Orlando City (53-52, .505, 5th NL East) @ Los Angeles Lakers (63-41, .606, 1st NL West)
City is a .500 club – they went 11-11 in April, 14-14 in June, and 13-13 in July. They are 5th or worse in every statistical category with the only outlier being strikeouts where they lead the MLB at 875 on the year – for comparison purposes, the 2nd place team is a full 25 K’s behind them. Their starters can deal – no doubt about it – the problem here is that their defense could use some work. A tune-up, new fielding gloves, or new personnel altogether may do the trick. Hard to say. Their other problem is that their lineup is power-starved – their 79 HRs so far in 2077 is good enough for 10th in the NL with only San Francisco and San Diego putting fewer balls out of the park. This club really hasn’t been very good since the 2074 season when they won 90 games and made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs – which, if you’re counting, lines up quite nicely with the arrival of their young, analytics-driven, GM Pop McMillian, who, 5 years into his career as a baseball man has yet to deliver any results – he’s a trade first and let the rest sort itself out kind of guy who is probably going to find himself in the unemployment line if he can’t guide this team into the playoffs for Owner Vinny Fan.
105 of 162: Mike Clendenin (6-6, 3.84) @ Paul Yeager (14-4)
Win, 5-3. Yeager gave us 7 innings of 10-hit, 3-run ball and manages to get the win here despite allowing a 2-run blast in the top of the 7th to LF Otis Murry. Otto’s 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom of the 7th frame put us up for good, Barbaccia notched his 28th Save, and Hamza recorded his 45th steal. A solid effort out of the La La’s tonight – we had to gut this one out, but, in the end, we're able to get it done… which, lately, hasn’t been the sort of thing we’ve been good for.
Elsewhere… in the CITY OF COMPTON: SP RAD TAYLOR pitched a complete game shutout over the Nashville Sounds – Rad improved his record to 6-8 and added 7 Ks to his season total of 95. This is Rad’s third straight pitching victory for Compton – he’s only allowed 5 runs in 24 innings of work bringing his ERA to a career-best 3.70 – let’s hope he can keep this up. I keep sticking my neck out for this kid, and if recent events are any indication, it may turn out to have been worth it after all. Compton’s only run in the game came off of a Tyrel Thomas solo homer in the top of the 1st… the 22-year old, 2nd year Compton Raider was our 8th round pick (199) in 2076 and looks to have a ceiling that puts him as a big-league backup or bush-league starter. Great infield arm, fantastic stealing ability, and little else for the youngster.
106 of 162: Radoslav Borovsky (5-3, 2.42) @ Dejuan Burns (8-8, 3.77)
Win, 5-3. The last time we faced Radoslav he chewed us up. This time? Not so much. Voorhis got into a bit of a groove tonight – 2 for 5 with 2 homers, 4 ribbies, and 2 runs – including the game-winning, bottom of the 9th, WALK-OFF 2 RUN DING DONG… We also got a SAC BUNT from Hamza, steal #37 from Ethan, and a sweet Hong-Hamza-Hong double-play! Gotta love a yo-yo DP!
107 of 162: KJ Judd (4-8, 3.97) @ Michael Brisk (8-8, 3.88)
Loss, 3-1. Unfortunate. That’s how I’d describe this loss. Brisky, in a nice bounce-back from his last outing, gave us 7.1 innings of 2-run ball and still took the L to fall below .500 for the season at 8-9. An RBI double from Otis Murry wins it for Orlando in a game where we can only be bothered to offer Brisk 1-run in support… Dom Cooke brought it in on a double, OH HONG struck out THREE times, and OTTO, HAMZA, and Voorhis went hitless.
Elsewhere… in the land of poor decision making: SP Jason Bangs of the Cincinnati Bengals (Green Bay’s affiliate) pitched a complete-game, 12-inning, 5-hit shutout in a 1-0 loss versus the Salem Silverbacks – I mean… why? Also, in the same game, SP Riley Valentine of the Salem Silverbacks (PDX affiliate) went 11-innings in a CG, 3-hit, shutout performance to secure the win (he also added 9 K’s)… it’s like the managers were engaged in some sadistic staring contest out there – hopefully, no permanent damage was done to these young arms… In the MLB – 3B Aldo Fernandez went 4 for 4 with 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, and 4 runs in the Minnesota North Stars EIGHTEEN-to-NADA victory over the Brooklyn Citizens… and, dig this – every starter batted in a run, they hit 5 homers as a club (three off of Brooklyn reliever Lino Marin alone) and had 6 2-out RBIs. Craziness.
Quick notes: Our lead over Phoenix is now
down to 3 after they swept the Montreal Wanderers in a series where every game was decided on runs that came after the 7th and included a spectacular 3-run walk-off homer for SS Jess Alford in the sweep-clinching 3rd game – they won that one by a score of 10-9… oh, and every division outside of the AL West features a 1st place club trying desperately to hang on to a slim 3-game lead. But, in the AL West, where things are a bit more cut & dry, the Seattle Sounders have an 8 ½ game lead over the Los Angeles Galaxy. We like that - helps our ticket sales.
4 against San Francisco next! They're terrible - which has never stopped us from dropping games that we shouldn't - and we're not all the way back to where we should be - so... hope we take at least three of them.