[pauwoo]

(7/2 – 7/4): Phoenix Suns (45-37, .549, t-1st NL West) @ Oklahoma City (42-40, .512, 3rd NL West)
We are 6-3 against Oklahoma City so far this season and have yet to face their Ace Josh Allen. That changes as we are scheduled to see him in the second game of the 3-game set. OKC has the best offense in the NL right now. They are 1st in runs scored (416), batting average (.300) and OBP (.354) but their bullpen lets things spin out of control all too often and have the worst ERA (4.21) in the NL. The key to beating this team lies in our ability to get their starters out of the game early. OKC represented the National League in the 2073 World Series where they fell to the Seattle Sounders and have struggled to recapture the form that resulted in a 100-win season.

83 of 162: Oswaldo Flores (3-7, 5.00) @ AJ Hinson (0-7, 6.15)
OKC earns a 3-2 victory and AJ Hinson gets his first W of the season after a complete-game, 2 run performance. 28-year-old 3B Vincent Parm went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI in the win. Phoenix continues to daydream about rainbows and unicorns in the field – 4 errors on the day. Embarrassingly bad. 2B Luca Milbrandt hit his 7th out of the park & 1B Jacob Wells hit his 10th HR of the season.

84 of 162: Ash Newman (7-3, 3.13) @ Jimmy Garcia (7-2, 2.80)
OKC pushes Josh Allen’s start back a day but it didn’t matter as OKC gets the series win in a 4-3 victory. Ash only gave up 1 run in 6 innings, and we managed to get Garcia out of there in 5.1 innings but were unable to capitalize on the notoriously poor pitching of their bullpen. RF Brandon Roa hit a 3-run homer in the 7th that sealed it for the Thunder.

85 of 162: Graham Doyle (2-3, 6.16) @ Josh Allen (8-3, 3.13)
OKC earns a sweep – and another 4-3 victory. We managed to get Allen out after 4 innings and even scored 2 on him – but the Thunder bullpen was able to close the door on us again. To add insult to injury we got walked off in the bottom of the 9th when 1B Iraj Mansouri hit a run-scoring single.

Yikes… Swept in OKC. Tough way to go out – battling the boredom of OKC while mired in a prolonged defensive malaise. After our sweep over Vancouver, it’s hard to figure out how we played so poorly in OKC. We are now tied with OKC and the San Diego Chargers (who were swept by the 49ers) for 1st in the NL West. Elsewhere: Rad Taylor continued to struggle for the Tucson Arrowheads. He gave up 5 runs in 5 innings of work yet improved his ERA to 12.38 – a fine trade that was.

(7/5 – 7/8) Phoenix Suns (45-40, 5.29, t-1st NL West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (38-46, .452, 6th NL West)
Los Angeles has plenty of pop. Their 81 home runs lead the National League. It’s everywhere else that is problematic. Their bullpen is led by reliever Toby George, the middle reliever throws a slider & a splitter that usually keeps opposing batters off balance – the problem is, he’s only pitched 9 innings this year. They have an above average farm system with the best of the bunch being #2 ranked prospect, SP Newton Weiser. He’s currently 6-8 with a 2.97 ERA and 118 ERA+ for their Compton Raiders affiliate.

86 of 162: Michael Brisk (8-6, 3.00) @ Phillip King (2-1, 3.38)
Make that 4 losses in a row for Phoenix. Brisk gives up 4 runs through 5 innings in the 5-2 loss. 3B Mick Udelhoven picked up a couple of RBIs for the Lakers and SP Phillip King pitched 6 scoreless innings before handing it off to the pen. We struck out 12 times and committed 4 errors. A tough stretch for the Suns – we can’t seem to get anything going. Elsewhere: OKC took sole possession of 1st with a 4-3 win over San Diego.

87 of 162: Del Miller (9-3, 4.02) @ John Aivazian (7-6, 3.53)
And just when you think it can’t get any worse… it does. A 6-4 loss to the Lakers. Aivazian worked for 8 innings and only allowed 3 runs while the Lakers offense teed off on 3 pitches (two of which came in the 6th inning). We committed 3 errors, got caught stealing twice, and struck out 7 times and have now managed to go through our entire rotation without a win.

88 of 162: Oswaldo Flores (3-8, 4.72) @ Al Van Amerongen (5-8, 5.35)
1B Jacob Wells had seen enough – he went 2 for 4 with 2 homers to lead Phoenix to their first victory in 6 tries. Oswaldo gave us 8 innings of 9 hit ball and Luca hit his 20th HR of the season in the 6th inning. We struck out 16 times in the game and had 1 error. That’s the most K’s we’ve had during this 6-game stretch yet somehow, we get the W – baseball is a funny business. We are now 1-game behind OKC for 1st in the NL West.

89 of 162: Ash Newman (7-3, 3.04) @ Julen Morales (4-7, 2.30)
Ash Newman pitched a complete game allowing only 2 earned runs and giving our bullpen some much need rest. 2B Kai-Fa Chiang went 3 for 3 with a HR and 5 RBI – that’s his 3rd HR of the season. We hit 4 home runs and a double in the game – stole three bags (and got caught trying 3 times), committed our customary 3+ errors and struck out 8 times – just another day of Suns Baseball, folks. This thing is a high-wire act. Suns win 9-3.

Well that was a disastrous week… 5 straight losses before we managed to reign it in and win the last two games against Los Angeles. Yet, for all our poor play, inadequate defense, and lack of discipline at the plate, we find ourselves in the exact same spot as we were when the week began – in a 3-way tie for 1st in the NL West. You gotta be thankful when your division is the most mediocre in baseball. We’ll enjoy the all-star break before we get back to it… Derek & Luca made the team.

Notes of the week:
Green Bay SP Cliff Slavinski pitched a no-hitter against the Carolina Panthers. The former 2064 1st overall pick out of Florida State is 10-3 with 132 K’s and a 3.09 ERA in 18 starts this year.

Phoenix prospect RHP Cam Murphy (#6 overall prospect) recorded a 2-hit shutout against the Long Beach Dirtbags. He struck out 9 in the game.