Philadelphia 76ers (49-50, .495, 6th NL East) @ Los Angeles Lakers (60-38, .612, 1st NL West)
Despite having two of the game’s best position players in CF Norris Flaherty and LF Palmer Parker, Philadelphia has a bit of a hitting problem. As in, they can’t seem to do it very well – 11th in AVG / 12th in OBP – the 76ers are unlikely to beat you with their hitting. Their pitching is mostly solid – they’re middle of the road in most categories – but their bullpen has been among the best in baseball when they’ve been afforded an opportunity to impact the game. Before winning 60% of their games and going into the playoffs as the prohibitive favorite in 2076, the 76ers missed the playoffs for three straight years and given the giant step back they seem to have taken it may take that long to get back. At 14-7 so far in July, Philadelphia has been playing teams tough lately – this will be another tough series against a club from Pennsylvania here – let’s just hope we don’t get swept again…
99 of 162: Nat Millard (5-7, 3.87) @ Aiden Jensen (6-9, 5.50)
Loss, 3-2. Norris Flaherty stole second in the 1st and then took 3rd on a Dom Cooke throwing error – Palmer Parker brought him in on a hard-hit infield grounder… and just like that the 76ers went up 1-0… A Cody Keenan solo shot put them up 2-0 in the top of the 3rd – Ethan brought Marshburn in on a fielders choice in the bottom of the 5th and a double from Otto would tie it up in that same frame – we were battling here, but in the end Aiden would give up his second HR of the game – this one to Justin Jenkins – and that would be all she wrote. Another 4-game losing streak from the La La’s, who just can’t seem to dial it in, with errors for DOM & OH HONG helping to ensure that Philly kept the Pennsylvania dominance on track.
100 of 162: Vin Uhlman (10-6, 3.60) @ Paul Yeager (13-4, 3.22)
Win, 5-0. Finally, we get a little something going – O-Mack went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, PEPPER brought one in, Yeager gave us 6.1 shutout innings, RP Paul Wilson went 2.2 innings in relief to preserve it, and Hamza brought 2 in on his 16th double. This was as good a bounce-back performance as we could have hoped for given our recent run of ineptitude… we’ll take it, we’ll hopefully build off of it, and finish off July on something of a high note.
Elsewhere: SP Nacho Valadez gave the Chicago Fire a CG, 4-hit effort in their 9-1 win over the Portland Timbers – at 10-5 on the season, Nacho has been a welcome surprise since being traded to the Fire by Orlando City in the offseason. His ERA, currently at 4.22, isn’t ideal – but, he’s been keeping his club in a position to win and at this stage of Nacho’s trajectory that’s about all you can ask for.
101 of 162: Gregory Highman (3-2, 3.15) @ Dejuan Burns (8-7, 3.66)
Loss, 11-2. Well, so much for putting something together – former Laker, Nehemiah Jenkins, went 4 for 4 with two doubles, 3 RBI, and 2 runs & Norris Flaherty went 4 for 5 with an RBI and 2 runs… Burns was okay – I mean he gave up 4 runs over 6 innings, so could’ve been worse – but the real story here is that newcomer Zechariah Stillman’s Laker debut wax an absolute mess – new guy gave up 6 runs in only 1.1 innings of work and even committed an error. Good stuff.
Elsewhere: Golden State’s 1B Ryan Wright had a 3 HR game against the New York Jets and nearly doubled his 2077 HR total at 8 – it was an 11-8 road win for the Warriors… this will, most likely, be the only time Wright (and his 55 Power rating) ever does something like this again in an MLB game… soak it in young man – you got the golden ticket today. Green Bay’s SP Isaiah Zuno is out for the season due to radial nerve compression – I don’t really know what that is, but it has to suck… I’m a Zuno supporter and wish him a speedy recovery… Oh, and, after this latest display of inequity – Phoenix is only a scant 2 ½ games off our pace and it’s looking likely that they will overtake us by mid-August. Great.