Pittsburgh Steelers (54-42, .563, 2nd NL East) @ Los Angeles Kings (56-39, .589, 2nd NL West)
Tom Franzone, a legend in the making, seemingly came out of nowhere... he certainly wasn’t on my radar and my brain trust was unaware of his promise when he was drafted. He’s that rarest of beasts, a Strangeverse unicorn, who came from the deepest & darkest corner of our Verse and made good - better than good really - on his potential. He’s exceeded all expectations and has crafted himself into an otherworldly talent who is treating the record books as his personal plaything. Pittsburgh is, frankly, pedestrian without him... sure, they’d still have guys like Ian Hanan manning second base, and Otis Murray would still be out there patrolling leftfield but, offensively, without Tom, their run production would be a lot lighter and they definitely wouldn’t lead the majors in homers. In short, the guy is a difference-maker of the highest order – he’s not the sparkplug, he’s the engine. It’s his contribution that has positioned this year’s model of the Pittsburgh Steelers as the top offensive club in the NL… it’s just too bad that the guy can’t pitch – Pittsburgh ranks 8th in that category, thanks, mostly, to a leaky bullpen that struggles to close out games after the starter gets pulled. That will be our recipe for success here if we can manage it – give the starters good, tough Abs, keep it close enough so that we’re within striking distance once they get pulled, and profit. Easier said than done, for sure, but at this point, we don’t have a choice – it’s either we stay locked in and make something happen or we begin our descent into the postseason way too early.
96 of 162: Robby Garrett (11-6, 3.79) @ Newton Weiser (12-6, 3.41)
Win, 4-3. Newton lasted 6 innings but was pulled after allowing 3 runs to score, Barbaccia’s bionic appendage seems to have done the trick as he earns his league-leading 29th save of the year, and Tom Franzone went 0 for 3 with 2 K’s. Rajkumar & Dick McTaggart both drove one in, Dom struck out FOUR times, we hit FIVE doubles as a club and got two stolen bags from Ethan Mullens. We really got outpitched in this one – Garrett went the distance, so we never got to see any of their bullpen arms, and, our game plan really had no bearing on the outcome of this game… we’ll take it, though.
97 of 162: Gregory Morgan (8-8, 4.34) @ Jonny Garcia (4-5, 2.83)
Win, 2-1. We still couldn’t find a way to get to Pittsburgh’s bullpen yet will still found a route to victory – starting with Garcia who went 8 innings and only allowed 1 run on 3 hits – he was, in a word, masterful… Barbaccia dropped his ERA below 4 and earned his 30th save, and Tom Franzone, the bogeyman himself, went a paltry 1 for 4 with 2 K’s. Dontrell drove in our lone offensive run, Pitt’s Morgan walked in the other, a 35th bag was added to Ethan’s collection, and each of our 5 hits was a single… in fact the only EBH of the game was a homer courtesy of Eldin Kemp (it’s only his 2nd of the year – so, even that, was an unlikely outcome).
98 of 162: Kurt Miller (5-4, 3.47) @ Aiden Jensen (9-6, 3.50)
Loss, 6-3. We finally managed to get to the Steelers bullpen in this one, but their fault line didn’t shift and in the end, we were undone by a 3-run top of the 9th that was orchestrated by Barbaccia, who in his haste, seemingly forgot to oil his new bionic arm. RF Remildo Puente hit the 3-run blast that would prove to be our undoing in that frame as Pittsburgh won despite another poor showing from Franzone. Dick, Rajkumar, and Julian were responsible for our only runs, OH HONG hit a SAC BUNT, and we missed out on a golden opportunity to get a sweep here to make up some ground on the Suns who lost to the Citizens tonight. Running in place… better than going backward, but not good enough.
Elsewhere: SP Cosmo Puente, of the Gwinnett Stripers, pitched a complete game, 2-hit shutout over the Cincinnati Bengals – the Stripers won it by a score of 6-0. At 30-years old, and with all of his potential tapped, Cosmo is trying to work his way into Carolina’s bullpen this season for one more cup of coffee before his inevitable entry into the Bush League… CF Norbert Northup, the 164th pick of the 2076 draft out of San Francisco, who is currently plying his trade with the Fargo Rallybirds, the AA club of the Rams, went 4 for 4 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs in their 8-0 win over the Kamloops Moose in Continental League play. Norbert, a low ceiling guy whose potential as an offensive threat is limited despite his world-class speed, has a ways to go before he will be considered as a potential member of St Louis’ big club – but, so far this season he is batting .340 with 4 homers, 19 RBIs, and a 1.5 WAR.
