Los Angeles Kings (73-55, .570, 2nd NL West) @ Phoenix Suns (77-54, .588, 1st NL West)
After our trip to Phoenix, we’ll only have three more road trips before closing out the 2078 campaign – which means that we have a lot of home cooking in our future… so, as we enter this critical series against the Suns, it’s important to note that these three games, while important in terms of long term confidence, will not be the end of the story one way or the other. We are destined, it’s been preordained, to meet Phoenix in the Playoffs… and, at 7-7 H2H so far this year, winning the season series would go a long way towards instilling the confidence that we can, and will, beat these guys in a playoff series. Of course, as always, current form always plays a role in the outcome of a series – and ours gives me pause. We’re beat up with our best player (Otto) and our best pitcher (Yeager) out for the rest of the season, downtrodden, and really are just a shell of our former selves – playing like an aging rock n’ roll band that is back out on the road for a nostalgia tour, once more into the money printing machine dear friends, coming soon to a casino near you. And, Phoenix is not without their own injury woes as well – Patrick Keith is out again and Ray Gerhold is listed as DtD and will likely maintain that designation for a few more weeks… his strained hammy has lingered it seems – but, and here the difference is key, they are so stacked, offensively, that they are still performing at a clip that fits a club with the #1 ranked offense in the National League. Only the Golden State Warriors possess a better rDiff (213 to 131) and no club is better at home – Phoenix is formidable, the real deal, and this very well could be their year… unless it isn’t, unless we rise to the occasion and, eventually, bounce them from the playoffs on our quest for glory. That any such quest would likely end on the wrong side of a World Series against the smash-mouth Warriors is unfortunate, sure, but for now, we march forward with the steadfast belief that a three-peat isn’t just a possibility, nay, it’s our destiny.
Side note: I have a 10 AM tee time set at Papago with Duke Condon, team trainer for the Phoenix Suns, an old friend, and the one holdover from my tenure in the desert. The guy is unflappable – he never mixes business with pleasure – but, I believe that I have an Ace up my sleeve, and with that Ace, I think I can get the ol’ boy to give me the inside scoop on Gerhold’s bum hammy. The Ace? Ms. Finkelstein will be joining us, just prior to her two-week, all-expense-paid vacation to swing the sticks, bag some rays, and to trick Duke into spilling the beans. My plan is foolproof. You know I’m a schemer, but my heart’s of gold…
129 of 162: Michael Brisk (7-6, 3.56) @ Crusher Melendez (11-7, 4.32)
Loss, 14-12. It was not a good day to be a pitcher, especially if you were employed by the Los Angeles Kings and found yourself alone out there on the mound at any time during the bottom of the 8th when Phoenix suddenly came alive and charged TEN GD RUNS TO OUR ACCOUNT. Brisky, who we couldn’t find until 30 minutes before the game (we found him in one of the back offices with a local TV news personality – what was the ABC affiliates Meteorologist doing at a baseball game anyway?), gave us 5.1 innings and, after gassing quicker than normal, gave up 2 homers and 4 earned before handing it off to the pen. OH HONG went 3 for 5 with 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 2 runs, and Dontrell went 3 for 4 with a GRAND SLAM in the top of the 7th but… it was all for nothing as the Suns rose from the ash like a, er, um, Phoenix and burnt us to a crisp during that absolute bloodbath of an 8th inning. Mullens got caught with his hand in the honey pot for the 12th time this year as well, so… I don’t know, this one stings a bit.
130 of 162: Trevor Dotson (9-9, 4.23) @ Jack Sanchez-Flores (3.88)
Loss, 8-5. Tony Voorhis gave us the business in this one – 2 for 4, 2 jacks, 4 ribbies, and 2 runs for the former Laker, who, like any self-respecting scorned former lover, exacted his revenge with maniacal glee and ruthless precision. Things looked pretty good for us early, we came out gangbusters – put 4 runs on the board in the top of the 1st, but it was another 1-inning outburst from the suns that did us in – like a solar flare bent on sending us all back to the stone age – where they tuned us up and put 6 runs on Dotson before our manager, whose grip on the reality of the situation is questionable, finally brought out the hook. So, yeah, I’m ready to go back to LA now… might call my mom in a bit, too.
Elsewhere: Lloyd Wilkins, the #4 starter for your CITY OF COMPTON Raiders, pitched a complete game, 7-hit shutout against Newport Beach – he also registered 5 K’s with not a single free pass handed out during the game, and, Kirk Johnson, seems to be slowly working his way out of Megan’s doghouse with a 1 for 3 day that included a 2-run homer and a walk…
131 of 162: Newton Weiser (14-9, 3.71) @ Jake Talley (16-7, 2.59)
Win, 9-5. Well, what a way to make a livin’, am I right? Coincidentally, or not, I played the Dumplin’ soundtrack in the clubhouse prior to the game – that we only made it through “Here I Am” before I had a full-scale, player-led revolt on my hands is of no importance – it was with the power of Dolly that we escaped this series with some of our pride intact and avoided a sweep at the hands of the club I’ve come to hate the most (with Green Bay being a close second – but you know that already)… Weiser held it down for 6.2 innings even if he let five find their way in from the cold, Barbaccia secured his 38th save on ONE PITCH, and OH HONG hit a SAC FLY. Outside of Nolan Steffan’s three RBIs and backup Catcher Sueki Kojima’s 2-run moonshot, this was a real down-and-out, hard-scrabble, workmanlike effort from the Purple and Gold. Sometimes, despite hailing from the land of milk and honey, where Tinseltown’s myth casts its lonely shadow over the City of Angels, you just have to pack your lunch, put on your hard hat, and do the little things required to get the job done.
Elsewhere: 1B Mateo Cruz, a current member of the Nolanville ‘Nauts and former flunky from the San Francisco based Seals, went 2 for 3 with 2 homers. 4 RBIs and 2 runs in his clubs 4-3 win over the Dearborn Dilly’s. Nolanville, who is currently sitting in 5th place in the Bush League Independence Division, is most likely going to find themselves on the outside looking in when the playoffs finally arrive, but, until then – they can rest their hopes on performances like this one… I mean, they haven’t been mathematically eliminated so, if they can harness their mana they may be able to conjure up the type of witchcraft math required to pull a rabbit out of the hat and sneak into the dance. An unlikely scenario, sure, but not completely out of the question – heck, it’s the Bush League… anything can, and often does, happen in Bush ball…
Roster Expansion: We’ve called up the following notable players…
SP Rad Taylor
LF Bakari Konate
CF Rake Lewis
2B Mario Marshburn
No sign of Kirk Johnson though… so, he’s either still in Megan’s doghouse or she’s concerned that someone will call her out for favoritism. Or, and this is maybe the likeliest of scenarios, it could be that the kid just isn’t good enough.