Strangeverse

[pauwoo]

There are any number of good stories to highlight after the 1st month of the 2074 season – the dominance of Phoenix, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh in the National League or the strong start for the defending Champion Seattle Sounders (though the Los Angeles Galaxy are right in the mix in the AL West) – but, to me, the most interesting of the bunch is the poor start of Josiah and the Jaguars. Historically a so-so club (.500 lifetime record over the last 81 seasons, 38 playoff appearances & 4 championships), they’ve finished in 1st place in 2072 & 2073. 2072 was particularly painful as Josiah Weber had one of the best pitching campaigns the league has ever seen before getting hurt in the 1st round of the playoffs and while the Jags were able to rally together to make it to the World Series, it’s hard to believe that the outcome wouldn’t have been different with Josiah in the rotation. So far, while Josiah has been his usual excellent self (4-1, 2.00 ERA, 184 ERA +), everyone else on the staff has been trash. They are tops in hitting the long ball, but have been average or worse everywhere else – I hope that eventually, the 6-time Pacheco Award winning Josiah Weber will add a World Series to his list of accomplishments – but with the giant step back the Jaguars seem to have taken that seems unlikely to happen this season. Long way to go, of course… but, c’mon OOTP engine, cement this man’s legacy already!

Batters of the Month:
AL: RF Andrew Beck (TOR): .317 AVG, .402 OBP, 9 jacks, 29 RBIs – drafted 27th in 2068 out of Oregon State University.
NL: RF Paul Swift (BRK): .310 AVG, .352 OBP, 6 ding dongs, 21 RBIs – drafted 79th in 2070 out of Iowa

Pitchers of the Month:
AL: SP Alex Jackal (TOR): 5-1, 1.41 ERA – drafted 152nd in 2060 out of Texas. He’s a 3-Time Pacheco Award recipient.
NL: SP Vicente De La Cruz (ORL): 4-1, 1.49 ERA – undrafted international prospect.

[pauwoo]

27 of 162: Arnaldo Romero (3-1, 2.27 ERA) @ Cleveland Cornejo (3-0, 5.33 ERA)
San Diego wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the 1st when RF Kelford Jackson hit a 2-out RBI, bringing 3B Jamie Burke home. A fortunate turn of events as Kelford’s hit was the only one given up by CC… Old Man Donny got an undeserved break from the lineup today, but Derek, perhaps in a show of support, hit a solo HR with 2 outs and tied up the game with his well placed 398ft moon shot. Things settled down for a couple of innings before Derek hit a single in an unsuccessful attempt to get a party started – nothing doing, another scoreless inning… until San Diego exploded for a 5-run 5th. They’d put 3 more on the board en route to a 9-2 road victory. For the game, Pepper was a paltry 1-4, and Derek was really our only player of note. Cleveland gave up 6 (only 3 earned) as our 4 errors were as much the story of the game as anything. Pepper flubbed two plays while Milbrandt and McDonnell flubbed one each to make sure he didn’t feel so lonely. Romero pitched 8.2 tip top innings for San Diego and their offense was fantastic putting up 14 hits.

28 of 162: Justice Pangburn (2-2, 3.48 ERA) @ Oswaldo Flores (1-3, 5.34 ERA)
Donny, fresh off his day of rest, gets the start at DH… and continues to suck at it, striking out looking in his first AB… Derek stays lukewarm and drops in a hit to shallow left field and then advances on a wild pitch before Luca brings him in with a single to shallow CF. We score another in the second and San Diego returns the favor in the top of the 3rd… Pepper leads us off in the bottom of the 5th with a single and DONNY brings him home with a 2-out RBI single – maybe now he can get that snowflake icon removed from his name… San Diego stays scrappy and manages to put two on the board in the top of the 7th to knot it up and then does it again in the top of the 8th to take a 2-run lead… Mitchell Cusac leads us off in the bottom of the 9th with a double and your boy PEPPER brings him home with a double of his own down the 3B line… Donny, with an opportunity to bring in the tying run, hits a line drive right to SS Jude Varela and that’s where we leave it – Chargers win 5-4.

29 of 162: Ryan Burg (3-1, 2.35) @ Ash Newman (2-1, 3.82 ERA)
Derek’s turn to get a day off… Chargers take a 2-run lead in the 1st, we put up 3-hits but can’t get anyone across… We manage to tie it up in the bottom of the 2nd – let’s go Suns! Of course, the Chargers manage to put up a couple more in the 3rd and while we do get one back in the 4th, they do it to us again in the top of the 5th… We never manage to get any closer than that and finish the game with another loss, our 3rd in a row and 5th to the Chargers this season, 9-5. Bummer biscuits. File under “Insult to Injury”: CF Smith Wells, the man with two last names, gets the #1 player of the day honor after going 3 for 4 with 2 homers, 3 RBI and 4 runs… He is worthy of your hatred.

Up next: We begin our 12-game road trip in Chicago against the 11-19 Fire – given our form, we will need to dig deep to get a series win against them over the weekend.

Notes: Josiah and the Jags also begin May with 3 losses to Green Bay – things are not looking up for the former AL East juggernaut. April NL Pitcher of the Month Vincente De La Cruz suffered an injury in his start against the Philadelphia 76ers and will miss the next 8 weeks of the season - that's lame.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (17-12, .586) @ Chicago Fire (11-19, .367)
Some interleague fun… Winners of 6 World Series titles in their 82 year history, the Chicago Fire have only made the playoffs twice in the last 10 years and last won the whole enchilada in 2069 when they defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-2. Currently, they are dead last in 3 of 4 offensive categories and are 9th in the other and while their bullpen has been really good, this team hasn’t really put anything substantial together all season. Looking to have a much better May than April, the Fire came out and took 2 of 3 off the visiting Toronto Reds during their last series and are now 5-5 in their last 10. They are led by 3B Gavin Nalley – he’s has had a rough start to the season, batting a weak .183 with no homers through 28 starts. We have an opportunity to get back on track here – let’s hope we don’t squander it.


30 of 162: Del Miller (3-0, 5.04 ERA) @ Tom Wallace (1-3, 4.33 ERA)
We start the series with both Jeter Bros in the starting lineup… After Hamza McDonnell earns a walk to open the game, Donny moves him over to second with a base hit up the middle – Derek moves the runner over and Milbrandt brings McDonnell in to give us an early lead… Chicago answers in the bottom of the inning and we now have an 8-inning ballgame… Kai-Fa Chiang hits a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to get our lead back, but Chicago is quick to answer back in the bottom of the frame… through 3-innings, we have 3 stolen bases – not bad! Chicago get a run in each of the first 4 innings and after we get one in the top of the 5th are up 4-3… In the top of the 6th, Cusac draws a walk, steals second & third, and gives PEPPER a chance to tie it up with no outs… PEPPER rises to the occasion with a hard hit double – tie game! After loading the bases on walks, Chicago reliver Brendan Morgan follows that mess up with a wild pitch allowing PEPPER to score – we’re up 5-4… LET’S GO! We score another in the inning and 2 more after that to earn the W, 8-5. We reduced our errors by half of the previous games total – we only got two today. That’s what you call a win-win. Losing streak snapped!

Elsewhere: Toronto 1B Terry Romero improved his consecutive game hitting streak to 32 games. The league record is 47 games and was set by LF Vica Cabrera while with the San Diego Chargers (gross) in 2036. The 32-game streak puts Romero in a two-way tie with Los Angeles Lakers SS Jhonnatan Candido, who accomplished the feat in 1997, for 15th all-time.

31 of 162: Cleveland Cornejo (3-1, 5.46 ERA) @ Trev Anderson (2-1, 2.10 ERA)
We have both Jeter Bros in the lineup – two games in a row – good thing we keep a doc on retainer… Also, they both struck out in the 1st, so there is that… Chicago put 3 on the board in the bottom of the second and now we have an uphill battle on our hands, Pepper leads of the top of the 3rd and reaches second on an error – we’ll take it – but, at the end of our turn we’ve brought nothing home… We finally put some runs on the board in the top of the 7th and Luca Milbrandt hits a 3-run HR for us in the 8th to secure the lead 5-4… in all we used 7 total pitchers to get the W. Jeter Bros finish 0-6 with a BB each and Pepper goes 0-4 with 2 K’s…

Elsewhere: Romero has now hit safely in 33 straight games, he’s now tied with OKC’s Szak Hodo who accomplished it during the 2028 season.

32 of 162: Isaiah Zuno (2-2, 4.82 ERA) @ Alfredo Mendez (0-4, 4.64 ERA)
If we get the sweep, Donny want be in the lineup to enjoy – old boy is tired. Again. Chicago opens the scoring in the bottom of the 4th, scoring two runs… through 4, we already have two errors. Like, we can’t field, ya know? We finally put some runs of our own on the board in the top of the 7th, but by that time Chicago has already scored three more… now, at 6-3, with Chicago in the lead, we still have a ways to go if we are going to get the sweep… They score another run on us in the bottom of the 7th and we manage to come alive a bit in the top of the 9th to score 3… but it’s not enough and it ends with Chicago victorious by a score of 7-6.

Elsewhere: Romero’s streak ended at 33.

Notes: Well, we will take series win anytime. I mean a sweep would have been sweet, but there isn’t much we can do about it now… next up we head north to Toronto who are 3-3 this month (we’re 2-4, so…) and find themselves leading the AL East by half a game over the Packers.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (19-13, .594) @ Toronto Reds BC (19-13, .594)
A good defensive team with some pop, the Toronto Reds find themselves leading the AL East despite their other offensive deficiencies. They have a couple of top pitchers in CL Enzo Mercado (winner of the Kingston Cashmore award in 2072 (awarded to the best reliever)) and SP Alex Jackal (3-time Victor Pacheco award winner (most recently in 2070) and have an offense led by RF Andrew Beck (named to the all-star team in 2072 & 2073), who, at 27 years old is entering his prime years. They’ve played a gritty brand of small ball and earned two sweeps (over Jacksonville and Chicago) during the first month of the season. Like us, they’ve been better than the sum of their parts so far – something’s got to give.

33 of 162: Oswaldo Flores (1-3, 5.15 ERA) @ Loyd Aaron (2-2, 4.25 ERA)
Rumor has it that Loyd Aaron dropped the second L from his first name after going 0-10 in Rookie Ball… We’ve been unable to substantiate this claim, but, like the story, and haven’t really tried that hard to do our due diligence. For the game, we were hit by pitches 5 times. FIVE. And got caught stealing twice – in the first inning. Of the two runs we scored, one was on a walk – in short, we weren’t very good in this one. Loyd, despite hitting 4 batters with pitches, only gave up 1 run over 7.2 innings and Toronto’s offense did just enough to secure the win. Donny finished 1 for 4 and struck out looking while Derek finished 0 for 2 (he did get a Sac Fly) and struck out swinging… And Pepper? 0 for 3 with 2 K’s… Reds BC wins 3-2.

34 of 162: Ash Newman (2-2, 4.37 ERA) @ Paul Pentz (5-1, 4.23 ERA)
In the top of the 9th, with the game tied, the wheels came off for Toronto as some timely hitting for Phoenix and two costly errors led to a 3-run inning for the visiting club. JR Marsh went 3 for 4, Derek scored a couple of runs, and Pepper hit a sacrifice bunt – a good if not entirely earned a win for the Suns in this one – we’ll take it, we’re gonna need as many of these as we can get.

35 of 162: Del Miller (4-0, 4.86) @ Alex Jackal (6-1, 1.37 ERA)
SP Del Miller has been on a phenomenal good luck streak, at 4-0 so far this season he hasn’t really pitched great, it’s just that the guy on the other side has pitched worse – with Alex Jackal on the mound for Toronto today, something tells me his luck may run out. Derek gets the day off and our Skipper decided to bat Pepper in the 3-hole. Interesting, as he hasn’t hit earlier than 6th in the order all year. PEPPER responds to the vote of confidence by hitting a 434 homer in the top of the 1st – our Skipper is a misunderstood genius, a card-carrying member of Mensa, and a homespun pottery savant. We win the rubber match as PEPPER finished 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs and a home run, Del has a fine outing giving up only 2 earned over 8 innings of work while Alex Jackal has the misfortune of seeing 4 of the 6 runs scored during his time on the mound come across unearned as his defense committed 5 errors – really ugly day on the diamond for Toronto. Del Miller needs to buy some lottery tickets – this kind of good fortune doesn’t come along that often.

Note: In the Toronto write-up, I mentioned that they were a good defensive team, and before this series they were... They gave us a gift by committing 9 errors in our two wins, talk about falling apart. Yikes.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (21-14, .600) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (19-15, .559, 1 ½ games back)
There are positives and negatives to be found in every away city - the positive thing about playing a 3-game set in OKC is that you don’t have to concern yourself with the types of potential off the field shenanigans that you need to be cognizant of, say, in Toronto. In that respect - it’s nice to be in OKC. Having said that, there are scenarios where trouble comes around, and try as you might to avoid it, finds you whether you like it or not. In OKC that trouble is SP Josh Allen, who, while not at what many believe will be the height of his powers, has been on a tear, and has had good success against us in the past. We get him in the third game of the series, so, we need to stay sharp in the first two games if we are to have a realistic chance at getting a series win. And even that may be a stretch as the Thunder are an incredibly balanced and competent team, that, when the dust settles, should find themselves leading the NL West. Given the average age of their roster and the average potential of their players - we may be on the precipice of a nice 3-year window for these guys to bring home a World Series banner (or two, or none - who knows, baseball is funky like that).

36 of 162: Cleveland Cornejo (3-1, 5.86 ERA) @ Carson Vu (1-2, 6.46 ERA)
An inauspicious start as we strike out in order to start the game – all swinging… 1B Iraj Mansouri killed us today going 3-4 with a homer and 2 RBI’s and was responsible for bringing the go-ahead run on a well placed single against RP Paul Williams. Cleveland picked up his second loss of the season, Donny went 2-4, and Pepper went 1-3 with HR in the 8th. Fun times. With the 3-2 win, Oklahoma is now only a ½ game behind us in the NL West.

Elsewhere: SP Josiah Weber was masterful in New York as he picked up his 6th win of the season and helped his Jaguars improve to 18-18 on the season. Weber gave up 2-runs on 7 hits in 8 innings of work. The 35-year old still has a bit in the tank. He’s now 6-1, 2.23 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 169 ERA+.

37 of 162: Isaiah Zuno (2-3, 4.33 ERA) @ Jimmy Garcia (4-0, 3.13 ERA)
Donny & Pepper get the day off – seems like our Skipper is throwing in the towel here, no? Turns out it was the right call as we managed to get a hard-earned 5-4 win despite committing 2 errors during the game. Backup Catcher Norton Manning put together one of his best offensive performances of the season as he went 2-4 with a run and an RBI. Always nice when we get something, anything really, from him. Zuno pitched a nice complete game for us and only gave up 3 runs through 9. Nice to get a win, but earning the W in the rubber match with Allen on the mound will be a tall order.

38 of 162: Graham Doyle (0-0, 0.00 ERA) @ Tim Kelly (4-3, 3.83 ERA)
We placed CL Ricky Surber on the 60-day disabled list after the diagnosis of his injury sustained in Toronto came back as a torn ulnar collateral ligament – he’ll have a long road to recovery – and called 25-year-old SP Graham Doyle up from Tucson. This will be the Major League debut for 94th overall draft pick out of Tennessee in 2070. He lines up against SP Tim Kelly as OKC elected to give SP Josh Allen an additional day to rest – good for us, hopefully. Pepper is still riding the pine for this one, but we do have full representation from the Jeter Bros. After an unearned run got across in the bottom of the second, Doyle walked two runs in – not a great debut so far… When we pulled him in the 3rd he’d given up 4 runs with 4 walks, 3 K’s, and a wild pitch – command issues. In the end we lost 7-3, and, fortunately, managed to keep our NL West lead at ½ a game even though we lost the series in OKC.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (22-16, .579) @ Vancouver Whitecaps (12-24, .333)
We are 5-7 in May... What a difference a month makes. But, with a trip to Vancouver (A city I love, BTW) on tap, now is as good a time as any to right the ship. Historically, Vancouver has been a quality club, winning 3 titles in the last 82 years with 31 playoff appearances with alot of that success coming in the last 20 years (2 titles / 12 playoff appearances (9 consecutive)) and while this hasn’t been a typical campaign for their club thus far there is plenty of time for them to get something going, but, after taking 2 of 3 off of them when they were in Phoenix, with Pepper doing most of the damage to his old club, it shouldn’t be against us... Vancouver is the proud owner of the worst record in league at 12-24, are rated 10th in Average, 9th in runs scored, and 11th in runs against & defensive efficiency and have a -41 rDiff.

39 of 162: Oswaldo Flores (1-4, 4.67 ERA) @ Julian Brooks (2-2, 5.34 ERA)
Vancouver tied the game in the bottom of the 7th at 8 each, and it took another 5 innings to settle the affair. Donny showed that he still has some life left in the top of the 13th when he brought PJ Amador home from second. The Jeter Bros were a combined 4 for 14 at the plate with 9 strikeouts between them – so outside of that at-bat, Donny and Derek didn’t show much. Pepper didn’t play and Oswaldo was injured in the 3rd – “dead arm” will keep him out for two weeks.

40 of 162: Keiki Kaneko (0-0, 3.86 ERA) @ Nolan Wilkins (1-4, 6.65 ERA)
Luca Milbrandt was the lone bright spot for Phoenix today as we lost 7-5 in Vancouver. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and 3 runs scored. Vancouver 3B Kevin Palmer put his best foot forward and was 4 for 5 with an RBI and a run. Every Vancouver batter managed at least one hit in the game. Donny finished 0 for 4 with 3 K’s and Derek finished 1 for 4 with a run and 2 K’s – they really haven’t shown me much lately. Pepper was out again today, sitting consecutive games for the first time this season – not sure what is up with that. We also started a reliever in Kaneko as Cleveland is skipping a start to get some extra rest.

41 of 162: Del Miller (5-0, 4.40 ERA) @ Nick Boyer (0-2, 5.50 ERA)
Phoenix bounced back from a disappointing effort in the previous game and ended the long road trip on a positive note beating the Vancouver Whitecaps, 6-3. Pepper was back in the lineup and went 1 for 2 with a solo home run, 2 runs, and 2 walks – his discipline at the plate seems to be improving. Our first baseman Jacob Wells was 2 for 4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI’s and DH Donny Jeter went 2 for 4 with a HR, 2 RBI and a walk – vintage. Del gave us a quality start while Derek watched from the bench. Nice 2-1 series win – should make the flight back to Phoenix an enjoyable one. With the win, and OKC’s 2 losses to the San Francisco 49ers, we move to 1 ½ games ahead of the Thunder for 1st in the NL West.

Note: This poorly planned & scheduled 12-game road trip saw us log 5,842 miles in 13 days – they had us going north, then south, then north again before heading south to Phoenix. Where do I have to send a bottle of scotch to make sure that doesn’t happen again? We’ll be happy to get back to Phoenix to enjoy our day off before welcoming San Francisco and LA to town.

[pauwoo]

San Francisco 49ers (20-21, .488) @ Phoenix Suns (24-17, .585)
After finishing April at 14-12, San Francisco is 6-9 so far in May and are 4-6 in their last 10 games. They have a top-notch offense but rely too heavily on it as their pitching staff is 10th in ERA (Starters & Bullpen) and 12th in runs against at 214 – they can field, they just can’t field that much. From a skill perspective they certainly appear to have what it takes, just not enough to get started. We’ll get their Ace in the first game of the set, but it’s really all downhill from there.

42 of 162: Landon Sampson (3-2, 2.09 ERA) @ Isaiah Zuno (3-3, 4.10 ERA)
And… we get a complete game shutout courtesy of Mr. Sampson – 11 K’s… Ugh. The only two batters he didn’t strikeout were JR Marsh and Donny Jeter in a PH appearance. Zuno, for his part, was sharp too – he went 8 innings and only gave up one run but was a lot less dominant in the strikeout department posting only two on the day. Pepper continues to struggle in the field – he had 2 errors today putting him at 14 for the year. With 14 he’s only our 3rd worst fielder behind SS Hamza McDonnell (15) and C Yoshi Nakamura (16). His ZR of -3.4 is a team-low though.

43 of 162: Justin Covert (2-4, 4.85 ERA) @ Graham Doyle (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
Doyle rebounded from his poor 3 inning debut and went 6 strong innings with no runs scored and 4 K’s – not bad for the young man. JR Marsh went 1 for 4 and hit a 3 run HR that was the difference maker in our 6-3 win over the visiting 49ers. Derek went 0 for 3 with 2 K’s and a walk while Donny went 1 for 4 with a 2-run homer and 2 K’s. Pepper was error-free in the field and went 1 for 3 with a run scored. Doyle earned his first Major League win. Phoenix wins 6-3. Good stuff.

44 of 162: Ryan Wiggins (0-5, 6.60 ERA) @ Cleveland Cornejo (3-2, 6.17 ERA)
Cleveland rocked today! He gave us a complete game performance with 1 earned and 8 K’s – nice to see him put it together for us to win the series. Donny stayed hot and went 2 for 3 with a solo homer and a walk while Derek went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI – neither Jeter struck out today. Pepper was 1 for 3 with a run, a walk, and 2 K’s. Phoenix wins 4-2.

Bonus Game (NCAA 1st Round): #1 Seed Vanderbilt Vs. #32 Nebraska Cornhuskers
Vanderbilt Senior SP Vincent Urquhart turned in a fine performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers as the future professional went 7.1 innings giving up 3 runs with 7 hit and 10 K’s. Vanderbilt C Bentley Jones hit a triple and earned 4 RBI on the day to secure the victory. Nebraska Junior CF Joseph Zody did all he could for his Cornhuskers going 2 for 4 with a HR and 2 RBI – he’ll have one more year of eligibility before entering the draft – some scouts already see him as a late first round pick. The Commodores will face the New Mexico State Lobos in the 2nd Round.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Lakers (16-27, .372) @ Phoenix Suns (26-18, .591)
When I decided to follow the Suns for the 2074 season after Donny signed with the team, I figured that the club would finish 4th in the NL West at best – and while there is still time for them to prove me right, I think that the Lakers’ (who I pegged for 3rd in the NL West at worst) ship has sailed. Owners of the 4th worst record in the league, Los Angeles has a sturdy collection of talent, but with 3 significant bullpen contributors on the 60-day DL, it’s hard to see the route they can take to dig themselves out of this mess. They are still hitting homers at a league-leading clip but are in the bottom half of the bottom half in every other offensive category and are as close to last in runs against and defensive efficiency as you can get without being last. The Lakers haven’t finished higher than 3rd in the last 3 years, but with some of their off-season moves and the continued development of their core players, 2074 felt like a good year to make a playoff appearance. The only thing the Lakers have going for them is that they have the #2 prospect in their system getting in some reps with their AAA Compton Raiders franchise. SP Newton Weiser has been in their farm system for two full seasons already and has shown a lot of potential but has yet to make any demonstratable rating improvements – so even that call out was a bit of a stretch.

45 of 162: Benjamin Pogan (3-3, 2.29 ERA) @ Keiki Kaneko (0-0, 3.86 ERA)
Keiki gave up 5 runs in 4 innings in his last outing but gave us a lot better effort today going 8 innings with 8 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk and 9 K’s – unfortunately – it wasn’t enough to secure the win as the Los Angeles Lakers found a way to eke out a 4-3 win over the Suns. Kaneko walked four straight before being pulled from the game and RP Paul Williams let the runners he left stranded get across the plate. Donny Jeter went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI for the Suns – we had 5 hits on the day. Keiki gets his first decision of the season and it’ll go in the L column – Suns lose to the Lakers, 4-3.

46 of 162: Dalbert Anhalt (1-0, 2.45 ERA) @ Del Miller (5-0, 4.62 ERA)
It took 15 innings to decide this one – Donny decided it for us when he brought in one on an RBI single. He finished 3 for 8 with 2 RBI and only 1 K – he’s in a good way right now, it’s been a stretch since he’s been in such good form. Derek was 1 for 1 in a PH appearance with 1 RBI while Pepper went 0 for 7 with a walk and 3 K’s – he fielded well though. Del Miller put up 7.2 innings of work for us – he was serviceable, not good… 6 earned on 7 hits with 3 walks and 7 K’s. Los Angeles got 2 HR’s from their DH Dave Pinchak – probably his best game of the season for the Lakers – 3 for 6, 3 runs, 2 RBI. The 8-7 win comes at a critical time with OKC surging - hopefully, we’re starting to put a little something together.

Bonus Game (Round 2 – NCAA Tourney): Ridgemont CC Tasty Waves @ Villanova Wildcats
Villanova finished 2nd in the Big East behind Pennsylvania and won their first-round matchup against Purdue, 5-3. Their RF King Disney (you can’t make this stuff up) had a huge 2-HR game for the Wildcats. The Tasty Waves won their first-round matchup with UC Santa Barbara by a score of 3-2, and their RF Adley Workman was the difference maker with a 3-5, HR, and 2 RBI day. Both would have big games in the 2nd round – but, while Adley went 3 for 4 with a R, King Disney went 5 for 5 with a double, 2 homers, 7 RBI and 3 runs to lead the Wildcats to a 13-4 victory. Dominant win for ‘Nova.

47 of 162: John Aivazian (1-6, 5.22 ERA) @ Isaiah Zuno (3-4, 3.71 ERA)
In addition to being a poor starting pitcher, Aivazian has a last name that sounds like it’s an experimental drug manufactured to treat restless eyelid syndrome – or something equally ridiculous. He went 7 innings for LA and was serviceable – 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 6 K’s – not terrible, but it certainly won’t cure what ails the Lakers. Zuno wasn’t much better giving up 5 earned in 7.2 innings of work – but Luca Milbrandt made sure it was enough with his 3 for 4, 3 RBI performance as Phoenix made it 2 in a row with the 8-6 victory. Derek made the most of his reappearance in the lineup with a 2 for 4, 2 run performance and Pepper, well, it’s not worth talking about – let’s just say, on the brightside, he didn’t make any fielding errors today.

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Suns (28-19, .596) @ St. Louis Rams (15-29, .341)
Rams Right Fielder, Jonah Dove, won the Boyce Rigg Award in 2072, but, after a good start to the 2073 season he went down with shoulder tendinitis for 8 weeks and followed that up with 2 more weeks on the DL with a herniated disc in his neck – 2074 looks to be a bounce back year for his power as he is on track to hit 37 homers, but his all-around game has suffered since the injuries. Not unlike Jonah, his St. Louis team won back-to-back titles in 2067 & 2068, made the playoffs in 2069 & 2070, but have since finished no higher than 5th. Key losses to free agency and a series of poor draft choices have earned them their place near the bottom of the league. So far this season they are last in the NL East at 15-29 and sit at #11 in runs score and #10 in Bullpen ERA – they are a long way from their glory days. Even their top prospect, CF Wasp Hauck, has struggled in AAA. We meet them for a 4-game set, and we expect our club to stay focused and take care of business while we are in town.

48 of 162: Graham Doyle (1-1, 1.80 ERA) @ Nick Colbaugh (0-7, 5.59)
Jonah Dove crushed us today – 3 for 5, 3 runs, 6 RBI, and a homer. He just did whatever he wanted to do. Colbaugh was his usual self – yanked after giving up 4 runs in 4.1 innings – he did manage 5 K’s though – we fanned 13 times in the game, St. Louis only did it 4 times. Donny went 2 for 3 and Derek was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI in the loss. Pepper went 0 for 3, struck out twice and committed a fielding error – he was trash today. Complete lack of focus from that guy. St. Louis merked us, 14-4.

Bonus Game (NCAA Great 8): Pepperdine @ Blue Mountain State
Hudson Dorsch (20/55) @ Stretch Worthington (20/20)
Blue Mountain State made the Great 8 after beating the Oklahoma Sooners in a close one, 3 to 1. They got a great performance from their SS Julius Etcheverry (20/28) – 4 for 5 and a run from the leadoff spot. They are a well-rounded team that finished the NCAA regular season at 31-19. In Pepperdine, 28-22 in the regular season, they meet a dangerous squad led by RF Emil Berg (20/23) – he went 2 for 5 against Ohio State in the last round. Emil was much better against BMS – he went 3 for 4 with 3 runs and an RBI from the leadoff spot and LF Shawn Sullivan (20/66) was 3 for 5 with 3 runs, 7 RBI and 3 HRs – craziness. Pepperdine wins 12-2. They’ll face the Virginia Cavaliers while the Pennsylvania Quakers (after defeating Tournament favorite Vanderbilt) will meet the Kentucky Wildcats in the Final Four.

49 of 162: Cleveland Cornejo (4-2, 5.26 ERA) @ Dimitri Pimentel (4-5, 2.20 ERA)
JR Marsh went 2 for 5 with 2 HR (doubling his HR total on the season in one game) and 4 RBI while Cleveland gave us 7.1 innings with 5 K’s ad 5 earned. The Jeter Bros were a combined 2 for 9 with 6 K’s (mostly Donny’s fault) and Pepper went hitless again. We fell apart in the bottom of the 8th and let 3 get across and had to secure the win in extras when JR Marsh hit his second ding dong of the day. Phoenix wins 6-5.

50 of 162: Keiki Kaneko (0-1, 4.02 ERA) @ Mick Kornbluh (3-4, 2.35 ERA)
The inconsistency continues – we’re really blowing it in this series losing 2 of the first 3 to one of the worst teams in the league - maximum suckage. St. Louis got a lit bit of something from their whole team in this win while we got a whole lotta nothing from 1 through 9. 13 K’s for the team… THIRTEEN!

Bonus Game #2 (Final Four): Kentucky @ Pennsylvania
Rasheed Paez (20/45) @ Nicholas Hughes (20/25)
Pennsylvania punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship Game with a 3-1 win over Kentucky and held on to a shutout until the top of the 9th when Kentucky looked poised to go on a run. That effort was thwarted with some fine defensive work from the Quakers – DH Nesto Gamboa (20/20) was tossed from the game in the 4th inning after arguing a strike call. His inner Bryce Harper was in full effect. They’ll face a surging Pepperdine in the final – my money is on the Waves – the 4-time NCAA Champion looks to be the 1st College team to win 5 titles – currently they are tied for 1st at 4 with Vanderbilt and Santa Clara. Pennsylvania has one championship in their history… waaaaaay back in 2016.

51 of 162: Del Miller (6-0, 4.62 ERA) @ Kent Miller (0-4, 8.39 ERA) – no relation.
And… the wheels have come off. Losing 3 of 4 to the St. Louis Rams is our low point of the season thus far – but, don’t worry we still have 112 games (err - 111, math is hard) to reach depths you could never imagine. C Jasper Herrera was 4 for 4 with a double and an RBI for the Rams and Kent improved his ERA by nearly 2 points after 8 innings of work where he only allowed two earned runs. Donny sat on the bench, Derek went hitless and Pepper… well, he did hit a sacrifice bunt – you don’t see that every day. St. Louis wins 4-2 and the San Diego Chargers take over the top spot in the NL West. We also struck out 47 times over the 4 game set. If you're counting thats ~12 K's / Game. We're awesome at baseball.

We’re heading back home with our tails between our legs to welcome the 29-21 Brooklyn Citizens to town. If a lowly squad like St. Louis can handle us like that, I can’t wait to see what a good team does to us. Contemplating using the teams' twitter account to tell our home fans not to bother showing up. Good thing I forgot my password.

[pauwoo]

Brooklyn Citizens (29-21, .580, 2nd NL East) @ Phoenix Suns (29-22, .569, 2nd NL West)
The Citizens don’t get on often (.315 OBP – 12th) and they don’t hit particularly well (.251 Avg, 9th), but when they get on, they get them across (238 Runs, 2nd) and they have some pop (50 HR, t-2nd). They have a lights out bullpen, and their starters are serviceable – nothing special, but capable and they make a habit of putting together solid starts and eating innings, keeping their bullpen so fresh and so clean. In short, they’re a solid, sometimes good, but not great ball club. They have two players in the top 100 prospect list in 3B Jarel White (#50) and 3B Miguel Pacheco (#87), outside of those two they don’t have much talent stocked up in Brentwood. They look like a playoff team – not a championship contender – and, if they want to take the next step it will have to come through trades and free agency.

52 of 162: Nathaniel Firestone (4-3. 3.77) @ Oswaldo Flores (1-4, 5.13)
Oswaldo was solid – that’s really all we need from him – and gave us 6 innings with only 1 earned. He was all over the place with his command, walking 5 and striking 7 out. PJ Amador was 2 for 3 with a run scored – as a team we only got 6 hits, 1 walk, and THIRTEEN K’s – Derek led the K parade with 3. Phoenix wins 3-2.

Bonus Game (NCAA Final): Pepperdine @ Pennsylvania
Jordan Mandebaum (20/62) was at his best when it mattered most – he delivered 8.2 innings of shutout baseball for the Quakers with only 6 hits, a walk, and 6 K’s. SS Ray Gerhold (20/67) went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI and RF Adjo Domfeh (20/20) went 3 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI in the 7-0 win. Pennsylvania did all their damage in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings while Pepperdine started flat and stayed that way. This is Pennsylvania’s 2nd championship in 19 tourney appearances.

53 of 162: Nick Lyle (3-4, 3.23) @ Isaiah Zuno (3-4, 3.95)
I’m shopping Zuno – looking to get a serviceable starter with 1 year left on his contract and some minor league talent that is good at not striking out – not getting any bites though. He was really good today – 8 innings, 3 earned, 12 K’s, but Nick Lyle was better – 9 inning shutout with 7 K’s. It was nice that we didn’t hit double digits in K’s, but it was lame that we committed 4 errors – we have a lot of holes on this club. Citizens win 4-0.

54 of 162: Mitch Hudkins (4-1, 2.56) @ Ash Newman (4-2, 3.74)
1B Jacob Wells went 2 for 3 with a HR and Luca Milbrandt went 1 for 4 with a run-scoring double. Ash was great today – in fact, our pitchers have been in great form over the first three games of this series – 8 innings with 1 earned and 5 K’s. We finished with 10 K’s on the day – we’ve had 10+ K’s in both of our series wins against Brooklyn.

55 of 162: Logan Gorsline (3-4, 6.91) @ Cleveland Cornejo (4-2, 5.34)
In keeping with the theme for this series – great effort from our starter – CC pitched a complete game and only gave up two runs, but Brooklyn shut us down as Gorsline put in 7.2 innings of work with 10 K’s before handing the ball to the bullpen to finish the job. We finished the game with 12 K’s – that’s not a theme, it’s a habit.

So… in this series we either managed to get it done in grinding fashion or were completely dominated – a real Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde deal. Not a lot of movement for either club – we both are right where we were prior to the series… at second in our respective divisions. In other news… I traded Isaiah Zuno and Keiki Kaneko for a SP Michael Brisk (good control, so-so stamina) and a minor league prospect in LF Dylan Huerta – he has a good arm with a below average range but has a lot of potential in ‘plate discipline’ and ‘avoid K’s’ that we hope our minor league coaches can eventually unlock. It was a good move, but I worry about the timing.

Next up we will welcome the 29-26 New York Jets to town for an interleague series and get to see what our new pitcher can do.

[pauwoo]

The Green Bay Packers (32-22), winners of 7 of their last 10 games have a 1-game lead over Jacksonville for the top spot in the AL East. They finished the month of May with a 20-9 record and are currently the hottest club in the MLB. Sitting in the top half of the AL for Runs Scored, Stolen Bases, and Starters ERA – Green Bay play a balanced brand of baseball. In the NL, the San Diego Chargers are red hot - winning 9-straight as we head into June. Elsewhere – league pundits are split between the Pittsburgh Pirates (in the top five of every category on the NL Rankings) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (top five in every category on the AL ranking except HR’s where they are 7th) for the top club designation. Both teams look to be serious championship contenders this season, but I’ll give the Galaxy the nod as they have the better system with three Top 25 ranked prospects developing at their AAA club in Long Beach.

Batters of the Month:
AL: 1B Quinn Charvat (GBP): .333 AVG, 8 jacks, 31 RBIs – drafted 23rd in 2073 out of Stanford University.
NL: 3B Jamie Burke (SDC): .364 AVG, 4 ding dongs, 26 RBIs – drafted 14th in 2072 out of Arizona State University

Pitchers of the Month:
AL: SP Josiah Weber (JAX): 5-0, 1.82 ERA – drafted 3rd in 2060 out of OK State. He’s a 6-Time Pacheco Award recipient. Don’t call it a comeback – he’s been here for years.
NL: SP Landon Sampson (SF): 4-0, 1.52 ERA – drafted 33rd in 2067 out of Kentucky. He’s a 2-time Pacheco Award winner.

[pauwoo]

New York Jets (29-26, .527, 3rd AL East) @ Phoenix Suns (31-24, .564, 2nd NL West)
The New York Jets are the best offensive team in the American League. Leading every offensive category in the AL Rankings, it is thier pitching that sometimes holds them back. They are currently 10th in Bullpen ERA and 9th in Defensive efficiency – so, often, when they get beat teams are just matching & eventually eclipsing their offensive output. Led by the best middle infield in the American League in 2B Rich Hamilton and SS Raymond Haynes and with the #10 prospect RF Neil Jahraus waiting in the wings – the Jets look to be a winning club for the foreseeable future – and with a key acquisition to shore up their bullpen, they could contend for the title this season.

56 of 162: Elijah Betancourt (4-5, 3.84) @ Del Miller (6-1, 4.54)
Big offensive effort from the Suns – Luca was 2 for 4 with 2 runs & Nakamura was also 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run of his own. Del Miller makes it 5 games in a row with a quality start for our pitching staff going 7 innings with only 4 hits, 1 run and 6 K’s. We struck out 9 times in the game and only had one error (courtesy of Pepper). Derek was 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI. Good all around effort from our club today, Marshall Louis got a little shook in relief, but Cordova was able to come in and earn the save by striking out the last two batters of the game on 14 pitches. Suns win, 8-6.

57 of 162: Nell Edwards (5-2, 4.06) @ Michael Brisk (5-4, 3.94)
New guy Brisk makes it six straight quality starts, giving us 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 6 K’s – very nice. RF Jong-Hwan Song went 3 for 4 with a run, Derek was 1 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI (he also struck out 3 times), and your boy Pepper went 1 for 4 with a solo homer in the 6th. As a team we struck out 10 times and committed 3 errors (none for Pepper though) – so, while we got the W, we weren’t exactly dialed in. Suns win, 5-4.

58 of 162: Sergino Bautista (5-4, 3.70) @ Oswaldo Flores (2-4, 4.70)
Pepper’s 3-run homer wasn’t enough for us today as Oswaldo struggled through a 7-inning, 5 earned performance where he gave away 4 free passes. Raymond Haynes went 2 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs for the bad guys and their SP Sergino was lights out over 7.2 innings of work (he did give us 6 walks of his own). As a team, we only struck out 5 times (improvement in a losing effort), and 1B Jacob Wells was responsible for 3 of them and guess who committed his 20th fielding error? Pepper, that’s who. In Phoenix, we are all about celebrating milestones.

Well… a couple of solid wins followed by a shellacking. We’ll take the series win, but it would have been nice to complete what could have been our 2nd sweep of the season – our first (and only) came against the Lakers waaaaaaay back in April. Can it be that it was all so simple then? We’ll welcome the Carolina Panthers to town tomorrow for some more interleague silliness. They haven’t been good this year, which gives me pause because we haven’t been wonderful against sub-par clubs. Side note: I shopped Donny around today, for the lulz – the Jets are offering 5-Time Boyce Riggs winner 2B Rich Hamilton who at 33 with 3 years left at $36M per still has a lot of gas in the tank. Too bad I can’t make it work without pillaging our affiliate club and asking our owner if he can sell one of his yachts to make up the difference – actually that’s not entirely true… we have the money, just seems dicey. I’d rather hoard prospects and try to become a perennial powerhouse.

[pauwoo]

Listen, I’m a tinkerer, the sort that can’t leave well enough alone…

Some trades I made while enjoying a beer and a bowl of cracklins…

The Phoenix Suns have released a statement confirming the trade of 30-year-old 3B Pepper Grant to the Chicago Fire for 29-year-old LF Cash Crouch and 24-year-old minor league SS Maddox Wahlen. The deal was finalized today. I get rid of my error-prone, high strikeout guy with a cool name for a below average outfielder that doesn’t strike out much and an above average prospect with zero power. More importantly, ‘Cash Crouch’ is a cooler name than ‘Pepper Grant’. This is important to our on-air personalities.

Fans in Phoenix woke up this morning to learn that their team had traded 24-year-old 2B Curt Berryman and 28-year-old minor league RHP Will Pyle to the Los Angeles Galaxy. In return, the Suns will receive 29-year-old 3B Luke LaBonte. Okay, this, technically, is a bad trade. But, I get a solid fielder to come off the bench. I don’t know that I need a solid fielder to come off the bench – I just kind of made the trade anyways. This is why I shouldn’t have cracklins.

I miss Pepper already... the club will miss his power, but we won't miss the lack of fielding acumen and his high propensity to strike out.

[pauwoo]

Carolina Panthers (22-34, .393) @ Phoenix Suns (28-19, .596)
10 ½ games back in the AL East and headed nowhere fast… The Carolina Panthers have the worst offense in the AL, though their power is middle of the road, and their pitching isn’t much better. They don’t defend particularly well, and their roster is devoid of stars. They have the #11 prospect in baseball playing for their minor league club – the kid looks like he could be an all-star… but outside of that, there isn’t much to see here. They do have a legit Ace in Robby Garrett, but he hasn’t pitched like one this year with a 4-5 record and a 4.45 ERA. The team is currently focused on a long-term rebuilding effort and recently decreased their average ticket price by 13.7% in order to juice their attendance – fan interest is low, but the move has netted them a 2.6% increase in ticket sales over last year – $75K in ticket revenue per game seems like a steep price to pay for an extra ~600 tickets sold per game though. What’s that? $125 per incremental ticket purchase?

59 of 162: Aidan Sexton (2-5, 4.76) @ Ash Newman (5-2, 3.15)
The good – only one error today. The bad? We lost 7-3, struck out 11 times, and, offensively, Derek was our best player – 2 for 3, a run and 2 walks. Pepper’s replacement at 3B committed the lone error of the game – and it cost us 3 runs… Karma? She mad, she real mad. Elsewhere: Pepper went 0 for 4 with 3 K’s and an error in his Chicago debut. Some things never change, I suppose. Oh, almost forgot, Donny was tired and did not play today - I should have pulled the trigger on that offer from the New York Jets.

Next up: The 2074 Draft… Let’s see if I can ruin our future with my trademark poor decision making and complete lack of judgment.

[pauwoo]

2074 Season (Amateur Draft)
At 33-26, Phoenix is in a good way. 2074 has been good to us, so, having the #1 pick in the draft after finishing 2073 with a .352 winning percentage (our lowest in 10 seasons) is pretty radical. Having me at the helm to navigate the draft? Well, that’s pretty sketchy – especially in the later rounds when I start using the coolness factor of each players name as a tie-breaker.

Round 1, Pick 1: SS Ray Gerhold (Pennsylvania Quakers) – A slick-fielding, double-play machine at SS and a pull-hitter with solid discipline at the plate and a demonstrable ability to avoid K’s, Ray’s got the speed, personality, and facial hair to be a mainstay in Phoenix for years to come. He’s also got the intangibles (works hard, never set up a twitter account) that I look for – and – he’s a proven winner who played an integral role in helping the Quakers win the NCAA championship in 2074.

Round 2, Pick 32: SP Russell Harper (UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs) – He already has a big-league fastball but will need to continue to work on his changeup if he is to be a difference maker in the Majors. His will be a tough signature for us to get, but with his upside and high moral fiber, I felt it was worth the risk.

Round 3, Pick 54: LF Jeff Melanson (Kansas) – He has a reputation for being hesitant to commit and is wary of change, but looks like a guy who will hit for contact and avoid K’s. He also has above average range in the outfield, though his arm out there is suspect. We think he will develop some power as well, so, if our staff in Tucson is worth a darn, Melanson is a future big leaguer.

Round 4, Pick 79: CF Ervin Brown (Penn State) – A slick-fielding outfielder with fantastic range and a good arm, Ervin has shown a superior work ethic and could develop good discipline at the plate. We aren’t projecting him as a future starter, but a good utility man is always welcome on the big club.

Round 5, Pick 103: SP Ivey Lochner (Ridgemont Community College) – This cat’s a dude – people like him, he knows how to party without taking it too far and his handlebar mustache is the stuff of legend. He has solid stuff with a major league fastball, though he’ll need to work on his slider and sinker if he hopes to ever make the big club. He may be the most skilled sacrifice bunter we’ve ever drafted.

Round 6, Pick 127: LF Simon Leech (PCU)… 20/35
Round 7, Pick 151: CF Richie Glow (South Carolina)… 20/26
Round 8, Pick 175: CF Jimmie Howe (Houston)… 20/26
Round 9, Pick 199: RP Tyler Silva (Texas)… 20/29
Round 10, Pick 223: SS Paulo Hill (Tennessee)… 20/20

Overall Draft Grade: I dunno, B-? I got some solid talent up top, was so-so in the middle rounds (analysis paralysis is a heck of a thing), and got a couple of solid ‘name’ guys at the end there… I think that Russell Harper was a steal, so I have that going for me.

[pauwoo]

60 of 162: Robby Garrett (4-5, 4.43) @ Cleveland Cornejo (4-3, 4.90)
Yikes… 2-game skid. Cleveland rocked – 8 innings with only 2 earned. Garrett rocked harder – CG, 3 hit shutout. 3B Jake O’Brien went 1 for 3 with a HR in the 3rd – punk skipped around the bases like a leprechaun. Only 3 hits for the game, 3 walks and 7 K’s. Just wasn’t our day. Side note: 1st game of the season without an appearance by a Jeter Bro. Pepper was better today for his new club… 1 for 3 with a HR and 2 RBI in a losing effort. I wonder if I can get him back? Maybe for Donny? Panthers win 2-0.

61 of 162: Evan Church (1-4, 7.76) @ Del Miller (7-1, 4.24)
Well, crap. Swept at home by the lowly Panthers. Carolina styled on us today and tuned us up for 7 runs. Derek was back in the lineup (0 for 5) and Donny got a hit in a PH appearance. Luca went 3 for 5 with only 1 RBI. 9 K’s and no errors for the team – I feel like this is one we should’ve won. I mean we hit 4 doubles, a triple, a home run, and a sacrifice bunt! How do you lose when you put up those kind of numbers? Baseball is a fickle mistress, is she not?

Well... that was our second time being on the wrong side of a sweep this season and we've now lost 4 in a row (a season high). Bummer biscuits. The wheels have been loose for a while, let's be honest, but now it really feels like one or more have come off. In baseball you can't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows... so why do I feel like Hank Williams Jr right now? Maybe I'll make a couple more trades - I always feel better after making a trade... "Donny, can you come in here for a sec? We need to chat."

[pauwoo]

The NCAA announced that the Grand Lakes University Hooters will be the newest addition to the DI Baseball Association. The school was added to Division I on the basis of student body citizenship and the strength of their dive team. Do you even triple lindy, bro?

GLU joins the NCAA Unaffiliated Division in 2075.

[pauwoo]

OKC, like us, is a good team. A piece or two (or three or four) away from glory. What they lack is consistency – throughout June they’ve been a win one, lose one kind of club. They beat Jacksonville 13-1 one night, lose 5-6 the next, then close out the series on an 8-1 triumph – then follow that up with more of the same against Toronto. They’re balanced – and, are, without a doubt, the best offensive club in the NL – 1st in runs, average and OBP and second in defensive efficiency. They boast a +35 rDiff. In short, they are good and really should be in the top two of our division (and maybe they will be after this series given our form) – but – they’ve been the victim of a bad bounce here and a short hop there. With the best catcher in the league anchoring their fierce lineup and one of the top young pitchers in the game at #1 in their rotation this is a team that is on a come up – they’ll be a force to be reckoned with over the next few seasons barring any boneheaded moves from their front office.

62 of 162: Tim Kelly (6-5, 3.58) @ Michael Brisk (6-4, 2.89)
And we’re baaaack! 10-1 win for the Suns! Brisk is lights out in a complete game, 1-run performance where he only walked one and struck out 8 – really good stuff from the new guy. CF JR Marsh hit a couple of doubles in a 3 for 3, 2 RBI performance and RF Jong-Hwan Song went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. 1B Jacob Well went 2 for 4 with a couple of runs for the good guys as well and even Derek got a double to go with his 3 K’s. We hit 4 doubles, a homer, a Sac Fly (Luca sacrificing for the team – atta boy!), and even stole 4 bags. Our other new guy, and Pepper’s replacement at 3rd put an error on the board. Third basemen are hard to find. But - hey, we did it you guys! We won a game!

Ruh roh… Pepper was removed from the Chicago Fire’s starting lineup. Given that they are 3rd in defensive efficiency in the AL, it’s not hard to understand why they don’t have any patience for a poor defensive player that occasionally hits bombs.

63 of 162: AJ Hinson (0-5, 5.69) @ Oswaldo Flores (2-5, 4.84)
Oswaldo, not to be outdone by the new guy, gave us a complete game 2-run game and sprinkled in 10 K’s for seasoning in our 11-2 win! We’ve broken OKC’s win one, lose one cycle. The only runs Oswaldo gave up were to RF Brandon Roa who hit 2 solo shots (one in the 1st and again in the 5th). RF Jong-Hwan Song was 1 for 4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI – we moved Derek to 6th in the lineup and he went 1-3 with 3 runs and an RBI, and Donny was 2 for 4 with 2 runs from the 3-hole as our DH today – great effort. Three doubles and a triple – we’re a double-hitting machine!

64 of 162: Jimmy Garcia (5-1, 3.12) @ Ash Newman (5-3, 3.15)
Garcia gave up 4 runs in 6 innings of work in his last start against us – it was our only win in that series. He wasn’t much better today – 7 innings & 4 runs against and the result was essentially the same, 4-3 win for Phoenix. This is our second sweep of the season – we are now 2-2 in sweeps… progress. Derek went 2 for 3 with a HR and 3 RBI – with Donny on the bench he batted 3rd in the lineup. Newman nearly got the shutout but was pulled in the 9th after 8 innings of work with no runs and 10 K’s on his sheet. All runs scored were the result of our fielding errors – we had 4 as a team, 2 belonged to Derek. Would’ve had a team shutout if our team could play D.

So… this is what I’ve been looking for – finally our second sweep of the season. And we managed to right the ship against a good club. The loss puts OKC at an even .500 for the year and we move to within 2 games of the 1st place Chargers. Next up is the division rival San Francisco 49ers who’ve been nipping at our heels – they are 34-30 and 8-2 over their last 10 games, so a series win will be tough, but doable. We will see them for a two-game set before a day off in the California sun while on our way to visit San Diego – tough stretch ahead.

[pauwoo]

First, a trade… Picked up SP Patrick Keith (2-3, 5.97) for Cleveland Cornejo (4-4, 4.62) which was more about age, team control, and current contract length than anything – very similar players.

Phoenix (36-28, .562) @ San Francisco (34-30, .531)
San Francisco, currently sitting 4 games back at 3rd in the NL West, is a team that puts the ball in play and gobbles it up when you do. They’re solid on both sides of the ball and are led by their Ace Landon Sampson (7-3, 1.56). A two-time Victor Pacheco winner, most recently in 2072, Sampson mixes in five pitches with his cutter & curveball being the best of the bunch – he also throws a change, a nasty and getting nastier splitter, and a screwball. We won’t see him in this series, fortunately. On offense, they have the #23 prospect in baseball in 23-year-old 2B Scott Kaszuba – he’s on the big club now and will hit for average with great speed, baserunning, and stealing ability. He’s started the last 45 games at second with a .307/.399/.364 slash. The club is 8-2 over their last 10 and is coming off a home sweep versus Green Bay and a series win at home against the Chargers where they lost the last game 0-2 as SP Arnaldo Romero (8-3, 2.76) outdueled Sampson in what was his 3rd complete game shutout of the season.

65 of 162: Patrick Keith (2-3, 5.97) @ Foster Bantel (4-0, 1.91)
Newly acquired SP Patrick Keith failed to make a good first impression in this one, lasting only 2.2 innings for the Suns. He gave up 2 runs in the first as he navigated through a shaky start. 5 pitchers put in work in relief for us, and, ultimately, we were able to climb back into it and eventually put the winning runs on the board in the top of the 9th winning by a final score of 6-4. Foster gave the 49ers a rock-solid effort over 8 innings in which he gave up only 1 earned run with the other 3 coming due to fielding errors. Bootleg Pepper (Luke LaBonte) got a timely hit for us in the 9th bringing a critical run across and struck out 3 times while Luca Milbrandt contributed a 3-run HR to the winnings cause. Jeter finished 2 for 4 with a well hit double, one of two doubles for the team, and an RBI.

66 of 162: Del Miller (7-2, 4.42) @ Ryan Wiggins (1-9, 6.22)
San Francisco ended our 4-game winning streak with a 6-1 win at home. Starter Ryan Wiggins was dominant over 8 innings giving up only 1 run with 9 K’s. 3B Ashihei Izumi had a nice game for the 49ers, he finished the contest at 3 for 4 with a double and two batted in. For the second day in a row our starter failed to make it past the 3rd inning as Del struggled early and often in this one giving up 5 runs in 2.1 innings of work (he also walked 3 – command issues…). As a team we committed 3 errors on the day to go along with our 9 K’s and are starting to take a close look at Bootleg Pepper (Luke LaBonte) who struck out 3 more times today to make it a grand total of 6 over the 2-game set and 15 in his 8-games as a Sun – he was never considered a long-term solution at 3rd, and may not even be acceptable on a short-term basis as his fielding % is 110 bp’s below what he was doing in LA as he’s committed 4 errors in 8 games (he only had 11 in 33 games when we acquired him) to go along with his 9 assists and 2 double-plays. Side note: Recently traded starter Cleveland Cornejo went 8 innings with 1 earned run in his Houston Debut – good for him – and, Pepper made his first appearance in 5 games going 0 for 4 with a K and no fielding errors.

Splitting the two-game set is fine, just less than ideal. The struggle here is that we got two really poor pitching performances and really won the 1st game in a grinding/lucky effort that required the 49ers fielders to put on their clown shoes for a couple of innings. We’ll take our day off before getting back on the field in San Diego where we have a 4-game set – it’ll be a tough and critical set of games as we now sit only 1 game back in the NL West as the Chargers have lost 4 of their last 5, including two losses to the last-place Vancouver Whitecaps.

[pauwoo]

Decatur Donnybrooks (26-14, .650) @ Dearborn Dilly’s (29-11, .725)
A battle of the two-best teams in the Bush League as the Independence Division leading Dearborn Dilly’s welcome the Justice Division-leading Decatur Donnybrooks to town. After two games of the 3-game set, the series is tied at 1-1 with Decatur taking the first 8-4 and losing the second 0-3. Dearborn has had a phenomenal start and boast a +62 rDiff while Decatur has ridden their league-best pitching and ho-hum offense to a fast start of their own. Decatur is led by LF Jayson Winder a former MLB mainstay with the New York Jets and Golden State Warriors whose slick fielding earned him 6 gold gloves, with the most recent coming in 2072. A series of injuries has limited his abilities in recent years (hip strain, back stiffness, jammed finger, concussion, fractured foot (ouch), and a bruised thigh) making major league clubs wary of picking up the tab on his 8M asking price. Injuries have already limited him to 20 games this season.

Damon Cronin (1-2, 3.62) @ Evan Demko (4-2, 2.63)
Demko, a marginal major leaguer who spent limited time in the Phoenix Suns’ rotation before joining Decatur in 2073 and then Dearborn for this season, was serviceable in his start today going 5 innings with 4 earned and getting the win in the Dilly’s series-clinching 6-4 win over Decatur. 1B Rocco Laki was 2 for 3 with 2 solo homers and a walk while LF Jayson Winder was 1 for 3 with a homer of his own for Decatur. 26-year-old Rocco never made it out of the minors while under contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The former San Dimas Community College standout has not fared well in the Bush League – batting only .200/.292/.329 in 21 starts for Dearborn – he has a good work ethic, but he doesn’t appear to have any route back to the majors at this point. Conversely, RF Cam Roberts who went 2 for 4 with a double and 2-RBI is batting .291/.337/.418 in 37 games for Dearborn – another former Jag who never made it out of the minors, this NC State prospect has started to draw some scouts after short stints in Beaumont, Nolanville, and now Dearborn. He has a long way to go if he is to get another shot at making one of the big clubs, but he has acquitted himself nicely so far.