Portland Pioneers (SVMLB)

[pauwoo]

Phoenix Coyotes (23-25, .479, 3rd NL West) @ Portland Pioneers (26-22, .541, 3rd AL West)
The Phoenix Coyotes look a lot like who we should be – a moribund club, shuffling along aimlessly as they meet their middling destiny head on… a middle of the road club, lost somewhere in the middle of the pack, too good to be a doormat, barely good enough to get into the foyer. With the 8th rated offense and 8th rated staff in the National League, you could make a case that, thus far at least, these Coyotes are playing a bit over their head – basking in the good fortune of outperforming the Pyt while boasting a -11 RDiff. Here, we’ll look to keep ourselves outside of their reach, just far enough away to not be able to land anything on us as we dance in and out to land some well-timed, and well-placed, combos on these jabronis.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP K. Voll (4-1, 2.06 ERA) vs LHP A. Rodríguez (4-3, 2.55 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (4-4, 3.73 ERA) vs LHP R. Luna (6-3, 4.55 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (4-3, 4.68 ERA) vs RHP T. Mathieu (3-2, 2.29 ERA)

#49: Win, 9-8 (10)… we’d dig deep, knotting things up at 8 each during the bottom of the 6th after Phoenix dropped 5 on us during the top of that frame, and, eventually, walk the Coyotes off, in front of the hometown faithful, on a Jess Alford run-scoring single that charged the loss to CL Chasley Anderson, and dropped him to 0-3 this year as a result. Frodo drove one in on a double, Fukumoto hit the GRAND SLAM that knotted it up during the bottom of the 6th, Micky Austin and Rowan Calvin each put one out, and our closer, Payton Inzen, was credited with the win after pitching to one batter during the top of the 9th before closing things out for us during the top of the 10th.

#50: Win, 5-4… another closely contested contest, though we’d get it sorted without requiring extra frames, as C Chris Levesque blasted a 3-run MOONSHOT to knot this one up during the bottom of the 3rd and Frodo Gonzales put the game winner out, on a solo shot, during the very next frame. Nice job closing it out for the bullpen here with Tristan Kim giving us 2.1 hitless innings followed by a 12-pitch top of the 9th from Payton to secure his 9th save this year. We’ll take it – a series win at home, and a nice rebound for the club after getting handled so easily by the Leopards in Los Angeles.

#51: Win, 10-2… we’re cooking in fatback now – all rich and smoky with an egg scramble mixed into some collard greens around the campfire of your youth… I could get used to this, dispatching clubs with ease, sending teams off to the airport on the wrong side of a sweep, tails tucked firmly between their legs. Here our boys styled on the Coyotes with Fukumoto putting another one out, a 3-run TANK this time, Leo doing the same, his 10th homer of the year, and Angel Marino rounding things out with a 2-run double of his own… the staff did its thing too – Macomber earns his 5th win after allowing just one hit in 5-innings of work, with Tyler Gilma closing out the final three frames on 45 pitches… that he allowed two homers, both solo shots, didn’t matter given the cushion he had.

Record: 29-22, .569, 3rd AL West
Up Next: We’ll welcome the Vancouver Mounties to town who, at 9-12 so far this month, will arrive in PDX at the worst possible time for them if getting back on track is a priority.

[pauwoo]

Vancouver Mounties (26-25, .510, 4th AL West) @ Portland Pioneers (29-22, .569, 3rd AL West)
Most experts still believe in these Mounties… it’s early, they’ve represented our league in 3 of the last 4 World Series, winning it all, against my Leopards, in 2081. And, the club that nearly went all the way last season, its core at least, is still intact – underperforming, sure, but far from ready to throw in the towel. May hasn’t been their month, though, as they’ve only entered 9 wins into the permanent record while dropping 12 others, and, should we have anything to say about it, we’d like to help them continue that trend. We’ll need our 3rd ranked staff to hold their top-rated offense in check – they are ranked 1st in runs, AVG, OBP, OPS, wOBA, and HRs – if our 2nd-ranked offense is to have any chance of leading us to victory against their 6th ranked staff. Here we have a battle of offensive behemoths, two juggernauts going toe-to-toe in the proverbial phone booth with one going out with his arm raised and the other on his shield.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP D. Hornbrook (4-4, 3.23 ERA) vs RHP J. Salcido (1-6, 4.80 ERA)
RHP W. Long (0-0, 8.00 ERA) vs RHP M. Villalobos (5-3, 4.53 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (4-1, 2.67 ERA) vs RHP T. Pushkin (6-2, 3.29 ERA)

#52: Loss, 1-4… Held in check by Vancouver’s beleaguered staff, at home, as SP Jonathan Salcido picked up his 2nd win, improving to a subpar 2-6 on the year, after turning in 5-innings of 5-hit, 1 earned, 6 K work with their bullpen keeping the boys hitless the rest of the way. Hornbrook dropped to 4-5 on the year after allowing 3 of the Mounties’ 4 runs, we fanned 8 times as a club, secured just one EBH, an Angel Marino double, and left 8-runners stranded much to the dismay of our fans that showed up at Pendleton Park to cheer us on. Not out finest work, to be sure.

Elsewhere: Not that it matters in the larger scheme of things, especially considering that I don’t really pay much attention to my feeder league (outside of analyzing players before the draft, and shortlisting future studs as the are created by the game each year), but the NCAA’s Final Four is all set with the Michigan Wolverines & Binghamton Bearcats representing one side of the bracket while the Mississippi State Bulldogs and North Carolina Tar Heels represent the other. I have no dog in this fight… but, if I had to hazard a guess, I’d go with North Carolina to win it all.

#53: Loss, 1-11… so, um, yeah… what had happened was… that Vancouver would start their inevitable ascent as we begin our inevitable decline, in our park, is not a huge surprise – and, while I’d have liked the timing to be different, coming, perhaps, at a time when we were on the road, against a team our fans care less about, here we are. It was nothing doing for the club today as we fanned 10 times as an offensive unit, with three of those belonging to Jess Alford, managed to, again, hit just one EBH, a double for Micky Austin, while we looked on helplessly as Vancouver treated our staff like some little pipsqueak on the playground – especially Waldo who had 6-runs charged to his account and saw his ERA balloon up to 9.22 since joining us on the big club.

Elsewhere: The NCAA final is all set – with the North Carolina Tarheels facing off against the Michigan Wolverines in what could be a final for the ages… or not. Who knows about these things.

#54: Loss, 4-6… we put up a fight, attempting to rally our way back from a 5-run deficit during the bottom of the 9th, ultimately falling 2 runs short of what we’d need to send this one into extras and 4 short of what a victory would require… instead, we were swept, at home, by one of our fiercest Cascadian rivals in front of all those we hold dear – family, friends, mistresses, wives. Sam Gore, subbing in for Jess Alford who was given the day off, hit a 2-run double to pace the offense, the defense fielded two double plays, but, there wasn’t enough good stuff to parse out as the offense left 8 runners stranded and our starter, Kade Voll, got shelled for five runs over 5.2 innings of work to drop to 4-2 on the year. This did not go as I drew it up – that is for sure.

Record: 29-25, .537, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Salt Lake City for a set against the division-leading Alpines. Fun times…

[pauwoo]

The Michigan Wolverines bring it home… meh.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (29-25, .537, 4th AL West) @ Salt Lake Alpines (34-20, .630, 1st AL West)
We arrive in Utah downtrodden, unsteady on our feet, unsure of ourselves, of our place in this world, with a severe case of imposter syndrome… we’ve gone from being the cock of the walk, turning in a 17-8 month of April, to being an also ran, losers of our last three sets, including getting swept at home our last time out. Meanwhile, these Alpines have done nothing of the sort – instead, after a 14-11 April, they’ve grown steadier on their feet, have the top starting rotation in the AL, a solid, 3rd ranked offense, and are currently in the midst of a 16-8 May & looking to close it out against us on a high note, at home, in front of the most well-behaved fans in baseball. And, really, if I’m honest (and why wouldn’t I be), given our current run of form, our complete inability to play a winning brand of baseball of late, I see no reason, nothing that I can point to, that would suggest they aren’t going to do just that – solidify their hold over our division at our expense before turning it out, Utah style, at some nondescript Ice Cream shop situated nicely on one of their host city's perfectly manicured downtown streets.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (5-3, 4.25 ERA) vs LHP W. Winston (4-1, 3.53 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (5-4, 3.95 ERA) vs RHP Q. Sieg (3-5, 4.74 ERA)
RHP D. Hornbrook (4-5, 3.38 ERA) vs LHP B. McElheny (6-0, 1.14 ERA)

#55: Win, 5-1… Off on the good foot with a nice road win to put an end to our 5-game losing streak where we’d do all of our damage after the 6th inning, scoring at least one run in each frame from that point on. Frodo, Leo, Mike Duncan, and Antwan Cross did the dirt for us offensively while Macomber got back on the horse with a nice, 5-inning, 5 K performance where he’d not allow a single hit, and Payton Inzen, despite not being credited with a save, shut the door with authority during the bottom of the 9th on 18 total pitches. Still not a lot in the way of extra base hits, just two doubles today, and still leaving lots of guys stranded, 12 in total here, but we got the win, gave ourselves something to feel good about, and can, hopefully, rebuild the confidence from here.

#56: Loss, 1-4… Salt Lake was able to reel it in, to put us back on our heels with a nice win by an even nicer 3-run margin… CF Mason Duryea finished 3-for-4 with a solo homer and a 2-run double, leading the Salt Lake attack, and the defense backed up SP Quintin Sieg with a double play and outfield assist as he went 7 hard-scrabble innings, holding our guys to just 5 hits and 1 run while making 5 of our batsmen look foolish. We’ll look to salvage some pride tomorrow with a series win on the road and, hopefully, put this no good, terrible month behind us on a high note.

#57: Loss, 0-6… Former Leopard, Chance Bell, finished 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and a run, another former Leopard, RP Kieth Baeza, got the start in an Opener role, going 1.1 innings before handing it off to Big Burt McElheny who laid our order to waste over 7.2-innings of work, allowing just 3-hits while fanning 2 – he got 14 fly outs and 6 ground outs. For our part the offense sucked, the defense was subpar, and our starter, Dominic Hornbrook, left after just 1.1-innings of work with an injury - the dreaded 'diagnosis pending' kind. In other news, I’m pretty sure we’re doomed.

Roster Updates: 2B Wyatt Raphael rejoins the big club and 2B Antwan Cross returns to Eugene.


Elsewhere: Aitor Cubas, currently plying his trade with the Gulfport Growlers in the Bush League after suffering a catastrophic injury to end his 2084 campaign in Pittsburgh was injured again and will miss the next month or so with a herniated disc in his back – to first see Aitor, after 15 years of service, miss a full season due to injury at the tender age of 32, followed by failing to sign with a Major League club, to attempting to prove his durability in the Bush League only to suffer another injury is something of a major disappointment. This guy is an all-timer who deserves to finish his illustrious career in the bigs – like, how in the world does a 4x Boyce Rigg award winner not get signed by an MLB club… and even more questionable, how in the world does no one buy him from his Bush League club? It’s moot now given that he’s injured again, so, there is that. Also, I just noticed that the Charlotte Imperials have reeled off 10 straight wins… so, good for them, I guess.

Record: 30-27, .526, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll kick off the month of June in Seattle, hoping to get back on track against the struggling Metros.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (30-27, .526, 4th AL West) @ Seattle Metros (25-32, .439, 5th AL West)
With the 9th rated order and 8th rated staff, the Seattle Metros have certainly seen better days… still they have some great, if underperforming, ballplayers in their lineup – like Patrick Adams, Austin Velasquez, and Rajkumar Kosciusko – and a staff that shouldn’t drop off in quality so drastically after the top 2. What I mean to say is – if my calculations are correct (and, they are, I did them on my trusty TI-84 Plus CE), Seattle should be performing much better than they are. They’re no doormat, no cellar dwelling miscreant straight out of a Eastman & Laird comic – nay(!), these Metros should be solid, better-than-solid for significant stretches, and, ultimately, somewhere in the thick of it, in the hunt for a wildcard slot. But, so far this season, up is down, left is right, and we still have a shot at shocking the world should we find a way to get it together. Seattle, despite what it says on paper, represents as good an opportunity to do that as there is…

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Long (0-1, 9.22 ERA) vs LHP A. Gunter (5-5, 2.85 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (4-2, 3.14 ERA) vs RHP S. Kenny (1-2, 5.66 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (6-3, 3.90 ERA) vs RHP B. Dauncey (4-4, 5.60 ERA)

#58: Win, 4-2… Frodo hit a 2-run blast that gave us a lead we’d not relinquish the rest of the way as our bullpen kept Seattle off the board over the final 3 frames culminating in Payton Inzen’s 10th save of the year. We’d hit two doubles, two homers, and fielded 3 double plays while finding a way to put 4 on the board despite leaving 9 men stranded. Seattle’s SP Adam Gunter, mired in a terribly unlucky season thus far, is charged with the loss dropping him to 5-6 on the year after allowing 3 earned on 2 TANKS while fanning 10. We’ll take what we can get – a win is a win, and all that.

Still waiting for Hornbrook’s diagnosis. At this point I half expect them to pronounce him dead.

#59: Loss, 3-6… I need to do something to tighten up our offense, find a player with solid defense that can smack it around a little bit, someone with good contact and gap power, someone who can lead us out of this malaise where we’re fine just hitting singles & stranding runners all day – here, we could only muster one EBH while stranding 8 runners to allow the Metros, with their weak staff and weaker offense, to get the best of us, knotting up this series, as we work our way through the first set of June. Kade had the loss charged to his account, he’s 4-3 now, and our bullpen did little to stop the bleeding as they allowed two runners to plate after taking over for our starter. Rubber match tomorrow and we gotta have it.

Injury Update: The verdict is in and Hornbrook will serve 9 weeks on the IL with shoulder inflammation. SP Morton Shepard was called up from Eugene in his stead and will slot into the rotation at #5 working as a follower behind either Gray Switzer (RHP) or Kade Diao (also a RHP)… Morton is a lefty.

#60: Win, 3-2… LF Adam Collins went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI – each hit a single – and Macomber earned his 7th win of the year after turning in a tip-top, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K effort. There’s really not much to parse out in this one – we found a way to win – that’s good – but did so without a single EBH, and despite stranding 9 baserunners. Our offense has dropped two spots in the AL rankings, where we now sit at 4th, while the staff is now ranked 7th. Sinking like a stone my friends… we desperately need to carry this good fortune – or good luck, or whatever it is – forward before we become just another also ran that is out of the mix and not looked at as serious competition.

After the game I finalized the following trade… it doesn’t solve my offensive troubles, but I think it will be a step in the right direction in the long run: 2B Mike Duncan (46/46 – retaining 60%) and CF prospect Twan van Goens (20/48) were sent to New Orleans for 2B Tate Ramsey (44/44) and 3B prospect Irene Atkins (20/49). Tate will start at DH against Lefties… otherwise he’ll platoon a bit.

Record: 32-28, .533, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Dallas on Monday evening for a three-game set in Texas.

[pauwoo]

So, we were afforded the 2nd pick in the draft, which we used on SP Norman Barilla, who I fully expect to head up our rotation one day – 4 pitches, a groundball guy, stamina is solid enough… my kind of guy.



With our next pick, 17th overall (we got this selection from Dallas as part of an offseason trade), we selected another pitcher, SP Joe McMillen, who should also slot into our rotation at or near the top one day – assuming we can sign him given his ‘extremely hard’ rating in that category.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (32-28, .533, 4th AL West) @ Dallas Chaparrals (36-24, .600, 2nd AL West)
At 32-28 on the year, after finishing last in the division last season, our club is off to a much better start than I, or anyone, could have hoped for. Swimming with the big dogs, a scant 4 games off the pace… here, against these Dallas Chaparrals, we’ll be afforded the opportunity to make up some ground, to establish ourselves as the real deal, as a divisional contender, and a club to be reckoned with. A tall order, to be sure… Dallas boasts the top-rated staff in our league, ranked 1st in runs against, Starters ERA, Bullpen ERA, and defensive efficiency, with an offense that’s been running in the middle of the pack so far this year. Their top dog, 1B KJ Marcus, is off to a good start – .319-10-39 – but needs guys like DH JJ Barbari, CF Lonzo Gonzo, and leadoff man LF Jimmie Munoz to step it up if Dallas is to overtake Salt Lake while keeping clubs such as ourselves and Vancouver at bay. It’s early, no doubt, but our division will likely go down to the wire and if we want to be in the mix, to see the possibility of ruling the roost become reality, sets such as this are a must win.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP B. Sánchez (5-4, 3.70 ERA) vs LHP J. Hruska (3-3, 3.32 ERA)
LHP M. Shepard (2-0, 1.09 ERA) vs RHP J. Arai (3-3, 3.54 ERA)
RHP W. Long (0-1, 7.71 ERA) vs RHP R. Straub (0-1, 15.00 ERA)

#61: Win, 2-0… CL Payton Inzen would labor a bit, again, loading them up during the bottom of the 9th before fanning the last batter of the game to earn his 12th save, preserving Bernal’s clean sheet & legendary, 8-inning, 3-hit, 5 K masterpiece to win the first of three in DFW. Fukumoto finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, Leo hit a solo homer during the top of the 1st to get things started, we hit two doubles as a club, fielded a crispy, Raphael-Alford-Gonzales double play, and found a way to get it done against a quality club, in their park. Always nice to win such a tight, taut contest on the road.

#62: Loss, 4-5… We’d squander a 4-run lead from the 5th frame on as our bullpen fell apart, allowing Dallas to slowly pick us apart, get themselves back into it, and, ultimately, give their fans something to cheer about during the bottom of the 8th inning when 3B Buffalo Maliwat hit a two-run double to all but assure victory for the Chaps. 3-run homer for our Catcher, Elijah Arvinda, his 3rd TANK this year, a burgled bag from SS Sam Gore, and nothing else of note to report as we squandered nearly every opportunity we afforded ourselves here, stranding 8 runners over the course of the game.


Elsewhere: Sage Reid, 29yo starting CFer, and 4x All-Star, who won the 2083 championship with his Philadelphia Founders, went off on in-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Pipers, during an 11-9 victory for the Liberty… he led his squad with a 4-for-5 day at the plate, 2 HR, 3 RBI, and 3 runs. With the win, Philadelphia took a 1-game lead in the NL East… over the Pittsburgh Pipers – I expect this race to a division title to be hotly contested considering they're such heated rivals.

#63: Win, 7-5… We’d secure a huge series win, on the road, against a division rival with LF Adam Collins hitting the HR that started our 4-run top of the 3rd and 1B Angel Marino bashing another during the top of the 9th to give Payton Inzen some additional cushion to operate from during the bottom of that frame… 2 homers for the club, a run-scoring double from Leo Bullock, another swiped bag for Micky Austin, his 10th on the year, and a expertly executed, Fukumoto-Raphael-Marino double play. Additionally, SP Waldo Long picked up his first win since joining the big club, despite allowing 4 runners to plate during his 5.1-innings of work, and CL Payton Inzen managed to secure his 13th save on 16 total pitches with 2 K’s thrown into the mix – nice outing for our topsy-turvy closer.


Elsewhere: Former Leopard with 13 years of Major League Service, 1B Arnold Webster, who currently plies his trade with the Coney Island Footlongs in the Bush League, can still get after it as evidenced by his 2-for-4 day at the plate that included a GRAND SLAM, 5 total RBI, and 2 runs during his clubs exciting 7-6 win over the Tallahassee Tomcats on the road in Florida. Webster won a World Series ring with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2079 and put up 2.4 in WAR for them that year… he also won a Silver Slugger with my Los Angeles Leopards in 2076, earning his 2nd straight All-Star appearance as a result.

Record: 34-29, .539, 4th
Up Next: We’ll board a flight bound for Portland, Oregon where the Colorado Kings will be waiting for us to play out a 3-game series over the weekend.

[pauwoo]

Colorado Kings (28-35, .444, 5th AL West) @ Portland Pioneers (34-29, .540, AL West)
Even after winning our last set in Dallas, and improving to 3 games out of 2nd place, we still can’t get ourselves even with Salt Lake who’ve now opened a 5 game lead on ourselves and Vancouver… and, we still can’t rise above 4th place in our division where we sit just a smidge above the lot carved out by our next opponent – the Colorado Kings – and their 11th ranked offense lacking in every department necessary to make up for their moribund, and altogether so-so, pitching staff. They just don’t seem to have what it takes, are certainly short (too short, if you will) on what it would take to get started, and, just aren’t a club built to do much of note this season… and, when you note that their minor league development system is ranked 21st of 24, what we have here is a club stuck in neutral, with a blown carburetor, and tires in need of a lot more than a simple rotation.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP K. Voll (4-3, 3.29 ERA) vs RHP J. Dickrell (3-3, 4.48 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (7-3, 3.74 ERA) vs RHP J. Sanchez-Flores (2-7, 4.26 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (6-4, 3.33 ERA) vs LHP L. Álvarez (4-5, 3.23 ERA)

#64: Loss, 7-2… Dusted, at home, by, arguably, the worst offense in the American League. Manuel Soto did the dirt for Colorado, finishing with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, including a 2-run triple, and a solo homer, and Kings Starter, Jake Dickrell, gave us the business over 5-innings of 2-hit work that included 8 K’s and just 1 earned run. Rough, rough outing for Kade Voll too – your boy gave up 7-runs in just 4.2-innings of work, including 2 runs by homer. Just a bad day at the office for all involved no matter how you slice it.

#65: Loss, 2-4… Oof – another dropped set, a missed opportunity, against a poor club in our own building… this is far from ideal. Here, Colorado’s 2B Gates Jones put his squad up one with a run-scoring single during the top of the 4th which the Kings would follow up with another run brought in by LF Lucas Zander on a pop fly for some, wholly unnecessary, insurance. SP Jack Sanchez-Flores laid our club to waste over 6.2-innings of 6 hit, 2 earned, 7 K work and relivers Ben McInnis and Danny Switzer kept that trend going to close it out with 2.1 hitless innings between them… and nary an extra base hit for the club too. We were just a toothless little kitten in this one – too fluffy to scare a mouse, too fat to catch one.

#66: Loss, 3-5… Swept, at home, with one of our best, SP Bernal Sanchez, on the mound during a Sunday family game leaving all those kids wearing Leo Bullock and Shane Fukumoto jerseys to wonder where it all went wrong on the long ride back home, trying to understand why their favorite player didn’t call their shot, and win it just for them. LF Lucas Zander was at it again for the Colorado Kings, finishing 3-for-4 on the day and just wearing our staff down at every opportunity, while four of his teammates would be responsible for each of his clubs 4 runs. Former Leopard, Larimel Alvarez, was serviceable – 8 hits, 3 earned, and 4 K’s over 5-innings of work, but, once he turned it over to the pen, our boys would be shackled by their own offensive ineptitude, showing their true colors to the hometown faithful after getting their hopes up over the first month & a half of the season. For shame.

Elsewhere: Tom Franzone, that legendary legend who should, by now, need no introduction, has hit safely in 20 consecutive games - which, at 34 years of age, is the longest hitting streak of his illustrious career. Like a fine wine, I tell you… a nice Chablis, or syrah, or even that most versatile of types – a zinfandel.

Record: 34-32, .515, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll have a day off on Monday to rest, reflect, and, for the Catholic’s among us, confess our sins before getting back after it against the biggest bully on the AL block in the Charlotte Imperials.

[pauwoo]

Charlotte Imperials (42-24, .636, 1st AL East) @ Portland Pioneers (34-32, .515, 4th AL West)
For the last three seasons, Charlotte has been that club – finishing first each year before bowing out in the first or second round. This is their year – it has to be – the window is slowly closing, the clubs on their periphery have improved, and their superstar, 32yo 2B Ray Gerhold, is starting to age out of his prime. And, this could be – should be – their year… they boast the best RDiff in the majors so far, are running in place with the expected Pyt, and are in the midst of a 9-1 tear over their last 10 tilts. It’s all systems go, pistons primed, engine precisely tuned, with a driver at the wheel who knows a little something about how to drive a car – the world, then, is their oyster… far be it for riff raff like us to entertain thoughts of derailing their ascent to immortality.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Long (1-1, 7.50 ERA) vs LHP M. Ortega (2-6, 4.32 ERA)
LHP M. Shepard (2-1, 2.40 ERA) vs RHP N. Granado (7-0, 2.88 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (4-4, 3.95 ERA) vs RHP L. Myers (8-3, 3.87 ERA)

#67: Win, 8-3… to so thoroughly dismantle the Charlotte Imperials, running up the score, and styling on them like we were Rodney Mullen in Opinion, was something of a surprise. Sure, baseball is a fickle mistress, and anything can, and often does happen, but, given their superb form, this is not a result I would’ve bet on. Yet here we are, strutting our stuff in the owner’s box, the cock of the walk, baby, while our Skipper kept reminding the boys to act like they’d been here before. Fukumoto, C Elijah Arvinda, 2B Tate Ramsey, and SS Jess Alford each drove in two runs, we hit 6 doubles and a homerun as a club, fielded a stellar Fukumoto-Raphael-Gonzales double play, and were treated to a fine, 5.1-inning, 3-hit, nothing earned performance by Waldo Long who, as a result, secured his 2nd win since joining us in PDX. This was fun.


Elsewhere: Dominic Cooke could soon be placed on the injured list. The Dallas catcher told reporters that he expects to be "out of commission" for 6 weeks because of a torn ligament in his thumb. He hasn't played since 06/10/2085 and, he said, he's "itchin' to get back out there." So far this year Cooke is batting .291 with 4 home runs. This is a big loss for Dallas – nobody handles a staff like Dom, and the bat is always solid too. I expect them to drop in the standings as a result – making room for Vancouver and the likes of us to make our moves.

#68: Loss, 2-4… Charlotte would give us a little taste of it in the 2nd game, doing what they do to pretty much everyone, as SP Nuno Granado gave us the business over 6-innings of 5-hit, 1-earned work before turning it over to the Imperials bullpen who held us in check, save a run that we scored on an error, the rest of the way. Some nice work in the box from C Lee Rolon too – 3-for-4 with a bases-clearing double for the one-time Leopard who worked his way into the backup role in Charlotte back in 2083 after spending half that season in AAA and AA. Both our runs were brought across courtesy of the inscrutable Leo Bullock who wore his nondescript game face throughout this contest as Charlotte held us down at home.

#69: Win, 8-6… What a game, what a sport – down two, in the bottom of the 9th, Angel Marino at the plate with the bases loaded after Fukumoto walked during the previous at-bat, when Charlotte reliever Chris Olsen served up the tastiest meatball resulting in a walk off, game-winning GRAND SALAMI for our resident first baseman. Leo Bullock hit a 3-run dinger of his own, we hit three two-baggers as a club, and managed to crib a set off the hottest team in our league after getting swept here by Colorado, one of the worst clubs in the AL, our last time out. Baseball is a fickle mistress, indeed.


Elsewhere: SP Gregory Wayne, of the Brooklyn Americans, did the nearly unthinkable – firing off our third NO-NO of the season against the LOS ANGELES LEOPARDS during a nice, 5-0 win for his club at home. Wayne finished the game with 8 K’s and 4 walks, earning his 5th win of the season and dropping his ERA to a satisfying 3.60… what a performance against one of the best, if not the best, hitting clubs in the Major Leagues.

Record: 36-33, .521, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll board a cross country flight bound for upstate New York where we’ll line up opposite the Buffalo Nickels for a 3-game, weekend set.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (36-33, .521, 4th AL West) @ Buffalo Nickels (38-31, .550, 2nd AL East)
Buffalo finds themselves entrenched in the middle of the pack for offense and pitching where they rank between 5th – 8th in most of the statistical categories we care about… their defense, however, ranked 1st in ZR and 2nd in efficiency, has been winning the day for them, and helping to carry their club to within 5 games of the hard-charging Charlotte Imperials… they’re, simply put, a good club – great defensively – who may have enough to secure one of the top two wildcard berths. Their lineup is sound, solid from top to bottom, and well-constructed versus lefties and righties, while their staff, on most nights, gives a good account of itself, even if that showing isn’t ever otherworldly. Our form has been good this month – with the notable exception of that set against Colorado at Pendleton Park – and that’ll need to continue should we want to show out against Buffalo, at their house, in front of their strident and boisterous fanbase.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (7-4, 3.80 ERA) vs RHP G. Rice (6-3, 3.13 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (6-5, 3.22 ERA) vs RHP A. Mistele (5-3, 3.50 ERA)
RHP W. Long (2-1, 6.14 ERA) vs LHP P. Lindgren (8-2, 2.31 ERA)

#70: Win, 4-3… Macomber picked up his 8th win of the season on the strength of his 5.1-inning, 8-hit, 2-earned effort and Frodo, continuing to make me look good for grabbing him on the cheap during the offseason, hit a 2-run double that put us up for good during the top of the 5th. RBIs from Leo and Micky would round out the offense while our bullpen looked sharp, allowing just one run over the final 3.2 innings to close out a nice victory on the road within the hostile environment of Buffalo’s hometown park. If we can secure one of the next two games, this will be our 4th series win in five tries for the month of June – this could shape up to be a nice little month for us if we keep it up.

#71: Win, 6-0… Another day, another fine pitching performance – this time it would be Bernal Sanchez doing the dirt – 6.2-innings, 5 hit, and NADA earned – as he picked up his 7th win of the year with the offense, led by Angel Marino’s 3-run TANK, giving him more than enough cushion to stay comfortable out on the bump. Frodo, Leo, and Micky each drove one home as we get the ultra-satisfying shutout victory despite leaving 9 runners stranded on the road… also, it turns out that Buffalo’s tip-top defense has been, at least over these last two tilts, matched by our own – we’ve been sturdy in the field, a determined, focused unit working in perfect harmony… or something like that… cue up Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson and lets tickle the ivory a little bit.

Elsewhere: Boston’s Tom Franzone is riding a 25-game hitting streak – still the longest such streak of his illustrious career.

#72: Loss, 2-9… welp, at least we secured the series win before having the stuffing beat out of us on the way out the door. Waldo was destroyed – 2.2 innings, 5 earned runs – and, in hindsight, maybe he wasn’t as ready for prime time as I thought when I shuffled things around to make room for him on the big club… and the offense, such that we had any to speak of, came up lame in this one, striking out 11 times with just two runs put on the board during the game. We’re headed back home tonight, aboard a cross country flight from New York to Oregon, giving us plenty of time to beat ourselves up before we land ready to start anew against the Maple Leafs in front of the hometown faithful at Pendleton Park.

Record: 38-34, .527, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to Portland for a 3-game set.

[pauwoo]

Toronto Maple Leafs (33-39, .458, 3rd AL East) @ Portland Pioneers (38-34, .527, 4th AL West)
Toronto boast a staff to be envious of… sure, they’re not the best staff in the majors but are quite adept at locking clubs up – 2nd in pWAR, Strikeouts, 3rd in FIP – and their defense is, mostly, stout (middle of the road for efficiency & 2nd in errors). Their problem is the offense – it’s anemic and underfed, wholly incapable of doing anything worth worrying about… 12th in OPS, bWAR, wOBA, HRs, 11th in AVG, 10 in runs scored. Theirs is a real halfway house, a pantry with peanut butter paired with a refrigerator devoid of jam, all the ingredients for a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies save brown sugar & cream of tartar. Julia Childs would be disgusted, Larry Walker would refuse to acknowledge their Canadian-ness… here we have a club whose hometown pretends they don’t exist, likely happy to be on the road, against anyone but especially us given that we’ve been holding our thing together with duct tape and crazy glue of late… what we have here, then, is a battle of also rans where we’ll sort out who among us is actual riff raff and who still has a chance to be somebody.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP K. Voll (4-4, 4.15 ERA) vs RHP T. Wightman (0-2, 3.83 ERA)
LHP M. Shepard (2-2, 2.95 ERA) vs RHP C. Guzman (2-6, 6.95 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (8-4, 3.77 ERA) vs RHP L. Brittingham (6-3, 2.64 ERA)

#73: Loss, 1-6 (10)… We’d fall appart at the end, allowing 5 runs during the top of the 10th, including a C Liam Johnson GRAND SLAM, as our closer, Payton Inzen fell to 2-2 after coming unglued. A double from Leo and our 2 double plays were really the only thing worth mentioning as our pen squandered a tip top, 5.1-inning, 5 hit, 6 K effort from our starter, Kade Voll, who handed it off to the pen clean only for RP Robinson Bridges to soil it almost immediately after getting the ball. It’s rough getting handled, at home, and in extras… what we’re looking for, this ain’t it…

#74: Loss, 0-2… Our offense fell flat once again, this time opting for silence rather than making any sound at all… Macomber takes the loss, his 5th, despite going 6.1 innings and allowing just 2 earned as the offense sputtered out, fanning 7 times while leaving 9 runners stranded – our lone highlight, if you can call it that, was Frodo’s 3-for-5 day at the plate, though he’d have nothing to show for it as no one else on the club could muster even a single hit – we walked 7 times in this one and if not for Toronto’s control issue, would have been skunked even worse. A poor showing, indeed.

Trade Alert: We picked up 27yo SP Peter Yamaguchi from the Salt Lake Alpines, he’s currently ripping it up in Triple-A with the Fargo Rallybirds and recently threw an 18-K game down on SLC's farm club, for 22yo CF Curtis Alford, a fielding dynamo who was picked 14th overall back in 2083 by the previous regime. His bat isn’t good enough, and I need some better arms… I’ll likely slot Yamaguchi in at 5th in the rotation for use as a follower… gettin’ clever with it. Also, as a sidenote… I’m bummed to announce that Tom Franzone’s consecutive game hit streak has ended at 27 against the Seattle Metros. Bummer biscuits… bummer biscuits, for real.

#75: Win, 2-0… We’d give the fans something to feel good about as we ushered the Toronto Maple Leafs out the door, on a loss, as Bernal Sanchez held the Canadian club in relative check over 8-innings of filthiness where he’d allow 8 hits and nothing earned while fanning 7 batsmen, and CL Payton Inzen fanned two on 15 total pitches during the top of the 9th to close the book on this one while notching his 15th save in the process… run-scoring double from Leo and an RBI single from Micky would round out the offense with a Shane Fukumoto swiped bag thrown in for good measure – look, we wanted to and needed to win this series, but I’ll live with the fact that, at the very least, we found a way to NOT get swept at home. It’s the little things…

Record: 39-36, .520, 4th AL West
Up Next: The Las Vegas Outlaws are headed our way for three games of interleague silliness.

[pauwoo]

Las Vegas Outlaws (33-42, .440, 4th NL West) @ Portland Pioneers (39-36, .520, 4th AL West)
Inching ever closer to respectability after finishing either 5th or 6th in their division in each of the last 4 seasons, Las Vegas, in building from within, is attempting a come up on the cheap… an interesting operating principle given the city they call home, but, with a miserly owner who cares more about using the club for comps than winning, it’s the only method they can employ for now. Having said that, their GM, Richie Sinclair, seen in some circles as a 43yo baseball savant, has, so far, proven to be wholly incapable of completing the task – his moribund club finds itself at or near the bottom end of every statistical category we track, is mired in yet another ho-hum month in a season filled with them , and arrives in Portland on a 5-5 record over their last 10 and losers of their last 3 in a row. And, while our form is nothing to be proud of right now, we should have enough in the tank to get over on these guys, right the ol’ ship a little bit, and, hopefully, get back on tack with some fair winds and following seas…

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Long (2-2, 7.03 ERA) vs LHP R. Sauceda (4-7, 4.14 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (4-4, 3.89 ERA) vs RHP A. Moya (7-2, 3.49 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (8-5, 3.70 ERA) vs RHP C. McAllister (4-6, 4.10 ERA)

#76: Win, 5-1… we live on the sea and relax and ride the tack, drug running on this Panamanian schooner… Good win for the boys with DH Tate Ramsey driving in two, one on a triple and another on a single, and an RBI each for C Elijah Arvinda, Micky Austin, and Jess Alford… two DP’s for the defense, showing their teeth a bit in this one, with a low growl & a crouched, ready-to-pounce stance. SP Waldo Long gave a great account of himself here as well, dropping his ERA to 6.16 after giving us 6-innings of 6-hit, 1-run work with 4 Ks… as good a start as we could have hoped for in this set as our outclassed competition comes up snake eyes to kick things off.

#77: Loss, 4-5 (13)… C Elijah Arvinda came up smelling roses during the bottom of the 9th, hitting a 2-run TANK that knotted this one up, giving the boys a chance at taking a much-needed series win at home, but, it was all for naught as the Outlaws proved that even the most impulsive of gamblers sometimes beats the house as they found a way to cobble together enough runs to get the job done in our park… 2 RBI for Arvinda, one each for Micky and Collins, 3 doubles and a homer for the club, a solid 5-inning, 3 earned start for Kade, with another, late bullpen meltdown being the culprit here as we send the fans who decided to stick this one out off on a sour note. Rubber match tomorrow – sort of feels like a must win to me.


Elsewhere: SS Basil Sanchez, of our division rival Vancouver Mounties, went 3-for-5 with 2 TANKS, 4 total RBI, and 2 runs to lead his club to a resounding, 9-5 victory over the Austin Grackles on the road in Texas… with the win the Mounties move to 8-2 over their last 10, winning their 3rd in a row here, and extending their lead over us in the division to a seemingly insurmountable 3 games. In 6 years and 80 days as a big leaguer, Basil has amassed 29 WAR with 169 HR’s, 4 all-star appearances, 3 Silver Sluggers, and a World Series ring back in 2081. Quite a career for the Nicaragua born, Grand Lakes University graduate, you ask me.

#78: Win, 8-2… In the end, we’d pull the Outlaws off the floor & rough them up in the back a bit for “counting cards”, putting it on them something fierce here with all 8 of our runs coming across prior to the start of the 8th frame. 2-run homer plus another RBI for Leo, a man amongst men you ask me, 2 runs brought across by Collins on a double, one of 4 doubles we hit as a club with 2 of those belonging to Shane Fukumoto, an expertly fielded double play for the infield defense, and win #9 for Willaim Macomber who gave us a rip-roaring 6.2-innings of work in the rubber match. We needed this… badly.


Elsewhere: The man, the myth, the legend… CF/1B Otto Isaac, put it down like the 4x Boyce Rigg winner that he is with a 2-for-3 day at the plate that included TWO TANKS, SEVEN TOTAL RBI, and 2 RUNS as his Los Angeles Leopards smashed our division leading Salt Lake Alpines over the head by a score of 8-5. With the win Los Angeles opened up a 9-game lead in the NL West while the Alpines have now dropped into 2nd place in the AL West behind the hard-charging Dallas Chaps.


Also, of note… CF Samuel Preston, a 24yo dynamo putting in work with the San Diego Skipjacks, who is currently trending to put up a 10.1 WAR this season is leading all All-Star vote-getters at over 3.5mm cast for him already. He was the 25th overall pick in 2081 out of Grand Lakes University and now looks every bit the future of organized baseball.

Record: 41-37, .525, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll get back after it, in Montreal, after our customary day off on Monday…

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (41-37, .525, 4th AL West) @ Montreal Alouettes (38-40, .487, 4th NL East)
It’s the offense that is holding Montreal back… keeping them from spreading their wings and taking flight in the NL East. The pitching, with names like Stephen Estevez and Rad Taylor in the rotation, is there – ready and willing to do the damage required to, at the very least, make it to the dance this season. If only their lineup could dial it in, put something snappy together, and do better than their 8th ranking for runs scored suggests. The problem so far is power and baserunning – and, if there is a combination of categories where you have to be good in at least one of them, I think these are it. Here we have an opportunity to close out June on a high note, and with a winning record, if we can earn a win in this series and then put a couple of bad ones on the Mounties when they visit Pendleton Park over the weekend. At 11-10 for the month of June and with 5 games left to play… I’d love to see us finish it at 14-16 wins.

#79: Loss, 3-10… I’m not sure what to say… what does one say after being clubbed over the head like a baby seal in every card-carrying animal lover’s worst nightmare, where these Alouettes were able to score at will, curse us out in their colloquial French, and fart in our general direction whenever the mood struck them. This is one of those games I’d like to have back, that I’d like to force close and do over… but, I can’t. We don’t operate like that – so, instead, we’ll take it on the chin, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and move forward with our hands up next time.

Injury alert… CF Micky Austin was diagnosed with…. dead arm. He’ll be on the mend for a week with 34yo 2B Adric Taylor brought up to fill in the huge, gaping hole left by Micky’s absence.


Elsewhere: 1B Ruben Zarate, a 12-year pro who once won a World Series in 2075 with my Los Angeles Leopards, and who now plies his trade with the Decatur Donnybrooks down in the Bush League went NUTS for his club today – finishing 4-for-4 at the plate with THREE HOMERS, 5 RBI, and 4 runs as his squad smashed the Frankfort Sultans by a score of 15-6.

#80: Loss, 2-3… Walked off on a Stew Greenidge run-scoring single and held in relative check by an effective start from Montreal’s Matt Martin, who finished with a complete-game, 2-hit, 2 earned performance for his hometown faithful at Mabrasserie Park. For our part, we fanned 8 times, secured just two total hits, and found a way to lose this one despite a good outing from Bernal. And, with the loss, we’ve dropped to 11-12 on the month… putting ourselves in danger of posting our second losing month in a row.


Elsewhere: We had three complete-game shutouts twirled in the Majors today, with the best of the bunch belonging to Mexico City’s SP Patrick Torres who went the distance during a 2-0 win over the Dallas Chaps, at home, while fanning 14 of their hitters in the process. With the loss, Dallas’ division lead over the Vancouver Mounties has dropped to one game and Torres leads the Majors in total K’s at 161 (36 more than the next guy), complete games, and K/9 at 12.7… SP Sammy Jones, of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is second in that category at 10.5 K/9. You know, for context.

#81: Loss, 2-3… walked off, again, on a 2B David Hall run-scoring single that was charged to our “closer’s” account… loss #3 and blown save #3 for Inzen, a wasted 5.2-inning, 5-hit, 1-earned performance from Waldo, and another toothless performance from our offense would round things out for us here as the boys get swept by the Alouettes, putting ourselves in a position where the best we can do for the month is a .500 record of 13-13. Which, if you’re asking, feels super unlucky to my inner triskaidekaphobe. Nothing like having it handed to you by a lot of French-speaking, conceited, poutine lovers. I might call Phil to see if he’ll make some room in his front office for me because the bright lights of Los Angeles are sounding pretty comforting right about now.

Record: 41-40, .506, 4th AL West
Up Next: Not that it matters, but… we’re heading home to meet up with the visiting Vancouver Mounties next – a nice little weekend set in front of the hometown faithful with our winning record on the line.

[pauwoo]

Vancouver Mounties (46-35, .568, 3rd AL West) @ Portland Pioneers (41-40, .506, 4th AL West)
Despite what the standings say, for my money, these Vancouver Mounties are the best club in our division… they’ve just not put it down like that so far. But, they will – mark my words – they will. By the time this thing is all sorted, I fully expect them to have won our division, casting aside those irritants from Dallas and Salt Lake while leaving clubs such as ourselves some room to make our move. Or, at least that’s the fantasy I’m working with at this point because, look, we’re not where we want to be yet, we don’t have all the pieces yet, and most of the ones we have now don’t really fit quite right. Vancouver boasts a rip-roaring, first ranked offense – 1st in, literally, everything… RS, AVG, OBP, OPS, bWAR, wOBA, and HR – that makes its living beating the brakes off of opposing staffs while their rotation, an underperforming one at that, is still working on developing their sea legs for the long voyage ahead. If they can shore it up a bit, start putting some better outings together, improve their collective FIP, and take what their first ranked defense provides, this is a club that could, maybe, win it all. For now though, we just want to catch them looking as we attempt to close out the month on some wins.

#82: Loss, 2-5… welp, our dreams of a .500 month have been squelched, beat to a pulp, and left for dead by a Mounties club who would suffer no fools as they routed your Pioneers by three runs in our park. Leo and Sam each put balls out, Jess swiped a bag, we fielded a nice Bullock-Arvinda double play that also counted as an OF Assist, but also fanned 10 times as a club while our starter left battered and bruised after giving up 5-runs in just 4.2 innings of work to fall to 9-6 on the year. It’s a sad state of affairs in our clubhouse, friends. A sad state of affairs indeed.


Elsewhere: By going 2-for-3 in the Seattle's 2-1 win over Colorado, Patrick Adams reached the 2000-hit mark. The Seattle fans, friend and foe, burst into applause and Adams's teammates hugged and congratulated him on his achievement. For his career, Adams is hitting .293 with 345 homers, 1186 RBIs and 2001 hits. Dude’s a stud… there can be no doubt about that. ‘Stache is legit, too.

#83: Win, 5-3 (10)… SS Jess Alford knotted things up during the bottom of the 7th on a run-scoring single and Leo Bullock did the dirt, winning this one for us in spectacular fashion, by walk off, during the bottom of the 10th when he smashed a resound, 2-run DING DONG off Ron Collins for the victory. Three homers for the club with Jess Alford and Wyatt Raphael adding a couple to Leo’s game-winner, a double play for Angel Marino (he caught a line drive and tagged the runner), and a 2-inning, 29-pitch winning performance from Payton Inzen who improved to 3-3 on the year as a result… with that we finish the month at 12-14 and manage to cling on to our winning record if only for one more day…


Elsewhere: Down on the farm in Eugene, our top draft pick, the 2nd pick overall, and #2 rated prospect in all of baseball, SP Norman Barilla, tossed the first NO-NO of his professional career, allowing no hits with 6 K’s over 9-innings of topflight work as our Ducks defeated the Reno Travelers by a score of 3-0… I got a good feeling about this kid.

A quick look at the league standings as of July 1st, the league leaders, and our clubhouse…






#84: Win, 9-2… A great way for the club to kick off the month of July – on a win, against a fellow Cascadia club, and division rival. Here we’d pound the Mounties into submission, leaving them in a ditch on some non-descript street, someone else’s problem to deal with as Shane Fukumoto hit a bases-clearing double, Frodo hit a 3-run DING DONG, and Marino, Jess, and Wyatt would round things out for us to knock the absolute stuffing out of Vancouver’s beleaguered staff… RP Kade Dio gave us a 1-run 1st inning as our opener with new guy, SP Peter Yamaguchi, making a statement in his debut, holding our leagues best offense in check over 8-innings of 4-hit, 1-earned, 9 K baseball.

A great start to the month here – with a winning set against a highly-regarded division rival.

Record: 43-41, .511, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll head north on I-5 to Seattle where the Metros will, no doubt, be anxiously awaiting our arrival.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (43-41, .511, 4th AL West) @ Seattle Metros (41-43, .488, 5th AL West)
The Seattle Metros look a lot like us, just with less luck. Their offense is a tick or two below ours and their starters might not be as good, but their bullpen is solid and they’ve started to put things together more consistently as the season has progressed. After a calamitous 9-16 start to the season, Seattle has put up back-to-back winning months and posted the 2nd-best record in our division in June at 15-11, which was just one win off the pace set by the Vancouver Mounties. Add to all this the fact that they’ve gone 9-1 over their last 10 and find themselves in the thick of an 8-game winning streak while we’ve done our level best to tread water over that same stretch and what you have here is an opportunity – for them. An opportunity to overtake a Cascadian rival, improve their standing in the AL West and make a little noise in the American League.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP B. Sánchez (8-5, 2.77 ERA) vs RHP P. Street (5-7, 3.88 ERA)
RHP W. Long (3-2, 5.56 ERA) vs RHP M. Fauske (2-4, 2.37 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (9-6, 3.64 ERA) vs RHP A. Bundy (4-3, 3.38 ERA)

#85: Win, 12-3… Oh how the mighty have fallen – well, mighty may be a bit of a stretch, but still… the boys went off in this one, ending Seattle’s winning streak in the most emphatic way possible. Leo Bullock finished 2-for-4 with a 2-run TANK, C Elijah Arvinda hit a 3-run dinger, his 6th long ball of the year, and both CF Sam Gore & LF Adam Collins hit 2-run doubles while the bases were loaded. Great outing for Bernal Sanchez – he went 7 strong, allowing 7 hits with just a single earned run to pick up his 9th win on the year. A great all-around effort from the club – nice to see our offense go off. 4 consequential extra base hits for the boys in Seattle!


Elsewhere: LF Wyatt Chrysler, currently plying his trade with the Minot Minotaurs out of the Western Bush League, went 4-for-5 with a double, 2 TANKS, 4 RBI, and 2 runs as his club stuck it to the Santa Barbara Pelicans by a score of 8-1. Wyatt spent two years in Los Angeles’ development system with seasons played in both Compton and Inglewood before becoming a Bush League mainstay – first with the Dearborn Dillys then spending time in Gainesville, Beaumont, and Hagerstown before finding a fit in Minot where he’s played for the last two seasons… a 32-year old baseball lifer, Wyatt is a case study in never giving up on your dreams no matter how long the odds.

#86: Loss, 2-7… Seattle, not content to let sleeping dogs lie, charged right into the thick of it here and were rewarded for their bravery with a smashing win… and, while they didn’t dismantle our squad as thoroughly as we did theirs just one short day ago, they still pummeled our club into oblivion and set up a rubber match that, once the dust has settled on the 2085 campaign, could be a game that both clubs look back on as a pivotal contest. For our part, we could muster just one extra base hit – a double for 1B Angel Marino – Seattle hit just one dinger, a solo shot for Rajkumar Kosciusko, and brought the rest of their runs around in the most painful way possible – on singles, each and every one.


Elsewhere: LF Coyote Sams, whose name should all but guarantee him Strangeverse immortality (even if his skill set will likely doom him to a Bush League career), went 3-for-6 with 3 TANKS, 7 total RBI, and 3 runs to lead his club, the Frisco Toros (an Austin Grackles affiliate) to a resounding 13-7 victory over the Maine Canoes in Short Season A-Ball. Coyote went undrafted this year but impressed the Austin brass enough that they took a flier out on the kid, signing him to a 1-year minor league contract after the draft had concluded.

#87: Loss, 7-9… Seattle would come through in this pivotal game, scoring 9 runs prior to the stretch and gutting this one out despite their Starter, Adam Gunter, only lasting 2.2-innings after giving up a Tate Ramsey GRAND SLAM and 5 total runs during his short appearance. Our guy, Macomber, wasn’t much better – giving up 7 runs over 4 innings of work – and the offense, with the exception of Tate, was pretty pedestrian here. We really needed this win, this set… an unfortunate result.

Record: 44-43, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll head home for a date against the Salt Lake Alpines to see if this thread we’ve been hanging on by will finally snap.

[pauwoo]

Salt Lake Alpines (51-36, .586, 1st AL West) @ Portland Pioneers (44-43, .506, 4th AL West)
I can’t help but feel like these Salt Lake Alpines are operating on borrowed time… sure, the data doesn’t exactly support that claim, what with their 2nd ranked offense with is 2nd overall ranking in Runs, OBP, OPS, wOBA, and HRs… and, as if that isn’t enough, their pitching has been pretty good too – ranked 2nd in FIP, 3rd in Bullpen ERA, and 4th in RA and Starters ERA. Basically, these Alpines have proved themselves to be better than the sum of their parts, a wholly capable unit, putting forth a herculean effort for their fans each and every night. And, they’re doing it without their “superstar”, as CF Mason Duryea, he of the oh so terrible ‘blade dirty’ facial hair style, is out for 5 more weeks. Of course, before I go too overboard with the praise… it’s important to note that things have started to slow down for the Utah-based club… they did, afterall, finish the month of June on a 12-14 run, but have come out of the gates in July looking to make up some ground, winning 75% of their 4 games so far this month. Here, after dropping our last set in Seattle, we have an opportunity to put these guys in their place, which is to say somewhere near the bottom of our division like us, while getting the PDX Express back on the tracks and going in the right direction once more.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP K. Voll (4-4, 3.98 ERA) vs LHP W. Winston (6-4, 3.95 ERA)
RHP P. Yamaguchi (1-0, 3.20 ERA) vs RHP R. Halbur (5-6, 3.95 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (9-5, 2.68 ERA) vs RHP Q. Sieg (6-5, 4.01 ERA)

Before we get into the games… I had our scout, Crash Davis, look into RF Aitor Cubas, who, as you well know, has been plying his trade in the Bush League while waiting, patiently, for a Major League club to come calling… before he got injured again. He’s fragile, but… according to Crash, he’s still got something of value for a Major League club. I shouldn’t do it… it sort of feels like a Backdoor Kev kind of move, but for $500K, when I have money to spend, to buy out his contract from the Gulfport Growlers? He’d probably take Frodo’s spot as a DH against RHers, I guess… or maybe we put him out in the field taking Adam Collins’ LF spot against RHers? I don’t know, man… he’s a legend, BUT, the value he adds minimizes the value we’re getting from Frodo – SO, just not sure if bringing him in gives us much overall. I do want to see him signed by someone though, and soon. He belongs in the MLB.

#88: Win, 3-0… Shane Fukumoto was the man of the match for us here – his 2-run tank during the bottom of the 5th would both put us up for good and usher Salt Lake Starter, Wendell Winston, out the door. LF Rowan Calvin, starting over Adam Collins today, brought one in on a Solo Shot one inning later, and our staff, led by Kade’s 6.2-inning, 6-hit, 7 K performance, stayed stout throughout this contest, sending these Alpines back to the drawing board after just one game in Pendleton Park.


Alright, well… In the end, as usual, I just couldn’t help myself – LF Aitor Cubas will no longer languish, helplessly down in the Bush League as I’ve purchased his contract from the Gulfport Growlers and my Skipper, Michael Scott, has dutifully installed him as our new starting Left Fielder against righties and lefties (not sure, what with Aitor’s splits, that starting against lefties makes sense, but… whatever). So, basically, my aversion to feeling like I am abusing a weird loophole in this save (where good/great players sometimes sign in my Bush League only to be purchased, on the cheap, by a big-league club) was not enough to allow Aitor to spin his wheels down in the BL – dude’s a legend, and deserves to go out in the bigs… and, if I get to be the GM of the club that benefits for once, well – so be it.

#89: Win, 8-4… While Aitor Cubas’ debut with our club was less than stellar – he finished 0-for-3 – we did get the win as 2B Wyatt Raphael drove in three during a 3-for-4 day that included two runs of his own, and SS Jess Alford brought in three more, on a bases-clearing double during the bottom of the 3rd that put us up 5-2 at the time. SP Peter Yamaguchi, who, as you may recall, we picked up from Salt Lake last month by trade, got the nod against his old club, tossing 6-innings and allowing just 5-hits and 2 earned (while fanning 9 and walking SEVEN) as a follower… he was afforded the win for his troubles, and is now 2-0 in a Pioneers kit. And with that – we’ve, at the very least, cribbed a set off a division-leading club. Of course, they’re not leading the division any more as the Dallas Chaps, winners of 4 straight, have now opened a two-game lead on the Alpines. You’re welcome, Utah.

Note: The All-Star rosters were announced and only Leo Bullock made it from our club… RF Leo Bullock (PDX) - .284/.352/.497, 328 AB, 16 HR, 8 SB, 147 wRC+, 3.8 WAR… well deserved.

#90: Win, 6-2… Aitor came alive a little bit, finishing 2-for-4 with a run, but 3B Tate Ramsey and 2B Wyatt Raphael were the real show here – driving in four runs between them, both on 2-run doubles, as the club hit 5 two-baggers on the day and would somehow manage to bring 6 runners around while leaving 10 others stranded. SP Bernal Sanchez picked up the win, his 10th, after going 8-innings and allowing just 2 runs on 9 total hits… Sweep City! Against the former division-leading Salt Lake Alpines, in front of the hometown faithful? Yes. Please.

Record: 47-43, .522, 4th AL West
Up Next: The All-Star game, which I could care less about, will be contested in a couple of days… then, we’ll get back after it on Friday the 13th against the division leading Dallas Chaparrals in Texas.

[pauwoo]

The All-Star Game… the National League, led by Austin’s LF Anthony Jamison, wrecked the American League.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (47-43, .522, 4th AL West) @ Dallas Chaparrals (54-36, .600, 1st AL West)
It’s not like the Dallas Chaparrals have come out of nowhere – they haven’t – we all knew they’d be okay, maybe even good. It’s just that, well, no one had them running roughshod over all comers this late into the season, ruling the roost in the AL East like some newly crowned King whose form of leadership involves a crooked grin and iron fist. Still, I’m not sure these guys are built for the long haul, and I have my doubts that they’ll be installed at the top of the pops in the AL West once the dust has settled on this year’s campaign – mainly, because they’ve made their living on pitching, where their staff ranks 2nd overall in the AL and leads our league in Runs Against and Starters ERA, with an offense that is a decidedly middle-of the-pack outfit that hits for average (2nd in that category) with just a little bit of everything else sprinkled in.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP W. Macomber (9-6, 4.13 ERA) vs LHP J. Hruska (6-4, 2.70 ERA)
RHP K. Voll (5-4, 3.72 ERA) vs RHP J. Arai (6-4, 3.91 ERA)
RHP W. Long (3-3, 6.40 ERA) vs LHP K. Judd (2-1, 2.49 ERA)

#91: Loss, 0-3… We’d manage to secure just 6 total hits, with just one of the extra-base variety, while fanning, as a unit, 10 times as we were handled, with relative ease, by the Chaps’ pitching staff, led today by a 7.2-inning, 5-hit, 8 K masterpiece courtesy of SP Josh Hruska. Not a lot to parse out here – we came in meek, looked every bit a 98lbs weakling, and just sat idly by as the Dallas staff made mincemeat of our lineup. Rough one… how does that Ice Cube song go again?

Hey, quick side note… LF Adam Collins was sent to Eugene… our former starter, a casualty of the Aitor signing and the return of CF Micky Austin from the IL… such is the baseball life, I suppose.

#92: Win, 6-3 (10)… A big win for us, on the road, against our division’s leader… we’d knot things up during the top of the 9th, after 17 scoreless innings against Dallas’ much-vaunted staff, on a Aitor Cubas run-scoring single followed by a C Elijah Arvinda 2-run, two-bagger, and go up for good one short inning later after Tate Ramsey smashed a 3-run TANK to decide things. CL Payton Inzen, who gave us 2-innings of work here, earned the win, his 4th this year, after keeping Dallas hitless during the bottom of the 9th and 10th on 19 total pitches, and Kade Voll fanned 7 in his 6-innings of work to set the tone for our club – a good – NAY, GREAT – win for the boys in this one… here’s hoping we can get the win in the rubber match tomorrow.


Elsewhere: 3B Anthony “Please Just Take a Seat Right There” Hansen, of the Buffalo Nickels, finished 2-for-3 with TWO TANKS and 4 total RBI as his club improved to 50-42, just 7 games off Charlotte’s pace in the AL East, with a 5-1 win over the Boston Patriots. Buffalo, along with Vancouver, has penciled themselves in for a Wildcard Slot, while the Salt Lake Alpines, who have now lost 5 in a row, still lead that table with a 1-game lead over those two upstarts.

#93: Loss, 2-3… In the end, we’d not be good for it as Dallas manages to win the rubber match, at home, by just one run… 2B Rocco O’Gara did the dirt for Dallas, finishing 2-for-3 with the game winning run-scoring single, and SP KJ Judd kept us looking foolish in the box over 8-innings of 7-hit, 2-earned work. Bernal, after allowing all three of the Chaps’ runs, drops to 10-6 on the year while our newest addition, Aitor Cubas, finishes 0-for-4, hitting .158 with a solo homer for us since joining the team.

Note: SP Dominic Hornbrook returns from the IL just in time as RP Kade Dio was placed on the list, where he’ll rehab for ~5 months, due to shoulder inflammation. Also, LF Paul Chaney, who we picked 50th overall during the 3rd round of this years draft out of TCU, was named PoTW in our Short Season A league… the current Centennial Cavalier went .500 at the plate (10-for-20) with 3 dingers, 7 RBI, and 7 runs.

Record: 48-45, .516, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Denver for a 3-game set against the Colorado Kings.

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (48-45, .516, 4th AL West) @ Colorado Kings (42-51, .452, 6th AL West)
We’re hoping that, despite their having won 3 straight contests, the Colorado Kings will be just what the doctor ordered after we were summarily dismissed in Texas by those dastardly Chaps… And, truth be told, they should be – because the fact is that these Colorado Kings are terrible – an also ran, wholly incapable of doing anything of note, especially on the road. But, we’re in their house – where the laws of physics cease to exist, where up is down and left is right… so, and this should not come as a surprise, anything can and likely will go over these next three, contested at altitude, in front of all four of Colorado’s diehard fans.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP D. Hornbrook (4-6, 3.45 ERA) vs RHP J. Dickrell (6-6, 3.97 ERA)
RHP P. Yamaguchi (2-0, 3.16 ERA) vs RHP B. John (2-6, 4.82 ERA)
RHP W. Macomber (9-7, 4.01 ERA) vs RHP E. Belanger (10-5, 2.78 ERA)

#94: Win, 3-0… Dominic’s return was a smashing success – 7-innings, 3 hits, and nothing earned for our starter, who picked up his 5th win of the season in this one – and Wyatt Raphael was at it again, driving in two during the top of the 9th to put this one all but out of reach. Two doubles, 3 steals (2x for Micky, one for Sam Gore), and a sweet Raphael-Alford-Marino double play would round out our highlights here as we manage to win the first of three, putting us in a good position to win this road set and make it 2-2 in three game sets this month.


Elsewhere: SP Adam Gunter, of the Seattle Metros, is still putting it down something fierce at 34yo, finishing with 8 IP, 5 HA, 1 ER, and 12 K’s to help his club defeat the division leading Dallas Chaps by a score of 2-1. Gunter, who has won 3 Pacheco’s in his career, now has a total of 2088 K’s for his 11 year career, 133 of which have come with the Metros after spending his first 10 full seasons playing for the Vancouver Mounties.

#95: Loss, 3-7… After sticking Colorado with a shutout loss, they’d exact some small measure of revenge, throttling us in their park behind C Gary Alvardo’s 2 RBIs and SP Elias Belanger’s 11th win of the season. Belanger put in 7 innings of work for Colorado, allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned while fanning 7 hapless hitters while SP Waldo Long, who perhaps doesn’t belong up here, allowed 3 runners to plate in just 1.2 innings of work. And, Peter Yamaguchi didn’t fare much better in relief, allowing the rest of the Kings’ runs during his 6 innings as a follower.


Elsewhere: Don’t look now, but… Palmer Parker, who wears a perpetual scowl lately as a member of the Detroit Motors, has hit safely in 20 straight contests… this is the longest such streak of his illustrious career – let’s see how far one of my S-Verse favorites can take it, shall we?

#96: Loss, 6-7 (12)… Well, there’s the way you drew it up and then there is… this. A series loss, on the road, against the worst cub in the American League West and maybe the entire American League… C Gary Alvarado won it for Colorado in dramatic fashion – his walk off homer during the bottom of the 12th, off Waldo Long, putting in time after we depleted our entire staff in this one, settled things. Aitor had his best game with the club in the losing effort, finishing 2-for-4 with a 2-run HR. Listen, I got him for cheap, but really want to see him start doing some of that Aitor type ish – maybe this is why no one else picked him up? His .185 batting average so far just won’t work.

Record: 49-47, .510, 4th AL West
Up Next: We’ll finish off this 9-game road trip with an interleague set in Pittsburgh – and hopefully somewhat salvage the trip with a sweep (yeah, right.. in my dreams)

[pauwoo]

Portland Pioneers (49-47, .510, 4th AL West) @ Pittsburgh Pipers (47-49, .489, 5th NL East)
Pittsburgh looks a lot like the last club we faced – a bottom-of-the-barrel collection of misfit toys that we should be able to handle with relative ease… and, like the Colorado Kings, they probably disagree with that cocksure assessment and mean to embarrass us, on their turf, for even being so bold as to think that way. Afterall, if they’re just a bunch of nobodies, cobbled together out of parts from the deepest, darkest corner of the junkiest junkyard you’ve ever seen, then what are we? The leftover French fries at the bottom of your fast-food bag? Those small, malformed potatoes who tried, in vain, to escape the fate preordained for the rest of them? We are Pittsburgh. We are Colorado. Just a so-so club, slogging our way through another nondescript season in the hopes that the future will carry with it brighter days ahead. Sure would be cool to get some of that sunshine starting with this set, though…

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:
RHP K. Voll (5-4, 3.76 ERA) vs RHP E. Church (7-5, 3.40 ERA)
RHP B. Sánchez (10-6, 2.71 ERA) vs LHP T. Cartwright (6-8, 5.48 ERA)
RHP D. Hornbrook (5-6, 3.09 ERA) vs LHP K. Bartoli (6-8, 2.74 ERA)

#97: Win, 11-1… Not sure where this performance came from & it sure would have been nice to spread this kind of thing around a little bit on this road trip – but, we don’t make the rules, we take things as they come, and yadda, yadda, yadda… here Shane Fukumoto went BUCK, finishing 3-for-5 with 2 DING DONGS, 5 total RBI, and 3 runs of his own, and CF Sam Gore hit a 3-run TANK in a PH at-bat to lead our offense. Meanwhile, the staff did their bit too – Kade gave us a nice, 5.2-inning, 3-hit, 1 earned performance with RP Morris Jones securing his 12th hold in relief and RP Joe McMillen bringing it home, fanning the final two batsmen of the game on 10 total pitches.


For his bit, 3B Shane Fukumoto was named today’s Performer of the Day. Quite an honor, you ask me. Oh, and that hitting streak Palmer Parker was on has ended at 22 games with at least one hit in a row. Not bad. Nice little feather for a cap already filled with them.

#98: Win, 3-1… And, finally! A winning set on this long, arduous 9-game road trip – err, nightmare. Here it’d be Aitor’s turn to lead the offense – his 2-run homer during the top of the 5th would put us up for good – and SP Bernal Sanchez was dealing… he finished with a 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, and 5 K line while CL Payton Inzen has FINALLY found a way to secure his 18th save of the season… I mean, I guess we could be giving him more opportunities, but, if we did, he’d likely squander more than his fair share of them anyways…

#99: Win, 3-1 (11)… In a near repeat of the last game, albeit one that took a lot longer, we’d get things done late, on a Frodo Gonzales 2-run double during the top of the 11th… Aitor went 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored, Wyatt drove one in, bringing his running total to 35, we fielded a crispy, Fukumoto-Raphael-Gonzales double play, and were the proud recipients of a 6.1 inning, 5 hit, 1 earned performance from our starter, Dominic Hornbrook. Good stuff for the club here – ending this road trip on a sweep after struggling, mightily, in those first two sets. It’s always nice to board a long flight home after a win like this! Also, after this winning set, we’ve somehow moved into 3rd in the AL West. We on a come up, boys!


Elsewhere: 1B Otto Isaac, of the Los Angeles Leopards, finished 2-for-4 with a 3-run MOONSHOT and 3 runs to lead his club to a resounding win over the top club in the American League, the Charlotte Imperials, by a score of 12-4. Los Angeles won the series 2 games to 1, setting up what could be a precursor to the 2085 World Series quite nicely, I’d say.

Record: 52-47, .525, 3rd AL West
Up Next: We’ll welcome the New Orleans Gators to town for a 3-game interleague set in Pendleton Park.