San Francisco 49ers (15-22, .405, 5th NL West) @ Los Angeles Lakers (24-13, .649, 1st NL West)
For a team that has one of the best, if not the best, pitchers in the game (Landon Sampson – 2076 NL Pacheco Winner), the San Francisco 49ers sure are a terrible baseball club. And when you factor in that they also have one of the top infielders in the game on their roster (Randall Berger – 2074 NL Boyce Rigg winner), that they are this bad is mind-boggling. San Francisco peaked in 2074 – sort of – when they surprised the sporting world by winning the whole thing despite being, at 82-80, the lowest-ranked club to make the playoffs. It’s been all downhill from there – 3 straight losing seasons (counting this one), an 8.3% drop in total attendance, and having the 21st ranked development system tells you everything you need to know about their club. There’s no future in San Francisco, the present is suspect, and the past is so far back in the rearview that it’s hard to believe that they were even there in the first place. It always gives me heartburn when we welcome a doormat to town as we often forget to wipe our feet and end up tripping over it instead…
38 of 162: David Ouwerkerk (0-4, 4.91) @ Dejuan Burns (3-1, 2.72)
Win, 5-2. Dejuan was serviceable over 6.2 innings of work and only allowed 2 runners to score, but it was the 4 walks that brought out the hook – not to worry though as Ferdinand secures the hold and Barbaccia earns his 8th save. 2 RBI & 2 Runs for Ethan, Hamza hit his 10th double, Lonzo hit his first triple of the season, and Ethan swipes two bags… Oh and SAC FLY for Dontrell today – sacrificing his individual stats for the good of the club… My man.
Elsewhere: Seattle got blasted by the LA Galaxy – an 18-3 murder in the park… 1B Gabe Felix (a scrub that plays every 5th or 6th day) finished with 6 RBI and 3B Demario Junior (also a scrub who plays every 5th day or so…) finished with 5 of his own. Pittsburgh’s first baseman, Tom Franzone, hit his 13th homer in a loss to the Brooklyn Citizens – he leads the league currently, with Otto only 2 HRs behind him… An unprecedented five clubs from the NCAA’s Unaffiliated Division have qualified for the tournament - the MIT Equations, PCU Whooping Cranes, University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, the Ridgemont Community College Tasty Waves, and the NAU Lumberjacks will all vie for the 2077 Championship.
39 of 162: Jan Hernandez (4-1, 4.36) @ Newton Weiser (3-2, 3.14)
Win, 8-0. Complete game shutout for Newton – his curveball, fastball, slider combination was too much for the 49ers to handle as they only managed to get two total hits during the game. Ethan hit a 3-run bomb, Otto & Pepper hit balls out, and we also hit 3 doubles… so, while we were firing on all cylinders the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t get their motor to turn over. This is what’s supposed to happen when a doormat comes to town – an opportunity for a sweep tomorrow…if we can secure it, then it would be our 3rd of the season.
Elsewhere: Listen, as much as I want to highlight the fact that SS Heathcote Kinton and his Rodeo Clown heart hit THREE HOMERS in the Galaxy’s 8-5 triumph over Seattle, AND as much as I want to call out that his game score of 94 is good enough to rate as the 4th best single-game performance so far in 2077… I won’t… BECAUSE we have bigger things to talk about. YOUR BOY, RF Jules Winfield, put his 3rd homer of the year out of the park in Brooklyn’s 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers – it came in the bottom of the 5th, with 2 down, and in a tight 1-1 contest – KA-POW! 424ft of funk for the win. It’s always nice to see Jules get some playing time and it’s even better when he does something with the opportunity. Long live Jules Winfield.
40 of 162: Pascal Paiz (2-2, 5.61) @ Paul Yeager (5-1, 3.15)
Win, 11-0. Two straight shutouts – this one requires Yeager and Sandoval to bring it home – and two straight offensive explosions… Ethan went 3 for 4 with a double, 2 jacks, 6 RBI, and 2 runs… Voorhis hit a 3-run ding dong, and Marshburn hit a 2-run triple. Great all-around performance for our club and we secure our 3rd sweep of the season… still, just 2 ½ up on Phoenix though (they’ve beat the North Stars three straight times with one game left of their 4-game series).
A few notes… Derek Jeter is batting .192 in 28 plate appearances for the Salt Lake Alpines – I think he’s done, you guys.
OH Hong is hitting .225 in Compton – the struggle is real... he’s on the developmental hamster wheel and I’m starting to worry about the guy…
Rad Taylor improved his ERA to 4.41 after going 6 innings against the Austin Grackles where he only allowed one run to the plate, kinda cool I guess…
Adrian Bae has posted a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings of work in relief for the Carolina Panthers – nice to see him back in the show, he deserves it… the La La’s, in a bizarre set of scheduling circumstances, will be heading to St. Louis for a quick 3-game set before returning to LA for another 9-game stretch at home.