Los Angeles Lakers (26-18, .591, 1st NL West) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (22-21, .512, 4th NL West)
What kind of sadistic schedule maker decides that the last three games of a 16 consecutive game stretch should conclude with a road trip to Minneapolis? Honestly – he hate me, he really do. 3 hours in a plane with 30+ cranky dudes that prioritize baseball above nearly everything is not my idea of a good time. I’d like to take some solace in the fact that we will be facing a 22-21 club with a subpar pitching staff and relatively ho-hum offense, but we’ve been beaten by worse. And it’s never fun to face C Rex Englestad – easily the best catcher in the game – whose .331/.414/.463 slash, 127 wRC+, and 1.9 WAR provide a formidable challenge for any opposing staff. Really, I’m just looking forward to this series being over, looking forward to our day off in Orlando before meeting City at their park for a 3-game set before returning home for another day off before we welcome Josiah and the Sixers to town.
45 of 162: Julen Morales (4-2, 3.41) @ Elijah Rizzuto (3-3, 6.14)
A closely contested affair until we break it open with a 5-run top of the 5th, we ably shake off the cobwebs and take game one by a score of 7-3. Minnesota 1B Iraj Mabsouri did his level best to secure the win for his Timberwolves – 2 for 3 with a HR and 3 RBI, but in the end, his teammates were unable to keep up with our onslaught. Otto contributes a 2-run double, Bovie gets 2 RBI of his own, and Fregoso sent his 5th ball out of the park in the win. Morales lasts 6 innings allowing only two runs to score despite walking 5 batters, and we get two double plays from our defense.
Elsewhere: Tennessee survives a scare against New Mexico, winning their first-round game by a score of 1-0… Texas Tech outlasts the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a 4-3 win… Binghamton dispatched the BMS Goats by 2 runs… MIT still can’t get out of the first round against Vanderbilt, dropping a close on by a score of 3-2… Ridgemont Community College gets utterly dismantled by Troy, falling to the Trojans by a score of 14-3… the NCAA tourney is off to a solid start – Cal’s Liam Clarke and Tennessee’s Ardolph Goldberg both earned complete game shutouts… not sure if that’s a first or not. Probably not.
46 of 162: Merl Crawford (4-3, 3.59) @ Alfredo Mendez (1-5, 5.98)
Zarate’s timely play continues as he sets the tone for our club with a 3 for 5 performance at the plate with a HR, while reliever Brent Durkin comes in and does an admirable job cleaning up Merl’s mess before handing it off to Saul who earns his 13th save of the season. DH Gerardo Benavides adds a 3-run homer for Los Angeles who win despite allowing 5 doubles from the Timberwolves and leaving 22 batters stranded.
Elsewhere (the City of Compton): Make it three poor outings in a row for your boy, Rad Taylor. He’s now given up 14 runs in his last 24 innings of work. He’s also handed out 9 free passes during that span – yikes. No confidence in his stuff, not attacking, pitching away from contact... we need to get his head right.
47 of 162: Michael Brisk (5-3, 3.91) @ Tim Kelly (4-2, 3.80)
Minnesota avoided the sweep and overcame Brisk’s 8 innings of 6 hit ball to take the 3rd of this three-game set, 3-2. Tim Kelly picked up the winning despite only putting in 5.1 innings of work – sometimes laziness is rewarded in baseball. Iraj got himself a measure of revenge with a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 5th that put the T’Wolves up for good in this one. Mullens finished 3 for 4 with an RBI, Otto went 4 for 13 in the series but only brought in 3 runs, and Pepper could’ve been more productive riding the bench.
Elsewhere: Tennessee is bounced out of the tournament in the second round by the Fresno State Bulldogs by a score of 4-3… I didn’t expect that. Kentucky destroyed the NAU Lumberjacks by a score of 14-4 to advance… Texas Tech may be on a Cinderella run as they knock off Cal on the road by a score of 9-3… All the favorites are wiped out before we reach the great eight – I dunno, I guess Texas Tech is the favorite now.
With our 2-1 series win over Minnesota, we now have a 1 ½ game lead over the Whitecaps who just won’t go away – Green Bay has stayed hot so far in May, they are tops in the league with a 31-15 record so far… We are leading the league in defensive efficiency, which is sweet, and are 2nd in HR’s (12 behind the hard-hitting New York Jets), which is not as sweet, but still pretty ok if you’re desperate. A much needed off day in Orlando coming up – looking forward to bagging some rays on cocoa beach with an old fashioned in one hand and a good murder book in the other.