St. Louis Rams (26-23, .531, t-2nd NL East) @ Los Angeles Kings (27-22, .551, 2nd NL West)
The Rams are a lot like us – mostly stuck in idle, 2nd on their divisional table, and 2 games off the pace… their offense is middling – better on paper than they have been in reality – and their pitching, well, it’s suspect. And that is putting it mildly… or is it? I don’t know – they are basically us (and to prove it, I am posting a picture after this paragraph)… the difference between us, then, is offense – we have one and they mostly do not. 10th in homers, 8th in runs, 7th in base running – they are, in a word, basic. As in NOT dynamic, vanilla, milquetoast, boring even. So, then, how are they doing it – oh, I don’t know – 4 batters hitting .300+, Josiah, the GOAT, leading by example, and luck. Lots & lots of luck… look, these guys are solid – not good – and they are outperforming the sum of their parts. This is normal – baseball is like that sometimes – but, at the end of this thing, in the aggregate, I don’t expect them to be around. But, they’re here now – and we are, recently anyways, easy pickings… that low hanging fruit that the above-average feast on to puff up their stats – could be a loooooongg 4-game set – or – we could crush them. And with them, their hopes, dreams, and best-laid plans.
50 of 162: Dimitri Pimentel (5-3, 3.29) @ Trevor Dotson (4-1, 4.09)
Loss, 5-1. I mean, why not? Dotson navigated 5 innings, sort of – his ship took on water early as he allowed three runs to plate in the top of the 1st… welcome to the ballpark hometown fans, allow me to disappoint you… We scored one run – Lloyd Daniels touched home plate up and also drove in his own run – so, yeah, a solo shot… AND… THAT… IS… IT… I mean, OH HONG got a hit, so – um, COOL, but the rest of the crew? Garbage. Summertime garbage – that super smelly swill that the sweltering summertime heat releases at the landfill – we are a giant, hot, steaming pile of trash.
Elsewhere: SP Orlando Vasquez, of your
CITY OF COMPTON RAIDERS, went 8-strong and allowed only 5-hits & 1-run in the Raiders 2-1 win over the Columbus Bluejackets. Ronin Greene, a RFer we purchased off of the Columbia Blowfish in 2076, had himself a little bit of a game too – 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBIs… he’ll never make the big club, but he fills out a Compton kit quite nicely for now. OH, and Kirk Johnson went 2 for 5 with a 2-run HOMER and 2 RUNS for San Marcos in their 9-4 win over the Beaumont Bullies… Megan must be proud – maybe I’ll purchase his contract just to eff with her.
All-Star Announcements:
American League… notables:
SP Burt McElheny (VAN) - 7-3, 2.28 ERA, 75.0 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 2.2 WAR
SP Norm Rodriquez: (TOR) - 7-2, 2.88 ERA, 68.2 IP, 1.11 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 1.4 WAR
RP Al Bundy (CAR) - 2-0, 2.57 ERA, 35.0 IP, 1.40 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 0.6 WAR
C Laz Braun (VAN) - .303/.378/.393, 145 AB, 2 HR, 116 wRC+, 1.2 WAR
2B Rich Hamilton (NYJ) - .313/.438/.507, 144 AB, 7 HR, 1 SB, 153 wRC+, 1.3 WAR
2B Heathcote Kinton (LAG) - .340/.415/.528, 159 AB, 7 HR, 13 SB, 150 wRC+, 2.4 WAR
LF Aitor Cubas (SEA) - .243/.391/.550, 169 AB, 16 HR, 10 SB, 151 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
RF Patrick Adams (SEA) - .373/.465/.605, 185 AB, 7 HR, 3 SB, 194 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
National League… notables:
SP Merl Crawford (BRK) - 7-3, 2.48 ERA, 76.1 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 2.0 WAR
SP Dimitri Pimentel (STL) - 5-3, 3.29 ERA, 68.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 1.9 WAR
SP Landon Sampson (SF) - 4-2, 3.70 ERA, 56.0 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 12.5 K/9, 2.3 WAR
SP Cliff Slavinski ( ORL) - 4-3, 2.17 ERA, 70.2 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.9 WAR
CL Steven Barbaccia (LAK) - 1-1, 16 SV, 4.57 ERA, 21.2 IP, 1.52 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 0.4 WAR
C Dominic Cooke (LAK) - .299/.350/.477, 107 AB, 4 HR, 1 SB, 117 wRC+, 0.7 WAR (Injured)
1B Tom Franzone (PIT) - .332/.411/.638, 199 AB, 16 HR, 1 SB, 176 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
2B Richard McTaggart (LAK) - .392/.431/.548, 199 AB, 8 HR, 12 SB, 169 wRC+, 2.4 WAR (Injured)
SS Jess Alford (PHX) - .361/.400/.572, 180 AB, 7 HR, 4 SB, 154 wRC+, 1.6 WAR
SS Ray Gerhold (PHX) - .360/.440/.452, 197 AB, 3 HR, 17 SB, 142 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
LF Harlem Peterson (MON) - .270/.374/.438, 185 AB, 7 HR, 2 SB, 123 wRC+, 0.7 WAR
CF Otto Isaac (LAK) - .276/.339/.462, 199 AB, 9 HR, 8 SB, 112 wRC+, 0.7 WAR
RF Ethan Mullens (LAK) - .315/.433/.503, 197 AB, 8 HR, 19 SB, 162 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
51 of 162: Glenn Moisan (1-1, 3.54) @ Paul Yeager (3-4, 5.03)
Win, 11-2. You say OH, I’ll say HONG… OH! HONG! OH! HONG! Your boy went 3 for 4 with a dinger, 3 ribbies, and FOUR RUNS, and J-Zody went 4 for 5 with TWO DOUBLES a HR and 4 ribbies… oh, and Yeager was boss too – 8 innings of work, 9 hits (whatever), 2 earned (sweet!), and 8 K’s… Otto took the day off (probably did some yoga or some **** like that…), Zody hit his 1st homer of the season, and Ethan stole his 20th bag.
Side note: Added a new college to the NCAA Unaffiliated Division… please welcome the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors to the Strangeverse… Because, well, why not… I’m feeling froggy.
52 of 162: Trev Anderson (3-3, 4.01) @ Newton Weiser (6-4, 3.97)
Loss, 4-2. Weiser was solid – just not solid enough… mostly because of our anemic offense, but, let’s face it – he could have been better. Otto hit a homer and drove in both of our runs – and, at 145lbs, is still the best player on our roster even if he is slowing wasting away. From awesome to ****- it’s how we roll.
By the way: San Marcos is now leading the Justice Division in the Bush League – granted that lead is only one half of a game – but, regardless, it’s happening and Megan is proving her worth in Independent League Baseball – now, I just need to figure out a way to bring her back into the fold before some other MLB team snatches her up. Sure, her price tag is prohibitive, but, trust me – she’s worth every single penny.
53 of 162: Joseph Hinder (5-2, 3.36) @ Aiden Jensen (3-4, 4.50)
Win, 8-5. A split… we’ll take it. Otto is king – 2 for 3, homer, 3 ribbies, 2 runs, a walk… Zody hit his 2nd jack of the season, and Aiden was great over 7.2 innings of work – well, not great, he gave up 5… but, he left us in a position to win and Barbaccia secured his 17th save in relief, 3 homers for the club, two doubles (Ethan & OH HONG), stolen base for Zody, and the win. Look, I feel like we should have taken 3 of the 4 – but, it is what it is, as they say, and, while we didn’t necessarily come out of this series unscathed (PHX has improved their lead to 3 games), we’re no worse for wear and can welcome Portland to town for some interleague play on an even keel and with our confidence somewhat intact.