else, has been a wholesale disappoint for anyone even remotely associated with the Seals. And, it’s not like they have a stockpile of soon to be developed Major League talent in their development system either – it’s as ho-hum as what they present on the big stage, ranked 13th out of 24 systems, and with no real potential superstars waiting in the wings. The Seals are just a poorly managed, ill-conceived ballclub, idling along with no real sense of direction, no obvious goals, and a future that looks as bleak as the night is black.

32 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (2-0, 2.84) @ Cliff Slavinski (0-2, 6.07)
Win, 6-4. Whenever SP Cliff Slavinski’s name comes up in this save, I think of Cliff Claven from Cheers, which is weird because I never really watched Cheers so it sort of comes out like some memory from deep within my subconscious whose origin is unclear… here, Cliff Slavinski, a different character altogether, was taken to the cleaner by our boys who’d give him the business during every one of the 4.2 innings he pitched, charging 6 runs to his account, and teeing off on his weak, low-movement fastball twice. McNeil was better, not by a significant order of magnitude, but better enough – he’d last almost as long, allowing 3 earned while fanning 6, before we’d call upon the pen to hold things down for us. OH HONG and OTTO put balls out, with Hong’s being a tasty little 3-run TANK, and Hutchinson, who opened our scoring during the top of the 2nd, entered his 19th RBI on the year into the permanent record on a single during a 1-for-4 day. Ram Chen picked up his 4th hold, Haag his 7th save, and we are, as they say, off to the races in San Jose.

Of Note: Ethan is headed to the IL with an Elbow Strain – sort of a precautionary measure as we could’ve taken it day-to-day… it’s just, we extended him this year and don’t want it to become a lingering thing because we didn’t feel like shuffling things around a bit so he could heal properly… in his stead, Nash Aguilar will return to the fold, slotting in as our starting Right Fielder, batting 8th against righties, and 9th against the southpaws.

33 of 162: Jan Hernandez (1-2, 1.99) @ Ty Peterson (1-3, 5.52)
Loss, 1-3. Ty Peterson showed out for San Jose, giving us the business over 5-innings of work and setting an early tone with 5 K’s, and the San Jose offense managed to piece together 3 runs despite not hitting a single EBH on the day… Nothing doing for us – the pitching was fine, not great, with Jan, Wayne, and Major Hansen each giving up a run during their time on the bump, with Hansen’s outing being low-key egregious as he’d allow a run on 5 total pitches and not record a single out. The offense seemed to sputter a bit without Ethan hitting from the top of it even though our only run would come courtesy of a Demetri Rodriguez double from the leadoff spot.


Elsewhere: SP Zach Barton, a 26-year-old hurler from New York, NY, who is currently plying his trade with the Orlando Stars (a Miami Affiliate) in AAA, put together the pitching performance of a lifetime, NO HITTING the Shreveport Cranes during an 8-0 win for his club… his line – 9 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 12 K’s, and the W – showed a little bit of what he can do, though his movement and control look to limit his ceiling. He tossed 5-innings with the big club in Miami last season though, posting a 0.69 ERA for his troubles, so, who knows, maybe my scout is wildly wrong about this guy.

34 of 162: Dwight Beasley (3-1, 3.03) @ Anthony Boswell (0-1, 3.00)
Win, 18-3. We’d continue our feast or famine routine here, putting 18 bad ones on the board, in San Jose, making their wives rethink marriages, their girlfriends wonder whether they should skip the after party and get back on the market, and their mistresses look at all the useless jewelry they’ve been gifted while wondering if this thing will ever include anything resembling commitment. OH HONG and Walt Tignor would lead the way, each driving in 5 runs, with Hong blasting two longballs out of the park, each a 2-run shot, and Walt hitting his 1st TRUCK of the season to drive in the first 3 of his 5. Five doubles, 3 TANKS, two SAC BUNTS (Hendo & Hutch), two SAC FLIES (Tignor and Aguilar), and 18 scores despite leaving 10 more stranded – this was a blood bath, that pivotal scene from a slasher film where the audience has to decide whether to tuck tail and run or stick it out to see how the good guys will get out of whatever mess they’ve found themselves in… and, for those in attendance that left during the stretch – smart move, this one had a wholly unsatisfying, Skeleton Key-esque ending that you’re better off without.

Record: 19-15, .559, 2nd NL West – don’t look now, but we’re only 1 ½ games off the unreal pace currently being set by the Austin Grackles.
Up Next: The Charlotte Imperials will pay us a visit in Los Angeles over the weekend, giving us a chance to improve to 3-0 on Sunday games, at home, while donning our alternate kit.

[pauwoo]

Charlotte Imperials (14-21, .400, 5th AL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (19-15, .558, 2nd NL West)
Like our last opponent, the San Jose Seals, Charlotte boasts a smash mouth offense paired with a poorly conceived, wholly incapable staff ranked 11th or worse in every category that matters, hell bent on holding their club back from approaching anything resembling contention. They have some interesting pieces – 2B Mike Duncan (30yo, 76/76), CF Nick Arredondo (24yo, 57/57), and LF Lynden Urmanski (27yo, 57/57) come to mind – but after that the cupboard is bare save a half-eaten bag of stale chips and a jar of Skippy peanut butter so old that its expiration date has rubbed off. This is as good an opportunity as any to make up some ground on Austin, who is locking horns with the even more dreadful, 12-23 Boston Shamrocks over the weekend, and to get the home crowd on their feet as we style on an American League opponent in our park.

35 of 162: Cameron Fletcher (1-2, 5.70) @ Stephen Estevez (3-2, 4.67)
Win, 6-2. Estevez came out gangbusters, striking out the side in the 1st and finishing with 10 on the day, and put in 7-innings of 1-hit work to set the tone for us here while the offense gave a good enough account of themselves to make sure Charlotte was kept at arm’s length. Hutch and Aguilar would each drive in two, with Carson’s coming on a double, while OH HONG and Otto each got in on it a bit with run-scoring singles during the bottom of the 8th to improve our margin to +4. Charlotte, to their credit, gave it all they had – the defense was stout, posting 3 DP’s and an OF Assist that saw Hutchinson get gunned down at home by Urmanski .

36 of 162: Ryan Sodergren (1-0, 1.24) @ Merl Crawford (2-3, 4.58)
Win, 5-1. Otto Isaac set the tone early with a 2-run DING DONG during the bottom of the 1st and we’d not look back from there as the offense would pour on 3 more before all was said and done with Hutch bringing two in on a two-bagger, and Hendo driving one in on a single. The pitching, as I’m sure the final tally suggests, was sturdy with Crawford turning in his finest performance so far in 2080 to improve to 3-3 on the year and Don Haag closing the door in the 9th with 2 K’s on 12 total pitches. Another double play for Charlotte – they’re nothing if not determined – this one a yo-yo, Ramis-Norris-Ramis effort that made me, ever so briefly, imagine Harold Ramis and Chuck Norris doing the dirt for the Imperials here. Weird.

37 of 162: Gareth Bertrand (0-4, 5.16) @ Dontrell McNeil (2-0, 3.34)
Loss, 4-5. All good things must come to an end… here we’d be saddled with our first home Sunday loss of the season as the never-quit, never-surrender Charlotte Imperials, thanks to a timely 4th-inning, 2-run double that we’d not recover from courtesy of Ethan Masson and a rock-solid, and gutsy 6-inning showing from Gareth Betrand. OH HONG did his level best to win this one for us by himself – 2-for-4, 2 TANKS, 3 RBI – but no one else could be bothered to follow suit as the Imperials managed to pick themselves up after being manhandled so completely during the first two games and give us a little smack to the jaw on their way out of town. This one’s on us – fair play to them.


To Be Filed Under: Holy Frijoles – Tony Voorhis, on the road with his Detroit Motors down in Mexico City, would rehydrate after a Mezcal-fueled Saturday night to finish 3-for-5 with 3 MACK TRUCKS, each a solo shot, to lead his squad to a thorough, 12-6 shellacking of the Jaguars. Tony Toni Tone now has 15 TANKS on the year with a .353/.379/.798 slash, 225 OPS+ and 1.9 in WAR so far this season… he’s a man on a mission,

Record: 21-16, .567, 2nd NL West
Up Next: Boston is headed our way for a 3-game set… I expect that the good times will continue rolling.

[pauwoo]

A Quick Tip of the Ol’ Cap… Your boy, OH HONG, was named this week’s best performer, posting a .435 average with 6 TRUCKS, 12 RBI, and 10 runs for the week. This marks Hong’s 4th time wining the PoTW honor, with his last time being nearly 1-year ago on May 29th, 2079.

Boston Shamrocks (13-24, .351, 6th AL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (21-16, .567, 2nd NL West)
After dropping 2 of 3 against the Grackles during their last time out, and mired in a prolonged funk since the start of this 2080 campaign, the Shamrocks season already seems lost in the fog, and while they’d no doubt accept any port in the storm, they’re already too far from shore to have much hope of righting their ship. The Shamrocks are Charlotte in reverse, armed with a staff that can deal (4th overall in the AL) and beset by an offense incapable of manufacturing much in the way of runs (130 – 12th AL) – destined to finish at or near the bottom of the AL East, missing the playoffs for the 2nd season in a row after making it to 8-straight postseasons from ’71 through ’78. Theirs is a storied franchise that’s lost the plot with no end in sight for this dark chapter… here, we’ll attempt to make up some ground (again) while keeping the Shamrocks away from the light.

38 of 162: Bentley Hunt (2-2, 3.38) @ Jan Hernandez (1-2, 1.96)
Win, 4-2. Otto finished 2-for-4 with a double (his 7th), a triple (his 3rd), and an RBI, with OH HONG, Satoru Ono, and Walt Tignor each adding one to the final tally as our La La’s got back to their winning ways behind a tip-top, 5-inning, 1 earned effort from Jan that evens his record this season at 2 wins and 2 losses in 8 total starts. Three doubles, Otto’s triple, and a dinger from Hong would round things out for us offensively, with a SAC FLY from Ono and swiped bag courtesy of Hendo mere frosting on the cake. Good stuff all around – Wayne Matthews earned his 1st Major League hold, working 2-innings in relief, and Don Haag, still on that good stuff after an abysmal start, entered his 8th save into the permanent record.

39 of 162: Wes Doles (1-3, 5.45) @ Dwight Beasley (4-1, 3.11)
Win, 6-5. We’d win a close one here with Haag laboring through the final frame and gutting out save #9 on 21 total pitches to help us secure the win by the thinnest of available margins, while Otto managed to make an impression with a 2-run JACK during the bottom of the 8th as a PH for Oh Hong. A little bit of everything in this one – two doubles, a triple, a TRUCK, two, 2-out RBI, a SAC BUNT, a HBP, a swiped bag, and an OF Assist for Kyle Weaver who gunned down CF Victor Benfield at home. It should be noted here that I seriously considered trading Jan Hernandez for Wes Doles (with some MiLB fodder thrown in to sweeten the pot) during the offseason – I’m glad I didn’t do that, and not because of his 5-inng, 6-hit, 4 earned catastrophe today… trade made no sense and was predicated more on my desire to have new players to talk about than on actually improving the team. I mean, we do need to fill out our development system, currently ranked 14th, but that can wait…

40 of 162: Carlito Cisneros (0-3, 5.73) @ Stephen Estevez (4-2, 3.89)
Win, 3-0. Another glorious, glorious SWEEP, our second so far in May, highlighted by Estevez’s tip-top form and punctuated by Haag’s 10th lockdown of the season… Estevez delivered a 1-hit, 5-inning start, keeping an already off-kilter Boston club even more askew, allowing for our offense to get by on three total runs, two of which came from the bottom of the order, to close out the home sweep. A SAC FLY from Dom, a HBP courtesy of a plate-hugging Nash Aguilar, swiped bag for Demetri, and diamond dandy in the form of Rodriguez-Paulino-Ono double play would round things out quite nicely as our club has seemingly worked through our early season struggles, have settled into something of a groove, and are now only 1 game off Austin’s pace with the wind in our sails.

Record: 24-16, .600, 2nd NL West
Up Next: Austin is headed to town for a 4-game series in the City of Angels.

[pauwoo]

Austin Grackles (26-15, .634, 1st NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (24-16, .600, 2nd NL West)
I don’t even know what to say about the Grackles – I’d written them off prior to the start of the season, basing my opinion almost entirely on what the fine folks over at BNN laid out before me in the preseason predictions, and, no matter what ill word I’ve used at their expense so far this season, these Grackles have busied themselves by quietly winning ballgames and leaving the rest of us in their proverbial dust… everything about this clubs roster, coaching staff, and overall vibe screams also-ran on paper, so, that they’ve been anything but in practice has left the rest of us doubting our knowledge of the game, unsure if the things we think we see are, in fact, what is standing in front of us… these guys are either the boogeyman in the flesh or some harmless apparition appearing before us that will dissipate prior to delivering a proper “BOO”. Think the Frighteners, where it’s impossible to take its premise seriously by virtue of Doc Hollywood playing it straight and Gary Busey’s brother stealing scenes with that trademark Busey charm.

41 of 162: Noel Goodgion (0-0, 2.01) @ Merl Crawford (3-3, 3.98)
Loss, 4-5. What alternate reality is this where the Grackles install themselves as the biggest bully on the block and come to our house, gutting out a hard-nosed 1-run win in our park, where Cutthroat Island has become the most popular title on Turner Classic Movies holographic streaming service, where our AI fears were replaced by sentient yogurt, and where my club, those Yellow Tops, those laudable Leopards of Los Angeles, play second fiddle to a team calling the Lone Star State home? And, why do we find ourselves living in it? Here, Merl Crawford would get back to his trifling ways, allowing the Grackles to get 5 runs across in only 2.2 innings of work, and our offense, try as they might, would not be good enough to make up for his transgressions as our 3-run bottom of the 5th left them with all the margin they’d need to put another tick in the W column.

42 of 162: Matheo Trachtenburg (0-4, 5000) @ Dontrell McNeil (2-1, 4.32)
Win, 6-5 (10). Rajkumar Kosciusko capped off a 4-run top of the 2nd with a 3-run HOMER to help Austin take an early, 1-run lead in the second of four games… it’d not be enough though as our club kept chipping away at it until Demetri Rodriguez hit the game-winning, walk-off double, saddling Elmar Pirov with his 5th loss of the season as our closer, Don Haag, was credited with the win to draw even on the year at 4-4. Weird day for Demetri… 2-for-6 with a double, an RBI, a GOLDEN SOMBRERO, and that walk off magic.

Elsewhere: Before I forget, the NCAA Final Four has been set… I’ll be pulling for the Beavs.



43 of 162: Sean Kenny (3-1, 5.17) @ Jan Hernandez (2-2, 1.94)
Win, 5-2. Now, after winning two straight over the Grackles, I think it’s safe to assume that we are, once again, living in an acceptable reality and that instead of celebrating Matthew Modine’s entire pre-Stranger Things catalog as cinematic gold, we save that designation for titles like Memphis Belle, Pacific Heights, and Married to the Mob… here we’d rely, almost entirely on OH HONG to do the dirt – 3-for-3, with a 3-Run TRUCK with two outs already on the board – with fielding flubs coming courtesy of Scott Kaszuba and Dylan Tucker leading to two more runs. The pitching was good too – we can’t forget to mention that lest Jan get in his feelings – with Hernandez picking up his 3rd win after 5-innings of 1-earned work, Wayne securing another hold, the kid gets more comfortable out there by the day, and Haag fanning 2 on 18 total pitches during the top of the 9th to register save #11 this year.


Elsewhere: Mitchell Cusac, who is currently putting in work with the Hagerstown Beavers of the Bush League, managed to get his 34-year-old body limber enough to put in a 2-for-3, 2 DING DONG, 6 RBI, 4 run performance during his clubs rootin’, tootin’, 13 to 3, dismantling of the ramshackle Tomcats of Tallahassee down in the Bush League. Good on you Old Man, may the game continue to shine on you until your knees give out. Also, Ethan’s ready to come off the IL and will rejoin the club directly, which means Nash Aguilar is back on the interstate and headed to the City of Compton…

44 of 162: Joe Matthiessen (3-0, 1.29) @ Dwight Beasley (4-1, 3.56)
Win, 7-3. It’d be the OH HONG show once again – 3-for-4 with a double, a 3-RUN DING DONG, 4 total RBI, and a run – with Tignor and D-Rod rounding things out with 3 RBI between them, and SP Dwight Beasley doing just enough to get the win over 5-innings of work. Two steals in this one after some strategic tweaks – Mullens with his 5th and D-Rod with #7 – and a nice, offensively charged win, at home in front of 50-thousand of our closest friends to take the division lead off a rival club – we couldn’t draw it up any better if we had access to a bootleg copy of Presto and all the time necessary to get the cell shading just right…


Elsewhere: The NCAA Final is all set with Oregon State advancing after dumping the Mississippi State Bulldogs into the ravine with an 11th inning walk off win at home, and the New Mexico State Aggies earning their place by defeating Georgia Tech, 5 runs to 2… Oregon States 3B Sandro Brincat, who enters the Amateur Draft this year, raised enough eyebrows in a 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 run performance that someone may take a flier out on the kid in one of the later rounds… he tops out at 51 OVR with a barely acceptable arm for a third baseman and a batting profile heavy on eye with low contact & avoid K’s…

Record: 27-17, .613, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll take the day off, wear our newfound status around the house, make sure it fits nice and snug, and then head out to Phoenix to bring our special brand of smash mouth baseball to Arizona.

[pauwoo]

But, first… Our own OH HONG took home the PoTW award today after going 12-for-27 with 4 dingers, 11 RBI, and 8 runs last week. That makes 2 in a row for Hong… what a stud.

Los Angeles Leopards (27-17, .613, 1st NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (22-22, .500, 4th NL West)
The Coyotes are better than their record would suggest… that they find themselves shuffling along so aimlessly at the start of the 2080 campaign is something of a surprise, but it’s early and there’s still time to get worked into a groove, to bring your fitness up to a competitive level, and to show what you’re truly capable of as a unit. It’s not that they’ve been all bad – the offense is performing, 4th in AVG, OPS, wOBA, and 5th in Runs and OBP – it’s just that their bullpen is in shambles, unable to hold water, and too often allows their opponents to get back into games and eventually take them over. If they can get their pitching staff to perform at or near the level of their offense, Phoenix will be as formidable an opponent as the National League has to offer – and, like I said, they have plenty of runway to get their arms off the ground… the question isn’t whether they’ll eventually get airborne, they will, it’s are they structurally sound enough to weather any turbulence experienced along the way.

45 of 162: Stephen Estevez (5-2, 3.35) @ Landon Sampson (0-2, 4.69)
Loss, 1-2. Landon Sampson, whose dominance against us goes way, way back, was at it again, giving us the business for 5.1 innings where he’d allow just 3 hits and 1 earned before turning things over to his friends in the arm barn, who, despite their recent troubles, had no trouble keeping our guys off balance the rest of the way. Estevez was solid too – he’d go one batter longer than Sampson, but gave up twice as many runs – and, despite our 2 doubles and 2 double plays, we just couldn’t find a way to keep Phoenix from climbing over .500 against us today. Side note… when Phoenix put one across on Estevez during the bottom of the 3rd it would end what was a 28-inning scoreless streak for our Ace.

Elsewhere: Corvalis is partying something fierce tonight as their Beavers of Oregon State managed to win the NCAA Championship during a barnburner, 5-4 win in extras over the New Mexico State Aggies. Bracket is attached…


Final bracket is attached...

46 of 162: Merl Crawford (3-4, 4.78) @ Matthew Krebs (5-1, 3.63)
Loss, 5-7. We looked to be on our way to getting some of that sweet, sweet get back against the Coyotes, up 5-1 at the stretch, and looking every bit a world beater until, Left Fielder Tristan Cleveland, sent a GRAND SLAM over the fence off Wayne Matthews during the bottom of the 7th, knotting this thing up and taking the wind out of our sails.. From there, Phoenix’s Isaias Osborn, with a man on 2nd and 3rd, would challenge Otto’s range in the outfield, putting a ball just over his head to secure the game-winning, 2-run double. Listen, we got some good offense today, so no complaints there, we even stole 6 bags in total, just wrecking things on the basepaths, but the pitching was suspect with Crawford, Matthews, and Ram Chen each allowing runs during their time on the mound.


Elsewhere: CF Lance Mathes, currently making a living with our A-Ball team in Good Ol’ Watts, had himself a day against the Modesto Beasts, finishing 3-for-6 at the plate with THREE BOMBS, 7 RBI, and 3 runs to lead the Warriors to a fantastic 19-4 win at home.

Record: 27-19, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head home to Los Angeles and await the Brooklyn Citizens for a 3-game set in our park over the weekend… This will be our first time seeing Brooklyn since they crushed all our hopes and dreams in the postseason last year. Jerks.

[pauwoo]

Brooklyn Citizens (24-23, .510, 2nd NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (27-19, .586, 1st NL West)
After coming so close to the ultimate prize last season, and knocking us out of contention on their road to the World Series, Brooklyn is off to a suspect start to the 2080 campaign. They came off the line just fine, sprinting out to a 13-7 record in April, but have found themselves low on fuel in May, trying to navigate an early-season storm on bald tires, and putting up a paltry 11-16 record while doing so. The problem seems to run a bit deeper than your typical ‘tune up & go’ type of fix as their offense has seized up on them leading to a 12th ranked AVG, 11th ranked OBP, OPS, and wOBA, and a 10th ranked runs scored & bWAR. Here we’ll get them in our house, and do our level best to shut an already poor offense down using our substandard staff that is in dire need of a pick me up…

47 of 162: Isaiah Zuno (0-2, 5.88) @ Jan Hernandez (3-2, 1.93)
Win, 8-0. As advertised, the Brooklyn offense sputtered early and often as our staff, in what took on the look of our finest performance so far this year, played them like marionettes made to perform Wrestling Macbeth to the delight of a small, yet respectable, crowd of Shakespeare loving wrasslin’ fans. Meanwhile, as their engine choked, flooded on fuel, ours fired like a perfectly tuned exotic as Walt Tignor’s 1-for-3 day that included a 3-run TANK, 4 total RBI (with that 4th coming on a SAC FLY), and a walk leading the way with Ethan, D-Rod, and Hutch each finding a way to contribute to the cause… we’d get the team cycle – a double and a triple for D-Rod, that DINGER from Tignor, and plenty of singles to go around – 2 swiped bags courtesy of Otto and Ono, 2 dandy double plays, and would delight from the dugout as Jan held Brooklyn in check over the games first 6.2 innings before handing it off to Duarte for more of the same.


Elsewhere: 2B Bobby Solomon, of the Staten Island Killer Bees (a Brooklyn Affiliate) was feeling it today against Arvada, finishing with a 5-for-6 day at the plate that included a double, 2 DING DONGS, 6 RBI, and 2 runs as his squad defeated the Colorado-based Panners by a score of 10-9. Also, some other quick hits… somehow, someway Don Haag took home pitcher of the month in the NL while our own OH HONG took home batter of the month for his rip-roaring month of May (.408 avg, 13 TANKS, 29 RBI, and 27 runs…). Also, not to be outdone, former-Leopard, Tony Voorhis, took home the BoTM prize in the American League… always nice to see one of ‘our’ guys do well.

June standings are attached...

48 of 162: Sawyer Dahlgren (2-4, 2.98) @ Dwight Beasley (5-1, 3.72)
Win, 8-6. Brooklyn would rip free from the cables we’d affixed to their arms and legs early, posting a 5-run top of the 2nd on Dwight Beasley to show us, and everyone who happened to be tuned into the game, that they are no one’s marionettes… in the end though, despite being free to move around as they saw fit, they’d not be able to equal our output as our furious, 6-run rally during the bottom of the 6th, with each of those being charged to RP Charlie Baggs’ account, would put us up for good with Ram Chen and Don Haag coming on to cool the Citizens down over the final 3 frames… hold #6 for Chen, save #12 for Don.

In a bit of bad news… CF Otto Isaac got himself a boo boo and will hit the IL for a 10-day stretch with an Oblique Strain, making room for us to bring BJ Cristoforo up from Compton in his stead.

49 of 162: Egar Lopaz (3-3, 3.77) @ Dontrell McNeil (2-1, 4.74)
Win, 3-2 (10). Our offense started in neutral and hard a difficult time getting into gear as we’d spend the 1st 9-innings of this contest doing our best Brooklyn impression. Once the dust had settled, it’d be Hutchinson’s run-scoring single during the bottom of the 10th that would put our fans in attendance out of their misery and send Brooklyn to the showers on the wrong end of a SWEEP. OH HONG, hitting in the 3-hole for an ailing Otto, went 2-for-2 with a 2-run TANK and a walk, McNeil tossed a respectable 5-innings of 4-hit, 2-earned ball, and Don Haag improves his record to 5-4 on the year as he gets credited with the win after putting Brooklyn down in order during the top of the 10th.


Elsewhere: CF Zoe Cuello, of the Hagerstown Beavers, put on a show for his Bush League fans, finishing with a 2-for-5 day at the plate that included a double, a JACK, 5 RBI, and 2 runs scored during his teams 10-2 win over the Gulfport Growlers. The Beavers, who currently find themselves in 6th place of the Independence Division, have now won 7 of their last 10 and are looking to make their move on the unsuspecting Naperville Nibblers who’ve only managed to finish 5-5 during the same stretch.

Record: 30-19, .612, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’re headed across the country to Miami where we’ll try to keep our guys off the beach long enough to take a road series off the 6th place Herons.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (30-19, .612, 1st NL West) @ Miami Herons (19-31, .380, 6th NL East)
While seemingly running in place from where they finished last year, the Miami Herons look destined to turn in another poor season, and, if they’re not careful, may try to dip into their fans’ goodwill reserves one time too many if their fortunes don’t start to change. There are some interesting storylines sprinkled amongst the more standard fare that this year’s version of the Herons are offering up – late bloomer, 1B Yoshimasa Sugawara seems to be coming into his own at 29-years-old with 1.4 WAR so far and Cathal Magill, one of the top hurlers in the MLB, is off to his customary good start this season – but, overall it’s just more of the same song and dance that has only their most ardent fans tapping their toes while everyone else stands, arms-crossed and glaring at the DJ to put something, anything else over the PA. At some point, something has to give for this club… their owner, Hal Pacino, has managed to refill the coffers over the last two seasons, despite posting losing records in each, after taking it on the chin financially during winning campaigns in ’77 & ’78 – hopefully, for their supporters at least, he’ll start to reinvest that capital in his club and take another run at turning in a respectable season in South Beach.

50 of 162: Stephen Estevez (5-3, 3.33) @ Steven Parkin (2-3, 4.01)
Loss, 4-5. After Estevez turned in a solid, 5-innings of work, our Skipper turned it over to Wayne Matthews and proceeded to sit idly by as he put a metaphorical giant lightbulb on his head and proceeded to give it all away… a 2-run blast from RF Pascal Contreras knotted things up at 4 each and a solo TANK from the appropriately named Dan Blasko would put this one just out of reach for our pedestrian offense that was too fat and happy, all filled up on ballpark Cubano’s, to answer back with anything more substantive than a yawn. In other news, Wayne will be saying his tearful goodbye’s as we’ve sent him back down to the farm while T-Rex Stiles will trade in his Compton cap for one of our swank LA lids as he boards a plane to join us on the big club.

51 of 162: Merl Crawford (3-4, 4.53) @ Marco Ortega (1-2, 4.83)
Win, 7-3. After Wayne gave it away to the Herons last night, SP Marco Ortega, putting in work as a follower to RP Cory Sterner, would return the favor over 5.2 innings of work that saw him allow 6 runs in total with 2 of those coming on a double from Ethan. Ono and OH HONG would contribute an RBI each, Henderson swiped his 7th bag of the year, and our defense backed the staff with two expertly executed double plays. Nice bounce back from Crawford – 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, and 4 K’s – with Armendariz and Ram Chen coming on to make sure the door was shut all the way with the deadbolt engaged. We’ll make sure to get the boys back to the hotel directly – no time at beach, no clubbing tonight – as we want them rested and ready for the rubber match tomorrow.


Elsewhere: Former Leopard, current Seal of San Jose, RF Tyler Hill, went gonzo in the bay today, leading his clubs’ offense with a 2-for-3 day at the plate that included 2 DING DONGS, 4 RBI, 3 runs, and 2 walks as they went on to secure a nice home victory over the Montreal Alouettes by a score of 8 runs to 4. Hill, who signed a fatty 2-year, $34mm deal with SJ during the offseason, is trending to 3.5 WAR while striking out only 20% of the time. An improvement on the 22% strikeout rate he posted last season in a Leopards kit.

52 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-2, 1.69) @ Cathal Magill (5-3, 2.08)
Win, 2-1. We’d earn the win by the skin of our country teeth, doing the minimum amount required offensively to come away with a series win before heading north to Toronto for a 3-game interleague set… Jan could only muster 1.2 innings of work, leaving with an undisclosed injury after allowing two hits on 18 total pitches, but Duarte gave us 3-innings of quality burn, allowing just a lone hit during his time on the bump, and T-Rex Styles made his debut going three innings to earn a hold where the only hit he allowed was a solo DINGER to, you guessed it, DAN BLASKO. It’s nice to walk away with the win, no doubt, we’re just hoping that it doesn’t cost us a significant amount of time without Jan.

OH! HEY! The draft was today as well… here’s your top 5 picks…
Round 1, Pick 1 - New Orleans Gators: SP Nil Estopinan (35/80), age 20
Round 1, Pick 2 - Austin Grackles: CF Anthony Jamison (36/80), age 20
Round 1, Pick 3 - Boston Shamrocks: SP Roger Gentile (22/71), age 20
Round 1, Pick 4 - Salt Lake Alpines: SP Quintin Sieg (29/65), age 20
Round 1, Pick 5 - Charlotte Imperials: SP Nuno Granado (27/78), age 20

And our top 4 picks… with the top 2 looking pretty solid.
Drafted RF Lucas Sherman (26/61) - Round 1, Pick 18, 18th overall pick
Drafted RP Nick Simpson (32/73) - Round 2, Pick 22, 49th overall pick
Drafted 3B Bill Olson (20/51) - Round 3, Pick 24, 73rd overall pick
Drafted RF Dag Shea (20/43) - Round 4, Pick 24, 97th overall pick

Record: 32-20, .615, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’re headed to Canada to face off against the Toronto Leafs and will hopefully continue this run of good performances.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (32-20, .615, 1st NL West) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (28-25, .528, 2nd AL East)
Toronto, lifted up in no small part by the fact that they play in the weak AL East, have been punching above their weight since the start of the 2080 campaign. With their middling offense, ranked 6th overall in the AL, and second-rate staff, ranked 8th overall, that the Maple Leafs find themselves operating a scant 3 games off Detroit’s pace is a low-key miracle… they boast a -19 RDiff, have a record outpacing the PYT by 3, and have made a habit of getting it done on clutch pitching, opportunistic offense, and timely baserunning. Add in the fact that they have one of the top two home records in the AL, bested only by Detroit, and what you have here is a formidable opponent whose fierceness is as undefinable as it is undeniable. We’ll have our work cut out for us, no doubt, as Toronto has reeled off 4 straight wins and are coming off a home sweep over Denver their last time out.

53 of 162: Dwight Beasley (5-1, 4.68) @ Prior Balazs (2-1, 5.05)
Loss, 3-8. Toronto’s 5th straight win wouldn’t require any clutch pitching and opportunistic offense would be wholly unnecessary as they just ran roughshod over our club, making mincemeat of our staff while keeping our order out of sync and befuddled at the plate. Demetri Rodriguez, Ethan Mullens, and William Henderson each recorded 2 hits, with Ethan bringing 2 around on a homer, and Ono managed to bring one more across during the top of the 9th on a SAC FLY, but, other than that the club was flat, leaving 11 stranded while nearly every baserunner that got on for Toronto found a way to come around… Beasley took his second loss of the season, managing a mere 2.2 innings of work after giving up 6 quick runs over the first 3 innings, and Nakagawa followed suit out of the pen, allowing two more before the Leafs would cool their jets and glide the rest of the way home.

54 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (2-1, 4.60) @ Dejuan Burns (2-6, 7.06)
Win, 5-3 (10). We’d get this one sorted, in extras, on a Walt Tignor double that brought two around during the top of the 10th after playing each other close over the 1st 9 innings. BJ Cristoforo, whose given a really nice account of himself with Otto on the IL, went 1-for-4 with 2-run double, Ono brought the other run in on a run-scoring single in the top of the 1st, and our pitching was solid with the bullpen holding Toronto in check over the final 4.1 innings after McNeil exited in the 6th with 3 earned charged against us. Two expertly crafted double plays and an OF Assist for Ethan who struck down 3B Reuben Johnson at 3rd as he attempted to stretch a bottom of the 9th double into a three bagger. All in a days work – we’ve knotted this series up and will look to bring it the rest of the way home tomorrow.


Elsewhere: LF Brandon Ramirez, a power bat doing the dirt for the Gulfport Growlers in the Bush League, played a big role in his clubs 16-2 dismantling of the Frankfort Sultans, finishing 2-for-2 at the plate with TWO TRUCKS, 5 RBI, 4 runs, and 2 free passes. Ramirez came into this save as an International Amateur who never managed to find his way onto a major league clubs roster and instead began his professional career in the Bush League back in ’77 with the Coney Island Footlongs and the rest of it Nolanville/Gulfport where he seems to have found a home.

55 of 162: Steven Estevez (5-3, 3.36) @ Adam White (3-5, 5.53)
Win, 5-0. Estevez gave us 5-innings of downright nastiness, allowing no hits and nothing earned while fanning 6 (he’d misplace his control a bit, walking three, and was pulled before he hit anyone), and the arm barn came up smelling roses with Duarte and Nakagawa maintaining the clean sheet… we’d almost get the team no-no as well with Toronto’s lone hit coming against Nakagawa during the bottom of the 9th. Offensively, Mullens and Ono each drove runs in on doubles with Cooke and D-Rod rounding out the scoring by driving in a run each, with Dom’s being a well-hit SOLO SHOT off Toronto reliever Tobias Smith. We’ve now won three straight sets and are starting to take on the look of a world beater…


Elsewhere: Salt Lake’s 3B Cadillac Jaime contributed to the Alpines’ 12-1 shellacking of the New Orleans Gators with a GRAND SLAM and 3 runs… this would be Cadillac’s first JACK of the year and second of his career (his first came while with Miami in ’79). Jaime is a defense-first infielder whose bat leaves a lot to be desired – it’s really a waste of such a great name because if Cadillac Jaime doesn’t scream superstar, I don’t know what does.

Record: 34-21, .618, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll get a day off to work our way from Toronto to New York City, picking things back up against the Sluggers on Tuesday.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (34-21, .618, 1st NL West) @ Mew York Sluggers (23-32, .418, 5th AL East)
New York is in a bad way… 2nd to last overall in the American League, currently power ranked 19th out of 24, and going nowhere fast. The reality, despite where they rank on this weeks PR, is that New York, along with the Boston Shamrocks, is one of the very worst clubs in the entire league without much of note to point at on either side of the ball…



56 of 162: Merl Crawford (4-4, 4.28) @ Shiro Nakamura (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 2-0. Merl cruised to his 5th win of the season, putting in 5-innings of work in New York City against one of the most ineffectual offenses in all of professional baseball, and the bullpen followed suit with youngster, T-Rex Stiles, turning in 2.2-innings of 2-hit ball, and Haag picking up his 15th save of the year. 3B Walt Tignor, bootleg Pepper if you’re nasty, was the whole show for us offensively, driving in two on the day – the first on a single and the second on a well-hit SAC FLY. Nakamura, making his major league debut, gave a good account of himself for the Sluggers, finishing with 5-innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 earned, and 4 K’s against one of the top National League clubs… look, I’m sure the kid wanted the win, but to make your debut, on a bad team, against the likes of us? Yeah, beggars can’t be choosers when those are the cards you’re dealt.

Guess who’s back, back again… Otto’s back in the fold, he’ll slot right into the lineup with Cristoforo packing his bags for the trek back to Compton.

57 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-2, 1.64) @ Cole Guzman (3-3, 3.62)
Win, 8-2 (12). After a ho-hum 11 innings of play, we’d finally break through with a 6-run top of the 12th highlighted by Ono’s 2-run DING DONG and backup backstop Lee Rolon’s 2-run, two-bagger. Otto finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run in his return to the fold, we’d get a team first SAC BUNT and SAC FLY, swiped a bag (Hendo with his 8th burglary), and fielded 3 expertly executed double plays. Some good stuff from our starter, Jan, who allowed only one runner to plate over 5.1 innings of work, and even better stuff out of the arm barn as Armendariz, Chen, and Sepulveda all came correct for us after Haag blew his 3rd save of the year and, subsequently, ended his 12-game shutdown streak.

58 of 162: Dwight Beasley (5-2, 5.47) @ Hudson Dorsch (2-4, 4.77)
Loss, 7-3. After giving New York the business over the first couple of games it’d be our turn to catch some bad ones today as the Sluggers put 7 runs and 10 total hits on the board against us, staving off the embarrassment of being on the wrong side of a sweep at home and ensuring that our flight out of town would not be any fun. 39-year-old 1B Wil Lewandowski finished 2-for-4 with 2 HOMERS and 4 total RBI – the 2x World Series Winner, 7x All-Star, and Townsend, MT native is having a rough go of it so far this year with -0.5 in WAR, a 27.8% strikeout rate and an 89 OPS+ on the year, not that any of that mattered against us today. Beasley gave us another so-so outing, was saddled with his 3rd loss, and second in as many starts, after giving up 3 runs on 2 DING DONGS, and T-Rex Stiles struggled this time out, seeing his ERA balloon to 4.70 after allowing two runners to plate over 2-innings of work.

Record: 36-22, .620, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head south to Austin where the Grackles await our presence to kick off a 3-game set against their 3rd-place club…

Check out the standings to see how things have started to change…

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (36-22, .620, 1st NL West) @ Austin Grackles (34-27, .557, 3rd NL West)
The Austin Grackles have been the surprise of the season so far and, while they’ve seemingly started to cool off a bit with a 6-6 start in June, may continue to turn some heads as their 4th ranked offense powers their team along. We’ll get them on poor form having dropped their most recent set in Charlotte after splitting 4 games against the Pipers and arrive in town winners of our last 4 consecutive sets. We own a 5-2 record against the Grackles so far, have proved ourselves to be a poor matchup for them, and will look to continue that dominance here as we attempt to close out our 12-game road trip on something of a high note.

59 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (2-1, 4.62) @ Dwaine Schilling (6-1, 3.18)
Win, 8-7 (16). Each our clubs stepped into a phonebooth and wailed on one another through the first 9-innings of this interminable contest, leaving things all knotted up at 7 runs apiece when the 9th came to a close… from there, we’d get into a pseudo pitcher’s duel as each bullpen had things dialed in beautifully until Austin’s RP Johnson Rivers gave up the game-winning single to Walt Tignor with one out recorded and a man on 3rd. Otto led the way for us offensively – 3-for-7 with a 2-run TANK and 3 total RBI – Dom also trucked a 2-run shot, and Armendariz, who has been a bit up & down for us so far this season, secured his 3rd victory in relief after allowing no hits during the final 2.2 innings of the game.

60 of 162: Stephen Estevez (6-3, 3.09) @ Sean Kenny (4-4, 4.59)
Win, 4-1. The Grackles would draw first blood on a run-scoring double from Renfrew Chaille during the bottom of the 3rd but would go dull from there as we were catapulted to victory by Otto in the 8th – a 2-run MOONSHOT off Johnson Rivers (yesterday’s culprit as well) would spell Austin’s doom. We’d add two more insurance run in the top of the 9th (Oh Hong brought men in from 2nd & 3rd on a single) before turning it over to Haag who, in 19-total pitches, found a way to earn his 16th save despite doling out two free passes.

61 of 162: Merl Crawford (5-4, 3.92) @ Noel Goodgion (2-0, 2.49)
Win, 4-0. SWEEP CITY. We’d continue our dominance over Austin, improving to 8-2 head-to-head, while securing our 5th straight series victory and 1st sweep since dismissing Brooklyn, 3-0, in our park at the beginning of the month. Pitching and defense ruled the day for us here with the offense coming in fits and starts – an RBI each for Otto, Oh Hong, and Hendo, a superb 5.1-innings of 2-hit ball from Merl, a nice 2.1 inning hold for T-Rex Stiles, and a 1-2-3 inning from Ram Chen during the bottom of the 9th to close the show would round out the highlights here as our club heads to the airport to return to Los Angeles after completing what was arguably our best road trip of the season so far.


Elsewhere: Matthew White, who spent 6 years in the Majors until injuries sapped him of the skills necessary to compete at that level, has looked pretty good so far as a member of the Peabody Briners in the Bush League with today’s 3-for-3 day at the plate with TWO TANKS, 3 RBI, and 2 runs standing among his best individual game performances so far as his club managed to saddle Lackawanna with a 7-5 loss at home. With the win, Peabody improves to an Independence Division leading 26-18 record while the hard luck Lackawanna Lickers fall to a Justice Division worst 14-30.

Record: 39-22, .639, 1st NL West
Up Next: No rest for the wicked as our road dogs will get right back after it at home with a 3-game set against the Mexico City Jaguars.

[pauwoo]

Mexico City Jaguars (31-32, .492, 5th NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (39-22, .639, 1st NL West)
Even at 9 games off our pace and listed at 5th on the NL West table, Mexico City isn’t as bad as they look – they have an offense that can crack (ranked 3rd overall) and a staff that has struggled at times but looks much better on paper than they have in practice. If their hurlers can play up to what my scout believes is their potential and somehow find a way to put a couple of winning months together, they’ll be right back in the thick of things. They’re working through their best month of the season so far, at 8-7, and are looking to close out the 2nd half of June as strongly as possible so that this season will not slip too far from their grasp before we even make it to the All-Star break. Here they’ll have an opportunity to do just that as they carry a 3-1 head-to-head mark against us so far, and, despite our superb form right now, will look to carry that good fortune forward to set the tone for a rip-roaring 2nd half of June.

62 of 162: Patrick Keith (3-7, 4.11) @ Jan Hernandez (4-2, 1.64)
Win, 2-1. Down 1-0 after 8-innings where our offense kept coming up empty while the staff, led by Jan’s 5-innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball, did everything in their power to give us a shot, Satoru Ono, with two outs already on the board and a man on first, blasted a 2-run, walk-off dinger to extend our winning streak to 4 games. OH HONG finished 4-for-5 on the day and represented the tying run of Ono’s walk-off, the pitching was fierce, and we’d find a way to win despite committing two fielding flubs and leaving 12 runners stranded.

Elsewhere: Former Leopard, Tony Voorhis, made his desire to stay in Detroit with the Motors official as he signed a 2-year, $26.4mm extension with the club today. The contract will have Voorhis under contract through is age 35 season.

63 of 162: Jaxon Dupre (3-4, 4.76) @ Dwight Beasley (5-3, 5.40)
Win, 6-2. We’d ride a 5-run bottom of the 1st all the way home in this one as our offense, led by William Henderson’s 2-run double, would give our staff all the buffer they’d need to bring home our 5th win in a row. Beasley went 7-strong, allowing just 2 runs on 5 total hits, and Ram Chen closed the show, pitching a nearly perfect 2-innings, allowing no hits while fanning two. With the win we move to 3-3 head-to-head against Mexico City, with the chance to both earn our second sweep in a row and take the season lead against the Jags tomorrow.

64 of 162: Davey Halimkusuma (0-0, 1.03) @ Dentrell McNeil (2-1, 4.47)
Win, 12-6. Sweep City, USA! Down by a run heading into the bottom of the 8th, we’d ride a 4-run inning all the way to victory as Otto led the way again with a 4-for-5 day that included a run-scoring double, a 2-run DINGER, and 3 runs scored from the leadoff spot. The relief pitching was once again resolute with Durate getting credited with the win after 3.1 innings of burn followed by a 2-inning, 4-hit save from offseason acquisition, Manny Sepulveda, who entered his first of those this season into the permanent record. The La La’s are in a good way, folks… breathing some rarefied air currently, I just hope we can get onto something similar once the playoffs come around.

Record: 42-22, .656, 1st NL West
Up Next: We contest our next four at home against the visiting New Orleans Gators who we’ve not yet had the opportunity to play against.

[pauwoo]

New Orleans Gators (34-31, .523, 2nd NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (42-22, .656, 1st NL West)
At the start of the season, the line on New Orleans was that they’d stand amongst the bottom end of our league, plying their trade at or near the bottom of the barrel with the rest of the riff raff, and, for the first two months of the season it looked like you could etch that line in stone. But, back-to-back losing months to start the 2080 campaign, where they finished at 21-27 through May, would give way to the type of June that no one saw coming. Off to a rip-roaring 13-4 start to the month after winning 9 of their first ten tilts in June, the New Orleans Gators have the look of an up & comer, a low-key formidable outfit that aims to get its revenge on the BNN punditry. Of course, that’s where we come in, with our 14-3 start to June backed by a 17-9 month of May… we’re not new, we’ve been breathing the thin up here for some time now, our lungs are adjusted, we belong. Here we’ll relish the opportunity to send New Orleans packing over the next four games knowing full well that after following a 9-step process to ward off Black Magic last season, there is nothing in the Gators’ bag of dirty tricks that can trip us up.

65 of 162: Pete Taylor (3-4, 5.14) @ Stephen Estevez (6-3, 3.00)
Win, 3-2. We’d rely on a great outing from Estevez – 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 7 K’s – and a lockdown top of the 9th from Don Haag, securing his 17th save on 12 total pitches, to get the deed done here, winning our 7th in a row in the process and putting the first of what we hope will be 4 bad ones on New Orleans in the process. Mullens opened our scoring with a 5th inning, run-scoring double, OH HONG would get us another on a single, and Dom hit what would turn out to be the difference-making run, a SOLO SHOT, in the 6th inning off Pete Taylor before the New Orleans pitching coach had thought to take him out of the game.

66 of 162: William Macomber (6-2, 2.42) @ Merl Crawford (6-4, 3.60)
Win, 5-3. Winners of 8-straight now… thanks, in large part, to DOM, whose 3-run TANK during the bottom of the 6th put us up by two, and the bullpen, led by Sepulveda’s 1.2 innings of scoreless work, who closed this one out without letting New Orleans work their way back into it. Haag secures his 17th save, on 12 total pitches just like yesterday, Otto and Paulino drove in our other two runs, and our club, on that good stuff now, just keeps finding ways to win ballgames.

Note: Donovan Turnbull is eligible to come off the IL, he’ll rejoin us on the big club while Major Hansen will be sent down to Compton.

67 of 162: Steve Landers (0-0, 2.25) @ Jan Hernandez (4-2, 1.65)
Win, 7-2. We made this one, our 9th straight victory, look easy after pouring on 5 runs during the bottom of the 3rd that started with SOLO DINGERS from Ethan and OH HONG and finished with a bases clearing triple from William Henderson. We’d hit 3 doubles, that triple, and those two dingers as a club, get another great performance from Jan Hernandez, and find a way to win despite committing two fielding flubs defensively. On that note, Pepper’s replacement at 3rd, Walt Tignor, has 12 total errors so far this season – by contrast, PEPPER only committed 5 fielding flubs total in 2079…. So, while I do like Tignor’s bat, he may not be a permanent fixture at 3rd.


Elsewhere: 2B Nicky Grisby, a 32-year-old former Major Leaguer that made his living in Charlotte’s organization, laid it down tough for his Frankfort Sultans in Bush League play, capping off a 3-for-4, 3 DING DONG, 6 RBI, 3 run day with a nice 12-7 win over the Peabody Briners. With the win, Frankfort improves to 19-31 while the Peabody Briners, at 29-21, still lead the Independence Division by 2 games.

68 of 162: Bill Marvin (3-6, 5.06) @ Dwight Beasley (6-3, 5.10)
Loss, 1-3. And just like that we’d see our chance to complete a rare 4-game sweep and our 9-game winning streak come to an unceremonious end as New Orleans becomes the second club to defeat us, at home, on an Alternate Kit Sunday… Liam Duffy, a so-so Left-Fielder who signed a minor league contract with New Orleans during the offseason, was the whole show for the Gators, providing all of their offense during a 2-for-4 day at the plate that included a 2-run TANK, 3 total RBI and run. He also has the most S-eating grin that I’ve seen on a facegen profile picture (posted below), so… that’s, umm, neat. For our part it was nothing doing offensively as only Satoru Ono could be bothered to drive anything in (he hit a run-scoring double during the 6th off Starter, Bill Marvin) while Beasley, mired in a funk so pervasive that it must be like trying to drive through early morning San Francisco fog for the young man, gave up three runs in 5-innings of work on the aforementioned, Liam Duffy smashed, dinger… which runs his total up to 13 HRA’s on the season good enough for second-worse in the Majors behind San Jose’s Ty Peterson who has given up 15 TRUCKS so far…


Liam Duffy’s self-assured smirk belies his actual skill level…

Record: 45-23, .661, 1st NL West
Up Next: The train keeps on rolling with Pittsburgh set to arrive in town tomorrow for yet another 4-game set… I hate coming into this series on a loss given that the last time we saw these guys, in their park, we found ourselves on the wrong side of a sweep once the dust had settled.

Side note: When I advanced a day I was notified that Otto will miss a week of time due to a strained back… so, he’ll head to the IL while CF Jason Dalton returns to the fold from Compton.

[pauwoo]

Pittsburgh Pipers (33-36, .478, 4th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (45-23, .661)
Since sweeping us in May, the Pittsburgh Pipers have gone 18-24, but showed some guile during their last time out, taking a 4-game set off the Coyotes in Phoenix, 3 games to 1. And, look, that’s great, and good on them, and all that… but, and this is important, we’re not Phoenix so it’ll take much more than their 9th ranked offense, 8th ranked staff, and a little bit of luck to waltz into our park and beat the likes of us. The reality, however, is that Pittsburgh should be better than they have been – uncharacteristically poor starts from Mack Ramirez (.202, 10 HR, 40 RBI) and Paul Yeager (3-7, .621) have held them back from playing up to their capability as a club… and, while their ceiling isn’t that of a world beater, it’s a far cry from the position they find themselves in.

69 of 162: Paul Yeager (3-7, 6.21) @ Dontrell McNeil (2-1, 4.50)
Loss, 10-12. It’s tough having it handed to you by a scrub club, at home, in front of everyone you hold dear… it’s especially tough when you get a 4-for-5 day, with a double, a homer, 3 RBI, and 3 runs from Ethan and still find a way to lose as your leaky bullpen, Duarte in particular, is unable to navigate the rough seas left behind by McNeil who exited stage left after only 2.1-innings of work where he’d allow 6 runners to plate. Pittsburgh, without getting into the details too much, got a little bit from everyone offensively, and, while Tom Franzone turned in a pedestrian, by his standards, 1-for-2 day with a run and 2 RBI, his teammates more than made up for his lack of bombast, providing plenty of their own to take the first of four off us in our house.


Elsewhere: Aitor Cubas was at it again for the Outlaws, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with THREE TRUCKS, 7 RBI, and 3 RUNS as Las Vegas secured a hard-fought home win over the Montreal Alouette’s by a score of 12-7. Also, everyone’s favorite ex-Leopard, PEPPER GRANT, did his level best in this one to power his club to the road victory with a 1st inning GRAND SLAM off Radoslav Borovsky that put Montreal up 5 to nil early until the Outlaws clawed themselves back into it with a 7-run bottom of the 2nd.

70 of 162: Edwin Blaxley (2-3, 4.12) @ Stephen Estevez (7-3, 2.80)
Loss, 3-5. It’d be a gross exaggeration to claim that the wheels have fallen off, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that our power steering is low on fluid and that the brake lines have been cut… here, we careened into a ditch after Pittsburgh went ahead on a Josue Paulino hit, 2-run BLAST off T-Rex Stiles to put the Pipers ahead by the margin they’d not relinquish the rest of the way, and, despite OH HONG and DOM bringing in three runs between them, we’d not do enough offensively to cover for another poor pitching performance out of the pen. The only thing left for us now is to try and salvage some pride by winning the next two for the split.


Elsewhere: SP Ricky Halibur, of the Seattle Metros, took a No-No bid into the top of the 9th, giving up that last hit with 2 of the final three outs already on the board, finishing with an 8.2-inning, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K line as the PNW Juggernaut (43-28 on the year and 6 games in front of Portland in the AL West) cruised to an 8-0 victory at home. Also, Short Season A ball got underway today with Theodore Richer, of the Bremerton Yardies (a Metros affiliate), earning the #1 performance of the day on the back of a 3-for-5 effort at the plate with a GRAND SLAM and 5 total RBI as his club stuck it to the Laredo Longhorns by a score of 15-2… our club, the Brentwood Bishops, took home a close one, defeating the Hamilton Stingers, who we eliminated during the LCS of the SA playoffs last season, by a score of 7-6.

71 of 162: Gregory Morgan (5-3, 3.52) @ Merl Crawford (7-4, 3.68)
Win, 3-1. With our brake lines reconnected, bled, and each axle turned, we were able to get back on the road and back after it, securing our first win in three tries against the Pipers on the strength of a Satoru Ono 2-run DING DONG that came during the bottom of the 5th. The pitching held firm too – Merl led the way with 5.2 inning of 5-hit, 1-run filthiness backed by 2.1 innings in relief from Armendariz (hold #5 for your boy) and a loosely thrown top of the 9th by Haag who labored for 24-pitches before shutting the door on another victory for the La La’s and his 19th save of the season.

72 of 162: Jaxson Mottola (1-5, 4.83) @ Jan Hernandez (5-2, 1.66)
Loss, 1-2. Just when we figured we were good, back on course, and playing at a high enough level to beat the likes of Pittsburgh, we’d stumble yet again, unable to overcome a 2-run deficit that the Pipers saddled us with during the top of the 2nd. Ethan’s double and solo homer were the only offensive highlights worth talking about, and while the pitching was good, it wasn’t good enough as Jan stumbled early and let those two fateful runs get across. This, folks, is not how you do it – losing three of four at home after putting together a fierce 9-game winning streak.


Elsewhere: Ray Mendosa, starting pitcher for the Detroit Motors, in only his 6th Major League start, has etched his name into the annuals of time, tossing a NO HITTER for his club, and fanning 8 in the process, to lead his team to a solid, 2-0 victory over the Salt Lake Alpines. Not only was this only his 6th Major League start, but it was also the first time he’d gone past the 6th inning at any level this year.

Record: 46-26, .638, 1st NL West
Up Next: We’ll head to Michigan where the Detroit Motors await our arrival for a three-game set.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (46-26, .638, 1st NL West) @ Detroit Motors (43-30, .589, 1st AL East)
Led by two former Leopards in Tony Voorhis and Peter Garcia, the Detroit Motors, after losing in the second round of the 2079 playoffs, are on a mission improve their fortunes in 2080… and, so far, that mission looks to be charted on a course towards phenomenal success. After coming out gangbusters to start the season, posting a 15-5 April, the Motors stumbled in May before turning things back around in June… here, they’ll have the opportunity to continue moving in the right direction, but will have to do it against us, and while we have admittedly played poorly of late, our rag tag bunch of malcontents will look to get back on the proverbial horse against the biggest bully on the AL East block.

73 of 162: Dwight Beasley (6-4, 5.12) @ Dontell Wilburn (5-4, 3.02)
Loss, 1-7. Like some poor, ill-conceived touring punk rock band, our Ford Econoline 250 would blow a gasket over 100-miles from our destination and the tow truck company, instead of getting our van to the shop, took it to a chop shop, parted it out, and sold off all its most valuable/important parts. Once we limped into town, moody, tired, and engaged in a serious stretch of infighting, we’d have it handed to us by our graceful host who scored 7 against us before most of our club even realized the game had started. Wilburn gave us the business over 7, 3-hit innings of work, fanning 9 while being super stingy with the free passes, and Tony Voorhis got after it during a 2-for-4, 2 run effort. We did nothing of any real consequence – Hendo hit an inconsequential double, D-Rod stole an inconsequential bag, and Beasley, in getting absolutely shellacked here, sees his ERA climb to 5.64 after allowing 7 earned to come across.


Elsewhere: 2B Ciriaco Ambrosini, of the Edison Scholars, a solid prospect taken with the 69th overall pick by Las Vegas out of Oklahoma State in 2077 and subsequently traded to the Sluggers at the end of May, has paid some early dividends for New York as he put up a solid 3-for-5 day that included a double, a TANK, 7 total RBI, and 3 runs to help lead the charge as his club won a barn burner over the El Paso Mavericks by a score of 14-9 in A-Ball.

74 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (2-2, 5.25) @ Matt Martin (4-6, 5.50)
Loss, 4-6. We’d mount a furious, 3-run, 8th inning comeback, knotting this one up on a 2-run DINGER from Hendo, but failed to come out for our encore as Ram Chen fell apart during the bottom of that frame, allowing the Motors to regain the lead on a walk before bringing one more in on a sacrifice bunt. Each of our pitchers – Dontrell, T-Rex, and Ram – would allow two to get across, the offense put 11 hits on the board and left 10 men stranded overall, and Detroit would prove to be too gritty for our glamorous La La’s for the second game in a row. We’ve now put together two 3-game losing streaks broken up by that lucky 3-1 win over Pittsburgh earlier in the week… I think it’s safe to say that the wheels have, in fact, come off… we’re in absolute shambles, folks, let’s make no bones about it.

75 of 162: Stephen Estevez (7-3, 2.82) @ Peter Garcia (6-3, 3.03)
Loss, 0-1. Even while outhitting the Motors 8-4, we’d fail to find a way to bring any of the 6 runners we left stranded in, allowing Detroit to lollygag their way to a 1-0 victory. Peter Garcia gave a good account of himself against us, finishing with 7.1 innings of tip-top pitching, and allowing 7 hits while fanning 7 more, and Tony Voorhis, coming up clutch for his club, hit the game-winning, run-scoring single off Manny Sepulveda during the bottom of the 7th. Four straight losses now, finishing out this set on the wrong end of a sweep, closing out June with a whimper, and headed back to Los Angeles for a 3-game set against Toronto… we’ve put ourselves in a far from ideal situation now and desperately need to figure out how we can fight our way out of it.

Elsewhere: Our own SP Ramiro Marte, currently getting his reps down on the farm in Compton, CA, tossed a complete-game, 4-hit shutout with 6 K’s to lead the charge for the Raiders during a 3-0 win on the road in Annapolis. Marte is now 12-2 on the year, has earned a decision in 14 of his 15 starts, and has now won 7 games in a row… he’s likely ready for prime time, but why rush him.

Record: 46-29, .613, 1st NL West
Up Next: Finally, a day off followed by a 3-game set against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.